By Tony Nwankwo &  Gabriel Ewepu

Honourable Ogidi Ben Bara is the Director-General, House2House for Democracy.  In this interview, he bares his mind on the call for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, and what his organisation wants to do to achieve this. Excerpts:

What necessitated the conception of House2House for Democracy?
The aim of this organisation, House2House for Democracy, is to reach out to all Nigerians and those in Diaspora. We are preaching the gospel of democracy, teaching the electorate and the citizens of this country on democratic principles, and what democracy is all about. In any administration or government there must be a leader and here, we have His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. We are humbled to work with him.

We have seen him as a true democrat and we support his transformation agenda.  There has been transformation in every sector of the economy. So we felt it was necessary for this organisation to work for Mr. President, seeking a second term  come 2015.

Now you are canvassing for the re-election of Mr. President, do you have a solid structure to mobilise Nigerians to vote massively for him?
We have a solid structure in all the 36 states of the country, the FCT, the local government and ward structures. We have set up polling unit agents of House2House at the ward level. So we have the full support to bring back President Goodluck Jonathan.

What is the numerical strength of House2House members in Nigeria?
We have millions of our members across the country. We have 10 million members in each of the geopolitical zone, and the Federal Capital Territory. We have over 3 million registered members in each of the geopolitical zones who are eligible to vote in 2015.

Is President Jonathan the only candidate you are supporting for 2015?
Mr. President is the only candidate we are canvassing for, because we have seen him as a leader who has what it takes, who is serious to transform Nigeria. He has been in office for four years and we want him to complete his tenure in accordance with his constitutional rights as a Nigerian. Entitled to two terms of four years each.  We know that in the next four years he will do more than what he has achieved, and that is why we want him to do another four years.

He cannot go back home with only four years of his transformation agenda, because we have seen what he has done, and we need him for a second term.The benefits of his transformation agenda has shown in every sector of the economy. In agriculture, power, railways, in the massive rehabilitation of the nation’s airports, construction of roads, women and youths empowerment.  You are also aware that under his guide, the Nigerian economy, for the first time in our history, has been rated  the largest in Africa.  So, Mr. President has done exceedingly well to have a second term in office.

On security, Nigerians are divided on Mr. President’s achievement, as some people say he has not done well.  As an organisation, what are you doing to disabuse the minds of such Nigerians?
There is patriotism in the country and no true and patriot in Nigeria can say Mr. President has not done well on security. Security challenges is a global phenomenon. Of course, there are selfish, self-acclaimed and self-promoting politicians, there are also power-mongers in this country, who are agitating to be president, governors.  Some, have been presidents and governors before and did not perform even in their own states or in the country, but are now clamouring that Mr. President has not done anything.

Nigerians know them. Mr. President has done much in the area of security and 90 per cent of Nigerians acknowledge that.  It is the minute 10 per cent that are criticising him, and they are doing so for their own selfish interest.  We will not allow them to take over Nigeria. We have seen with our eyes the transformation of Mr. President and we know he deserves a second term in office.

After 2015 what will become of House2House?
House2House will not collapse after Jonathan had done his job, because it is an organisation that has come to stay for democracy. As far as democracy continues to exist in Nigeria, House2House will be there. We are talking and preaching democracy. We are working for Mr. President because we see him as a true democrat. After the regime of Mr. President whosoever follows the footsteps of Mr. President as a true democrat will get our support.

There are over 3, 000 groups calling for the re-election of President Jonathan, and you have been in politics for some time now, do you think most of them are genuine and really wants him back in 2015, and are you comfortable with the number so far?
Let me start by appreciating all the support groups for what they have been doing for the fact that Mr. President is not funding them, and they are doing it from their individual pockets. To me this 3, 000 support groups is not even enough. In 2011, when Mr. President was the Acting President, such groups came up and were calling on him to contest, and it is not a new thing to see such groups of over 3,000 calling on him to contest in 2015. It is a good thing to see Nigerians in their numbers calling on him to declare, and that shows that Nigerians are with him and are ready to work with him.

With the rallies you have held so far, especially that of Abuja, what has been the result?
We had the mini-rally that was organised by our women wing, and as an organisation, we went out publicly to tell Nigerians the reasons why Mr. President should be returned in 2015 and as you could see the crowd that gathered for Mr. President. We are just calling on Mr. President to declare, we are   not campaigning for him. After Mr. President has declared, then you will see the credibility of our organisation, as we are going house to house, up to the least community in Nigeria to teach the principles of democracy and preach the gospel of democracy.