Nigerians should forget PDP, APC in next
election – Kowa presidential candidate
Category: Inside politics Published on Monday, 12
January 2015 05:01 Written by Musa Abdullahi
Krishi Hits: 2916
Oluremi Sonaiya
Oluremi Sonaiya, a professor of French and
Applied Linguistics, was a lecturer at the Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, who
retired in 2010 to participate in politics full-time.
A former public relations officer of the Kowa
Party, Sonaiya is presently the party’s
presidential candidate for next month’s elections.
In this interview, she gives reasons why Nigerians
should vote for her party. Excerpts:
Nigerians would want to know why you’re going
for the presidency.
I have been always concerned about issues of
justice in general and issues of fairness, and from
my experience when I was a child and growing up
and from what I am experiencing now, I see that
things have taken a nosedive in Nigeria and one
does not have the sense that these issues are
being addressed the way they should.
From my travels around the world, I see that a
better life is possible for people and I’m not
talking about highly-developed nations, I’m
talking about other African countries, even
countries that are not nearly half as endowed as
Nigeria is.
You just need to step out to Cotonou in Benin
Republic and you get a sense that their issues are
being addressed and that life is getting better for
them. I believe that there should be a way out for
every problem here too.
What informed your choice of Kowa Party as a
platform, considering the fact that most
Nigerians don’t know it?
Yes, but it is a party that has values. It has
values that I identify with. Just recently, we were
told about a governor who said that it is not
possible not to tell lies in politics. Well, Kowa
Party does not believe in that. Kowa Party has
values of integrity, truth and honesty so that you
will definitely have to work with people with
whom you will agree so that you are constantly
hitting your head against the big wall or
constantly in conflict, because these are values
that I share and practise in my own life too.
There are misgivings about women’s capacity to
lead compared to the men; what’s your take on
that?
I believe the time is really ripe to challenge our
people to begin to think differently about issues
and to engage and question ourselves that ‘okay
with all these beliefs we have held over the years,
it’s men and men and men; where have they left
us, where are we today?’ You don’t keep doing
the same things and expect different results and a
time comes when it is clear that we need to take
a different direction.
I was earlier today giving an example of Barrack
Obama. A time came when somebody dared to
take on all the white establishments and said it is
time for a black man to aspire to this position,
and you never know that it is time until it
happens.
So, there is no point believing ahead of time that
we are not ripe for that yet; we are not ripe for a
woman president? There is no way you will know
until somebody gets up and does it and it
happens. We the people are ripe for it. We have
had enough of what they have known so far.
What do you and your party have for Nigerians if
elected?
I don’t believe it is about manifestos, because
manifestos get crafted by experts who use very
fine language. We will do this; we will create this
and so on and so forth. I believe a lot that is
ahead of us, especially for this election, has to do
with integrity. We are in a test of morality in this
issue; there is right and there is wrong. There are
wrong things that have been done in the House
that we heard. It is wrong for people to earn such
fat salaries and keep telling us that 70 percent of
our people live under the poverty line; it is
morally wrong.
How prepared are you to face the challenges of
corruption, insecurity, unemployment among
others that have now become prevalent in the
country?
There is a preparedness that has to do with a will
to do good. I tweeted a few days ago that I am
hunted by the statement made about leaders we
have had in Nigeria by a former American
Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. She said:
“Nigerian leaders are able but unwilling to give
their people a better life.” What is it that we do
not know how to do? Is it that we don’t know
how to build roads? Is it that we don’t know how
to generate and distribute electricity?
The technology exists; it is known, otherwise why
are other people doing it? Why do you go to
Ghana and you don’t have to think about
electricity problem? Are we not on the same level
with Ghana? It is a question of the will to do it.
Corruption is our great problem and if the leaders
are unwilling, the job will not be done; it’s not
that we can’t.
So, people can have fancy manifestos and make
all these promises that have been making over
the years, until there is a willingness to say let us
get things right.
For corruption, in particular, everybody must be
brought under the rule of law. I do not believe
that anybody should enjoy immunity from any
violation against the law. So, I believe that this is
crucial. The Executive, the legislators, everybody
must be under the rule of law. I also believe in
the power of the example of a leader. Your
actions must match your words.
We keep reeling out statistics that oh 70 percent
of Nigerians live on less than $2 per day and
things like that. Yet you as a leader is seen to be
living in opulence and excessive comfort. Look at
the houses our leaders are building, that erode
trust and the biggest thing that a leader should
do is to be able to earn the trust of the people so
that you can inspire them.
If they do not feel that you share their pains; if
it’s just by word of mouth not in action, then it
does not work. So, the personal life of the leader
is also there.
On the issue of insurgency, it is a global
phenomenon and we are all aware of that - Al-
Shabab, Al-Qaeda, Taliban, ISIS and all of them.
So, Boko Haram is part of that whole group as a
global phenomenon. We have to work very closely
with other countries, international agencies and
all those who are involved in that fight. We
cannot say this is our own problem, so we have
to solve it our way. They’re all connected.
Secondly, the idea of partisanship cannot be
allowed to come into play here, because if we fail
to protect ourselves, it’s a failure for everybody.
It is everybody that dies when a bomb explodes.
It does not target the party in power, so, it must
be clear to all of us that we have to set our
differences, partisanship and so on to tackle this
issue. The people in the community have to be
the eyes and ears that will gather intelligence and
give to those who are supposed to protect them.
How will you convince Nigerians that Kowa Party
will bring solutions to our challenges?
I hope that the message will resonate. Yours is to
bring out your message and trust that the people
will be able to think of it as true. Let’s challenge
ourselves. It’s our lives. Why are we saying PDP
and APC? What benefit have we derived from that
which we have known? I’ll like to challenge
Nigerians that things are changing all around the
world. People are taking bold steps to give
themselves a new beginning and all that, why not
us? It is time for new things to begin to happen
in our own country as well.
I hope that as we engage with different groups,
grassroots movements, civil societies and so on,
we’ll be able to convey the message and bring
them to the recognition that this is an opportunity
for us to take a decision that will move us all.
Winning elections in Nigeria requires huge sums
as can be seen in the over N21bn PDP raised for
Jonathan and how Buhari’s recharge cards are
everywhere; how prepared are you financially?
I hope that you are not putting a very positive
coloration on the raising of over N21 billion,
because I think it is actually a shame. People are
talking about it around the world and saying ‘look
at Nigeria; look at their infrastructure; look at
their situation and they will bring out that amount
of money to get somebody re-elected.’ I am not
sure it is a good thing to say about us. I do not
see it as a positive development and I think that
money ought not to be spent that way.
The fact that that amount of money will come out
of a country with the kind of problems that we
have, it is a misplacement of priority.
Certainly elections cost money, no doubt about it,
but let money be spent in an accountable way
that shows you appreciate the prevailing
circumstances in your environment.
Source: www.dailytrust.com.ng/daily/politics/44029-nigerians-should-forget-pdp-apc-in-next-election-kowa-presidential-candidate
A breath of fresh air is what Nigeria really needs.

Great effort from a woman, She just stamped her feet in sands of time(Nigeria)
But for now it's GEJ till 2019!

I really wish Nigerians will be able to shift their focus from dis PDP and APC and see that they have other excellent choices