Dr Kayode Obembe is a leading medical practitioner who has combined his practice side by side with involvement in politics. In this interview with Idowu Samuel, he speaks on why he prefers President Goodluck Jonathan to other presidential candidates. Excerpts:The general election is close and from what you have seen so far, how would you describe politics in the countryPolitics in Nigeria is still in the process of evolution. We started with parliamentary system. But in the presidential system, you find out that the legislature is quite different from the executive arm, and the executive arm is different from the legislature. So, our political system is still evolving. In the turn of events, we are going to evolve as system that is suitable for our environment. The most important thing in government is to ensure that the common man is comfortable, his health is guaranteed and his future is secured. So, what we are doing is merely an experiment and I hope the experiment succeeds.We have close to 20 presidential aspirants in contest for the general election which starts this weekend. First, what would you say about the calibre of the candidatesI can divide the candidates into two categories. The first category includes those who were all out to just make noise and get a fair share of what may be due to political parties. The other category comprises those who really mean business, who are experienced, who have followership and who really can win elections. And they are not more than three or four.In realistic terms, I dont think that this country needs more than two or three political parties. The moment you have more than 50 political parties, be rest assured that the level of commitment of each one of them will be low. Most of the parties would no longer be concerned with how to get power but how to get their share in the money from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) meant for political parties. So for me, I think Goodluck Jonathan is still the leading contender among the presidential candidates that will contest the April presidential election. By implication, the PDP will have an edge over other parties beginning from the National Assembly polls on SaturdayWhy did you give it to JonathanHe is the most experienced and he has the political antecedents. He had risen from the ranks, from deputy governor in his home state, Bayelsa to acting governor and then governor of Bayelsa. He moved up as the vice-president, acting president and then president. That is enough to show that he has been through the ranks.Also, the party he is representing is not a push over. It is a national party with a blend of ethnic nationalities, religions and cultures. The PDP is not a tribal party; it is spread round the country. The situation is not so in other parties. If a party is not based on ethnicism, others would be anchored on religion, while many others are hinged on personalities. We want a Nigeria where everybody would be equal partners and where there would be no religion dominance. We want a president who would serve the interest of everyone and not a section of the country, or a particular religion.Are you not rating Jonathan high because you are one of his top supporters in the South-WestI am rating him high because thats where my heart is. There is no doubt about that it is what everybody can see very clearly.And you do not see candidates like General Muhammadu Buhari as a threat in Saturdays electionWe know the antecedents of Buhari in this country. We know he was in All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) which was restricted to the North. Then he left the ANPP to form the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and from the look of things, the party is getting known for fomenting tribal and religious sentiments. I think we should be able to accommodate ourselves in this country. When you study Buhari very closely, it is difficult to say that he will carry everybody along, if given the power. He is not likely to be democratic.When he was in ANPP, he was believed to have been carrying on with some measure of autocracy. He believed in consensus option in selecting candidates for elective positions. That is one of the reasons the party collapsed along the line. But Jonathan is more accommodating. He submitted himself to the will of his party and his election as PDP presidential candidate was most transparent. The world saw it as such. We knew what happenedin the other parties. None of them employed the principle of democracy. It was consensus option all the way. So, you can reflect on these and conclude that the PDP still remains the best party with a hope.You are a renowned medical practitioner and yet has been actively engaged in politics for quite some time. How have you been coping by combining the two demanding tasks together.It is simple. Health and politics are inter-related. I mean the health of a nation depends on the political system it operates. I want to tell you that in 1948 and 1949, the greatest manifesto of Labour Party in Britain was health insurance. It was the Labour Party that started the health insurance and they called their own National Health Scheme. It has been the best in the world and on that basis, because of their health system, they have accurate data on birth and death rates or people they are taking care of and they know how much they are spending per capita income. So health and politics are so closely related and I should explain that if we have adequate health insurance system in Nigeria, all the money we are spending on registration which is close to N70 billion annually would not have been necessary because our data would have captured everything. We would have known our number, we would have known the number of individuals who nurse particular ailment, we would have known the kind of drugs and medical equipment to put in our hospitals and so on. That is to tell you that health and politics are closely related.Where did you start politics fromI cannot remember when I started politics because it has always been with me. In my university days, I was playing politics. Then I was the president of my University Medical Students Association. I was one of those who politically motivated the state government to restructure the teaching hospital. The Teaching Hospital Bill was actually drafted by some of us and we passed it to the state House of Assembly through the Medical Students Association. All along we realised that if you are going to achieve anything in medicine for your patients, the political determinants must always be taken care of, or else they would retard you from what you are doing. During that time, it was the military that was ruling and we were relating with the then Governor of Oyo State, Brigadier Oluwole Rorimi. And then after I finished, I was one of the young Nigerians who went to launch the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). At various levels, I would say that I have always been at the political arena, but the thing is that I had never contested for an elective position.And why would you not contest for an elective position, at least if you are this keen in politicsIt depends on where you think you can serve better. You can serve even better in your profession. If I had contested an elective position with what I am doing in the medical profession, there is no way it would not disentangle me from my work. You may even have to close down your clinic or employ special people to take charge. But then, the goal that I am pursuing in the medical profession can still be pursued by supporting or collaborating with people I know and who share the same views and ideas with me.There were even times I was called upon in my home state to come and contest elections. I had to turn down such offers on the basis that I was pursuing some goals which if I had attained, I would say the time is right to contest. Purposefully, my goal is not to carry ballot box and start canvassing for votes. But I believe in the executive arm of government with which I think I can collaborate to carry out some functions in the health sector. I can also collaborate with political parties that share the same goal and objective.What have been your contributions to the health sector since you have been hovering around politics, either at the local state or federalLet me start from the community level. I have always been at home with my people since 1965, that was before I started secondary school. Then we started what is called Ayedun Youths Association. It was our motive to help ourselves educationally, most especially some students who were not doing sciences in schools.At Ekiti State level, I contributed a lot in the creation of Ekiti State. I got to know one of the Arewa leaders who was close to General Abacha. This man, Haruna Shasha, was sympathetic to our clamour for the creation of Ekiti State because I was his family doctor and we were close. One day, he called me and asked for the name of the state that we wanted government to create. Already a committee set up by the government had written a report to say that many of the proposed states were not viable. So when I mentioned Ekiti to the old man, he immediately called Abacha and told him to create Ekiti State, telling him it is a matter of necessity. All these are verifiable, because thereafter Ekiti State was created. And the Ewi, Elekole and other traditional rulers came and I led them to the Sarkin Shasha to thank him for his efforts. That was all.At this point in time, what would you say of our health sector in Nigeria.I will start by saying that the kick-off of the Health Insurance in Nigeria on June 5 2005 has been a land mark in the health sector of Nigeria. It is like a making a foundation. It is unfortunate that since the foundation was made, it has not been progressing as expected.
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