From Jude Chinedu, Chidubem Ikechukwu and Chisom Ezugwu, Enugu
Former Chairman of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) in Enugu State and a House of Assembly candidate for the party in 2019, Nonso Nnamani believes that the OBIdient movement was formed to save Nigeria from imminent collapse. The founder of GPE Business School and author and convener of PowerShift, a political but non-partisan movement which aims to facilitate and accelerate the transformation and growth of Nigeria through raising and maintaining a powerful network of leaders in this interview spoke on various issues.
What is the PowerShift movement all about?
The power shift movement is here to shape the paradigm of Nigeria and average Nigerians to move from transactional politics to more transformational politics. We also stand for the renewal of the political class. We believe that the current political class doesn’t have what it takes to give us the new Nigeria.
We need new players, we need new faces, we need people who will come into the political environment and begin to midwife the new Nigeria because the current political class doesn’t have what it takes; which must of them have proved over the years that is why we keep recycling leaders. When they are done with a position, they recycle you into another position.
They are not giving especially to young people who are largely affected by the situation we are facing in the country. Sixty per cent of young people are within the bracket of the population of Nigeria and they are the ones largely affected whether it is economic issues, social issues, or insecurity, young people are the ones largely affected.
When it comes to politics, leadership and public leadership, you see that they are largely absent. What we want to do is to help change and redirect that narrative that we need to change the political class and part of how we are going to do this is by helping people understand that they need to move away from transactional politics, the politics of money, and the politics of knowing somebody who knows somebody in the government.
Political benefit is having a working economy, it means that we can live up to our dreams. If my dream is to be anything, I have the level playing ground to live up to that dream. We need a working environment; the roads are there, business support programmes are there; there are jobs, industries, security, education.
So, these are the things we are advocating for as an organization and we believe so much in it. An ideologically based politics that puts the people first and not the government. We also let the people know that their actions and inactions are what are shaping the future of Nigeria. Sometimes people think if I don’t vote, it doesn’t matter; if I don’t support any candidate, it doesn’t matter. There is no business today that is more important than politics because it controls almost every aspect of our lives.
Do you think the problem we are facing in Nigeria is squarely an issue of leadership. Don’t you think followership is also a problem?
Yes, leadership and followership are shared responsibility with each having a role to play. There is a role for the leaders and a role for the followers. PowerShift focuses on the followers because I know when the followers get it right, the leaders will get it right. We believe in the power shift that our leaders are making, ultimately it is our level of engagement with our leaders that will shape how they will interact with us.
In his book, the trouble with Nigeria, Chinua Achebe said that it is the responsibility of the citizens to seek out the leaders with the competence and character and to also ensure that they create a level playing ground for those people to emerge.
So, it is our responsibility as people to look into the community and check within ourselves and say this person is competent. Then we also go and start doing things and start working in the environment to make sure that that person emerges because of our community’s interest.
Recently, PowerShift endorsed Frank Nweke Jr in Enugu State. What criteria did you consider in choosing him over other candidates in Enugu State?
First of all, his emergence in the political party, APGA; APGA’s primary election was keenly contested. Frank and I won that election with only 6 votes to show you that there were primaries, not the one of the opposition parties that shared money. You hear that somebody emerged with 700 votes and the opponent has 1 vote and in some places, the person has 700 votes and the opponent has zero votes.
Frank won with a margin of 6 votes, to show that there was a contest, and he was the people’s choice. To me, that’s a win. INEC endorsed APGA’s primary election as the best in Enugu because they observed all of them, so let’s keep parties aside. Frank Nweke was invited into government. I say invited because I understand what that means.
I work with the government, and I was also invited. It is based on integrity, competence and capacity that this person can deliver, then you’re invited. When he was invited into Chimaroke’s administration, he headed the community council that was set up in every community in Enugu State.
It was through the community council that they did research and went around to ensure that they understand what the community needs and that was what the poverty alleviation programme of Chimaroke Nnamani’s administration. After which he was now appointed to become the chief of staff, of course, he served.
That was how he was appointed as a minister at a very young age, and he went to Abuja and served in two offices which we all know that Frank Nweke stood out to be one of the best serving ministers during Obasanjo’s administration. And then of course, when I mentioned serving minister, it’s not just to say that he was serving as a minister; we have to look at the context of the environment of his service.
One of the contexts is that he was sitting at the highest level decision making body which is the federal executive council. The highest level of decision making in Nigeria, he was a member of that committee. So, where decisions were made for the entire nation, he was sitting in that room to see how it goes, to see how some decisions come about and to even contribute.
One of the strongest times Nigeria has positioned itself economically viable was during Obasanjo’s administration and Frank Nweke was a team member of that government. In terms of policy, delivery of results, making sure that things should work effectively within that government, you cannot take that away from him.
They were the guides behind that. AMA brewery that was attracted during Chimaroke’s administration, they were the guides. AMA brewery was the largest investment outside oil and gas sector that happened in Nigeria throughout Obasanjo’s time in Enugu and all these happened when he was a chief of staff; up till today, you cannot mention one major investment that has come into Enugu.
It’s just politics of sycophancy that is going on, nobody is becoming issue-based anymore; nobody is talking about the young people anymore, health care. Currently in Nigeria, you know that primary schools go on strike. It’s no longer the university, even primary schools go on strike.
Then from there, he went to Harvard School, returned to school to study public policy and strategy in Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
He was the Director General of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group which is also the highest body in terms of policy decision making in Nigeria. Companies like MTN, Dangote corporation were involved and he chaired it for more than 2 years. He is of course, a serving member in Lagos Business School which he had put on hold because of his partisan position now that he is running for governor.
He sits on a lot of company boards; he has his own private business in the real estate and in the media sector. You see that his exposure to the private sector and public sector forms a mixture of what we need to drive the new Enugu. When I started investigating him, I used to tell people that Frank Nweke is an alternative; I no longer say that because I feel it’s not a proper statement. When I put all the candidates at par, Frank Nweke stands out. He is the only candidate that can deliver the new Enugu.
I am sure you are aware of the OBIdient movement. Is there a link between this movement and what you are canvassing for in Enugu State?
Yes, there’s a link. I was on air with somebody this morning; I was trying to correct some impressions. Because of the OBIdient movement and the emergence of the Labor Party, you now discover that some people are now trickling into the labour party. People who do not have any form of antecedents to show like Obi, are now jumping into the party so that they can win the election. We are telling them that we are also not fools.
The ideology behind the OBIdient movement which is important to understand is this. We were looking at all the candidates in terms of who can save this country. Of all the people we see, Obi is not necessarily the brightest or the smartest but he is the one most qualified amongst the people who are running. So when we keep Obi, Atiku, Tinubu and every other person that is running, Obi stands out. Hence, our support for him, it could have been any other person.
Now we want to also trickle that down into different states. So, if we come to the state level, we will not say because you’re OBIdient we are going to vote Labour Party. What we are also saying at the state level is that we are also going to do the same thing we did to choose Obi. We can’t elect a competent President and get a mediocre governor. That is the underlying principle of the OBIdient movement. So, everybody must have an understanding of that.
PowerShift is a non-partisan organization, but we support candidates. Why do we do that? Because our goal is to identify people who can lead, not people who are driven by party sentiments. We never knew what the Labour Party was, it was Obi we were following. So we say, anywhere you go, we go. At the state level, we have also analyzed the candidate and Frank Nweke clearly stands out. That’s why we are supporting him.
A lot of people would want to speak on the terms of Igbo Presidency because it is the turn of the South East. Do you share that sentiment?
No, I don’t support Obi because he’s an Igbo. I don’t think we need an Igbo president, neither do we need a Yoruba or Hausa President. We need a president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And we are voting Obi because he stands out clearly not because he’s an Igbo person. If Obi is not doing well and he is an Igbo person, I cannot be singing OBIdient. What makes us OBIdient is that he has the criteria to pilot the nation.
I am not a sentimental politician. I don’t believe in the politics of entitlement. I believe in the politics of competence. An average Nigerian doesn’t know the difference. It is politicians that tell us that this one is from the North, West, East or South and which they always bring up each time they come for election.
You will even see people who have not contributed anything to Igbo agenda; they’ve not contributed anything to the Igbo nation; they’ve not contributed anything to the plight or challenges of the South East but when it is time for election, they will wear red caps and tell you that they are Igbo. We are not fools.
An average Nigerian doesn’t care if a Northerner is the president for a hundred years, as long as there is water, road and other social amenities. The system in Nigeria is not working. A Hausa Suya seller and an Igbo Keke rider have no problem. Their problem starts when politics come in.
The OBIdients are accused of being cyber bullies. What do you think?
They have the right to do what they want to do. It’s a fight; it’s a battle. So, any way they feel they want to express themselves, they can express themselves. In 2014, Buhari was threatening that blood will flow in Nigeria if he fails the election. When they do things on their own, they speak English and move on; if we try our own, they bring in sentiments. We are a Soro Soke generation.
A lot of people are trying to link this OBIdient movement with EndSARS. What do you think?
Of course, EndSARS is likely going to repeat itself if Obi doesn’t emerge. We are tired. Is this a country? How else are we going to express that? Are we living like human beings in this country? In America, animals have more rights than you as a Nigerian citizen. We are not making substantial progress in Nigeria compared to the resources that we have as a country.
There is no reason why any Nigerian should suffer. It’s just pure leadership irresponsibility. And that is why we are saying that the renewal of the political class is sacrosanct and we are not going back on it. It is something we are committed to. They say what if we die. We will continue to fight till death and maybe our children can benefit from it. It is Obi or Obi!
About the insecurity in the country, what do you think should be done?
Everything rises and falls on leadership, and when you talk about the insecurity in Nigeria, another thing I want you to understand is that because our challenges are multi-faceted, other things are also fueling the insecurity. For instance, if there is hunger, poverty and unemployment, what do you expect people to do?
And that is why we are saying that it requires an integrated solution. It’s not just coming and saying that I’ll fix security. There are other things connected to insecurity, and that is why it requires competent leadership to drive that. This nation is more porous than ever; that’s why you see that an average Nigerian is looking for means to leave the country.
People are afraid and scared. You don’t know what next, who will be kidnapped next or what will happen next. And our leaders are not helping the matter. It requires attention; Nigeria can be fixed. It doesn’t take 10 years to fix Nigeria. What is killing Nigeria is what I call a human resource problem. Those who want to lead don’t have any business being in leadership.
Those who can lead are not interested; they don’t have a voter card. They don’t want to contribute to political conversations, they are the ones dragging the nation down. And they are bright men and women who have the capacity to enter the political space and disrupt it but everybody is not interested.
They claim that it is violent and that they will not be part of it. But go and check, more people have died of malaria and road accidents than political violence. Not participating is killing us more than participating. So every Nigerian must come together, get involved in politics; get involved in exercising their voting right and get involved in party politics.
During the primary election at Eagle Square. I was an observer. When it was time to vote, they made an announcement in English, Yoruba and Hausa, depending on the one the delegates understood. But beyond that, they said when you get to the voting points and you cannot write the name of the person you want to vote for, call someone to help you write.
Why do you have somebody who can’t even write his name be the one voting in a primary election for the president of the nation to emerge? This tells you that something is faulty somewhere. They go and get gullible people, give them $5000 and tell them to vote for this person. It is nonsense and this is because the younger generation do not want to get involved with politics. That’s a problem. That is what power shift is doing, calling people to get involved with the system.
They say that Obi does not have structure. The same can be said of your candidate in Enugu State. Do you agree with that?
We need to redefine what structure is. You and I know that since 1999, PDP hasn’t won an election in Enugu State. What they have is a structure to rig and a structure to intimidate. So, if structure is really what wins elections, then why are you rigging, make it a fair democratic process, then we vote and go and count it.
Will the contest be fair this time around? Won’t they still rig the process?
So, some of the things we are now hoping for is the BVAS and the improvements in the electoral process. You saw it work in other states. In the last Ekiti election, you know that BVAS worked. The only difference now is that there is vote buying which is giving people money. You can’t really control that.
We are mapping out strategies to control that but, of course, money can exchange hands without you knowing. Beyond that, we are the structure. Obi has a polling unit agent in me. That’s what I mean by we are the structure. We stay there till the votes are counted.