By Ayo Onikoyi
Former national chairman, Justice Party (JP), and NADECO chieftain, Chief  Ralph Obioha in this interview says President Goodluck should stick with the promise he made in Kaduna during his 2011 campaign drive and not run come 2015. He says the number one citizen should focus on tackling the immediate problems of power supply, joblessness and security instead of pursuing the issue of another term. Excerpts: 

On whether the President should run or not

This issue has generated a lot of public discourse. My take is that he should not run. This is my personal opinion. It is an advice he can take or discard. The competing views are of two schools of thought. One school based their view solely on the constitution.

My simple layman interpretation of our constitution will back-up President Jonathan if he decides to run for president again. President Jonathan has run for the President once and the stipulation in our constitution talks about two  terms for the president. That is to say that he has to contest for the office twice to meet the constitutional requirement of two terms. Having so clearly agreed with this school of thought, one must look at the other side of the coin.

President Jonathan without any prompting promised in Kaduna during the 2011 that he would do only one term and since a president does not make a promise he does not intend to keep, President Jonathan should honour that promise. That is where I stand and that promise he made was the game changer.

Let me explain, by that promise, the entire nation reasoned that one term for President Jonathan is just and fair and the entire South threw their  majority votes behind him. The South-East  in particular embraced his candidature.  The other question that will come into play  is the question of statesmanship. Can the President really abandon the sanctity of his word and fall into the trap of crass ambition.

The democracy that many of us sacrificed so much to enthrone was that democracy that seeks compromise, consensus, compassion, fairness and equity to operate a nation as diverse as Nigeria. I, personally have since dropped the base instincts of tribalism and nepotism and  have championed causes that help to mould our country into nationhood.

In my determined commitment to the end with Abiola’s cause, so will it be with my total commitment that it is the turn of South-East to produce the President in 2015. If President Jonathan decides to stand in the way, it will amount to a betrayal on his part and a huge burden he will carry to his grave.

On South-East agitation

Yes. The case for the South-East is quite simple for those who will be prepared to discard their toga of discrimination. As we approach 2015, the conspiracy against Igbos will naturally thicken but let me remind all the other sectors of Nigeria that the Igbos have overpaid their dues in the Nigeria project. Some South-East people were accusing the Igbos as blind supporters of Northerners until Abiola appeared on the ballot and a vast majority of Igbos lined-up to support him.

Raph Obioha

I, as a person    sacrificed a thriving bank, a brewery, a cement bagging plant and  a huge vegetable oil factory to proceed on exile to head the campaign to re-validate Abiola’s presidential victory and to enthrone a viable democracy for our country. Our brothers in the South-South were doubtful of how Igbos would react at Jonathan’s election but the records show that the southeast posted the largest votes for Jonathan. Need the Igbo prove anything more?

I repeat that he should not run. Instead it should be his duty to ensure that a South-Easterner becomes the next president of Nigeria. One may argue it will   compromise our democracy but I believe it will rather strengthen it.

If the Igbos are denied their rights to produce the president of Nigeria in 2015, then project Nigeria can be regarded as  falsehood, a country of pretenders, a land in search of nationhood.

On other national issues

President Jonathan has a full compliment of issues on his table. He can elect now to face squarely the reformation of Nigeria. To his credit, he has quietly been at work to tackle the runaway problem of corruption in  Nigeria. He has quietly allowed the exposure of corruption at high places- the subsidy abuse, the pension funds abuse, the SEC abuse, even the national Assembly indiscretion.

If what we read is anything to go by, the promise of more energy will be the most vital input  to strategically tackle joblessness. If energy is made available and affordable, factory explosion will occur in Nigeria and create millions of jobs.

These factories will not alone feed the Nigerian market but have the markets  of west and central Africa at its beck and call. Any man who throws himself full time on these issues does not need to think of another term because if he can achieve  just 50 per cent improvement in these areas, history would remember him as a very successful president.