By Uchendu Precious Onuoha (Special Correspondent)
ONCE WE GET IT RIGHT, THE SKY IS THE
LIMIT FOR NIGERIA; JONHN OYEGUN -APC
NATIONAL CHAIRMAN.
The APC national chairman, chief John Odigie Oyegun
was in Madrid Spain on March 4, 2016 to meet with the APC supporters Spain
chapter. The group led by Steven Adeayo Tella and their spokesperson and media
director Prince Kelly Udebhulu hosted
the chairman to a dinner party and press session. The press session was covered
by the Daily Independent foreign correspondent, Uchendu Precious Onuoha and media crew from Zenith magazine. Below are
the excerpts of the interview with chief Oyegun with the foreign correspondent
in Spain.
Que. As
the chairman of APC the ruling party in Nigeria, what are your achievements and
challenges so far?
Ans. I would
say am lucky and privileged to be the first national chairman of course there
was one interim chairman before. It was a privilege to be entrusted with that
respect. I am running a party that rose up from the ashes of 3 to 4 other major
parties, the ACN, NDP, CPC, part of APGA and others. And they turned it into a
fighting force, of course with the intense cooperation of a lot of other major
stakeholders of the party; we were able to turn it into a fighting force that succeeded
in upstaging the government that was in office at that time which a lot of
people thought and believed until the last minute it was not doable. For
obvious reasons, it has never happened before, because they had access to so
much resources and patronage that a lot of people thought it was undoable. But
the good thing is that at that time, the Nigerian public was generally fed up
with 16 years of PDP government.
The Nigerian public wanted a new direction, the
Nigerian public was yearning for integrity, they needed leaders they could
trust in governance and leaders they could believe in. On top of the stage so
to say was such a personality in the person of Muhammadu Buhari, who is now
president of the nation. And it was so
clear, it was so obvious that he was the kind of person the nation needed at this
period, a man who is transparent, obviously incorruptible, a man of very strong
will and mind. And the only person who had the type of courage that it takes
like we are experiencing today to tackle the MONSTER called corruption. I would
say, it has been a pleasure, a wonderful experience, tough and difficult. I had
to rely majorly on the compassionate cooperation of other stakeholders that
together made the victory possible.
Que. Many Nigerians in Spain and
diaspora are affected by the economic downturn of their host countries. Many
are distressed and want go back home. Is there any plan on ground back home to
rehabilitate such people?
Ans. I don’t know about rehabilitating those coming back
home. But coming to join the struggle to change Nigeria, yes, and no question
about that, they are very welcome. Talking about the economic downturn, it’s
obvious that this is a worldwide phenomenon. Most nations of the world are
experiencing economic difficulties. The Nigerian hazards originated from mis-government
over 16 years ago. The lack of vision, the lack of direction, the lack of that
will to build a nation and create something that was not there before. To be
precise, the PDP government seems to have been contented within this period
sitting on the resources that we have, distributing it, consuming it without
creating for the future, without building for the future, without putting the
economy on the footing for a sustainable growth. That was the period we have
excess crude account. Meaning that we had more money coming in than we have
planned from the price of crude our main export. The time crude was sold 130 to
$140/barrel. We had that kind of money, but we did not plan, we did not build a
single petro-chemical complex, we did not build a single refinery, instead even
in the midst of plenty, we were still importing refined crude.
That was how visionless and totally plan less the
situation was before APC took over. So to come back directly to your question,
we too, apart from that plan less-ness, we also are victims of this major
collapse of the price of crude from 140 to 30 dollars a barrel which is over
70% drop. So as fathers, just imagine what happens when you go to work and at
the end of the month you come back with an income 70% less than what you have
been used to. That has put us today in a situation of lack of infrastructures
and total lack of facilities. So if you are coming, you know you are coming to
join the major struggle to rebuild the foundations of our nation. Our nation is
potentially great, make no mistake about that, we are resource blessed, there’s
no question about that. And with the type of leadership we have now, we are
going to rebuild that foundation. But what I emphasize is that, like you are
experiencing here, these are hard times. So the choice is yours, do you want to
come home, come and join the struggle there won’t be any bed of roses, one has
to be practical, and there won’t be any soft landing. The foundations have been badly
fractured that we have to rebuild. Once we get it right, the sky is the limit
for Nigeria. That is the only thing one can offer.
Que. We have an array of Nigerian
professionals in diaspora, how can the government harness this opportunity to
turn the issue of brain drain in Nigeria into brain gain?
Ans. There is no question at all, those of you
professionals abroad, this is really the time your knowledge, skills,
experience and expertise are required
because this is not the age of professional politicians per say. We need
technocrats to get us out of the mess the economy has been plunged into. So for
those of you that have specialized knowledge and skills, this is the time and
you must hasten otherwise we are not going to make the kind of progress at the
rate we must put in place for our country to recover.
Que. What plans are in process for
Nigerians in diaspora to vote in the next dispensation?
Ans. That time will come, it will happen. You have heard
the commitment of Buhari’s administration to the slogan we are shouting
everyday which is, change. Again we have to fundamentally change the society
and our attitude to politics and re-establish respect for right and disdain for
what is wrong. We must establish respect basically for due process and rule of
law. You can see that the electioneering has just been through, some of the
cases are just been concluded in Rivers state, Bayelsa, Abia, Akwa Ibom. Cases
which were visited with a lot of violence. Most cases went to Supreme Court for
those who lost because of the nature of the electoral process. To be plain, to
venture into that it has to be technically fraught to dangers and abuses and
not for politicians to reap where they did not sow. The change we are now
beginning to put in place is one of the thing that will go paripasu when we
start to respect right and condemnation for wrong. There is no question at all
given the large diaspora population that we have. What I have noticed here is
the kind of passion with which you people have embraced this idea of change. It
would be wrong to say NO, we cannot extend the possibility of diaspora voting,
but the time must be right and the atmosphere must be right.
Que. Do you think the new trend
where election victories are decided by the courts will augur well for the
Nigerian democracy?
Ans. Let me say this in general terms then I go back to
the APC change, the general Mantra, the challenges that are presently facing the
regime. What is important is that the president believes strictly in the rule
of law, strictly in enforcing existing laws. I am sure those of you who visit
very often must have come across this talk that the APC say they have won the election but they are not behaving as if
they are in power, meaning that people still have this old concept that power
is having a sledge hammer and smashing everybody who is in your path. But the
president is dedicating himself to due process and respect for rule of law. So
he is shunning the big stick so to say and believes strongly that you can
change society only when you have changed people’s attitude and it becomes
second nature for them to do what is right and shun what is wrong. It’s going
to be tough and difficult process, but it’s the only way we can depart from the
past where might was right and unfortunately it sticked in the entire society.
But the Buhari’s government is going to be very strict in enforcing due
process, strict on the rule of law without respecter of persons. If you fail
foul of the law, you pay the price whoever you are. There will be no exemptions
and nobody is going to be too big to be touched. That is the only way change
can become permanent. But it’s a longer route, the road we are travelling.
Que. Before coming to Spain, what
was your impression about Nigerians in Spain?
Ans. I knew there is a very active and large Nigerian
population here facing the struggles of life and the rest of it. I knew also
there was an active APC wing here, one of the most active worldwide that I have
experienced and that is why I chose to come here. I know that the economy
worldwide is taking a tumble and I know you people are affected like people anywhere
else. But the important thing is that in the midst of that, you have held your
head very high and still truncating in social positive activities which are
contributing in projecting the image of our country particularly at this time.
So far I know it’s not yet “Uhuru” but I am impressed by the road that you are
travelling.
Que. As APC national chairman and
leader what advise do you have for other leaders in implementing youth
empowerment policies?
Ans. The issue of
youth is inevitability. It is inevitable because whether we like it or not, the
youth at a certain stage are the inheritance of the nation. And everyone must endeavor
to create opportunities for them and instill hope into their lives. Nothing like
a youthful population that has lost hope. So they must always be engaged, they
must always be challenged. The call in part of government is improving and
restoring hope to the youths of the nation.
