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But interestingly, I got a feeler that a son of one of the party leaders has been pencilled down for the slot I am trying to contest for. An anointed candidate sort of. I even met with the father of the so called anointed candidate and he (the father) told me in many ways that he has been planning the race for his son for a very long time. He therefore told me to look for something else to contest for. He even suggested that, I might go for House of Assembly or wait for a political appointment or something like that. When I got back home to discuss with my family, they were not happy about the turn of events and they insisted I went into primaries with the anointed candidate and if at the end of the day the anointed candidate won, so be it..
But when we had a meeting in Abeokuta, they made it clear that there would not be any primary. They said they would just handpick candidates and submit same to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). And whoever is not picked should wait for an appointment or something like that.
And I think if that happens, I would move to a different party. And the different party I could move to is General Muhammadu Buhari’s party. The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Over the years, like in 2003 and 2007, I was part of General Buhari’s campaign train. He is somebody I love, somebody I admire and somebody I campaigned for. It is not that the party is strong in the south west, but since I could not get a fair deal in the ACN, I decided to go back to General Buhari’s party.
Why in politics?
We have general problem in Nigeria from Maiduguri to Port-Harcourt, Sokoto to Lagos and Enugu to Jos. There is problem of unemployment, economic problems, and leadership problem as well as problem of infrastructure. I hold the view that by 2011, every capable hand, every competent hand who have love and passion for this country should come out to salvage the country together.
But when you don’t have internal democracy in the political parties, the problems will persist because those people who are not popular, who are not competent and who don’t have wide support among the populace would be at the helms of affairs. And sadly they would not be able to perform because people would not have confidence in them. And when you don’t understand democracy, you would not understand the language of democracy and how democracy works to bring about dividends of democracy.
How long have you been in politics?
Every human being is a politician. It is not when you start running for an elective position that will make you a politician. We have been playing politics at home. We play politics with our wives, we play with our children and we play politics with our parents too at home. We are all political animals.
But I became more active in politics when my father was running for an election. Though I was young then, I can say I was part of the campaign team. I was following them up and down during the campaigns, watching what they were doing. And when there was annulment and the struggle to actualise the mandate ensued, I was with my mum, going up and down with her to see what could be done.
I was part of the marches to protest. Even in America, I was part of the protesters at the Nigerian Embassy. I even lobbied some American government officials to put some kind of sanctions on Nigerian government to force it to de-annul the election and so on. I am in politics with my roles to that extent. So in 2003 and 2007, I became part of Buhari campaign team in the south west, I think with Chief Olu Falae as the Head of the Campaign team. You can see now that I have been in politics but just that I am now fully in it as a candidate.
Why N’Assembly as a starter?
I want to start from the Federal level because some of the problems facing the country always come from the Federal government. Take for instance, the problem of insecurity is from the centre. Take a look also at roads like Lagos-Ibadan, Benin-Ore roads. They are Federal roads. Other examples are budgets and exchange rates and other stuff that are handled at the centre. If we can solve the problem from the top, other warehouses would fall in line. So, going to the House of Representatives will give me the opportunity to assist in solving the country’s problems from the centre.
Are you trying to step into your late father’s shoes?
No, no, no. You see, every human being has his own destiny. You can’t say you want to copy some one else life exactly. You should be able to have your own destiny. I agree my parents played politics for the enthronement of democracy that would make everybody in Nigeria enjoy. They did till they sacrificed their lives for genuine democracy to have roots in Nigeria.
Although that has not happened, we should remember that every thing in life is a process. We are in the process of achieving that. You know you can not get to paradise overnight. You have to work towards it. Basically, if we don’t have democracy in its real sense now, we should remember we are no more being ruled by the military. It is an advancement. We are progressing on that road since we have held three elections in this country. We hope we wont go back to dictatorship in this country.
The pro democracy war my parents fought and died for was a collective fight along with a lot of people. And with the elections we have held in this country, it means we are progressing.
What is required now is that the little achievements we have so far recorded must be sustained and nurtured. We hope that the coming election would be better than what we had in 2007. We hope that the democratic process as well as performance of our elected officers across board would be better.
What is your take on professionals in politics?
If you check all the people that have moved forward, you will realise that they put their best forward to lead them. You don’t have people that have nothing doing leading them. They won’t put people who don’t understand why the country is in bad shape in office. Those who don’t know why Naira is devalued when our crude oil is selling at high rate. Or those who don’t know the impact of devalued Naira on the economy.
I remember in the 1980s when naira went one-to-one dollar, one to two and one to three dollar, people started shouting. When it went from one to five to one to ten, people started screaming. When it moved from one to ten to one dollar to N22, people were wondering what was happening!
When Obasanjo took over it was one dollar to 87. Before you knew what was happening it went to one dollar to N117. Later it went to one dollar to N135. Now, it is one dollar to N155! You can imagine what is going on here. We need those who can identify the problem and proffer solution to it.
Also you look into the high rate of the current expenditure when the budget is currently going to the current expenditure. Our crude oil is basically spent on paying salaries and not in developing infrastructure. These are some of the issues I am going to the National Assembly to address by the grace of God.
What has being Abiola’s son done for you?
Well, I don’t ask from human being any special favour because I am MKO Abiola’s son. My parents have done their work and have gone back to their God and I pray that God gives them their rewards. I don’t seek unnecessary favour like saying, Lekan Abiola wants to contest and so, anybody that wants to contest should get out of the way. That was why I told the party leaders at a meeting in Abeokuta that, there should be primaries where all the card carrying members would decide who they want to fly the ACN flags.
It is not because of me.
What about those who are not Abiola’s sons like sons of Okada man, sons of artisan and peasant farmers and others like them?
I have gone round to meet people and campaign. They were supportive of my aspiration and looking forward to having a good primary.
When my father was contesting in 1993, they did not say, oh, MKO Abiola is coming, let everybody get out of the way for him. He fought a good fight since he had the Kingibes and Atikus to content with. It was a big fight in Jos. My father did not get his ticket of the SDP on a platter of gold. So I don’t expect my own to be on a platter of gold also.
So, even, if I was the one so handpicked, I would not want it. However, it has not discourage me in any way. It does not worth it, big or small. I am sure, anything God says is mine, In Sha Allah, I will have it. If God says on May 29, 2011, I will be sworn-in as House of Representatives member, nobody can stop it. When one door closes Allah will open another bigger one. So, I can’t be discouraged. I hope In sha Allah, I will be successful.
