From Magnus Eze, Enugu

A one-time Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and President of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Sam Ohuabunwa, is a presidential aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The immediate past president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) in this interview with some select journalists, speaks on the upcoming presidential election, how best to form the nation’s new leadership and other leading national issues. Excerpts:

Many say you are not a politician. So, what informed your decision to run for the nation’s presidency?

I think the basic thing is that there is a burden God gives you and no matter how you try to avoid it, you must confront it. I got this burden in 1986 after attending a meeting in the United States and I was nominated as best participating attendee of that conference, which was attended by nationals from over 106 countries. When people came to congratulate me for being the best among 106 people who were at that conference; they began to ask me, which university did you attend? I said I went to University of Ife and they said where is that one? And I said it’s in Nigeria. Then they said so you have good universities in Nigeria and I said yes. I began to name them: UI, UNN, ABU, UNILAG and so forth and so on. They then said it means you have some smart people in Nigeria and I said yes. They said then why is it that your country is the way it is? You have good universities and smart people and then how come your country is the way it is? That hit me like a thunder and thereafter, I began to understand what they were saying. I arrived in Lagos and got to our airport and the place looked totally different from what I saw in JFK-in terms of environment, the handling and availability of facilities. We were welcomed through the immigration and in one and half hours, I had to wait for my luggage which arrived with the zip already torn and I came out to the road and everybody was asking me to enter his bus or taxi. And I said I didn’t go through this hell in John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, where I was coming from. And I said why can’t Nigeria be like that? And without knowing it, that set something in my system and since then, I have been to about 60 countries of the world and in each of these countries, I unconsciously measure my own country against their roads, cleanness of their environment, taxis, their educational system, health system and the dignity of the people. And I find my country wasn’t doing well, which led me to say what would I do to assist my country to start doing well? That was what led me to advocacy. I was Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, President of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Chairman of Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Chairman of Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce and many more. I was involved in fashioning out Vision 2010 and Vision 2020 strategy documents. Those efforts were targeted at changing the country. That’s what I continued to do. But, despite these efforts, I find out that Nigeria was getting economically worse. Today, we have 71 per cent poverty. Joblessness is on the rise. Today, we have 53 per cent of unemployed Nigerian youths. Quality of life has been degraded and life expectancy hasn’t shown much improvement. And when you look at other indices measuring competitiveness in the world, we are lagging behind. I said would this country continue this way? What’s worse? I find that the youths of today have no hope. They are not enjoying the kind of things I enjoyed in my days as a youth. All these things cumulated in creating this burden I carried for many years, until July 30, 2019, when I came to a full realisation that I have done a lot of talking, a lot of criticism, advising  and I said let me go and get the job done. And I believe I have the capacity.

How would you deploy these experiences to solving Nigeria’s problems, if elected president? 

The experiences I have learned from running these organisations crosscutting multinational, multi-ethnic, multi-sectoral and multi-professional is to work with diverse people. I have learned how to win a team, how to take a group of people and turn them into a performing team, which is one thing Nigeria needs currently. We need to turn our country into a team of high performing people that are happy to perform. Two, I have learned the discipline of hard work, I mean measurable hard work. In the private sector, there is no sloppiness-you have to deliver. I have learned the necessity to be measured by results. We need to be result-oriented and result-driven, because every quarter you need to deliver according to agreed target. I’m going to bring that work ethics in our operations in government, because you have people employed for years and they are not delivering. We are having issues in police, we are having issues in railway, we are having issues in the health sector, in oil importation and people are just there telling us cock and bull story. This is different in the private sector. Here, the question is: did you achieve or did you not achieve? That’s what we want to hear. If you fail, you failed and we move you out or reassign you to another assignment. So, that task-orientation, which does not exist in government; that responsibility and accountability, which do not exist in government is what I’m going to bring to governance. Also, I’m going to bring resourcefulness to governance and frugality. You know in the private sector you don’t spend money. Every money you spend is regarded as borrowed money and we put it back into business and then pay interest rate monthly or so, we liquidate the capital and still save some money to continue to run the operations. There is too much waste in government in the current Nigeria.

Nigerians would want to actually know your background, who is Sam Ohuabunwa?

First, my name is Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, I’m a graduate of Pharmacy and I ran a career at Pfizer Products Plc, rising from entry level to become the Chairman and CEO of the company over a 15-year period. In 1997, I led the Management Buy-Out (MBO) for a multinational by locals, which led Pfizer Plc to have 60 per cent share and thereafter renaming the company to Neimeth International Pharmaceutical Products Plc and I remained the President/CEO of the company until 2011, when I retired. That entails 33 years of active contribution in the industry, 18 years of which were at CEO level. I have participated in a lot of work in economic advocacy and other activities aimed at moving Nigeria to its rightful position. I have served at different boards and presidential panels on different capacities. This is for short, who I am.

How sure are you of clinching the PDP ticket?

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Nobody can be 100 per cent sure, but I believe that I stand a good chance because I come with a vision like no other; I come with a pedigree of a technocrat, a corporate administrator and I come with a clean slate and uncommon record of performance. I come with competence, I come with good character, I come with courage; I come with enlightenment and global perspective. I believe that all that delegates need to do is to see me, hear me and understand me. They will know that I’m the man for the season. This is because there is a man for every season. That’s the truth. Of course, they are those who have been more vociferous and more politically active, but that does not translate to effectiveness and efficacy in terms of delivery. Nigeria is currently in a bad situation and needs help and that help will come from people who are competent and who can deliver results and deliver so rapidly. I want to create a new Nigeria that would be a First World nation, a Nigeria that will be globally competitive and a country that works for all. We want to lay a blueprint that will enable us tackle poverty, tackle corruption and tackle injustice and tackle insecurity. And they are not theoretical concepts; they are based on practice. These are what I’m going to bring on board. I’m a unifier, a man that knows how to work across lines and I’m comfortable with the presence of different ethnic nationalities and different religious groups. I’m also comfortable with the youths and women. I’m a detribalised Nigerian. I’m sure the delegates, while alone before the polling boxes and without any slave master around, they would think deeply and consider me as the best, because Nigeria cannot continue this way.

Are you not bothered about the big names that have picked your party’s form for the presidency including governors and former Senate presidents?

No, I’m not bothered nor perturbed. If I were bothered, I wouldn’t have gone and bought the nomination form. I am not. In contemporary Nigeria, many people are politically exposed and they come with their baggage, their burdens, their challenges and also their opportunities. But today, if you read the current well, Nigerians are looking for a competent new face, somebody that can bring a paradigm shift to the way a country is governed. Nigerians know their abilities, their frailties. They know everything about them. They know those who are dictators, autocrats and they know those who are democrats, and so forth and so on. They are able to dimension all of us and I think they will take the best. There is a man for the season. We have records: Donald Trump became president and there were people who had been in partisan politics for many years in the Republican Party. But they made him president. We also had Obama. Before Obama came, he didn’t have intimidating credentials in terms of active or partisan work. But the Americans gave him opportunity and he became one of the best presidents. Look at Zelensky of Ukraine, a comedian. Did he know he could be a world-time president? He could have looked at those who had been in politics for many years with all their tricks, wayos and betrayals, then get intimidated. But he didn’t. I think the mood of the nation is seeking a man that Nigerians can trust with power that can unite the country, rather than abuse the power. Nigerians are looking for a man who’s a true democrat and not a demagogue. I think these are the things that weigh in my favour. I’m ready to face the game without fear. In fact, the last one is that I have the spirit of God, His leading is inside of me and He rules in the affairs of men and when the time comes, He gives the power to whom He so desires.

What’s your take on the thinking in some quarters that Southeast presidential aspirants were losing steam; not reaching out and not consulting, like their counterparts in other regions?

Like I said, I can’t speak for anybody. As for me, since July 2019 when I received the motivation to run, it took me about six months to pray-consult myself and inner cycle. From January 2021, I announced and please go to the records that I will run for the office of the president. At that time, I never made up my mind about any political platform. But I had a vision, the New Nigeria vision. I have gone to the 36 states of the country establishing the New Nigeria Group chapters. On November 8, 2021, I made up my mind that I’m running on the platform of the PDP and I was the first person (aspirant) to announce openly. And I started consulting and today, I have gone to 29 states personally, not by proxy or sending anybody. I just don’t know about anyone, but nobody is working as I am and I am working this hard because, just like you said, the others are fairly well known names. This comes with its baggage, if you are a well-known name, we know your bad side and we know your good side. But I have to expose myself and let people talk to me and ask me questions to understand where I’m coming from and my motivations. That has put me into doing more work. And so I can talk about myself and I’m good enough and we don’t need 100 people, but one good man. Remember one good head is better than 10 coconut heads. So, I’m doing the utmost that I can and I believe others are doing same. So, it’s not correct to say we are losing steam, losing steam to who. I can tell you that even those, who were not talking before, the few of them are coming on board now. Those on the side of the APC, may be waiting for its timetable. My prediction is that the next president of Nigeria is going to be from the Southeast geopolitical zone and I think that has already been agreed in heaven and only waiting to manifest here on earth.

Nigeria’s biggest challenge now is security; how would you tackle the issue of insecurity in the country, if you are elected?

I will take the following steps: First is to go and look for where we would get help. When a man is overwhelmed by any problem or situation, he needs help. We will cry out for help, because I wouldn’t like a single Nigeria to die needlessly. We have had enough deaths in this country and it’s not fair for us. So, we will cry for help and seek where we can get immediate help to end this madness. Two, we will apply technology in information gathering, focusing on intelligence and then use technology to fight insecurity. This will come in the form of armoured drones, in terms of surveillance, and other kinds of armour that come from the air and from the ground with minimal physical force. And while all these things are going on, we begin to rejig and reformat our security architecture. Then we make sure we man security system with the right people with the right training, with the right orientation, with the right attitude and, with the right character. Then we make sure that our security forces are well taken care of, are well paid and treated with all insurance packages. They will receive good allowance and be on funded insurance, so that if anything happens to them, they won’t entirely lose out for their families. They will be so comfortable that their families would be happy to look up to them any time, any day. This is man’s greatest worry-what happens to my wife? What becomes of my children and all that? The moment government guarantees this, then retrains, rejigs and re-motivates the force, they will go back and continue their work in a more sustainable manner. We will have a meeting of all the heads of security agencies and all Nigerians in a town hall, however, we are going to do that, then sit down with them. Tell them to tell us what went wrong, because this is not how our country used to be. And we will be able to get insights from different groups in the country. We find out that today security agencies are not getting the cooperation of the natives or the indigenes, in some places, because of lack of trust. They suspect the government and they suspect the police. They give the police information and police will turn around and name them or rope them in as well. But if you build trust, using community leadership, you can get all the information, because there will be cooperation. Then we can nip the insecurity in the bud. For me, one year into my presidency, you won’t again hear they attack here, they attack there and all that. There will be synergy and this works wonders. Surveillance will work 24/7. As they are planning, you are hearing them; as they are gathering intelligence, you are seeing them. We will have ready forces, and if we don’t have them readily available at a particular time, we deploy armoured force through the waters (that’s kinetics) to do the job. However you look at it, we need to cry out for help and we need to spend whatever we can spend to secure and protect Nigerians, because this is the first responsibility of any government. We are not just going to throw money at security, we are going to ensure we do high level of intelligence and ensure we are dealing with and removing injustice. Injustice is also contributing to this insecurity, and so, we will treat all Nigerians fairly. No ethnic group will be regarded as first class, second class or standby class. All Nigerians need equal and fair treatment.

Since politics is local, how have you been reaching out to your ward regarding this project?

I informed my ward about my motivation to run in December 2020. Then, I invited the entire Arochukwu clan, in the Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State. That was after we held a meeting at the party office. I have also gone up to the state and put some structures in place. My ward, which is Arochukwu PDP Ward 3, recently gave me an impromptu reception, because I never knew such was being planned. They honoured me for doing them proud, for being the first Arochukwu man and the entire Abia State who would be running for office of the president and for obtaining the nomination and expression of interest forms and bringing it to them for their blessings. In fact, they were grateful to God for this historic milestone. Therefore, I’m at home with my people and it’s my belief they will support me.