By Ihechi Enyinnaya
First Governor of Delta State, Air Commodore Luke Ochulor (rtd) has said if Ndigbo are serious in producing a president of Nigeria, their best bet would be to present former Anambra state GovernorPeter Obi as a common front.
Hespoke in an exclusive chat with Daily Review Online recently in Lagos. Commodore Ochulor who noted that the chances of Ndigbo producing the next President of Nigeria in 2023 is slim, given the way the parties are toying with the idea, however said it would have been easier and more possible if Atiku Abubakar had won the 2019 election with Peter Obi a the Vice President.
He said: ” With that arrangement, Peter Obi would have transitioned to become the President after Atiku’s tenure. However, if Ndigbo are to be honest in seeking the presidency of this country, all they would need is to reach a consensus and everybody rallies around Peter Obi. He is the most qualified of all the aspirants from Southeast. He is solid, has integrity and experience and he appears to be accepted across Nigeria. But what we are seeing, even local government chairmen are coming out to vie for Presidency. If they are all coming out what will they achieve? Nothing.
“But if they can come together and present one person irrespective of his political party and Nigerians reject him we know we have done our best.
But a situation where everyone is carrying his bag going from one place to the other canvassing for votes does not make sense. It won’t work.
He decried the current situation of things in the country saying with the present government, life has become meaningless.
He said: “Nigeria has become an orphan. We feel for the future generations. They have no place in this country again. Failed leaders are using them for banditry, kidnapping and all the social vices. They are the ones that are most hit.
“We are just praying that Nigeria should come out of the doldrums into which she has sunk. When you compare Nigeria of today and Nigeria before the civil war, and then to the time Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Nigeria was a country.
“But today, you cannot truly say that Nigeria is what a country should be. She has lost every sense of value and nationalism. That is why some of us have stopped talking. Even when you talk or air your opinion they brand you as anti-government. At my age and exposure, having been at the highest level of the corridor of power in this country, we must put out things when they go wrong. But you need to be careful, because the kind of kidnappings and wanton destruction that go on in this country, no government can tolerate it elsewhere.
“The level of massacre going on in the North, no civilized country can tolerate it. And when you look at it dispassionately, you begin to wonder what kind of country we are going to hand over to the future generation. It is a very terrible situation. Unfortunately Nigeria seems to have interest in advising other nations when each of the 774 local governments we have in this country is facing one security challenge or the other.
You don’t even know to blame again.
” You can’t blame nature, you can’t blame the British, you don’t even know who to go to for a solution. Maybe God, being a God of equity will come to the rescue of this nation.
We transitioned from the military to the civilian. Before that, the politicians were in a haste. They wanted to do away with the military immediately. Now see where we have found ourselves. We warned against the presidential system of government. I don’t see Nigeria serving with the presidential system of government.
“If you watch the American system of government where Nigeria copied, they had developed as a country before adopting the presidential system of government. They already had in place the things that would make life easy for people. They had electricity in place. There were good roads. They did not need to start constructing roads from one place to the other.
“But here, where were we before embracing the presidential system of government? This system imposes heavy costs on the running of the government.”
¹Peter