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Honourable Mohammed Ibrahim is a political analyst, former administrator of Ankpa local government in Kogi state, leader and mentor of many political minds. In this interview with Chamba Simeh, he espouses the qualities required of Nigeria’s next president and who he thinks is more qualified to move the country forward.
Who do you believe is the best man to govern Nigeria from 2023?
I believe that Nigeria is blessed with abundant human and material resources and our basic problem is leadership. Our leadership recruitment processes have so often been called to question each four years of succeeding regimes of leaders that have govern this country and as if there is a spell on us, we make the same mistakes again and we pay for it severely. If our dear country could put itself together, come together and hollistically resolve by the people to frontally deal with its leadership malaise and correct its leadership recruitment processes to its own advantage, then the youthful governor of Kogi state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, is the man to beat.
What is the pedigree of Governor Yahaya Bello that stands him in good stead to be Nigeria’s next president?
In the country today, many are convinced that if we are to solve the myraid of problems militating against our development, we must change our leadership recruitment processes and methods. We must look for leaders who have against all odds shown good leadership in their professional callings and move their people forward. Leaders who have shown altruistic qualities in all their endeavours and one of these leaders is the young and ebulient Alhaji Yahaya Bello, whom when peered against all those speculated to have the intention to contest the next presidential election, has the magic wand to turn the fortunes of the country around for good.The leadership sagacity of this young and ebullient young man would turn this country to a success story.
The opposition party in the country currently is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and many are of the opinion that the party did not perform well while in power. What is your candid opinion about PDP?
The PDP is like a plague which nobody wants to touch because it has failed the people. Yahaya Bello being a core Buharist, who worked very hard from his own corner of influence to convince his people to vote en mass for President Muhammadu Buhari to salvage our country and put it back on the path of development, is a man who believes in the philosophy and manifesto of the All Progressives Congress, APC. As for the issue of PDP as the opposition party in the country, Yahaya Bello feels that they shall be defeated because they have failed. If there is anyone who knows Bello well, then I am the one as his political appointee. Bello believes that politics is primarily be about the people. This is a leadership lesson he learnt from his father which became the magic wand that has helped him succeed excellently to win his many life’s battles. He believes there is no paved expressway to any individual’s truly beneficial freedom and when freedom is offered on a platter of gold the value of the platter far often overshadows the offerings. I want to assure our people that our Moses is beckoning on us all to join in the battle to reclaim our land and heritage and restore the core values of our founding fathers with Alhaji Yahaya Bello as president.
Has Bello told you he is vying for the seat of the president of the country?
I have said it severally, as one of those instrumental in convincing him to come and lead the struggle for a new Nigeria, that he is committed and ready to vie for that office, and importantly not for the sake of it but for the people’s sake. Bello is a proponent of a new type of playing politics and the new type of politics dispensation he is advocating is purely and totally about development.
What do you think is the difference between the APC and the PDP?
It’s philosophy. While the APC is a party that came as a saviour to salvage this country from the myraid of problems foisted on it by the PDP, the PDP is a conglomerate of the belligerents in our society whose main philosophy is the sharing of the country’s money into private pockets, and this is very disturbing.
What does the entrance of Yahaya Bello into the presidential race portend for the APC and the country in general?
The people of this country are no fools as they know and acknowledge a good candidate when they see one. A good product has no hidding place because it is the finished product of good thinking. The entrance of Yahaya Bello into the presidential race shows that victory for the APC is sure, and you can take that to the bank.The APC has a new platform which they can use to start a clean slate and to choose for our country a good leader to take it to the next level.
What are the basic challenges facing Nigeria today?
The basic challenge facing the country today is the absence of a consistent and continuous basis of leadership resources that can act in a shared vision and that is the challenge that Bello is coming to confront.Leadership, development, security and democracy are inter-connected components of societal trajectories.The people of Nigeria need a rethink about leadership in the country.There is a need for a visionary and committed leadership. This problem is responsible for the aggravated problems of insecurity, underdevelopment, systemic failures, poverty and authoritarianism confronting the country for so long.
What is going to be the main target of Alhaji Yahaya Bello as president?
The transformation of the country’s infrastructure, the rebuilding of the country’s political and bureaucratic institution, and above all, the building of a new progressive course for the country. His politics will be better reflected in the well being of the people as politics is about the people. Before Bello conceived the vision of running for the seat of the president of the country which he hasnt yet declared, he already has considerable level of successes in Kogi state, where he rose steadily and pragmatically to put the state as one of the best governed states in the country. He is widely travelled both within and outside the shores of this country and in the process, he has been exposed to the giant strides that are possible where visionary leadership is at work. With Bello’s experience and background, this is possible from 2023. We could see our country reinventing itself and running away from the rest developmentally in spite of the dependence on crude oil earnings
Why exactly does Governor Yahaya Bello want to govern this very difficult country and what is he going to do to excel?
Very simple. His brainstorming team would expand the data given and capture the stated aim and aspirations of the whole citizens based on empirical evidence from social research. Bello has identified the needs of our people and has prioritised them into five thematic areas: education for all, health is wealth, job creation, youth engagements and new ventures, infrastructure and utilities, productive public services and pensions reforms.Bello’s blueprint will therefore be a compendium of his mission, vision, political strategies, targets and expected outcomes which would together define his direction for the accelerated development which he craves for the country. The five thematic areas are merely convenient docks from which to unlock the blueprint of his and launch the action plans on a turnkey that he is investing and would continue to invest in its implementation when elected.The people need to welcome this blueprint of Bello as an ovearching marketing instrument and not an expenditure tool. For the country, Bello will be a vehicle of development and it is his wish to reduce poverty in the country within the next four years when elected.
