A TIME was when the mere mention of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu would send many people, especially politicians and business people who had dipped their hands in the till, scurrying for cover. As the saying goes, the fear of Ribadu was the beginning of wisdom for this group of people. That was when the lawyer-trained police officer headed the dreaded Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). While ordinary Nigerians and the upright in society hailed him and the activities of the commission; the bad guys wanted him out of the way. Indeed, the now retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) suffered governmental ignominies and several attempts on his life until he was forced out of the Nigeria Police and fled the country for dear life. He only returned recently to join in the crusade to redirect the ship of the Nigerian State. Ribadu, now a presidential aspirant on the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), says he is the best material for the office of president, insisting that his track records in the Police and EFCC are his testimonials for the exalted job. Credible leadershipALL is not lost yet in this country. There is hope. I know what I have, and I know that I mean well for Nigerians.I will unify our country and lead with honesty and transparency. I also stand as the hope and the voice for the voiceless.What matters is that we must work to convince Nigerians that our policies are better for them.The country will be better off because I, Nuhu Ribadu, stand for change and I can be the symbol of change that we all yearn for. This is what is needed in our country today.I am new, I am fresh and I am for one Nigeria. I am not a product of any process that is not national. I see myself as a true Nigerian that will open new frontiers for our country. I am the hope and I have come to symbolise that. I am a person who believes that Nigeria needs a change. Fixing NigeriaIt is not going to be a one-off thing. What I intend to do, first and foremost, is to provide a leadership that Nigerians can believe in; a leadership that can unify our people; a leadership that can give hope to the young men and women in this country; a leadership that is going to be transparent and very much accountable.A leadership that will listen and be very much compassionate; a leadership that will stop corruption; and a leadership that will address the challenges confronting our people and we can get immediate results. Prioritize programmesI have some specific things that we can achieve as soon as we get there; those challenges that are most important in the lives of our people. We are talking about challenges before us that we are unable to tackle. I will provide those solutions immediately. They are going to be a priority and we will collectively address them. It would mean bringing on board quality people.What are issues They are not too many. You draw up your priorities and start. For example, you will take on this problem of power supply and fix it in a record time and move to security, to ensure peace and stability.Like what happened (and happening) in Jos recently; armed robbery, kidnapping, insecurity in the Niger Delta; these issues should be given urgent attention. These issues can be handled in a record time.You can also talk about growing the economy through job creation, and promotion of enterprise through adequate support for the industrial sector. You need to do those things quickly and move to other areas for you to be able to reduce poverty in the country. Those are some of the priorities that we can take immediately.While you are doing that, you embark on nation-buildingbring unity, promote justice, and love in the country and carry everybody along.You also need to have a long-term programme, a strategy that can carry us through from the immediate to long term, in a way that you can have a sustainable growth and development.Then, of course, the image of our country, you need to improve on it. If we re-organize ourselves and change, the world will take note of that and we will get recognition. Police Force Nigerians needIt is not just the police alone; it is like other government agencies. Is there any government institution today that people talk well about Is it the Nigerian Parliament that you will say is doing well Which institution in Nigeria today that people can say is doing well The change has to be across board. That is why we are talking about remaking Nigeria so that we can deliver.On a specific term, if I have the chance, I will make the Nigeria Police to deliver because I know in the Force, we have very good men and women who, given the opportunity, could do extremely well. Under a good direction and quality leadership, with supporting tools, they will do extremely well; they will deliver.I can assure you that, as a president, the Nigeria Police will deliver. It will be a totally new Nigeria Police. The challenge there is that Nigeria is not taking care of her own police. If you dont take care of your police, they are not likely to take care of you very well. Reforming the legal systemWe have to improve the system because the world has changed so much and we all need to change with it. The system needs a lot of improvement. From the law enforcement down to the judiciary, we must find a way of continuously improving the system. It requires a lot of training and retraining.Above all, we need to stop corruption because wherever it exists you will not get service delivery. The justice sector is so critical, so important for the survival of democracy. Our people are yearning for justice and the court is the ultimate. If the justice system is not delivering, nothing could work, whether it is a private system or a public sector. So, the court must be at its best. I am very experienced in that area. Transparent, corruption-free governmentIt is not my style, and is not my strategy to use the EFCC to hound and hunt assumed corrupt people. In any case, by my nature, I do not look back. Even when I was in the EFCC, I did not look back. I addressed corruption as it was going on then. I did not bother to go after those who were leaders before.My understanding of fighting corruption is not to look back but to look forward and stop it while it is happening. I am not a vindictive person at all, by my nature.When the chance comes for me and I am elected president of Nigeria, my intention is to run a transparent and corruption-free government. That is all.
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