7 November 2008
(Page 2 of 3)
If you are to score the president, what will be your score for him?
I may not be in the best position to score the President, because like I told you, nature abhors vacuum. His style may be what he is doing and also based on his own prerogative. The president is doing what he feels is best for the country.
The world is awash with financial meltdown. What impact do you think this will have on our political development?
The point is that we have already started suffering it. The price of oil was estimated to hit $200 per barrel by December this year, but unfortunately the price is plunging down.
When the price started plunging down I know that it is not to our country's benefit for relying solely on revenue from oil.
The leprous hand behind the global financial crisis is the United State of America, because you cannot as President of America, execute two wars in four years and still expect things to remain the same.
You must have problem after executing the wars. The war America waged within these period of time is actually what the entire world is suffering right now.
In as much as that is supposed to be American problems, but being a world power, and based on imperial grand strategy (national security strategy) America cannot suffer such a thing alone.
Even if America is going down, they have to drag the entire world down, and even if they are going up they also have to drag the entire world up to a certain level as not to compete or equate with them. We have already started suffering the financial crisis where a bag of rice is nearly a $100 based on today's exchange rate.
However, our people have not started shouting about it, because Nigerians don't give a damn about anything and more so as we run a cash economy.
If the entire Nigerian economy has been in plastic, I mean credit card borne by debt, only God knows what would have happened in this country, but the point is that we are a cash economy, because most of the payment are on cash on the table.
Having brought American scenario into focus, how then would you see the political developments in that country going by their election this month?
When the primaries started, I can't lie to you, I envisaged Mrs Clinton winning the party ticket. I went to America sometimes ago and I studied political science and power politics and in America. I was thinking based on the political and electoral system of the country.
Based on my own analysis, I envisaged Clinton was going to emerge as the Democratic party's flag bearer. But because of certain things within the establishments, which Bill Clinton was on top of and certain things that happened during the Bush and Kerry election, maybe other leaders of the party was not comfortable with that.
So because of that, and I call it the hands of God were on the side of Obama and Obama emerged. But right now, since Obama emerged and there is all this financial crisis going on. The young man is very steady and he will tell you the problem and how he is going to settle the problem.
So far, so good, the polls have been in his favour, but if eventually at the end of the day America did not elect him, the whole world will ask America why?
Because in this case, if America do not elect Obama right now, America has to tell us why they must be preaching to the world that America is a land of opportunities, land of freedom.
So the thing is clear, you cannot tell us based on what is happening now that Obama is not a good candidate. He may not have 100 per cent of what America needs and nobody has that. John McCain may not have that also, but based on what is happening today and tomorrow, if America did not elect Obama, people like me will ask "what is going on?"
The emergence of Obama as president will further increase the rising trend of America's greatness. There is no way to dislodge Obama and if America does otherwise, that might be the beginning of American decay the fall of America, because nation rises and falls.
Are you looking at it from the African angle as an African?
Not that, but I told you earlier that I first supported Mrs. Clinton, she is not an African, Obama has proved himself. He is younger, McCain has more credentials more than Obama but for today's problem in the country, this young man knows what is the cause of the problem and he has told you how he is going to solve the problems.
What lessons do you think Nigeria will learn from American experience?
The lesson is that we have to find a way to build our own democracy in this country. If we must learn a lesson, it should be from nearby South Africa, where the party supremacy forced the president to resign to my greatest surprise. I saw Mbeki relinquish power as president of South Africa because his party on which platform he came to power, asked him to do so.
Some of his friends who felt they could reverse the situation went to the parliament and by the time they cast votes in the parliament they got only ten votes.
As Nigerians, we must nurture democracy, we must respect the supremacy of the party and the law. Supremacy of the law and the party is the survival of democracy anywhere in the world.
Are you saying that the situation is not the same in Nigeria, especially during the tenure of the former president Olusegun Obasanjo who was everything to the party?
Nigeria hoped so much on Obasanjo but he derailed because of third term instead of focusing on things that will get us out of those problems.
You have been an apostle of the former military president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida (IBB). what is it that endears you to the man?
I left this country very young and when I returned finally to settled down in the country, I didn't just plunge into becoming a politician right away because I got married and have to set up my family, get a home that I will live in before thinking of politics.
However, as a curious person, I conducted a research and discovered that out of all the people that ruled this country the person who is proactive, thinks ahead of time is IBB. I never knew him from Adam and never met him before then. During the time he was a military president, I was overseas. Not only that he was visionary, he implemented all those things for the future of this country, yet they called him bad name.
Several times, I wrote articles about him, I never met him, I didn't wan to see or know him, but I was trying to do the right thing based on my own convenience.
You once said that IBB after stepping aside will rule this country again. what did you mean by that?
This country requires an old hand like IBB to move it forward.
What did IBB forget in the state house?
There is nothing like forgetting anything in the state house, afterall what did Obasanjo forget in the state house? For him to come back , if we are to go by your question, what IBB put in place when he was the military president is what we are still implementing today. So as far as this country is concerned, he is a leader whose political ideology is visionary. Mind you he did not annul June 12 election, but he cancelled the election based on advice of NEC chairman. Humphery Nwosu had said that. He cancelled the election based on the advice by people from South West of Nigeria. He didn't do it against any body.
Before he did that, he told the two presidential candidates, Abiola and Tofa and I believe those people still dwelling on June 12, don't have anything to do.
Maradona as evil genius?
He is not Maradona. Maradona is a footballer from Angentina, also he is not an evil genius, evil cannot make something good that people will love. IBB is a good genius and not an evil genius.
He had told you that he will not volunteer himself to rule this country again, but I am telling you that at this particular time in our lives, God brought him to become head of state and God will definitely make it and he will never resist that.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
