BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU
Hon. Eddie Mbadiwe is the Deputy Chairman, House of Representative Committee on National Security and Intelligence. He represents Ideato North and South Federal Constituency of Imo State. In this interview with Vanguard, he posits that issues raised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his recent letter to President Goodluck Jonathan should be taken very seriously. Excerpts:

Just days after Speaker Aminu Tambuwal claimed that President Jonathan is not fighting corruption, former President Obasanjo wrote the president expressing the same views. What is your reaction?
To be honest with you, the fight against corruption should be done frontally. And it has to start with the presidency. I have said this many times: corruption can be destroyed very easily. If for instance, Eddie Mbadiwe is the President and I say I will not take or give bribe and I enforce it, corruption will die a natural death. So, that’s what the Speaker is saying that the body language of Mr. President tends to gloss over corruption. And he mentioned one or two things where the House is investigating and the presidency set up a counter investigation. I mean, which report of the committees are you going to handle? Is it the one the President set up or the one the House set up?

That’s what he means by saying that the body language does not support the fight. On the other issue, I have a lot of respect for former President Olusegun Obasanjo personally, and I think that he thought about this a long time before he wrote that letter.

A number of issues were raised which I think should not be dismissed with a wave of hand, because these are fundamental issues. A number of them, he wrote from personal experience. The party side of it, I will leave alone because I am not in PDP but the ones that concern this nation, I think should not be waved away. If for instance, he says there is a Killer Squad being set up to target some people, it’s fundamentally dangerous. That’s criminal. I think that he should in conjunction with other former Heads of State, sit down with Mr. President, the President is much younger than all of them and he is amenable to advice. But you see, leadership can be very simple and difficult. If you are honest with people, it is very fundamental, if I tell you that this is white and tomorrow, I tell you it is black, you can’t trust me. But if I tell you it is white and it is still, for me, that’s what leadership is. And I think that anybody who aspires or is praying for this country must have that character. Otherwise, we can’t make any progress. So, when President Obasanjo said he told him two months ago that he is not going to run, and he later said he was going to run; you know, there is confusion in the whole atmosphere which is very unfortunate for this country. So, I think that this matter should not destabilize us but it should be taken very seriously. That’s the way I look at it.

Mbadiwe

The PDP has approached the court to declare the seats of the 5 defected Governors vacant even as the opposition is angling to assume the control of the House. What is your reaction to these developments?
Those who are saying that the seats should be declared vacant should go and read the constitution. It is very clear the way you can declare a seat vacant. That’s all I can say about that. The constitution is very, very clear and since the matter is in court, it will be improper to comment on that anyway. About the control of the House, right now, the House is in a state of flux. But my advise to everybody is, let’s just keep quiet, be patient and watch events unfold. We cannot know until maybe the end of January or even February, 2014. But this House is a very united House. It doesn’t matter what happens. By the way this House emerged, for me, I think that unity should be maintained. It is very important.

The universities have lost five months from the recent strike action. As a former academic how do you think this will impact upon the system of education in the country?
Well, they will. But unfortunately time is something you cannot save. So, if it’s gone, it’s gone. All you can do is to maybe have some crash programmes. But again, you are shortchanging the students. No doubt about it. I have said many times, I was a lecturer myself and even Secretary of ASUU in the University where I taught, there is a limit to what you can get. When you are negotiating and you get 70 percent of what you are asking for, I think that was the time to go back. That’s exactly what they are doing now. They have not gotten more than that. Leadership has to listen to the people they are leading. Education system, I have said, needs a lot of funding. But you cannot give everything to education and kill the entire system. So, I thank both the Government and ASUU for doing for what they should done four months ago.