The convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, in this interview with the Punch, speaks on Pres. Buhari coming back for a second term. Read excerpts below:
Do you think that President Buhari, with his performance so far, deserves a second term?
I said earlier that most of the things Obasanjo said in his statement are the same things Nigerians have been expressing serious concerns about. I was shocked when I heard that some people are asking (Buhari) him to contest again. This is somebody who left Nigeria for many months to receive treatment in Britain. I was shocked that the man had barely arrived in Nigeria when those promoting him decided to launch his second-term campaign. Nigerians don’t even know if Buhari is completely healthy for the great task of governance yet. We don’t even know his ailment. I think that it is too early in the day for anybody to think of President Buhari being returned for a second term. I think he (Buhari) has to take care of his health first. Nigerians are also talking about his age whether 74 or 75. If he is 75, it means that by 2019 he would be 76 or 77. The man at the moment does not look healthy. He’s a fine man but I do not think that at the age of 80 or 77 he is still strong enough to become the President of Nigeria. Those of them who are saying they want Buhari are not sincere with him. We are not talking of being competent or not. I have always supported his anti-corruption crusade, his sincerity and honesty of propose. But these are not enough to rule a big country like Nigeria. Nigeria requires a mobile president – a president who can be moving from place to place. For the period he (Buhari) was away, Niger Delta was boiling, but the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was able to go to the area to meet with the people of the region including the various leaderships and youths. If President Buhari were a younger person or somebody who is very healthy, he would have visited Benue State over the killings by herdsmen to have an on-the-spot-assessment. In this case, you can’t blame or fault him because you don’t know the state of his health. There are a lot of things that Obasanjo mentioned in his special statement. I will advise that President Buhari should not listen to those people clamouring for a second term for him. He should examine his state of health and his ability to do the work. These are things he has to consider. Nigeria first before him. I know he has the interest of Nigeria at heart but he must be capable of doing it physically and psychologically and mentally.
Obasanjo also talked about the appointment of security chiefs by President Buhari. Everybody believes that what he (Buhari) did was wrong. Nigeria is one entity. It is true that the appointment of security chiefs of this country is leaning towards the North. Buhari is not the first person that would do that. (Former President Shehu) Shagari did it also.
There is a need for a change. If you look at the security architecture of the last (Jonathan) government, the service chiefs were not from the South alone but now, almost everybody is from the North. What Nigerians are worried about is that Buhari shouldn’t have followed suit. A situation where you have a meeting of national security council, and only people from one side of the country are in attendance as members, is very dangerous because people from other regions are not there to contribute. How do we guarantee the security of every Nigerian when people from one side of the country are in the highest security council of the country? I believe that like the last one (referring to NIA DG) he should have looked for another Yoruba man or an Igbo man to be appointed. If there are no capable persons, the federal government should have given it to the South-South. It shouldn’t have come from the North unless he was next in line. In this case, the man had even retired as an assistant director. Mr. President should sit down, think, revisit and readjust the appointments.