By Chioma Gabriel, Deputy Editor
Ambassador M.T Mbu ,is a permanent fixture in Nigerian political affairs for more than fifty years. Mbu trained at Middle Temple and University College, London, from 1955 to 1959 where he received the LLB and the LLM. He was subsequently called to the Bar, Middle Temple.

Chief M.T. Mbu’s political career began with his membership of Parliament from 1952 to 1955. He also served the country in various capacities including: Federal Minister of Labour, High Commissioner to UK, 1955 to 1959 and Representative of Nigeria, Washington DC. 1966.

He holds the distinction of being the youngest Nigerian ever to serve in the federal cabinet. Between 1960 and 1966, Chief Mbu returned to serve again in Parliament. During the latter stint in Parliament, he also doubled as Federal Minister of Defense for Naval Affairs.

He was appointed Chairman, Eastern Nigeria Public Service Commission in 1967, and became Member Constituent Assembly, 1977- 78. He was first national vice-chairman, Nigeria People’s Party, 1979 to 1981 before ‘decamping’ to the National Party of Nigeria from 1981 to 1983. On several occasions, Chief Mbu has represented Nigeria as an ambassador to foreign countries including a recent appointment as Ambassador to Germany.

He is at the moment, the leader of the South-South Peoples Elders Assembly, (SSPA); a non-political organization that was created to help promote the interests of the peoples of South-South geo-political zone. In this encounter, he answers questions on President Jonathan’s presidential ambition.

President Jonathan is being expected to declare his presidential ambition any moment despite the continued debate on zoning. What’s your view on that?

He should go ahead and declare. We have already told him during the last summit of the South-South that he has our support. Let him declare. There is no problem.
Some people from the South-South feel he should not declare on the platform of PDP because of the issues of zoning as that could create problem.

There won’t be any problem. I think the time has come for Nigerians to stop being pessimistic. We should not be thinking problem, problem all the time. We should be thinking of solutions. I don’t see any problem with Jonathan declaring his presidential bid on the platform of PDP. There is no cause for alarm, he has our support.

And of course, we are in a democracy and you don’t expect everybody to support him. It is only in a military dictatorship that everybody is expected to support one person but we are in a democracy. People are entitled to their divergent opinions.

Recently, INEC released the election time-table and critics feel that the time-table for the elections isn’t realistic. Do you think the elections should be postponed?

Nigerians like to see problems in everything. We should be optimistic about the time-table, believing that we will achieve results. It is the problem of INEC and INEC has not complained.

What is possible will be done. What is not, we will get there and when we do, we will find solutions. We should encourage INEC in what it is doing , not discourage it .We should not be negative in our thoughts about the time-table for the elections.

So, based on the decision of the South-South Summit, Jonathan should go ahead on the platform of PDP?

We are not in doubt. We have never been in doubt. We met in Port Harcourt about a month ago and the South-South, without questions, declared support for him. We have no doubts about it. We are behind him.

What do you have to say about certain leaders of the South-South not being part of the dream. For instance, Professor Sam Oyovbaire is known to be supporting IBB loudly and David West is known to be supporting General Buhari. In fact, he said Jonathan has a shallow background in politics.

I have told you earlier that this is democracy. You don’t expect everybody to be supporting Jonathan. That is how it is meant to be. People are entitled to divergent opinions and that is acceptable. We cannot force people in a democracy.

Based on the fact that a lot of prominent Nigerians are in the field, what would you say Jonathan has done differently? Do you think he will make a difference?

Jonathan as the incumbent President has already begun to put his campaign structure on ground. His campaign structures are already in many cities of Nigeria. So, why don’t we think positively?

Why do we keep seeing difficulties and problems that may arise? People will always think the other way. It is democracy and what we are saying is that he is the right person to be elected President of Nigeria. He is the president of Nigeria now and we want him to continue. He is a good visioner, he is a sympathiser and he is a very effective leader.

He understands the problems of the people and he is solving them. We should give him a chance.

Just like I said earlier, don’t begin to imagine there would be problems. We should think positively about the elections and about our president.

What is your view about the situation in the parties. It seems every one is waiting for PDP to take a lead in conducting primaries. Are the parties ready?

If Nigeria is not ready for the elections, would it be spending so much money and time? Jega is spending so much time and money to prepare for the elections and no matter what anybody might think or say, the elections are taking place and Nigeria is set to make a world of difference in this election.

We should be supporting INEC. We should be encouraging INEC. We want a credible election and we must have it at the scheduled time. INEC should be encouraged, we cannot keep seeing loopholes. When we encounter problems, the right thing to do is to solve them, not to run away from them.

Concerning voters register…
INEC is working on that. Preparations are being made to ensure that a new voters list is in place before the elections. So, far, everything is working according to plan. There is no problem yet. The machines will arrive. The new voters’ list will be ready before the elections.

Jega is capable. There will be no problem. When the problems come, we will resolve them. And Jega has initiated steps to avoid pitfalls. What else should we do? We should wait to do the right thing at the right time.

You don’t see any reason to shift the election date?

Why should we do that? Why should the elections be postponed? There is no need for that. Jega has promised to do a very credible job and Nigerians should give him the support he needs.

Time is on his side. He has not complained about the time given him. Let us cross that bridge when we get there.

But the other day when he addressed the media, he confessed that if given more time, he would do a more thorough job and one thinks the national assembly should consider that?

What do you expect him to say? One thinks INEC can use the time within its means to do its best.

Or what do you recommend that INEC should do? Let us work with what we have and stop seeing problems everywhere. Jega is capable and we have confidence he will give us credible elections. He has committed so much money and energy to that. Let us just wait and see.Let us be positive about it.