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| Oyegun with media crew during interview in Madrid |
By
Uchendu Precious Onuoha (Special Correspondent)
The APC
national chairman, chief John Odigie Oyegun was in Madrid Spain on March 4, 2016
to meet with the APC members Spain chapter. The group led by Comrade Stephen Adeayo
Tella and their spokesperson and media director, Prince Kelly O. Udebhulu hosted the chairman to a dinner party and
press session. The press session was covered by the Daily Independent foreign
correspondent, Uchendu Precious Onuoha, APC Spain media and Zenith magazine media crew. Below are the excerpts of the interview with chief Oyegun with the foreign
correspondent in Spain.
Que. As the chairman of APC the ruling party in
Nigeria, what are your achievements and challenges so far?
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| Oyegun with media crew during interview in Madrid |
Ans. I would say am lucky and privileged to be the
first national chairman of course there was one interim chairman before. It was
a privilege to be entrusted with that respect. I am running a party that rose
up from the ashes of 3 to 4 other major parties, the ACN, NDP, CPC, part of
APGA and others. And they turned it into a fighting force, of course with the
intense cooperation of a lot of other major stakeholders of the party; we were
able to turn it into a fighting force that succeeded in upstaging the
government that was in office at that time which a lot of people thought and
believed until the last minute it was not doable. For obvious reasons, it has
never happened before, because they had access to so much resources and
patronage that a lot of people thought it was undoable. But the good thing is
that at that time, the Nigerian public was generally fed up with 16 years of PDP
government.
The
Nigerian public wanted a new direction, the Nigerian public was yearning for
integrity, they needed leaders they could trust in governance and leaders they
could believe in. On top of the stage so to say was such a personality in the
person of Muhammadu Buhari, who is now president of the nation. And it was so clear, it was so obvious that he was the
kind of person the nation needed at this period, a man who is transparent,
obviously incorruptible, a man of very strong will and mind. And the only
person who had the type of courage that it takes like we are experiencing today
to tackle the MONSTER called corruption. I would say, it has been a pleasure, a
wonderful experience, tough and difficult. I had to rely majorly on the
compassionate cooperation of other stakeholders that together made the victory
possible.
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| Andy Omoregie & Prince kelly |
Que. Many Nigerians in Spain and diaspora are affected
by the economic downturn of their host countries. Many are distressed and want go
back home. Is there any plan on ground back home to rehabilitate such people?
Ans. I
don’t know about rehabilitating those coming back home. But coming to join the
struggle to change Nigeria, yes, and no question about that, they are very welcome.
Talking about the economic downturn, it’s obvious that this is a worldwide
phenomenon. Most nations of the world are experiencing economic difficulties.
The Nigerian hazards originated from mis-government over 16 years ago. The lack
of vision, the lack of direction, the lack of that will to build a nation and
create something that was not there before. To be precise, the PDP government
seems to have been contented within this period sitting on the resources that
we have, distributing it, consuming it without creating for the future, without
building for the future, without putting the economy on the footing for a
sustainable growth. That was the period we have excess crude account. Meaning
that we had more money coming in than we have planned from the price of crude
our main export. The time crude was sold 130 to $140/barrel. We had that kind
of money, but we did not plan, we did not build a single petro-chemical
complex, we did not build a single refinery, instead even in the midst of
plenty, we were still importing refined crude.
That
was how visionless and totally plan less the situation was before APC took
over. So to come back directly to your question, we too, apart from that plan less-ness,
we also are victims of this major collapse of the price of crude from 140 to 30
dollars a barrel which is over 70% drop. So as fathers, just imagine what
happens when you go to work and at the end of the month you come back with an
income 70% less than what you have been used to. That has put us today in a
situation of lack of infrastructures and total lack of facilities. So if you
are coming, you know you are coming to join the major struggle to rebuild the
foundations of our nation. Our nation is potentially great, make no mistake
about that, we are resource blessed, there’s no question about that. And with
the type of leadership we have now, we are going to rebuild that foundation.
But what I emphasize is that, like you are experiencing here, these are hard
times. So the choice is yours, do you want to come home, come and join the
struggle there won’t be any bed of roses, one has to be practical, and there
won’t be any soft landing. The foundations have been badly fractured
that we have to rebuild. Once we get it right, the sky is the limit for Nigeria.
That is the only thing one can offer.
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| Oyegun |
Que. We have an array of Nigerian professionals in
diaspora, how can the government harness this opportunity to turn the issue of
brain drain in Nigeria into brain gain?
Ans.
There is no question at all, those of you professionals abroad, this is really
the time your knowledge, skills, experience and expertise are required because this is not the age of
professional politicians per say. We need technocrats to get us out of the mess
the economy has been plunged into. So for those of you that have specialized
knowledge and skills, this is the time and you must hasten otherwise we are not
going to make the kind of progress at the rate we must put in place for our
country to recover.
Que. What plans are in process for Nigerians in
diaspora to vote in the next dispensation?
Ans. That
time will come, it will happen. You have heard the commitment of Buhari’s
administration to the slogan we are shouting everyday which is, change. Again
we have to fundamentally change the society and our attitude to politics and
re-establish respect for right and disdain for what is wrong. We must establish
respect basically for due process and rule of law. You can see that the
electioneering has just been through, some of the cases are just been concluded
in Rivers state, Bayelsa, Abia, Akwa Ibom. Cases which were visited with a lot
of violence. Most cases went to Supreme Court for those who lost because of the
nature of the electoral process. To be plain, to venture into that it has to be
technically fraught to dangers and abuses and not for politicians to reap where
they did not sow. The change we are now beginning to put in place is one of the
thing that will go pari-pasu when we start to respect right and condemnation for
wrong. There is no question at all given the large diaspora population that we
have. What I have noticed here is the kind of passion with which you people have
embraced this idea of change. It would be wrong to say NO, we cannot extend the
possibility of diaspora voting, but the time must be right and the atmosphere
must be right.
Que. Do you think the new trend where election
victories are decided by the courts will augur well for the Nigerian democracy?
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| Oyegun & Prince Kelly |
Ans. Let me
say this in general terms then I go back to the APC change, the general Mantra,
the challenges that are presently facing the regime. What is important is that
the president believes strictly in the rule of law, strictly in enforcing
existing laws. I am sure those of you who visit very often must have come
across this talk that the APC say they have won
the election but they are not behaving as if they are in power, meaning
that people still have this old concept that power is having a sledge hammer
and smashing everybody who is in your path. But the president is dedicating
himself to due process and respect for rule of law. So he is shunning the big
stick so to say and believes strongly that you can change society only when you
have changed people’s attitude and it becomes second nature for them to do what
is right and shun what is wrong. It’s going to be tough and difficult process,
but it’s the only way we can depart from the past where might was right and
unfortunately it sticked in the entire society. But the Buhari’s government is
going to be very strict in enforcing due process, strict on the rule of law
without respecter of persons. If you fail foul of the law, you pay the price
whoever you are. There will be no exemptions and nobody is going to be too big
to be touched. That is the only way change can become permanent. But it’s a
longer route, the road we are travelling.
Que. Before coming to Spain, what was your impression
about Nigerians in Spain?
Ans. I knew
there is a very active and large Nigerian population here facing the struggles
of life and the rest of it. I knew also there was an active APC wing here, one
of the most active worldwide that I have experienced and that is why I chose to
come here. I know that the economy worldwide is taking a tumble and I know you
people are affected like people anywhere else. But the important thing is that
in the midst of that, you have held your head very high and still truncating in
social positive activities which are contributing in projecting the image of
our country particularly at this time. So far I know it’s not yet “Uhuru” but I
am impressed by the road that you are travelling.
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| Oyegun & APC Spain chairman, Comr Stephen |
Que. As APC national chairman and leader what advise
do you have for other leaders in implementing youth empowerment policies?
Ans. The issue of youth is inevitability. It is inevitable
because whether we like it or not, the youth at a certain stage are the
inheritance of the nation. And everyone must endeavor to create opportunities
for them and instill hope into their lives. Nothing like a youthful population
that has lost hope. So they must always be engaged, they must always be
challenged. The call in part of government is improving and restoring hope to
the youths of the nation.
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