‘Jonathan deserves 2nd term’

In this interview with AKEEB ALARAPE, the National Coordinator, G15 Victory Platform, Mr. Igbasan Emmanuel, ex­plains why President Good­luck Jonathan deserves a second term in office.
What is the agenda of G15?
The purpose is for us to promote and project the good policies of this administration and position our people to benefit; as it is now, there is a disconnect between what is happening in Abuja and the common people. For example, my mother doesn’t know what the Minister of Agri­culture, Dr. Akinwumi is doing in the agricultural sector. My uncle doesn’t know how to benefit from the N220billion lying fallow in the Bank of Agriculture. We try to organize our people to know that there is something good in this administration.
Nonetheless, in the South-West, there is a disconnect between the leadership and the masses. That is the gap we want to bridge.

What is your take on GEJ’s endorsement?
Well, the endorsement of Mr. President is a confirmation that nobody, no group throws away a winning team. Every nation has its own brand of democracy depend­ing on the peculiarity of the situa­tion. The kind of the situation we have in Nigeria today demands that we have our own homegrown democracy that will help democ­racy and consolidate on the gains of the past. I see Mr. President as a foundation builder, who is laying a solid foundation for the greatness of this nation. And if you are going to build a tower, the structure doesn’t come out until the foundation is well entrenched underneath. And the foundation is usually not seen. So, we need some time for us to consolidate on the laudable achievements of this Goodluck administration. So, his endorsement gave credence to our clamour that this man must continue and consolidate some of the gains of this transformation agenda and policies until they begin to materialize. Then, others that are coming after him can now build on it. So, we have been vindicated and it is our own brand of democracy, which is good for the country.
Why the move to gather 4 million votes for Mr. Presi­dent.
We have it all mapped out in the eight states that we cover, where we have our state directors and we have given our people target. For example, the last meet­ing I held with my directors in Ondo State, we have 1.4million registered voters in the state and we have asked them to target to mobilize 400, 000 voters across the 3, 231units.
Our structure is such that at the state level, we have the state direc­tors, at local government level, we have local coordinators, at the ward levels, we have the supervi­sors; at unit level, we have the leaders. So, what we do is just to mandate the lead­ers to get so and so numbers of people.
For example, in Ondo State, we just need to mobilize 125 people; not party members, that is what differ­entiates us from other groups; but voters with voters’ cards and registration numbers.
So, we have given our group target. When we sum it up, Ondo State is to mobilize 400,000; Ekiti State is to mobilize 600, 000 of 1.7million voters; Oyo State is to mobilize 800,000 out of 2.4mil­lion voters, and so on. We have our statistics ready and we have structure in place to actually deliver.
Why South-west people must vote Jonathan
One of the closest officers to Mr. President today, in person of the Chief of Staff, who organizes everything, is from South West. Though a domestic staff, he is also a powerful mobiliser. He may not have a ministry or budget but he organizes things around the President. He’s a highly influential officer from the South West in the present administration.
The grudges of the past is borne out of the selfish interest of some powerful individuals, whose political interest is entrenched but now in jeopardy in South West; who connived with others to deny the people the rights that belong to us for their own selfish gain. We all know that the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives ordinarily should be for the South West. And we all know how this position was shifted away from us thereby denying us the No. 4 position. So, the problem of South West was not orchestrated by Mr. President but homegrown by us.
That is what we stand to correct by coming out to say we deserve a better treatment; we deserve to educate our people that it doesn’t pay anybody to be in the opposi­tion; it doesn’t pay anybody to be selfish for their selfish interest and deny millions of people their rights. In the second dispensation, I expect South West to be treated fairly.
How do you feel about the PDP in South West and its crises?
Yes, while we are using this medium to urge our leaders to speak with one voice. We know that in politics, it is all about self interest.
Is pecuniary interest among members of the party the cause of the crisis?
I have heard that severally. But our people have a timid way of condemning what is not achiev­able or inconceivable by them. In politics, everybody is involved because you are involved. So, one way or the other, you must be in­volved in a process that will make somebody embark on policies that will affect one and his generation. You have a right to the emergence of such person.
So, nobody is being driven by pecuniary reason. It is either they are afraid to go into the murky water they call politics or they are afraid to voice out their opinion. And in any situation, there are always actors, there are commen­tators and there are watchers. So, theirs is the work of commenta­tors. They are free to comment.
But we know why our group has come out. This is because there is a disconnect between peo­ple in government and the masses. The masses do not truly know the importance of the far-reaching decisions President Jonathan has made upon their lives and upon their children. So, this is why we say let us educate our people; let them see something good with Jonathan.
Do you think President Jonathan is overwhelmed by the challenges facing him?
Many people are ignorant of the enormity of problems confronting Nigeria. Our people have an adage that if trees fell over themselves, a sensible person will first of all cut the one that is on top. I have taken my time to study and examine our President and I think we have one of the most intelligent Presidents that we ever had in Nigeria. He is not a Mr. Quick-Fix but surely a Mr. Sure-Fix. At any point in time, I will not subscribe to it that the President is overwhelmed. Many of those criticising him cannot even manage their own home not to talk of managing a volatile country such as Nigeria.
He is handling the issue if security; he is handling the issue of unemployment; he is handling the issue of power. Look at how he dealt with the issue of power. In the next four, five years, power will never be a problem with Nigeria because some past admin­istration spent billions of dollars with nothing to show for it. Within four years, we have marginally moved from 2, 000 megawatts to 4, 500 megawatts but we’re targeting 5, 000 megawatts before the end of the year which is achievable going by the structure on ground.