Farotimi sees sense in Obi’s one-term proposal but warns changing persons without fixing structural defects in system won’t cut it
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
**********************************
“I first heard this one-term presidency idea from Peter Obi during the 2023 election cycle. We need to be interrogating issues beyond interrogating beyond declaration.
“A man says he’s going to spend one term. One term to do what? If I have a vision that can be contained within my lifetime, then it’s not a vision but an ambition. If it’s a vision, I will need my children’s children to complete the task.
“So, if a man says, ‘I’m going to take one term, and I’m leaving,’ I am more interested in asking the question, ‘What are your plans? What will you do with the one term?
“If I ever run for the presidency of Nigeria, I wouldn’t require more than two years to do everything I need to do. You don’t need a long term to achieve lasting change, but the question should be: what does he intend to do with the one term? ….
“I don’t believe our problems are going to be resolved because we change personnel; the problems we have in Nigeria go beyond persons.
“If you remove Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office today, if you do not touch that evil system that has produced the kind of people who have ruined the country, all this talk about Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is just more distraction from the political ‘ruining’ class.
“It’s about building enduring systems, a country. How do you rebrand a failure of 2015 into a saint and a saviour in 2025? How? 10 years have gone full circle, and we’re back at a situation where we are saying that we were better off where we were” – Farotimi.
**********************************
Human rights activist Dele Farotimi has expressed support for Peter Obi’s call for a single-term presidency, stressing that past leaders squandered longer tenures instead of delivering meaningful progress.
”[Olusegun] Obasanjo had eight years; what did he do with it? [Muhammadu] Buhari had eight years; what did he do with it? He ruined Nigeria. [Bola] Tinubu has had two years, and he is taking us back 50 years,” Farotimi argued on Channels Television.
“So it’s not really about how much time the person spends; it’s a function of what they do with the time that they have.”
Farotimi, an outspoken advocate for justice and systemic reform, stressed that long-term impact does not require a long stay in office.
“I first heard this one-term presidency idea from Peter Obi during the 2023 election cycle. We need to be interrogating issues beyond interrogating beyond declaration.
“A man says he’s going to spend one term. One term to do what? If I have a vision that can be contained within my lifetime, then it’s not a vision but an ambition. If it’s a vision, I will need my children’s children to complete the task.
“So, if a man says, ‘I’m going to take one term, and I’m leaving,’ I am more interested in asking the question, ‘What are your plans? What will you do with the one term?
“If I ever run for the presidency of Nigeria, I wouldn’t require more than two years to do everything I need to do. You don’t need a long term to achieve lasting change, but the question should be: what does he intend to do with the one term?”
Obi has reiterated his vow to serve only a single four-year term if elected President in 2027, which has sparked mixed reactions, with some questioning his sincerity.
The former Anambra Governor has also suggested that Nigeria adopt a single five-year presidential term similar to the model in South Korea where re-election is not permitted.
However, Farotimi stressed that without addressing national structural defects, no leader, regardless of competence or intellect, can fix the country.
“A thousand Goodluck Ebele Jonathans cannot solve the problems of Nigeria.
“They might as well go ahead to increase his brain power by factors of a thousand for good measure. If we do not address our structural problems, and if we are incapable of telling ourselves the basic truth that we owe to ourselves, nothing is going to change.
“They can recycle all these people as many times as they care. This was the same Jonathan that was horribly vilified and labelled. The press went into overdrive in this country, the pulpit and the mosque everywhere: ‘Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s removal will solve the problems of Nigeria,’ and here we are.
“I don’t believe our problems are going to be resolved because we change personnel; the problems we have in Nigeria go beyond persons.
“If you remove Bola Ahmed Tinubu from office today, if you do not touch that evil system that has produced the kind of people who have ruined the country, all this talk about Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is just more distraction from the political ‘ruining’ class.
“It’s about building enduring systems, a country. How do you rebrand a failure of 2015 into a saint and a saviour in 2025? How? 10 years have gone full circle, and we’re back at a situation where we are saying that we were better off where we were.”
Read also:
