By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin City
Former Director General of the Center for Democratic Studies (CDS), Prof. Omo Omoruyi wants his one-time boss, Gen.Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida to forget zoning and support President Jonathan. He also speaks on other issues in this interview with Simon Ebegbulem.
Excerpts:

Prof. you had a serious battle with cancer which you survived, how is your health now?

I am writing a book. I want to publish the account of my battle with cancer for three years and my journey back to life. I want, in the New Year, to associate myself with the political ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan, which means I am endorsing him. I will work to ensure that Goodluck Jonathan becomes the President of Nigeria in 2011 election.

I came to that based on my background. For many, many years, if you read anything about me my interest has always been what I call the 4th dimension in Nigerian politics. I have always associated myself or pushing beyond the tripod and there are those I worked with in the past, some are dead, some are still living. Those dead, Adaka Boro, we were together in Students Union politics; the second person who is late now is Senator Obi Wali from Port Harcourt; the third is the late Ken Saro Wiwa.

All these people were also talking like how do we survive in a country dominated by the three groups. So that is what sharpened my intellect about pursuing the tripod. Solomon Lar, Paul Unongo and in the military, T. Y Danjuma, all these people were saying the same thing; how will the minorities in this country come together and produce a presidential candidate. We failed in the past but we can’t fail today.

We were very concerned about states as units of representation in a federal system. We were not talking about north, we were not talking about north and south, we were talking about states as units of federation. All of us were committed to creating more states, and we did. We felt that states would be used in throwing up who governs this country, not zones and we also believed in one person one vote and not one man one vote which is anti-women.

This is what motivated me to associate myself with General Ibrahim Babangida, but was I disappointed with what I read about him recently? Of course I was, because on two occasions when I managed him leading to 1993 and 2006, he genuinely, I believe, subscribed to the idea of states as the unit of representation, I don’t know how he came about this whole issue of the north but again it is a free country, he is free to pursue whatever he believes in. I wasn’t associated with that. I was shocked because if you read what he delivered to the Constituent Assembly in 1989, he said he did not believe in zones. That disappointed some one like me who worked so hard for him.

I want to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan, I am a cancer survivor but if this is my last act before I close my eyes, it is in pursuit of what I believe in. If Jonathan cannot be President then my children can never be President.

So after IBB lost to the “zonists”, the honourable thing for him to have done is to step aside, endorse Jonathan because Atiku is not going to win. He will be jumping from PDP to the ACN to PDP. What he (Babangida) should have done is to take his pen and paper, try and put together those things he has done in the past, explain them and move on. Zoning is not part of our constitution, our constitution is based on interplay of political forces.

As we now have it, Jonathan said he is going to go for one term and by 2015, ACN would wax stronger that time, it could succeed the PDP the way we are going and if that happens, we will have two main parties; PDP and ACN. I can see that the future of this country then we will be back to what we hade before: SDP (Social Democratic Party) and NRC (National Republican Convention) which I was privy to have been one of the founders.

With Buhari coming to ACN now and maybe running with a governor from the South West, that is a new ball game, nobody ever anticipated all these kind of things, but they are going to happen. Are they based on zoning? No. It is based on interplay of political forces and so don’t be too sure that PDP, the way it is going, will produce the next president in 2015?

I don’t want to answer or guess, my prognosis is on 2011 but the interplay of political forces will produce two dominant parties and the way Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) of the universe is going, don’t be too sure that an Edo person will not emerge in 2015 as a presidential candidate a presidential candidate or a vice president.

So it is not going to be on zoning, it is going on someone that can fire the imagination of Nigerians, who can fire their enthusiasm, who can fire the belly of politics and that is the way I see it and that is the way I see my prognosis as to the future of this country. By then we will now have two parties and with the INEC not supporting anybody anymore, no money again for all these mushroom parties, they will all die natural death or find somewhere else to survive.

Alhaji Atiku having being endorsed by a caucus of the North cannot be wished away. Do you agree?

Atiku will have to be nominated first. He is an aspirant. Who will nominate him? The process is on now, he will not be nominated. Is he jumping from that one to another party? Is there going to be another party called Northern Party, it will be too late by the day, is he going to jump into ACN? Or will he go to Labour Party? Did you see Jubril Aminu recently? He was with General Babangida when Babangida was at the Eagle Square , he was the one now moving the motion for Jonathan few days ago, he is my good friend.