Mr Peter Obi, the immediate past governor of Anambra
State, is a honorary adviser to President Goodluck
Jonathan. Obi shares his perspective on the 2015 polls in
this interview.
We overheard the Vice President introduce you as the
Deputy Director General (South), comprising the South West,
South East and South South of the presidential campaign
organisation, which is why you are here as part of the
reconciliation team of the PDP for Lagos.
Are you satisfied with the outcome of the reconciliation
meeting?
Yes I am. I thank Vice President Namadi Sambo, who led
the peace talks and also thank and congratulate the people
of the state for their maturity. Mr Vice Vice President spoke
to the party members like a father, and everybody in the
PDP family agreed with him on the need to close ranks and
work together.
What is your reaction to the the statement of Governor
Rotimi Amaechi, the Director General of Gen Buhari’s
campaign, that the APC supports mutiny?
The statement, if it is true, is unfortunate and least expected
of a public officer of his status. I have always maintained
that leaders in corporate and public life should strive to
maintain exemplary character and behaviour that is worthy
of emulation. Their pronouncements and disposition must
be responsible, devoid of abusive, or inciting words that
could undermine the moral fabric of the society.
On this same issue of security in particular, lives have been
lost by the civilian populace and military personnel. That is
why public figures must be sensitive to these things and
show signs of serious social responsibility at all times. We
are expected to speak with restraint and decorum, knowing
that we can make or mar society. At all times and in all
climes, issues of security are left in the hands of security
agents and we must show utmost understanding of the
dynamics of security.
Do you agree that Buhari has the capacity to stop Boko
Haram if elected?
Gen. Buhari, as a respected, retired general and as an elder
statesman, does not need an invitation, an appointment or
an elective office to intervene on any national issue,
especially issues of national security like the one facing the
country at the moment. Elder statesmen all over the world
do not wait to be invited before they step forward on
matters of grave concern to their fatherland.
President Jonathan is running round sleeplessly and
working with security agencies, in addition to forging
bilateral ties to solve these problems. He will certainly be
very glad to receive any suggestions from Buhari and I can
assure you that Nigerians will be glad if he helps solve the
problem as an elder statesman. He has said that he will
summon a meeting of serving and retired generals to help
solve the problem if elected, but he does not need to be
elected to do so.
But some people are saying that he can deal with Boko
Haram, the way he dealt with the Maitatsine unrest decades
ago.
I have read in some places where the APC said that because
Buhari stopped Maitaitsine in the 80s, he will also stop Boko
today. I disagree entirely with this claim, because the stable
global environment of the 80s cannot be compared with the
volatile and terror-enveloped global environment of today.
The socio-religious realities that threw up the Maitaisine
group are different from the realities that threw up Boko
Haram.
In the 80s, most countries were stable, but today the global
instability, cutting across nations like Iraq, Syria and the
Middle East, has created a labyrinth of terror. This is in
addition to our African neighbours, , like Libya, Egypt,
Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Tunisia and others, which are all
facing various forms of instability and terrorist activities.
The level of sophistication in technology and military
hardware is also totally different today. No one would have
ever imagined in the 80s that terrorists would go into the US
and bomb the World Trade Centre, or attack the Pentagon.
But we all saw it happen.
These are realities that need to shape our understanding of
the world of today. What is happening has a global
coloration, because the ISIS flag is the flag you see with
Alshaba in Somalia and Boko Haram in Nigeria. You can
now see why we cannot compare yesterday with what we
are seeing today. Who would have thought that Nigerians
would turn into suicide bombers?
What do you say about the fate of the Naira?
Most comments about the condition of the Naira are made
out of ignorance. It needs the understanding of macro-
economic realities to understand what is happening in the
world today. The depreciation in the exchange rate is a
worldwide phenomenon, fueled by the fall in oil prices and
other elements of the increasing global economic and
security challenges. Hardest hit are countries that export
petroleum products.
Talking about the fall in the value of the Naira, look at what
is happening in Russia and other places. In just a year, the
Russian rouble lost 40% of its value. The Venezuelan
currency even lost more than that. The interesting thing
about these countries is that they are not calling for the
crucifixion of their leaders, rather, they are supporting them
with an understanding that the problem will pass away.
The APC has said that Buhari is the best Nigerian leader
ever, that he did it once and can do it again. What do you
say about this?
At the age of 41, which was 31 years ago, Buhari staged a
coup d’état and removed the democratically elected
government of Alhaji Shehu Shagari and tried visibly to instil
discipline and order in our society. This was both
commendable and his greatest achievement. But the
economic policies and actions of that government were
disastrous, as Nigeria nearly turned into a pariah nation that
no one wanted to deal with globally.
At the time, under the Buhari’s government, confirmed
Letters of Credit were rejected, because no one wanted to
deal with Nigeria. Though I disagree that he was one of the
best Nigerian leaders, even if we assume that he was the
best 31 years ago, that is not the reason we should clone
him back today at 72. The Singaporeans are not asking Lee
Kwuan Yu to come back. Malaysians are not asking
Mohamad to come back.
The Americans are also not asking Bill Clinton, who came to
office ten years after Buhari’s first outing and who had the
best economic performance in the 21st century, to come
back. Are we saying that Nigeria has not produced anyone
who can do the job today?
What exactly are you saying?
All I am saying is that no progressive country of the world,
especially those we are trying to emulate, like the US, the
UK, etc, have ever elected anybody above 70 years of age
since the inception of democracy in their countries.
The oldest person ever elected in the US was President
Reagan, who became president at 68. At that time,
Americans were particular about his age. This is a nation
with a life expectancy of over 100 years, as against Nigeria,
with a life expectancy of about 60 years.
Towards the end of Reagan’s presidency, there were
serious issues of stress and his ability to continue with the
job. Few months after he left office, he could no longer
recognise his wife. Let us cite examples of presidents of
these countries I mentioned, all of whom came to power at
least ten years after Buhari’s leadership of the country as
Head of State. President Barack Obama was 47 when he
took over, while George W. Bush was 54 and Bill Clinton 46.
It is almost the same for the UK where the current Prime
Minister was 43 when he took over, while Gordon Brown
was 56, Tony Blair 43 and John Major 47. To bring this
closer home, our neighbouring Ghana has President John
Mahama who started at 53. One can understand if he is in
his 60s today. To further elucidate this, why do we have to
retire our top military personnel and civil servants at 60,
university lecturers at 65 and Supreme Court judges at 75.
Even the religious bodies now retire their leaders at the age
of 70. Which is why the highly celebrated primate of the
Church of Nigeria, Sunday Mbang, and Ola Makinde of the
Methodist Church, as well as Cardinal Okojie of the Catholic
Church, are now retired. These are people who are
managing smaller segments of civil society.
In a world where a life-changing protest for democratic
change, demanding for free and fair democracy without
Chinese interference, was led by a 17-year-old boy in Hong
Kong, APC is threatening to inflict a 72-year-old grandfather
on Nigeria as president. Do you realise that the major
companies of the world like doogle (1998), Yahoo (1994),
Ebay (1995), Facebook (2004) and Alibaba (1999), were all
founded by people under 40 years of age. Most of the
captains of industry in Nigeria today are led by men and
women who were in not yet in primary school 31 years ago,
when Buhari’s was Head of State.
Gov. Amaechi also complained about Jonathan being
responsible for the depreciation of the Naira
Again, this is case of people speaking either out of mischief
or ignorance, or both. I speak of mischief here because even
those with no knowledge of macroeconomics know why the
Naira is depreciating. Currencies depreciate for a number of
fundamental reasons, other than the actions of
governments. The recent depreciation of major currencies of
the world was more pronounced in countries with heavy
dependence on oil.
The Russian rouble, for instance, lost over 45% of its value
in four months and no one is blaming Putin for it, or asking
that he should leave. Ours would have been much worse,
but for President Jonathan’s diversification of the economy,
especially in the area of agriculture which has saved a lot of
savings in food importation.
Furthermore, the currencies of better or similar similar
economies, like the Brazilian real, Argentina’s peso, Soth
African rand and more have all depreciated by over 12 and
15% in the last one year. This is similar to what we have
witnessed here and the people are not calling for the heads
of their leaders. Coming nearer home, the Ghanaian cedi has
equally depreciated by over 35%and no one has called for
an end to the incumbent government.
The opposition also said Jonathan is incapable of fighting
corruption and I need to hear your views on that allegation.
Well, everyone in Nigeria claims to be a saint and accuses
others of being corrupt. We all read and also heard from
those who were there what transpired at the APC
presidential primary in Lagos. That is not corruption, right?
While I agree that there is the need to strengthen institutions
like the ICPC and EFCC, to fight the physical and more
tangible forms of administrative corruption, there is also the
far more fundamental need to fight corruption from its very
roots.
What I mean here is the distortion of societal values, as
can be seen for example where those who are role models
are mostly some of worst among us. Honours and titles are
often given to persons whose conduct and obscene
exhibition of wealth set a bad example for the leaders of
tomorrow. The best way to fight corruption realistically is to
institutionalize the processes of governance.
You only need to look at how the reforms in the
procurement and distribution of fertiliser have totally
transformed everything, making fertiliser directly available
to farmers and disbanding the cartel that held the system
hostage before the Jonathan administration. It is the same
with the pension reforms and the Sovereign Wealth Fund
which have, respectively, created a more sustainable
financial fall back position and blocked leakages in pension
fund administration.
What is you take on who Nigerians should vote for in 2015?
The answer to that question is fairly obvious: Jonathan,
Jonathan, and Jonathan. He has put the right policies in
place and set the right processes in motion. He needs to
continue and finish the good work he is doing now and that
is why he should be voted in.
The reason you are asking this question is simply because
his performance is under reported and even sometimes
distorted by mischief makers. He will be a stronger and
better candidate, when re-elected, as he follows through
what he has started. Whatever challenges are on the ground
today are being progressively overcome and will soon
become things of the past.
Source: Vanguard
FILE PHOTO BELOW: Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan (L) and
vice president Namadi Sambo wave to supporters during a
presidential primary in Abuja, on December 10, 2014.
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