Why I won’t reject calls to be PDP chairman -Tukur | Print | E-mail Written by Idowu Samuel, Editor, North-East /North Central Bureau, in Abuja Wednesday, 13 July 2011 Alhaji Bamanga Tukur Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, Chairman African Business Roundtable and NEPAD Business Group, Private Sector, has no predilection for granting media interviews. Yet, he took a break from his tight official schedules when the Nigerian Tribune sought his views on the state of the nation. He speaks on sundry national political issues in this interview conducted by Idowu Samuel, Editor, North-East /North Central Bureau, in Abuja. You seem to have withdrawn to the background politically for some time until recently when you were touted as a possible chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Why was your interest that low in politics? That is not true. I am an experienced politician and you know politicians do not retire, but you don’t expect me at my age to be running up and down looking for political patronage. If I begin to do that, where lies the fate of young men and women like you who still have the energy to serve.  You have not been seeing me in the open playing politics, but people like me do not relent in ensuring that things work well in this country. I am an elderstatesman and I can speak with any body in power, either at the state or federal level and say this is what he or she can do to make things better and I don’t need to shout on top of may voice to do that. I have been playing good roles in making this country to move forward and there is no need to make noise about it. As an elder statesman, what is the state of the nation to you, now? We have not been doing badly, no matter what critics say. It is through a democratic process that the present government was formed. We are happy about that and it is because the last elections were well acknowledged. There is nothing perfect in human endeavour. We will make mistakes and we will correct the mistakes by our own wisdom, so we are learning, and this is not a bad beginning. Secondly, we are lucky to have a young president who is equally educated and eager to work. He does not have any baggage to worry about. He made many promises during campaigns and now is the time to sit down to work out how to fulfil those promises. He has started appointing his ministers and we hope that that will drive the process and draw him close to fulfilling the promises he had made. I am encouraged because the rest of the world can now begin to look up to Nigeria for leadership. Our job by now is to support the President, package him and make him the focal point of leadership not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa. By doing this, we hope to see the emergence of United States of Africa one day. That is my own dream. It can only happen if we begin to build the foundation, and we are already building the foundation. What needs to be done now is to mobilise Nigerians in support of the present administration to address the challenges confronting it so that there will be less crisis and rancour and for the government to address our immediate areas of needs, including Infrastructure, agriculture, health, power, youth development, employment  and others. Now that a new cabinet is evolving, we pray that the President will give a matching order to the ministers to focus keen attention on these areas of needs. They are all critical portfolios and again the expectation is that the ministers would not look back in performing their duties so that they will give the kind of results that the President and the rest of Nigeria have been expecting. The state of national economy seems to be bothering most Nigerians. Are you also worried and what to you is the way forward? Yes, the present moment is difficult for Nigeria. But Nigeria is not the only country passing through economic stress. It cuts across the whole world, most especially, the so called developed countries. If you talk about Nigeria, just take a look at Greece, the old Greece. See what is happening there. The same thing is happening in the United States and of course you can see that the British government has been grappling with protests from the labour unions. France is also affected in a way, so it is a global phenomenon. It is a new era in the global economy and the reason is that people have developed to a certain stage and their expectations are getting higher and almost difficult to meet and so people take to agitation. That is the problem. So how do we get out of this problem in Nigeria? We do that by a proper re-orientation. The government must insist on this and then drive the populace to work harder, get more focussed and committed to a growth process for the national economy. Most importantly, we Nigerians should learn how to accommodate one another and to allow peace to reign. Nigeria is facing a stiff security challenge at the moment with the unrest in some parts of the North at the instance of a religious sect. what do you think is the way out? The reason we are facing these kinds of problems is because we allow our young population to stay idle and so they would be restive. The starting point for us is to start planning for the youth. We have to go back to the drawing board to fashion out the ways and means of making the Nigerian youth get more engaged. It is important for the government to get the statistics of enrolment in schools from primary level up to tertiary and the number of them that are graduating annually so that special programmes could be designed for them. The problem we have in this country is that we do not seem to have realised the potentialities in the Nigerian youth and how they could be used to turn things around. If you look at it critically, we always have a young population which means that if the bulk of  the people who constitute the population are somewhat engaged, there would be a limit to youth restiveness and agitation in Nigeria. We have to address the problem of youth unemployment before it gets too late. That is the idea. Corruption seems to be another major problem confronting Nigeria. How do we tackle that? Yes, the problem is getting more alarming and endemic. So how do we tackle that? It is simply by making sure that those found to be guilty of acts of corruption with strong proofs are not allowed to escape justice. If people are suspected to be plundering the public sector or demanding things that do not belong to them, they should be sanctioned, and the sanction must be correct and firm. The political relationship between the North and the South turned sour over the issue of zoning during the last general election. What are you elders doing to tackle the problem? It is all political and I believe with time we will overcome it. Now, there have been reports that Bamanga has been tipped for PDP national chairmanship. If that is the case what can people like us do if not to unite this federation with such an opportunity? For me I do not see any sacrifice as too great or too little for this country to remain united, indivisible and indissoluble. There is every need to cement the divide between the North and South in terms of political harmony in order to heal the bruises. Mechanism must be put in place for us to call people to a round table to see that we resolve and document popular agreement on zoning so that the suspicion that exists between the North and South would be a thing of the past. It is a question of appealing to everybody to come on board so that we can collectively rebuild the foundation of our national unity. Your interest in the chairmanship position of PDP still remains in the realm of speculations. Are you actually nursing the ambition to be? This is not a question of ambition. The truth is that some people feel that I can do it. I have been reading about it on the pages of newspapers, and I know that some people have been talking to me too. So, if eventually they ask me to be the National Chairman of PDP, why not? I will take it. If I do, then, for me, it is pay back time to my country. It is pay back because there is nothing the position of chairman of PDP would give me that I don’t have today. There is nothing special I will be expecting from the post at this point in my life other than to use the God given resources in me to serve the party and my country. Today, I earn respect from across the globe and I thank God that he has blessed me tremendously. The chairmanship of PDP cannot give me the recognition that I command today from across the world. If I can go up to the United Nations and address the entire world on crucial global issues and then continue to play relevant roles at that level, you can then understand what I am talking about. At the level of African Union, it is the same, in West Africa; it is the same in terms of recognition. If you head the African Business Round Table (ABR) and everybody looks up to you, that is something to me. You know, people outside the country used to call me a president without a country. They say I am a borderless President and then we will all laugh. But then, that is recognition from very high quarters at global level. So, there is nothing I cannot do to make PDP flourish if asked to be chairman, it is the party and Nigeria that will stand to gain. As the chairman ABR, what level of economic patronage have you won for Nigeria? African Business Round Table is to bring investments from any part of the world into African countries. It is also to forge business partnership among African businessmen. That is why I am also Chairman NEPAD Business Group Africa, Private Sector. What we are to ensure is a seamless partnership between the public and private sectors across Africa. It is not something you can easily measure, because our efforts are on-going. And you can see the responses in the attempts by some African countries to legislate for good laws, good government and socially responsible investment opportunities in their respective countries. Lastly, can you suggest to President Jonathan the next immediate steps he should take now that he has constituted his government? Let him direct the attention of his government immediately to the issue of security. I am aware of efforts being made already to stem the tide of crisis in some parts of the federation, but then we all need a pro-active security system to be put in place to nip in the bud any plan for breakdown of law and order wherever they may be coming from. I believe also that the President should intensify efforts on power with a view to increasing electricity supply in the country.