Ex-diplomat and first runner-up in Liberia’s 2011 presidential election Mr Winston Tubman is running for next year’s election for the third time. He was in Nigeria last week. He spoke with WALE AJETUNMOBI on how he would engage the youth to surmount his country’s challenges, if elected president.
I am visiting Nigeria because the country is our number one power in the West African region. Every problem you find anywhere in West Africa, you find it in Nigeria. Sometimes, it looks like that problem is bigger in Nigeria and this is because the country is bigger than other countries in the region. But the size of the problem also generates huge efforts from the Nigerian government. Nigeria is of interest to all of us, who are interested in serving the people in the West African region. In the past one year, Nigeria has had President Muhammadu Buhari, and he has made efforts to confront corruption and this has resonated all around the world.
Reason for running for Liberia’s presidency the third time
I ran for the president of Liberia almost six years ago and I intend to run again in the election, which will hold next year. I will still like to run again. When you have achieved the thing that made you to run in the beginning, you will not be satisfied until you’ve done it. So, if you haven’t done it, you would still have to do it. When I ran for president five years ago, I ran with George Weah. He was the Vice Presidential candidate on the ticket. We did our best. But, unfortunately we didn’t get the job. I believe that if we run again, we will get the job. But, Weah has been urged by many people in our party (Congress for Democratic Change) that he should be the head of the ticket. And he has said he would be interested in doing that. However, the decision as to who will be the presidential candidate of our party does not get to be made until next year. So, nobody can tell what would happen by then. But, I am interested in being presidential candidate. If it is possible for Weah and to run on the ticket again, we would be successful.
My dream of change for Liberia
By the time the incumbent President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf steps down next year, she would have spent 12 years in office. So, it is time for change, new idea and new people to get involve. On what we would do differently, you must know that in all parts of Liberia, problems are the same. We want development, schools, hospitals… we need so many things. In fact, everything that is needed in Nigeria is also needed in Liberia. I would be different in my approach. I want to be able to bring new and younger people, who have not been in government, on board. These younger people have not become corrupt. We are all hearing their agitations on how better to move Liberia forward. But, it doesn’t happen. Each time we have a new government, we soon find out that the same problems are there. I think part of the reasons we keep having problems because we never get enough young people in government. It has been sort of recycling; the same people. And these people have their habit, which makes ‘Change’ difficult. I think if we are able to gather new people, who have not become contaminated by the system, we will change our story for good.
At 70, stepping down
for the young to run
Many people would have asked the same question to know why I shouldn’t allow young people to do the job. But there are many young people, who want to be leaders. It is going to be unlikely that one would say ‘I will stand back and let another person go forward’. I am fortunate to have had George Weah, who is younger and very popular. He decided and agreed that he would stand as number two and I would be the head of the ticket. So, that gave me exposure and experience, which a very few politicians have had. We both made the sacrifice. And I think if we go forward and bring that ticket to form the government, it would be good for the country. If you say let the young person be the president, and about 30 young people are jostling for the position, which one of them would say ‘Let one of the others go forward?’ It is unlikely. But, if you have someone, who is older, more experienced and who has been involved in events both in the country and outside, he would have a better chance of getting the younger people to say ‘the only way we can get power is to form a team and consolidate’. Through this, we would offer the people of Liberia an effective leadership choice. Look, in the United States, the man (Bernie Sanders) who challenged Hilary Clinton is only one year younger than me. There, nobody talks about his age. In fact, he attracted more young people than Mrs Clinton, who is younger. Serious countries are looking for people not just to come and solve their problems, but bring them together to jointly tackle the problems. That is what Bernie Sanders is doing and I believe Liberia could benefit from it. That is the kind of leadership I want to provide. I want to bring young people, who want to see their country doing better. I believe at my age and with my experience, I can inspire.
On President Johnson-Sirleaf’s performance
The biggest thing that strikes you is that, coming out of the war, everything had broken down-discipline, schools, physical infrastructure, as well as the social fabrics. She came in at that point. Because she was the first woman to be elected president in Liberia and in Africa, she caught the attention of the international community for help to restructure Liberia. She went on to become very famous internationally. We are proud of that achievement; that she’s able to do that for our country after the terrible thing (civil war).
Another good thing that happened under her rule is that she believes in press freedom. When she was in the opposition during the previous regime, she was constantly threatened and jailed. She suffered. Now, she knew what it was to be intolerant. That is why she promotes freedom of expression and press. She has not shut down newspapers; she has not jailed journalists. When journalists were jailed, they came back immediately, not because of her action. But, she has always tried to maintain tolerant atmosphere. And this is good for Liberia. But, we need to move forward now. We need to get on to serious agenda like fight against corruption.
One of things that got me excited about Nigeria is that fight against corruption is very strong here. President Buhari has said many strong views on how to tackle corruption and everybody is waiting to see this battle sustainable. When Johnson-Sirleaf came, she said corruption was Liberia’s number one enemy. Coming nearly to the end of her term, you could see that corruption hasn’t gone down. Lately, there was an international report of bribery on some of our top officials. She took a strong stand and the concerned officials are being investigated. People have applauded the strength she showed in doing that. So, we are waiting to see what would happen. Something similar has happened in Nigeria. You see the list of how much money that has been recovered. People know it is just a tip of an iceberg; it is much more. President Buhari’s effort is sincere. Our president has also shown that she is ready to tackle corruption. It is a welcome development.
On Liberia’s infrastructure
To tackle Liberia’s infrastructural problem, I would seek external assistance like Johnson-Sirleaf has done, with emphasis on rebuilding roads and physical infrastructure. The fact that we’ve had 12 years of peace and stability means that there is something to build on; rather than starting from the institutions, where everything had broken down when Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf came.
The main difference we seek to make is to involve people in the restructuring. We will encourage young people to go to the soil and grow crops, so that Liberia can be self-sufficient in food production. It is something that needs to happen. The government has tried in doing that over many years, but we need to put more effort in achieving results. So, the longer the period of peace lapse, the more the normalcy returns; then, we will be able to address development of our country. There is no new formula that I know that would make a needed transformation than to give fresh opportunity to people, who have not been contaminated by the system. They should be given a chance to bring something new and better to the fore.
On strife between American-Liberians and Liberian natives
This has been a big issue in our country. We have the American-Liberians, who came back from United States to Liberia and we have native Liberians. For many years, American-Liberians have dominated the political landscape of the country. In President William Tubman’s era, he did a lot to bring down those divisions. He had a programme called National Integration Policy, bringing tribes, people and settlers’ descendants together and it was successful. In my own case, my father comes from American-Liberians; my mother comes from the native Liberians. So, I have both strands in my make-up. I have a real connection with the country. I would like to see everyone coming together to strengthen our relationship. In President Tubman’s time, he made progress on that. After he died, the progress was not maintained, then the war came. They shattered much of equality they had. We have to go back and bring unity and integration. We must put aside these kinds of divisions and distinctions, because they are not good for the country. This would be my main priority if elected the president of Liberia.
On politicians and controversies
I think a politician, who is not seen as being controversial, is not doing what he should do. It means such a politician is complacent. The first thing to note is that, I am involved in politics to make things better. I don’t think I am controversial on the bad side. At least, I am not one of those that brought the civil war. However, there were some politicians, who felt things were so bad that needed to bring about war. It didn’t matter to them how many people were killed, but their aim was destruction and they did that. The crop of leaders we nurtured for so many years were shot and killed in the war. To me, those people that brought the war were not controversial, but radical. I am certainly not that way. I would like to see us solve our problem urgently and peacefully. Liberian people have seen that doing it in violent way has not resulted in success; so, we need to find a way to do it peacefully. And this is the leadership that I want to provide. I want to use my image as someone that believes in reconciliation. I have been called a great reconciler, because I’ve been bringing people together. So, it is not true to say I am being controversial. I am not.
On boycotting of the
last presidential election
We were cheated in the first round. I felt that if we were cheated in the first round, the second round would not be fair. This is because there was a policy being put forward by the incumbent. And that policy required that they should win. If they cheated us in the first round, then they would do the same in the second round. When we called for the second round to be boycotted, there was hardly anyone at the poll. And this was a clear demonstration that our contention was not wrong; that there was something hanky-panky about the results that they declared in the first round.
However, we accepted the outcome because we didn’t want to plunge the country back into confusion and fighting. So, we accepted the victory that the Johnson-Sirleaf administration had claimed. We had a peaceful inauguration and United Nations (UN) has been there; they are leaving at the end of this month. Things have been brought to a stage where we can consolidate the peace and build on it. We believe that we can do that. If we (himself and Weah) have the same ticket, we will be able to do it, because we will win power. But, if we don’t have the same ticket, I would find a way, myself, to be involved in strengthening the stability of the country and uniting our people.
My thoughts on Liberian
electoral system
Well, this is the best that we have. We need to be more vigilant. The way our electoral system is structured, too much power is given to the incumbent. They appoint the people. If I dispute and want to seek redress, it goes to the court…the Supreme Court. Judges in the court now in Liberia are people appointed by the present administration. Of course, President Johnson-Sirleaf will not be a candidate in the coming election, but she would have a favoured candidate. It is not unlikely that they will have their reason for supporting people that come from their party.
So, this is an area where we need to make change. The last general election in Nigeria was very good. In fact, the former chairman of Nigerian Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega, was in Liberia to help us in our elections. We can always improve on what we have; we will make it more democratic and the people involved in the conduct of the election would be seen to be neutral. That’s what we hope for. But, in our case, we would have overwhelming results and it would be difficult for anyone to cheat. If we are to consolidate opposition group, these 24 young people, who are vying for president should hold talks and field a candidate. Then let everyone be behind him. Doing that, our amalgamation would be so strong; then, we will win the big majority.
Position on
Africa’s development
Many people are wont to say colonialism is the problem. They would say the white man exploited us. But, the colonialists have long gone; Africans have been in charge of their countries. In Liberia, we would not say that because we were never colonised. We have been independent in running our own affairs for 168 years. But, the development is not to be based on the number of years. It is to be based on how much nation building efforts you have succeeded in bringing that involved everybody in it. And that is what we have not been able to do in most of our countries. We have had problems of corruption. Nigeria, for instance, has huge wealth coming from oil; but, corruption has been so staggering that the lot of the money that should have stayed here to develop the country is stashed elsewhere. We have to stop corruption. But, it is not going to be easy. There was a time African leaders were executing people for corruption; punitive measures were being taken. But, this didn’t solve the problem. We have to solve the problem by bringing our people together; let each person see that what is good for him is also good for other people. And there has to be tolerance and fair play. That is what we need in Africa; it has not happened, but it has to happen. We have a lot of work to do and we must know that we have to do it ourselves.
On harnessing
Africa’s resources
I think we have more resources than we have people. We don’t have overpopulation. If we are to manage our countries better, poverty, illiteracy and backwardness would be reduced. Our countries are well-endowed. After Nigeria discovered oil, everything went to focusing on oil. But, before that, Nigeria had produced lots of agricultural products, such as groundnut, cocoa, cassava and things like that. We need to do more of that, so that we won’t just depend on oil. Now that the price of oil has gone down, it brings a great hardship for the people and for the government. So, we should diversify and I think this is the way forward.
