As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis festers, former presidential aspirant of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prof. Harry Iyorwuese Hagher, has said that the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike is gambling with his political future.
In an interview with VINCENT KALU, Prof Hagher, who served twice as a minister and an ambassador and also a former senator, stressed that party chairmen cannot be changed like a pawn in a chessboard. in reference to Governor Nyesoms insistence that Iyorchia Ayu, the PDP national chairman, must resign, for peace to reign.
The presidential campaigns have started. What are your expectations?
I believe the three major contestants Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi and Bola Tinubu did not wait for the whistle to blow before they started. They emerged from their primaries and choice of running mates to capitalise on the momentum of their followers. They have traversed the country and participated in state elections and held mega rallies, like in Osun State. They met with traditional rulers and attended birthdays, installations, and wedding ceremonies, all to gain visibility. But now that the dateline has arrived, I expect to see each candidate present their manifestos and tell us what contract they wish to engage with the Nigerian public. Nigerians have suffered greatly for 23 years since post-military democracy. They have expectations and need urgent answers to several existential problems. The candidate who provides the greatest hope for all Nigerians will deserve to be elected.
Prior to the campaigns, we saw the campaign spokespersons engage in brickbats. What should be the campaign issues?
The topmost issues that the campaigns should converge on are who can best unite and secure Nigeria. This is the existential need and most pressing agenda. Our lives and property are circumscribed by imminent terror. Our country is ruined by virulent tribalism such as has never been experienced before. Ethnic and religious wars have polarised the people. Diversity has been sidelined by exclusion and nepotism. We expect all the campaigns to focus on how we can engage in nation building. We need to have a country first, even before we secure its borders and build the institutions of state to secure property and guarantee freedoms.
How do you think the presidential candidates should approach these issues?
All the three candidates have the misfortune of being defined by ethnic affiliations, geography and religion. They must prove to us that we are stronger together, and not collapse like the 1964 elections that led to the 1966 military coup, by pulling outside their ethnic enclaves and congregating pan-Nigerianism. We need a strong nationalist as president. Atiku Abubakar must prove that he is a different Fulani man from Buhari and win the confidence in being a Nigerian (Fulani) president like Shehu Shagari and Yar Adua, and most certainly not like Muhammadu Buhari, who did not know or care that he became a Fulani rather than Nigerian president. Peter Obi must prove to Nigerians that he was not just another Igbo great hope to be president and capture Nigeria for Biafra. His constant reference as Igbo candidate robs him of his national credentials.
In the same way, Bola Tinubus campaign must be freed from the caves of Oduduwa and Islamic fundamentalism. He needs to try harder to win the confidence of nationalists, who desire religious tolerance and plurality. His Muslim-Muslim ticket is an albatross and aberration from the traditional norm. He and his running mate are at pains to prove that, like the time of Abiola, religion does not matter while they are all the time playing religious politics. This duo must understand that 2023 is a referendum on the seven years of APCs broken promises and misrule. They must navigate the maze of insecurity, corruption, and brazen ethnic racism.
Generally, a presidential candidates health should be a trivial pursuit of the campaign. In this campaign, however, the health condition of Tinubu is visible. It has brought the issue of the candidates health to the front burner. His incoherence and tremulous legs and hands do not inspire anybody. The experience of the late Yaraduas ill-health and death in Aso Villa and President Buharis near death scare have made the presidents health a critical campaign issue. We need a president who can work long hours and be available for Nigerians. Such a physically robust president will be expected to rise to all occasions to address the needs of Nigerians.
PDP is still unsettled as there is a gulf between the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike. Dont you think it may affect the opposition party that had dreamed of taking over from APC?
In 2015, some PDP governors and senators demanded that President Jonathan drop the partys secretary as a condition for them to remain in the PDP. Jonathan rejected their demand, and they promptly left the PDP and swelled the APC votes which won a landslide in 2015. Today, Governor Wike and his supporters are making similar demands as conditions for supporting Atiku Abubakars campaign. It is much more worrisome now that the failed ruling party, the APC, looks like the likely beneficiary again. But I believe that 2023 is slightly different. In 2015, the break-away faction of the PDP that helped the APC to victory was not acknowledged or recognised by President Buhari and the APC. The case of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is an excellent example of APC ingratitude, and how this PDP faction equally deserted the ruling party and came back to the PDP.
Wike and his group are better in the PDP if they hope to be relevant in the future. History does not clone or repeats itself precisely. Wike is gambling. The Wike saga is also a challenge to Atiku and a test of his ability to build a united PDP as precondition to building a united Nigeria.
Wikes group is insisting that the National Chairman of PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, must vacate office for a southerner for peace to reign. Whats your view on this?
This smells like vendetta to me. It feels like demagoguery. We cant change party chairmen like pawns on a chess board. It is too whimsical!
I feel it is time the parties sat together and amicably resolve the matter. It is possible and can be done. The press seems to be weighing in and expanding cleavages to make reconciliation impossible! The principal actors need to reconcile. It is time to reconcile, forgive the past injustices and march on.
The presidential candidate of APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is still battling with ripples arising from his choice of a Muslim running mate. Some Northern Christians also remain angry. How should he pacify the Christian community?
I frankly dont know how he can pacify the Christian community and animists. It is too late to drop his running mate. He knows what to do. He can find out what the needs of other faiths are. He could assure other faiths of government enhancement of freedom of faith and protection from violence from Islamic extremists, without the Muslims feeling he is conceding too much.
If a Fulani Muslim succeeds Buhari, assuming Atiku wins, does it not send message to other ethnic groups? Is it not a situation like this that breeds mutual suspicion, and agitations in the country?
If Atiku Abubakar wins, he will have the onerous and arduous responsibility of uniting the country. Rwanda has proven that good leadership that unites a diverse populace under common goals makes the citizens blind to identity politics and tribal racism. I am looking forward to the time in the future when asked which tribe we belong to when we can say we are just Nigerian. There are practical steps we can take in fostering unity. For instance, we can eliminate asking people what tribe they belong to by filling official forms now.
Before now, not many people believed that the contest was among APC, PDP and the LP, but we are seeing what political pundits described as a Movement from the Labour Party, and which they say may spring a surprise. Whats your take on this?
The Obidient Movement has added colour and spice to political campaigns. They will definitely spring a surprise. They already have. However I personally see the movement as a rehearsal for future relevance. If the APC and PDP fail to win at the first ballot and there is a re-run, the Labour Party will become very important. Any party it aligns with at that stage will win the presidential elections in 2023. That is, if there is a re-run. It is easy to gather mammoth crowds today and march through cities causing a great din. This shouldnt cause any political upsets. Curiosity and hunger are major motivations. But if the crowd of Obidients begins to organise door to door campaigns, penetrate the polling booth, and become an organised movement for political action, then I will know the Labour Party has captured the zeitgeist of Post-Buhari Nigeria.
The Southern and Middle Belt Forum (SMBF) has insisted on a power shift to the South. Do you align with them?
I never heard of them. I know that, in general, the Middle-Belt Forum had been a cheer-leader for a power shift to the South. No, I do not align with them. I have gone past the North-South dichotomy. It is a ruse, a political redherring, alienation and amorphous device in which the South-South and South-West oppress the South-East and the North-West dominates the North-East and North-Central politically. I believe that we have transcended this 1914, Amalgamation, North-South Lugardian umbrage. I have transcended the colonial mentality that is holding us down. Let the zones stand alone! The North-South dichotomy is a creation of colonialism cooked up from the boiling pots of hatred and defended by powerful politicians, who benefit from this colonial mentality, and who continue to reproduce this imaginary ruse to feed unsuspecting populace to become ignorant and hateful.
In a country where ethnicity plays a great role, surprisingly, Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation has declared support for Peter Obi, the LP candidate, instead of Tinubu. They are insisting that, for the sake of equity, fair play and justice, that South-East should produce the presidency. Whats your position on this?
The Afenifere leadership is composed of the crme-de-la-crme of Yoruba land. They have reasoned beyond tribalism and their usual Yoruba proclivity. But they might do better to also accept North-Central and the North-East as requiring equity, fair-play and justice to produce a vibrant president. These zones have never produced a president in post-military Nigeria. This is a tradition that has taken root and become hallowed. The Northern elders, in the run to the PDP presidential primaries, had properly asked the North-Central and North-East candidates to contest, and required the North-West to sit down and wait since North-West had been president twice and vice-president. Atikus emergence as the North-East, Nigerian presidential candidate of the PDP, is a deserved choice and not a usurpation of the South-West, South-South, or the South-East slot.
What is your advice to Nigerian politicians during this campaign period?
Watch your words. Be respectful and civil to one another. The elite class is so small, and we will keep bouncing into each other. We should listen to Martin Luther King Jr. that We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Therefore, whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Let us focus on the pains of saving Nigeria and focus less on individual pains.
See the article here:
We need a strong nationalist as a president - Daily Sun
- NBC Has a Huge Opportunity with Law & Order: SVU's 25th Season - CBR - Comic Book Resources - November 30th, 2023 [November 30th, 2023]
- Seeding a gay community in LA, the gay liberation revolution - Los Angeles Blade - November 30th, 2023 [November 30th, 2023]
- Britney Spears's 'Baby One More Time' music video debuted on ... - Yahoo Entertainment - November 30th, 2023 [November 30th, 2023]
- 13 Of The Greatest And Most Famous Britpop Bands - Hello Music Theory - November 30th, 2023 [November 30th, 2023]
- The top advertising campaigns of 2023 according to Australian ... - AdNews - November 30th, 2023 [November 30th, 2023]
- The 25 Best New Movies Streaming in November 2023 - TheWrap - November 30th, 2023 [November 30th, 2023]
- Jets' Aaron Rodgers 'attacking' rehab, eyes return this season - WABC-TV - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- ESG counteroffensive is missing big guns - POLITICO - POLITICO - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- The increasingly radical climate movement, explained - Vox.com - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Imani Winds inspires with recital celebrating composers of color at ... - EarRelevant - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- The Super Models Tells the Story of the Original Fashion Influencers - AnOther Magazine - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- What constitutes a master? Don't ask Jann Wenner The Daily ... - Daily Free Press - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- The Conviviality of Ivan Illich (Part I) | by O.G. Rose | Oct, 2023 ... - Medium - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- SickKids unveils more future-focused VS campaign to match new ... - The Message - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Top 6 Iconic Classic Rock Bands of the '60s - American Songwriter - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Brent Harold: The renaissance of union logic - Arizona Daily Star - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- German bishops conclude tense gathering with all eyes on Synod ... - Catholic World Report - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Slasher Saturdays: The Hills Have Eyes (1977) Vs. The Hills Have ... - Horror Obsessive - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Listen to Scott Drebit Discuss His New Book A CUT BELOW: A ... - Daily Dead - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Whitney Houston Hairstyles: Tribute to Her Unparalleled Elegance - PINKVILLA - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Frosted Lipstick, Chunky Highlights & Thick Eyeliner: Every Beauty ... - New Zealand Herald - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- From Alphas To Betas: Science Says There Are Three Types Of ... - Evie Magazine - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Russell Brand is a product of the horrifically misogynistic noughties - Prospect Magazine - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- The Enduring Magic of Lorde's Pure Heroine and HAIM's Days Are ... - Paste Magazine - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Climate activists: How far is too far in raising the climate alarm? - Daily Maverick - October 3rd, 2023 [October 3rd, 2023]
- Pride Anthems at WHBPAC June 2nd at 8PM - Hamptons.com - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- The illuminating influence of Eric Huntley - Peoples Dispatch - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Want Sofia Richie Style? Try These Cheap Nordstrom Finds - Who What Wear - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- What will Saudi-Iran rapprochement mean for the Palestinians? - +972 Magazine - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- EU as Arbiter of Ideological Elegance? The European Conservative - The European Conservative - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Catholic theology yesterday and today: A Thomist's response to Dr ... - Catholic World Report - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Andy Warhol exhibition coming to College of DuPage - Chicago Tribune - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- COVER STORY | Arlo Parks Embraces the Intimacy of Aliveness - Paste Magazine - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- The Number Ones: The Black Eyed Peas' Boom Boom Pow - Stereogum - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- 7 First-time ASTRA Exhibitors You Don't Want to Miss This June - Gifts & Decorative Accessories - May 28th, 2023 [May 28th, 2023]
- Curator Lesley Lokko on the Venice Architecture Biennale: 'It's about ... - Financial Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- German revolution of 1848: A precursor to today's democracy - DW (English) - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Hoxton, Lloyd Amsterdam to open 21st August 2023 - Hospitality Net - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Ruin America? Joe Manchin is just getting started. | Will Bunch ... - The Philadelphia Inquirer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- How the MTV logo captured the creative spirit of the 1980s - Creative Bloq - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- I give up I cant do that: The song that made David Crosby want to quit music - Far Out Magazine - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- How We Loved and Lost the Hot Girl Summer - The Swaddle - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 5 Laid Back Essentials From Faherty Prove The Hype - Fatherly - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 'How to Blow Up a Pipeline' director Daniel Goldhaber explains the ... - The Real News Network - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Totally Rockin' History of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem - Collider - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Was The Hunger Games Renaissance Planned All Along? - GameRant - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Michael J. Fox Looks Back on Hollywood Triumphs, Setbacks and Why Parkinsons Is the Gift That Keeps on Taking - Variety - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- It's Raining Ramen! A Brief History of Jewish Asian Fusion - Aish - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Ted Weber's Wesleyan Political Theology - Juicy Ecumenism - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What do the British Royals and Cleopatra have in common? - Firstpost - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Pakistan Army won't bounce back easily this time. Imran Khan ... - ThePrint - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Five years since #MeToo, Tarana Burke is looking beyond the hashtag - Yahoo News - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- After Florence Pugh Freed The Nipple, Olivia Wilde Supported The Movement On New Magazine Cover - CinemaBlend - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Barbara Kay: The Movement to Normalize Pedophilia Hits a Roadblock, but We Mustn't Let Our Guard Down - The Epoch Times - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Is it Time to Decolonize Global Health Data? - Research Blog - Duke University - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Claire Foy Doesnt Think Women Talking Could Have Been Made Before #MeToo - Yahoo Entertainment - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Can the Congress rewrite its chronicle of a death foretold? - Scroll.in - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- The 19th Century Movement to Canonize Columbus - Catholic Exchange - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Audemars Piguet toasts 50 years of Royal Oak with new watches, book - New York Post - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Claire Foy Doesn't Think 'Women Talking' Could Have Been Made Before #MeToo - Yahoo! Voices - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Best Bets: 6 nights of live music at Wussow's and more - Duluth News Tribune - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Five Burning Questions: Bad Bunny Spends a 13th Week at No. 1 With Un Verano Sin Ti - Billboard - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- San Diego artist uses creativity to uplift Black culture and 'determine how we are seen' - The San Diego Union-Tribune - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The Premier League at thirty - what should it sound like next? - Broadcast - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Steve Braunias on Peter Ellis case: 'Moral panic, contaminated evidence and an innocent ghost' - New Zealand Herald - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Constituency Statutes: The Overlooked Predecessor to the ESG Movement - JD Supra - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- 10 books to add to your reading list in October 2022 - Los Angeles Times - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- The Multiple Religions Coexisting Within the Catholic Church - Crisis Magazine - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- 2023 Oscar Predictions The Rules of the Game - Awards Daily - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- Kathy Sheridan: Brace yourselves for where Giorgia Meloni and Italy end up - The Irish Times - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- The rise and fall of Sir Philip Green, the retail king who fell from grace - Evening Standard - October 2nd, 2022 [October 2nd, 2022]
- The lying flat movement standing in the way of China ... - Brookings - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Namwali Serpell Distills the Disorienting Experience of Grief in 'The Furrows' - Shondaland.com - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- Dance & House Music Ruled the Summer. What Now? - Complex - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- It is time to back a new party in the elections - Morning Star Online - September 29th, 2022 [September 29th, 2022]
- The empty feminism of Dont Worry Darling - The Guardian - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Sunburn The morning read of what's hot in Florida politics 9.26.22 - Florida Politics - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- GOP candidate Trevor Lee ran a secret Twitter account that attacked LGBTQ people and Utah Gov. Cox. Now he's been rebuked by Republican leadership. -... - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- Peeling Back the Slasher-Inspired Look of HBO Maxs Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin with Cinematographer Anka Malatynska - Dread Central - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]
- If theres a settlement, XRP will pump: Finder founder and other experts speculate on ... - Stockhead - September 27th, 2022 [September 27th, 2022]