Tag: BUHARI

Electioneering is over and it is time for governance. It is time to constitute the team and teams to drive the process of delivering the change promised Nigerians by the new President as he toured the country soliciting support. The time when Rhetoric counted for something is over; it is time to walk the talk.

As is the case in the game of football, governance hangs on the strength of the team assembled, and the cohesion forged. A football team, to be successful, must have individually gifted players who also realise that the team would achieve glory only when the ball is moved forward and everyone made to play his part. The goalkeeper has his place and must control his territory and organize his defence. The defence, too, must work hard to impede the flow of the ball into the critical area, while the midfield serves as buffer between the defence and the offence. It carries the ball forward and must be quick to intercept the movement by the opponents. But, even where the defence and the midfielders play their parts well, a blunt strike force would cost the team dearly.

It is therefore up to the coach to assemble a powerful team, undertake to study the strength and pattern of play of the opponents which constitutes the problem to be solved as well as device a winning strategy.

President Buhari’s administration will be as strong as the team he is able to put together. People are already becoming impatient with him for denying them an early glimpse into the working of his mind with regards to the quality of men who would be working intimately with him in driving the process. It had been expected that, as customary, he would immediately on assuming power name the head of his media team, who would then swing into action in coordinating the use and treatment given news of the inauguration. He failed to do so and only made the announcement more than 48 hours later. Even then, it suggested indecision. I hope not. Then, it was expected that a top policy man or retired top civil servant would be named as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He did not, or perhaps could not. Neither could he decide on who would manage the presidential office staff as Chief of Staff. The tentativeness is being noticed and noted.

But, it is yet early day. Every President is entitled to his style. While this leader has been slow in naming people to key positions, he left no one in doubt that he considers the security challenge a priority. But then, shouldn’t he have waited to constitute his team and work with his security and defence team? Or, does he intend to leave in place the security apparatus that had just failed the country in place? What does he intend to do with the inherited security and service chiefs? We need an efficient defence team to put together strategies and policies to redeem the image of the country and restore peace in the troubled areas.

The economy is in a shambles. Jonathan, despite having a respected former World Bank shief as Coordinating Minister of the Economy, was a colossal failure. He failed to build a prosperous Nigeria. How Buhari intends to achieve this is not very obvious from his party’s manifesto. A lot would depend on those he names to the Finance, National Planning, Solid Minerals, Petroleum and Communications portfolios. Would they be men and women of proven integrity? Would they be nationalists and committed to building a New Nigeria? Our President should begin to work on this. We must, in the next one week know those in whose hands the President is committing Africa’s most populous country.

Then, the power portfolio, the man to run transport, especially the seaports and railway: What about education and health? Only when the gaps have been filled would we know that c hange has come.

My plea with President Buhari is to look critically as the foundation determines the strength of the edifice. There are many people pressing the buttons now, seeking to be appointed on the recommendations of their godfathers. Nigerians did not vote the godfathers. We know who sought and obtained the mandate-the buck stops at his desk.

He should watch out for the following categories of people shoving and waving their resumes at him- the Qualified, not qualified; the Qualified but unavailable; the Available, but incompetent and the Not-so-Qualified but irresistible.

The first category refers to those who have impressive academic qualifications and have availed their services to all previous governments. They understand the system and the game- the right buttons to press. But, in all previous engagements, they had failed the country. Asked, they have legion of reasons to give. They lack strength of character and are therefore not good enough to engage the Change gear. They are vultures and undertakers. They must be avoided.

What about the Qualified, not available? These are. in the main, technocrats who are highly rated and respected by the public but would not be seen anywhere near political offices. They are nauseated by the pattern of political play and fear they could lose their reputation. They see all politicians as the same and would rather live their private lives. Even when they are tempted to consider offers, they are scared of public cynicism and the tendency to tar all public officials with the same brush.

Continues next week

As many Nigerians were still savoring the historic victory of General Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential polls, oil marketers in the country began to grumble over alleged unpaid subsidy claims. Like a joke it began but within few weeks their threats began to materialise.

On Saturday, 16th May 2015, the association of oil marketers issued a directive to its members, ordering the suspension of loading activities in all depots from Monday the 18th May 2015. According to the association, the directive was as a result of unpaid funds owed to transporters by oil marketers who in turn are being owed by the federal government.

As usual in such circumstances, there was immediate fuel scarcity. Initially it only affected few states such as Abuja the Federal Capital Territory but as the May 29th hand over date drew closer, the situation began to bite harder. Many Nigerians were made to pass through harrowing experiences as many had to spend nights and long hours at petrol stations in attempts to buy fuel. Those who could not go through that abandoned their cars at home and some even took to trekking. Others even avoided going out, preferring to suffer quietly at home.

The suffering and hardship that citizens have been subjected to as a result of the scarcity of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and house hold kerosene had been much. Hospitals had been unable to function properly; laboratories had been unable to carry out the much needed tests especially for emergency patients leaving such patients at the risk of dying.

Radio stations had been shut down, communication was also affected as telecommunication companies had announced an impending shut down while homes, offices and key facilities nationwide were experiencing blackouts. In some parts of the country, petrol was selling at an all-time high of N1, 000 per litre. As many left their homes to be sleeping in fuel stations, they faced the possibility of robbery attacks and other attendant risks.

Amidst this crisis, the then Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was locked in a bitter war of words with the oil marketers. But seeing the continuous and untold hardship which Nigerians were going through, the Managing Director and CEO of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, was moved with compassion and pulled out of the strike by the fuel tankers and marketers, saying it was not going to be part of the ploy to inflict pain on Nigerian masses.

In a press statement issued by Dr. Ubah, the company announced that its tank farm facility with a combined storage capacity of 190 million liters with  the capacity to load over 13 million litres of product per day be immediately opened to start loading before the  dawn of the next day.

He was rightly quoted to have said in the announcement, “This is a period that requires patriotism and service to fatherland. Let’s join hands to help our fellow citizens and save Nigeria. We also call on striking bodies to call off the strike action. Let us work together for the betterment of our people.” This singular act doused the tension in the land and compelled the oil marketers association to immediately call off the strike.

Although the scarcity has not fully abated, Ubah’s patriotic action created a better atmosphere for the new government headed by President Muhamadu Buhari to be sworn in. True to his promise, his company commenced distribution of over 13 million liters per day of petroleum products from its tank farm in Apapa, Lagos. This came to approximately 400 trucks of products per day.

The national embarrassment that would have resulted from the visiting heads of state and delegation from across Africa and beyond, noticing the fuel scarcity menace, was well managed due to the patriotic intervention of a man who began with nothing but has been blessed by God through a dint of hard work and ingenuity to become one of the nation’s biggest oil and gas merchants.

In dissociating himself from the strike, he rescued millions of Nigerians from the untold hardship occasioned by the fuel crisis. The strike was understandably perceived by many as a plan to sabotage the outgoing administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and to stampede the incoming administration of President Buhari into a turbulent start.

Besides, as an association and not a labor union, the oil marketers’ body’s move to cripple the nation’s economy at that crucial time should be seen as a very unpatriotic act. It is therefore pertinent to investigate and ascertain those behind the strike as both Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) and NUPENG have all denied being responsible for the action.

One clear message which the situation has brought to the nation is the urgent need to totally deregulate the sector as this will curb corruption, increase investment, create jobs, and force down the price of petrol to approximately below the current official 87 naira per litre. However, this critical and timely intervention of Dr. Ubah has shown what love for country and working for the greater good can achieve in a nation.

The new administration should not take this gesture lightly. In progressive nations across the world, individuals and organisations that show such uncommon feat of placing public interest above other ones are identified and rewarded.

Honoring such a feat would serve as an example to others that making personal sacrifice for national good is a worthwhile investment.

Indeed as Martin Luther King Jnr. said, the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moment of comfort and convenience but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. Dr Ifeanyi Ubah stood on the side of the people and for the good of country at this critical time of national rebirth.

-Okpala, a political analyst, sent this piece from Abuja

Evangelist Elliot Uko, the leader of South-East Democratic Coalition and the founder and president of Igbo Youth Movement, in this interview spoke of the expectations of Nigerians from the Buhari’s presidency, the fate of Ndigbo in  Nigeria and other critical national issues. Sam Egburonu reports

Nigeria has a new president now; how do you see his emergence and your hopes for his regime?

Well, he emerged properly; majority our country men voted for him; he and his team have assured us that Nigeria will see good times again. The proper thing to do is to support him and his team. He seems prepared for the job. So, we ask all Nigerians to support him to succeed.

Nigeria is under heavy load of multi-faceted problems; do you see Buhari solving them?

Multi-faceted problems have always been with us. The man has seen it all; he tried four times for the job. I believe he knows all that, he doesn’t seem afraid of these problems. He rode on a popular wind of change; expectations are high, both from those who voted for him and the people who didn’t. He must not fail. He understands Nigeria better than his predecessor; he has goodwill within and outside the country; Nigerians are waiting with berthed breath for a different, more mature style of governance. I do not think that the consequence of disappointing Nigerians is lost on him and his team. I do not think he will fail.

The PDP has just found itself as opposition party. Do you think they will provide a strong opposition to the polity?

I do not speak for the PDP; they will have to learn lessons they need to learn, make their choices, fight for relevance and Nigeria will make up their minds on whether to take them seriously again or not. They don’t have our sympathy; they had 16 years to lift up Nigeria and they bungled it. The steps President Buhari will take in the coming months will either seal PDP’s coffin or give them a lee way to bounce back to relevance; much also depends on how they are able to carry themselves, perform in the states where they hold sway and organise a strong opposition block. The truth is, they made so many mistakes; they became so arrogant and paid dearly for it. Some of them thought they were in paradise.

The South-East seems to have emerged the PDP strong hold at the moment…

That is not true. The PDP conducted itself in a most arrogant manner at the federal level. Enugu out gone governor did so well; Ebonyi political structure and culture is not strong enough to allow for partisan choices; Abia was a battle ground of sorts. That is the South-East PDP you talked about. Igbo people are not crazy about any political party. They are bitter over the political structure that leaves them in only 5 states out of 36. They believe in Justice and equity. They want to see a Nigeria where all are equal. They are pained that nobody seems interested in their legitimate cry for a just and fair structure that gives all Nigerians a sense of belonging. They don’t understand the huge dose of envy over their successes as entrepreneurs; they feel unloved, unwanted and hated in a country they have given their all to build. Ndigbo are and will remain a very vibrant and integral part of the Nigerian success story. No government has taken time to study to find out why Ndigbo are dissatisfied with the present Nigerian structure; the attitude has always been to abuse and insult Ndigbo. Ndigbo voted for UPP, APC, etc. Yes, our people voted PDP massively but there are Igbo members of all the political parties that ran for elections two months ago. We believe in justice and equity. We believe in a level playing field for all.

Will Ndigbo flow with the APC in the months and years ahead?

 I don’t and will never be a member of any political party. I don’t pretend to speak for the entire Igbo race, but I know that Ndigbo want to see a functional Nigeria. President Buhari will win over Ndigbo if he initiates political restructuring that will enthrone true federalism and equity in the number of states and local governments per zone. Ndigbo are deeply aggrieved by the present structure.

The onus of winning over Ndigbo is on him. He is perceived rightly or wrongly as an Igbo hater; Ndigbo do not perceive Atiku or IBB that way. It is Buhari’s choice to prove Ndigbo wrong and win them over; the choice is entirely his. Ndigbo were clearly uncomfortable with him; it could be his handling of PTF projects under Adada, his comments on Sharia and Boko Haram did not help matters.

 It is his prerogative to try and convince Ndigbo that he is fair minded. His APC friends who led delegations to beg him to be fair to Ndigbo are actually casting him in bad light. They are giving the world the impression that the man is a mean, sectional header who has to be begged before he could be fair to all. Nobody led delegations to beg Shagari, Umaru Yar’Adua, Obasanjo or Jonathan to remember to be fair; all the states in the U.S which voted Mitt Romney and the Republican Party did not send delegations to beg Obama to be fair to all.

 He can only prove watchers right or wrong. I know he will win over those who looked at him with suspicion if he returns looted funds and quickly restores sanity to the system, but most of all, he will become a hero if he leads in the political restructuring of Nigeria. I am sure he knows everybody is watching keenly to note what his style will look like. Ndigbo are watching.

How would you react to the results of the last presidential elections, especially as it affects Ndigbo?

“I would begin by saying that the elections have come and gone and Buhari has won. It is the will of God. I didn’t vote for him. I voted for Chief Chekwas Okorie. When I was voting for him, I knew that UPP will not win but I wanted his votes to mount up. I voted for Chief Chekwas Okorie’s UPP because that was what my conscience asked me to do. Now, Ndigbo are perplexed at the reactions of some Nigerians on the Igbo vote pattern. It is a shock to us that people are complaining about the Igbo vote pattern. We don’t see it as just a complaint about the 2015 elections, no. We see it as an increasingly mounting hatred of the Igbo nation and this hatred frightens us, because we feel that something more horrendous could happen to the Igbo nation in future, something worse than the pogrom of 1966. We see hate in all these comments about Igbos putting their eggs in one basket. We are pained, we are disappointed; we are frightened about the future. We believe that Nigerians are envious about the individual successes of the Igbos at the entrepreneurial level and that all this could lead to another holocaust, another pogrom in future. When the entire South-West voted for Action Group, when the entire South-West voted for UPN in 1979, when they voted for AD in 1999, nobody blamed them for putting their eggs in the same basket. When the entire north stood with Buhari in 2003, he lost; they stood with him again in 2007, ANPP, against Yar’Adua, he lost; they voted for him massively, they believed in him, in 2011, he lost; nobody blamed them for putting their eggs in the same basket. Why are Nigerians singling out Ndigbo for blame, mocking us, laughing at us? It means there is an increased and increasing dimension of the hate campaign against the Igbo nation which could result in another pogrom in the future, and we are frightened. The envy and jealousy of the Igbo nation has led to all sorts of abuses against the Igbo man. On the internet, people write all sorts of articles on why Ndigbo will never be President. They write all sorts of articles against the Igbo nation. We are wondering who told them that Ndigbo want to be President of Nigeria. We have consistently maintained our stand at Aburi, Ghana, 48 years ago, that we want a restructured Nigeria, under true federalism, based on regional autonomy. We restated it at General Abacha’s Constitutional Conference, 20 years ago, we restated it at General Obasanjo’s Political Reform Conference, 10 years ago, where it was agreed to give Ndigbo an additional state. We agreed that Ndigbo are unjustly treated in Nigeria, but that event died because somebody sandwiched his third term agenda in that. Ndigbo restated our clamour for restructuring at the just-concluded National Conference. We have never said that we want to be President of Africa, West Africa, or Nigeria. We have been pleading for the restructuring of Nigeria along the lines of true federalism, so that we can grow and develop our region and make Nigeria truly great. Comments, articles, stories in the media, especially in the online media, have been attacking and abusing the Igbo nation, and blaming us for not voting for Buhari. Buhari knows he is not popular with Ndigbo. He knows that in the early days when Boko Haram were attacking Igbo people, motor parks, their trading posts in Kaduna, Kano, attacking their churches in Abuja, Suleja, everywhere, that General Buhari was making comments defending them, blaming Jonathan’s administration for attacking Boko Haram, saying that Boko Haram are being killed, while Niger Delta militants are being given amnesty. Those comments cannot endear Buhari to Ndigbo.

Nobody blamed the Republicans who voted for Mitt Romney and blamed them for not voting for Obama. Nobody accused all the states that voted the Republican Party and voted John McCain; nobody blamed them for putting their eggs in the Republican basket. Why is Nigeria, for the first time, suddenly accusing the Igbo of putting their eggs in one basket?

This hatred of the Igbo man has got to stop. President Buhari has been in Nigerian political leadership circles for more than 50 years. As a young army officer, he played a key role in the war. He was rewarded as the Minister for Petroleum and Military Governor of the old Northeastern State. He served as the Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund. He was a former Head of State. So, we believe he understands Nigeria. And he has won the election. We will support him. Ndigbo will support him. And we want him to succeed. Our religion teaches us to pray for our leaders, to pray that God gives them the wisdom to lead us aright, according to the will of God and our prayer is that President Buhari succeeds. We have nothing against him. Ndigbo have nothing against Buhari. We want him to lead the country out of the doldrums and we believe he will not fail. Our only fear is that in his first outing he was intolerant of criticism. But now that he is 72, we believe he must have matured with age, and that he must have known that he will be criticized. So, we believe he knows what to expect. As for criticism, we do not know if he has the mind to condone such criticism, to appreciate them, and finally to see that they are an integral part of democratic culture. His friends tell us that he is now tolerant and mature; his enemies tell us that he is intolerant by nature. His dance steps will tell us which one is true.”

There seems to be confusion over what Ndigbo want. What do you want?

The Igbo man is suffering from so many things in Nigeria, apart from the wrong structure. He is greatly suffering from the psychological warfare from our compatriots. They don’t want to respect the Igbo man’s views that Nigeria ought to be restructured. They want to hand over to the Igbo man that what he should be angling for is to be President of Nigeria. The Igbo man does not care whether the President of Nigeria is Igbirra, Jukun, Angass, Yoruba, Fulani, Ijaw, Itsekiri, or Hausa. What the Igbo man wants is a structure that is fair to all, that enthrones justice in Nigeria, where all are equal, where nobody is oppressed, where nobody is born to rule, where everybody has a sense of belonging. That’s what the Igbo man wants. People want to hand us their agenda, and they want us to adopt it as our agenda. We reject their agenda. They have no right to give us an agenda. The Igbo agenda is the struggle for a fair and just Nigeria where all are equal. A structure that enables the foundry workers, metal workers at tinker, in Coal Camp, Enugu to link up with the beautiful, gifted crafters of hand-bags and shoes in Aba, with the entrepreneurs, importers, and distributors of Onitsha and Nnewi, to build a Dubai, a Hong Kong, in southern Nigeria. That’s what the Igbo man wants. He wants where he will take total control of his future. A country where the federal government will  handle the military, the armed forces, the foreign policy, immigration etc, and the regions are to take care of the rest, from agriculture to education to housing and all else. The Igbo man wants true federalism. Stop telling us how to be President. We want a Nigeria where all are equal.”

What are your immediate expectations from Buhari?

We believe that he has done well for himself; he has a huge political following. We know that Nigeria is barely surviving at the moment. We know that he rode on the crest of ethnicity and religion. They all played a part in this election. The fanatical followership and support he has in the north will not be possible if Muhammadu Buhari hails from Cross River State. So ethnicity and religion played a role. But we respect his political party. They built a strong opposition party and worked very hard on all fronts for their success at the polls. The PDP’s arrogance and taking Nigerians for granted didn’t help matters. President Jonathan was held hostage by a cabal of leeches and that helped the APC. We respect that, especially Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu has shown that he is a mobilizer of men. All the governors of the South-East or from his period could not mobilize the South-East like he mobilised the South-West. We respect him for that. He built a strong machine and he worked hard. There was nothing that they should do that they didn’t do. We respect that, and we plead with all Nigerians to support him. It is in the interest of the entire country that he succeeds. Our prayer is that he succeeds. Nobody in the South-East is excited about any party. The problem of the South-East is the failure of leadership among the elders and the political elite, and the huge division between those elites, on one side, and the masses on the other. There is a crisis of confidence in Igboland and it’s been on for long. On one hand, we have the political elite benefitting from Nigeria, living like movie stars, deceiving the masses, constituting themselves into Bill Gates, donating keke, okada, clothes and bags of rice to the masses. On the other hand, you have the poor masses and their champions, who hang Biafran flags in their bedrooms, they even have a radio station now, Radio Biafra, and they are on a different pedestal. And the rest of Nigeria do not understand that, that in the South-East, Ndigbo are not happy with the structure of Nigeria. My message to President Buhari is that Ndigbo will support you, sir. We are praying for you to succeed, to check the sleaze, to correct the arrogance and the mismanagement of the out-gone PDP government. but, sir, anybody who tells you that Ndigbo are happy with the structure of Nigeria is deceiving you. Ndigbo are bitter about a structure that leaves them with only 95 Local Government Areas and 5 states, where they are denied equal representation. The so-called Igbo leaders who live in Asokoro and Maitama and drink brandy with other Nigerians, and who say that the Igbos are happy under the present structure are deceiving other Nigerians. Ndigbo are bitter, they are angry, and I am in the middle, sounding the alarm. If you disregard me, time will tell, because I know that there are people who, out of frustration, no longer believe in Nigeria, and they put money down to fund Radio Biafra. They are tired of the leaders. They are frustrated. My duty is to tell President Buhari the truth. The first step to carry Ndigbo along is to begin, anyway you like, to restructure Nigeria. If you don’t like the recommendations of the Confab, you can begin your own restructuring. If you fight corruption from here to Timbuktu, if you fight Bokom Haram from here to Cairo, you will not carry Ndigbo along if they are still locked in this 5-state structure. Matters are made worse by the booth licking culture of pretended leaders, pseudo leader’s, selfish and conceited men who have no shame. They are hugely talented at hoodwinking presidents, capturing him and holding his hostage; their tongues are also well designed for professional boot licking. They don’t mean well for anybody except themselves and their children. Their sole agenda now is how to access the same Buhari they mobilised everybody to hate. I hear they are desperately searching for crevices, cracks in the window and under the door so they can creep in to lick President Buhari’s booth so they can deceive and manipulate him like they did other presidents.

They led Jonathan into the pit, they only hope to use flattery and praise singing to deceive Buhari. I hope the man knows them well; he has been around enough to know them. Their indolence and greed will not let them forge a strong opposition block. Please help me tell President Buhari to hide his booths from these shameless bootlickers.

The Igbo position at the moment is that the masses want Buhari to run Nigeria with the fear of God, to begin to restructure Nigeria, to give them a sense of belonging, to create an equitable environment; while the so-called elites and Igbo politicians are looking for Buhari’s boots to lick. I hear that Buhari locked up his boots in the wardrobe and refused to present his boots for them to lick. They have written so many letters, they want to pay solidarity visits to him; they are professional boot-lickers. They are so good at it. They licked Obasanjo’s, Yar’Adua’s, and Jonathan’s boots, and they are looking for Buhari’s boots to lick. They are disconnected from the masses, and they want connections so they can get contracts, appointments, make money, and help themselves, as usual, at the expense of the masses. My message to President Buhari is this, Ndigbo have nothing against you. They want you to know that the structure of Nigeria, which you didn’t create, is unfair and unjust, and therefore unacceptable. They are so disgruntled that millions of their youths are even being misled.

Buhari has a huge opportunity to rebuild Nigeria, bring to book all those that destroyed this country, make them to refund all the billions they stole, and restore confidence in the leadership of Nigeria. Then, Ndigbo will support him. The people that Ndigbo look up to as their leaders are only out for their own pockets, and for the affairs of their children; they don’t care about the Igbo masses. Ndigbo stood with Jonathan to the end simply because he engaged us, and told us that he would restructure Nigeria. Now he did not restructure before he left. We have not given up on restructuring of Nigeria. We plead with President Buhari to realise that the most important need of the Igbo nation is the restructuring of the political structure of Nigeria, and the enthronement of true federalism along the lines of equity and fairness.

Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, Ijaw activist and founder of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, speaks candidly in an interview with Assistant Editor, Morakinyo Abodunrin  about the Jonathan’s Presidency and his expectations of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Excerpts…

There is a new government led by President Muhammadu Buhari in place, what are your expectations?

 As a good citizen, we would continue to cooperate with any government in power because as you know, soldier goes but the barrack remains. That is governance and the longest time anybody can stay in this democratic process is eight years. For some of us, we have to accept the inevitable circumstances of the process and would want to see what the new government has to offer the Nigerian people.

Looking back, what is your assessment of the last regime of President Goodluck Jonathan?

My own perception would be a marked difference from other people but I believe Jonathan did so well based on his capacity. I want to say that he made tremendous progress in the time he spent in governance. He did the best he can to lift the country to a greater height but we cannot achieve success as a country if we do not work together. The only way a leader can make progress is for the followers to give him the maximum support which unfortunately cannot be said of President Jonathan’s period.  Since Nigeria is a multi-lingua and multi-ethnic set of people, there would always be different perception by different people. Also, don’t forget that there is also the perception that Jonathan came from the minority section of the county that does not deserve to rule.  Since some people do not like him, they felt they had to pull down the government. Some of the criticisms against former President Jonathan were not constructive but he has shown that he is truly a good citizen of this country from the way he conducted himself even when there were grounds for him to contest the result of the election. He showed that the country comes first than even the region he came from. I just hope the new government would also build upon the legacy Jonathan left behind in the future in case the people reject them at the poll.

So you are in agreement with the postulation that Jonathan was actually betrayed by some of his stalwarts in the Peoples Democratic Party?

I agree totally because when you are somewhere and some people around you are already digging your grave before you die; it gives cause for concern.  Like the party Chairman, Muazu was accused of so many anti-party activities. You recall that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State even told the world that he has a dossier on the many anti-party activities of the PDD chairman and that goes to tell you that Jonathan was doomed to fail at the election. Though they say politics is a game of number and the popularity of the person should earn him the victory, yet you can see that some persons were maltreated in some states during the electioneering period. A case in point was that of Bauchi, the home state of the PDP chairman, where the convoy of a sitting President was stoned. How then do you expect Jonathan to win in such a hostile environment? But as said earlier, we must accept the inevitable circumstances that we found ourselves today if that is the only thing that would keep us together as a country. We know there are a lot of irregularities during the election and I would agree that Jonathan was actually betrayed by those who should have supported him to retain his post.

You were quoted as saying ‘the Ijaw activists’ would make the country ungovernable should Jonathan lose the 2015 Presidential Election; do you still maintain your stand on this?

First and foremost, I have no apology for being an Ijaw man. My allegiance goes to the Ijaw people which is where I came from. So, I have no apology for saying that I won’t support anybody other than Jonathan. I was and still 100 percent in support of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and I have no apology for that. We have been living in deception for too long in this country and the country called Nigeria was a constitution of fraud. This was congregation of people by the colonial masters who coerced them into a marriage that was never going to work because it catered mostly for the interest of the Northern Protectorate; and I don’t know how long we are going to live in this deception? I was never born to be ruled but we have a case of people who never cared if people from where the major resources of the country are coming from deserve to lead. There is a saying that whoever holds the piper dictates the tune but this is not the case in Nigeria of today. Rather, what we have is suppression and oppression; and we are saying this cannot and should not be allowed to continue. You know there was a time when the slogan for one of the states in Northern Nigeria was ‘Born to Rule’ until they were told it does not augur well for the unity of the country. As far as I’m concerned, there was a conspiracy by some people to ensure that the Jonathan government did not succeed.

I want to believe that you listened to the inaugural speech of President Buhari, what did you make of it?

I listened attentively to the inaugural speech of the new President and in the entire speech, one statement stood out: ‘I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.’ I think that is instructive that he wants to be his own man and that nobody or a godfather like we have in our politics, can hold him hostage. We would hold him to account on this because there is so much corruption in the land which as a matter of fact had been there for over 30 years ago and it would be interesting on how he goes about it. But it is not by mere talking that he belongs to everybody and to nobody but I hope he would be able to walk the talk by putting in check for instance, the issue of the godfather as we have it in many political parties today. We are waiting to see him implement some of the things he has promised Nigerians he was going to do; and for some of us. We are desperate to see the change.

Do you believe in change?

I can’t wait to see the change they were talking about. It was the anthem of change that put them in power and we are waiting to see these changes. The ordinary Nigerians believe in change and that was why they (APC) were voted into power, so we are waiting to see the change. Change is such a powerful word that the man sleeping in his room would be interested to know what is the change these people are talking about.

What kind of change are you personally looking forward to see?

There is a lot of corruption in the land. There is a lot of corruption in the land; a lot of corruption and this has nothing to do only with the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan because this is something that has plagued the country as far back as some 25 to 30 years ago. So, I’m looking forward to the change they are talking about because few people have amassed so much wealth for their own personal aggrandizement and unfortunately, to the detriment of people of this county; so, it would be interesting to see how President Buhari is going to effect change in the war against corruption. Of course, we know there is so much corruption in the power sector for instance and Jonathan tried to wade into it but he was frustrated. The truth must prevail because the world knows those who had stolen the wealth of this country; we know those who have carted away the resources of this country to build so many exotic homes abroad. I would be glad to see President Buhari tackle corruption. If he does this, I would be the number one person to give him my support because corruption has become the bane of our society.

Do you think he has the capacity to tackle corruption as he said?

If I were the president of this country, I would sacrifice myself and fight head-on corruption. I think fighting corruption is a state of the mind and if he has the mind, he can fight it. You can’t be a leader or president without stepping on people’s toes. He has to step on people’s toes in order to fight corruption. What kind of salary are some people and senators receiving that they would be riding cars of 30 to 50 million Naira? Where did they get that sort of money in this economy? That is the truth but like I said, w have been living in deception in this country but I think Buhari has the capacity to fight  corruption but it is left to him to  ensure that he fight the war against corruption to a logical conclusion. I don’t think he is a materialistic person and I think if he desire to fight corruption as he has told us, he can fight it. I know that the former president of Iran does not have more than two or three clothes when he was in government and even when he left power he has little or nothing. But in our country, we have seen that those who ruled us are living on the top of mountains with stupendous wealth; and they have businesses which they acquired from sleaze and tax payers’ money. All these things must be looked into because they actually converted governance to private enterprise.

What other areas did you think he can focus aside the issue of Boko Haram that he mentioned in his inaugural speech?

I don’t want to believe all he said are just mere rhetoric or campaign strategy. We are going to hold Buhari accountable for all the promises he made before the election. The records are there because we have heard them say that ‘Dollar would be exchanged for just one naira’ and he promised that we’re going to have ’24 hour of electricity’ and   we are waiting to see all of these happen. The out-gone President Jonathan gave us freedom of speech and I would pray that President Buhari allow us to exercise such freedom because we are going to be the watchdog of his government. Just as they were not patient enough to wait to see Jonathan finish some of the things he promised, we won’t give them the liberty to wait till eternity. The patience was not there for Jonathan to complete his second term so that we would be able to assess him well, so we won’t give them such luxury too. The angling for power did not allow them to be patient but constructive criticism is what we are going to engage in; and I won’t be party into those naïve and stupid criticism of the new government.

Do you honestly think President Buhari would be able to fix these problems in four years?

 I told you earlier that there is not going to be excuses for not delivering on these promises. There should be no excuses because the last man said building a nation was gradual process and that he should be allowed to complete another mandate but they did not hear him out. So, we are also saying President Buhari must fix the economy, battle corruption and insecurity in four years just as he promised to do.  It is only God that knows tomorrow and if you are talking about tomorrow, you should be talking about today; but if we can’t see any significant change in the next two years. We are not going to give them rest. Don’t forget the criticisms of Jonathan started almost immediately he was sworn in as president in 2011; so it should be the same way. Why would it be different this time around? So, what we are waiting to see is the change they made noise about during the campaign because it was on that basis that they were voted into power.