An elder statesman and former governor of Midwest/Bendel State, Retired Brigadier-General (Dr) Samuel Ogbemudia, on September 17, 2011, turned 79. He spoke to select journalists in his Abuja home on a number of personal and national issues. Christian Okeke brings the excerpts.HOW do you feel at 79'Well, first let me give thanks to the Almighty God who, in His infinite mercies, kept me till this day. It has been a very eventful journey. Quite honestly, I feel on top of the world and how I wish I could be 50 again. But for my leg, I could jump all over the place as I used to do. But nature must take its course. The younger ones must grow up and take up the gauntlet.Is there anything you are doing to revive the fortunes of the PDP in Edo State, as people allege that you and Chief Tony Anenih have divided the party in the state'Something is being done already. The problem is not Dr. Ogbemudia or Chief Anenih. We have no personal differences. He remains my good old friend, but let me say that politically, we have had different approaches. I am still in the PDP and we are together.Do you expect the PDP to recapture Edo'I am a PDP man and the purpose of politics is to win political power and use it for the benefit of the people. That is why I said that the greater interest of the state is what matters and not the party label.Growing up, did you have the dream that one day, a man from your South-South zone would become the president of the country'If you follow events as they happened, you would notice that I was in the forefront of those fighting to get Dr Gooodluck Jonathan elected as president. When he was Vice-President, we were all there to ensure that he was made Acting President. To me, it was one of the dreams come true that a southerner, particularly of his age, became the president. So, I see him as the arrowhead of those who had come, as John the Baptist, to prepare the way for the younger generation to come.What are your expectations now that he is in office'The expectation is in two forms. One is that the people of Nigeria should support him to succeed. Two, he himself should appreciate that support and follow the route charted for him.Do you think having a military background has anything to do with succeeding or not succeeding as president of the country'No, you don't need a military background to study or understand the system of buying and selling. You don't need a military background to know that Nigeria must be safe for people; protect their lives and properties. You don't need a military background to have food security; you don't need a military background to have social security. So, security being man's first problem, you don't need a military background to solve it.Some people are of the opinion that the crisis that the country is having could be a prelude to the country breaking up. What's your take on that'Every day, every week, every month and every year, people come up with different ideas. There are those who pray to have us broken up because they are tired of it and they want to go to their enclave to be somebody to be reckoned with. Nigeria won't break up as far as what I read on the wall is concerned. The handwriting on the wall hasn't got that.You supported the emergence of President Jonathan at a time when others were threatening to make the country ungovernable for him if he eventually emerged president. Now that he is president, we have seen an escalation of crisis. Do you suspect sabotage'I do not. First and foremost, democracy, which we operate, allows for different views on a particular subject. Once upon a time I was in London when Davies Steel said, 'Our next task is to bring down the government of Thatcher.' Freedom of information allows for all those statements.That something is happening which was purportedly prophesied on sometimes before only puts before the government that challenge to stop it, to clear it, to remove it because you cannot have a country without any challenge. I don't believe that there is sabotage. Those who want to make the country ungovernable, they are pitching their tents opposite the tent of the majority of Nigerians and when they face them, they cannot cope.The president recently marked his first 100 days in office. What is your assessment of his government so far'For a successful government to emerge, planning and preparation are very important. It requires more than 100 days for good planning and preparation. Let us understand that President Jonathan took time to put together his cabinet. He has given a signal that he will battle darkness to give us permanent light. He has put up an economic team to regenerate growth. He has held security meetings and given appropriate directives to security agencies, thereafter turning his attention to infrastructure. His performance is average plus. I want to enjoin Nigerians to support him to succeed in the overall interest of the country.Are there specific areas you would want the president to focus on'There are three basic needs of man and they are security, shelter and mobility. Security covers every aspect of human endeavour: food security, social security, economic security and security of life and property, among others.As I always say, a hungry nation is an angry nation and you cannot teach a hungry and angry nation the ideals of democracy. So, feed first thy country. Now, in the context of modern economy, I also say that the quality of an economy depends on the efficiency of its transportation. That is why all fast-growing economies of the world are propelled by rail which is the leader of bulk, human and goods' movement. We must go rail. But you must note that electricity is inevitable to achieve this.Government cannot abdicate its responsibility to protect the lives and properties of the citizens. It must feed the people: that means full and comprehensive return to agriculture with the involvement of all the three tiers of government and the private sector, is a must. We need power; we need rail. Then we must add roads. Other traditional and even new functions of government follow like education, health, communication and others. I am happy with our stride on communications, but we need to revisit our educational and health institutions. We also need to pay more attention to sports.What is your reaction to the spate of bombings in the country'From being a very peaceful society, we have gradually grown in violent crimes and now it is bomb blast. When the police headquarters was bombed, even though we suspected terrorism, I did not expect that it was by a suicide bomber or that there was foreign collaboration. Now, all doubts have gone with the bombing of the United Nations headquarters here. Clearly, a person drove the car. From what we now know, including the very recent discovery by the SSS, Nigerian terrorists have foreign collaborators. The circle of international terrorism is now complete in our dear country. It is the single most important challenge facing government and the people.Government alone can't watch the streets. Now that terrorism is in its infancy, all hands must be on deck to massively and effectively crack it down. It does no good to any body, group or section of the country. There is no good example of it to cite globally. We must get together behind the government to reverse this very negative development.
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