Publisher of Leadership newspaper, SAM NDA-ISAIAH, is vying for the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with Senior Correspondent, ISHAYA IBRAHIM, he speaks on his chances of becoming president in 2015…
You’ve always criticised Nigerian leaders, past and present. With the kind of corruption in the country, what changes do you hope to bring into the system?
Sam Nda-Isaiah
Everything actually! It is like this is the worst ever and we hope that it doesn’t get worse than this. We have always had corruption in Nigeria. But we didn’t have it this bad – this kind of extreme corruption that has led to the failure of the Nigerian state! Our fortune is that our size makes it possible for us to reverse it, if we do, on time. So, I intend to change everything. I intend to start afresh. There is nothing that we don’t have to change. From the education system, transportation system, the health sector, our security system – everything! Unfortunately, we’ve come to this pass. You know, there is a level to which things will spoil… I thought you would be asking why I want to mess myself with a job like this. But, like I always say, at times we are motivated by the fact that it is our country and we must do it. When we travel and see countries less endowed doing better and you know why things are so wrong, and you know it is very possible, that is the kind of thing that I am thinking about.
Our programme is of three levels. The first thing we want to do from day one is to unite this country as fast as possible because you cannot achieve much with a country as divided as this. Fortunately for us, we don’t need a budget to do that. Once a leader is sincere and really wants to do it, he will do it. There is nothing to uniting the country; just fairness, justice and charity to all. You don’t punish somebody for one thing and spare the next person just because he is from your village or he is the friend of your uncle. That is the first thing we will do. The second thing we will do is security. The constitution says that the welfare and security of the people is the responsibility of the government. So, it doesn’t matter whether you are a democratically-elected government or you are a king or whatever. As long as you are leader of any country, your first duty is to secure the people.
This government has failed. It is only in Nigeria that a government like this will still be in power. The other thing we will do is to quickly secure the people. What is happening to us now is not inevitable. Whoever tells you that we are cursed to be like this; is not true? The truth is that all the money has been stolen and there is no money to buy things as elementary as bullet or to increase our intelligence services to the level that we need, or to even increase the strength of our military and police. I keep saying this every time that our police and military used to be adjudged as some of the best in the world. What has happened now that they are running away from hoodlums? Of course, when you send 200 guns to 400 soldiers, what do you expect when there are no bullets? You don’t have this because the money that should have been used for all this has been stolen. Of course, I have been campaigning on big ideas. I say that we are going to be a government of big ideas – big ideas that will change the course of history. I can start to talk about big ideas in everything. The example I always use is that this government’s very big idea is that they want to produce 10,000 megawatts (MW) of power for 174 million people. South Africa has 50 million people and they are already producing 44,000MW and intend in the next decade to double it. We are three times the size and we want to produce 10,000MW. Pakistan that is supposed to be a failed state produces 22,000MW and the demand is 17,000MW. Of course you should produce more than your demand. Any country that you see growing very fast, compare that with its power generation. Even God, before he did every other thing, said let there be light. So, we have to solve that quickly. We intend to generate power per local government.
APC, the platform through which you intend to actualise your ambition, is filled with many political heavy weights, including Atiku Abubakar, Muhammadu Buhari and others. What are your chances there?
I thought you were going to ask me what their chances are because I have my own plans and I intend to win. So, everybody has his plan. I won’t be in this thing if I didn’t think that I would win. If I didn’t see a clear path to victory, I would not be wasting my time. I have been saying that I have a good job, a job that I think is better than that of the presidency. I am in it to win. I think you should be asking them what their chances are.
You had supported Buhari’s ambition for presidency all the while that he contested. Now you are eyeing the same job that he is still interested in. Some people are speculating that perhaps you are being used.
By who?
By people who may want to whittle his influence.
I am hearing this for the first time. I have heard many things about me contesting, but I have not heard this till now. I don’t know about spoiling his chance. How? I don’t think so. Buhari is my role model. I have said that over and over. My respect for him has not diminished a bit. But I intend to contest. There was a time that he said he won’t contest. It appears that he wants to contest. He has a right to change his mind. But fine, I have no problem with that. I am contesting also. If he is going to contest, at least there are two very good people that Nigerians can choose from. I have no problem with that at all.
Have you discussed your ambition with him?
Oh, he was the first person I told.
What was his reaction?
He said fine. I told him as a sign of respect.
One of the major issues you said you would tackle, according to your manifesto, is security. Why do you think it is so difficult for Boko Haram insurgency to be tamed by this government?
It is because of corruption. We have some of the best policemen and military men in the world. All the while we used them for peacekeeping. So what happened? We need to give our security agencies the arms they need, the intelligence they need, funding them properly. The nature of crime has changed. So, you can’t be using the CID (Criminal Investigation Division) of those days to fight the crime of today. The intelligence services must respond to current challenges. We are using old methods to fight new crimes. And they are not even well funded. I was talking to a commander the other day and he said: what do you expect when you send 200 guns to 400 soldiers? So, it’s no rocket science at all. It’s the same way we are losing the war against Boko Haram that we are also losing the war against armed robbery. The other day, some hoodlums attacked Government House, Enugu, and said that they were Biafrans. I am not aware that any of them is being tried today for any crime. So, there is total disorder and anarchy in Nigeria. When we get into power, we will bring order to this country.
Getting into power, don’t you think there will be a little challenge for you? For instance, your party has lost Adamawa State and there are reports that other governors of your party have been shortlisted for impeachment. Don’t you think APC will be weakened by 2015 and might not be able to pose a serious challenge to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
And then we will be forced to go through what we are going through till 2019 and Nigeria is going to survive it? No, we will not, and that is not going to happen. We intend to win this election to save this country.
What is your view on the impeachment of Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa?
He was impeached over a crime he committed five years ago when he was in PDP. Is that not clear to you the kind of president we have where we bribe people to impeach the governor? If there is anybody that should be impeached 100 times over, it is the president. He should have been impeached and removed from office long time ago. State governors don’t get their full allocation; they get only about half of their allocation for a long time. That is an impeachable offence any day. The president should be impeached for that. Nyako was impeached because he is now in APC. Of course, all the governors that have been shortlisted, using your term, are in APC. But let’s wait and see.
Are you giving any timeline within which you will revive the economy?
The economy is the easiest thing to do in the country. We have huge resources. As long as you, the president, are not stealing, and anybody who steals is brought to book, there is a lot you can do. We have a lot of laws. The economy is the simplest thing to revive because Nigerians, by nature, are resourceful. As we speak now, there are about 50 million unemployed Nigerians. And, of course, we don’t have 50 million jobs to give. We intend to create army of entrepreneurs. And by doing that, you are boosting the Gross Domestic product (GDP) and also reducing poverty. Not the one they said the economy is growing and also poverty is growing. I have not seen that before. I have run a business. I have started an institution from the scratch, ground zero up to what it is – a multi-billion naira business from less than N1 million. Don’t you think that person can boost an economy that is worth $500 billion to God knows what? That is the easiest one.
You read Pharmacy at the then University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). When you were there, did you also plan to become a media executive and now into partisan politics?
When I was in Ife, I had flair for writing. While in Ife, I was the National Editor-In-Chief of The Student Pharmacist, which was the mouthpiece of the entire Pharmacy Students in Nigeria. I was also a founder of one of the campus newspapers. I enjoyed writing and expressing myself strongly. Of course, only God knows what you will do in future. I didn’t know that one day I would become a newspaper owner or proprietor. Thank God for that; one thing led to the other and I am now what I am by the grace of God. But before now, I was on the Editorial Board of Daily Trust. I was appointed by a governor of Kano to be on a committee that would revive Triumph, the Kano State-owned newspaper. I do not call myself a journalist because I have never really worked as a journalist. I’ve been a writer. I’ve been interested in media issues and, of course, I am now a publisher.
