Winston Odumu Ojobi is a politician and a public commentator. The former director of Shekarau Campaign Organization, International in this interview with LEADERSHIP WEEKEND’S Ruth Choji condemned some of the CBN new polices on cash withdrawal as he also called for the release of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha.Excerpts:
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Lately Nigerian is being regal with lots of revelations emanating at public hearing of the Bureau for Public Enterprises BPE, what is your reaction on these issues?
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I have always maintain that the BPE is a flop, the National Council on Privatisation is the biggest , because when you want to sell public enterprise, I will take a cue from public enterprise sold all over the world, those enterprise were sold through the stock exchange. For example, when Babangida sold Africa Petroleum shares, they were quoted on the stock market Nigerians went to buy and government relinquished some shares to some deserving people.Every Nigerian at that time saw that what Babangida did was transparent. We had the satisfaction of having Nigerians involved in Nigerian project, but here, what BPE does is to look at an individual and then sell the whole cement industry to that man, they will look at another man and sell the whole company to him. The senate of the country will call on the chairman of a hotel and the person will not honour the Senate that is representing the people, Elsewhere, the President cannot be beyond the people, my take is that Obasanjo should honour Nigerians, and explain to them on what happened, El-Rufai, who was in charge of the exercises then had pointed accusing fingers at Obasanjo and he should come before the Senate and clear his name. It is only in Nigeria that people are beyond the nation. Look at India, when the anti-corruption Body excluded government officials and judges, the whole nation went on strike, even embassies all over the world, but here it has been the reverse, so we cannot exempt anyone, if you exempt anyone there from any law, he will abuse that law.
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What is the impact of this revelation on Nigeria as a nation?
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It shows that we can never trust our leaders, take a count on this topic and you will discover that 99 percent of Nigerians don’t trust their leaders. Look at countries like Venezuela, this countries have leaders like Hugo Chavez and that is why they are making progress, they have the interest of their people at heart.
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From the feelers coming out of the National Assembly, it is like the presidency is in favour of a six-year-term for public offices holders, do you share the same view?
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No, I totally disagree, why is it that it is in his time that he is bringing it up?
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But he said he will not be a beneficiary of the new changes?
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We have heard this before, I believe Jonathan won the elections, Nigerians voted for him, they trust him now more than any leader in the past. If you look at the amount of money they spent on the elections,he toured all the states This six-year-term is going to bring discomfort for him if he continues. I expected him to concentrate on power, as soon as we get it right on power, Nigerian will be begging him to do more four terms; if he gets it right on food and security, Nigerians will beg him to continue. Six year term is not a priority, look at Nelson Mandela , he did one term and left, look at Jerry Rawlings, he is everywhere now because of what he did in Ghana, his party lost the elections and he handed over to the opposition, now in Nigeria, we don’t have an elder statesman, some of them are 80, 90 and above and still want to be ministers, it is only in Nigeria that you find the president wanting to be minister and the speaker wanting to be governor, the number four citizen of the nation wanting to be a governor.
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The opposition are beginning to flay him for being lazy or inactive, do you share that same view?
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President Jonathan is being held hostage by some mafias, he knows I am telling the truth and even the mafias knows that. No sooner has he become the president that he realised that there are shackles everywhere. Let me give you an example, immediately the man became acting president, there was long queue all over the filing stations, but he give NNPC 72 hours to make fuel available and 12 hours later, there was fuel all over.Does it take 12 hours to import fuel? It means somebody was hoarding the fuel somewhere, that mafia didn’t know him and he doesn’t know them too. That was the political will, he has the enthusiasm now but he doesn’t have the determination.
Look at the kind of people he has brought back, the same people who helped Obasanjo to fail, why is he still recycling the same people when we are a nation of over a hundred and fifty million? Nigerians are excelling all over the world, I have met Nigerians in other countries, they are excelling and I when I tell them to come back home, they will ask you, “Which home? So that my wife and children will be shot?”. If Jonathan doesn’t take time, his four years term will quietly creep in on him and pass. If he does well, Nigerians will insist that he continues.So it is not the president business to move for tenure change or elongation, he should leave that to the National Assembly.
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There have been calls by some Nigerian g that, Major Al- Mustapha be freed, do you agree with them?
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I will even spearhead that call. Why do you keep man as an accessory to murder, he was not the murderer, there were people who were charged with murder like Fredric Fashanu, the sectional chairman of OPC, what happened to that case, if he is on bail, then Mustapha should get bail, Mustapha has been in detention since 1999, how are we going to justify that? My belief is that you do not hold a soldier responsible for the atrocities he committed when in office. I watched the Truth and Reconciliation of South Africa and all were told to forgive each other, I watched the Rotimi Ameachi Truth and Reconciliation and today, Rivers State is one of the most progressive state in Nigeria, because Rotimi has foresight. Now there is calm there and even in South Africa, there is calm. Let the people speak out their mind, what Mustapha did when his boss was in power was wrong, but now the judiciary is doing something wrong, everybody that has been on trial for more than ten years should be release and I will spearhead that campaign.