Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa was chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG). The Imo State-born PDP presidential aspirant, in this exclusive interview, speaks on zoning, his ambition and his vision for Nigeria.
We have had in the past, people who came out and made promises with their oratory. But when they get the power, they become something else. What have you done in the past? What do you think you can bring on board that will make Nigerians trust you?
First of all, I have competence. I started my life as a pharmaceutical sales representative. And I climbed from that lower level to become chairman and CEO of Pfizer international and multinational; 15 years from lowest to highest. They don’t give it to you because you are from Igbo land or Yoruba land. There is no ethnicity. It’s a multinational company. So it’s about capacity and competence.
Rotation should be treated as a settled matter – Ohuabunwa
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In 1997, Pfizer asked me to lead the management to buy over Pfizer products plc, they are shares. We raised $300 million and bought over their shares, converted the company to a medium size and ran the company called Nimet International. They are still working. Nobody was sacked. We kept creating jobs and wealth. The company is still existing and flourishing. It is quoted in the stock exchange as facing difficulties but still existing.
Is that all you have to offer?
I have been involved in founding not less than 25 companies in my lifetime. So, I have been in the business of work creation and job creation.
Can we know exactly what you want to bring onboard?
I’m going to bring competence. And so, Nigeria will function as a company, as a business, but without converting it to profit of naira and kobo. It will show in the quality of life of Nigerians. If you see that life expectancy has moved, then you know that our investment is working and returning.
Both the ruling APC and the opposition PDP have been strategizing on how to resolve this issue of zoning which is not in the constitution as the 2023 general elections draw nearer. What is your take on that?
The constitution talks about federal character. What is the meaning of federal character? The meaning of a federal character is that no single group no matter how educated, no matter how sophisticated, no matter how wise and developed they are should dominate federal appointments and positions. It is there in the constitution.
So, the rotation starts with exclusion. If you want to rotate, it means you exclude some people. My point is that I support rotation. I also know that it is not supposed to be something that will last forever. Societies emerge. And we are at different levels of development.
But our political sophistication right now means that we should rotate because we have still not built a nation. We have multi-ethnic nationalities occupying the country. We have not converted our country into one single nation. The day it becomes a nation, then the rotation will just die naturally. So, for now, I support it.
The truth is that when we have a president from the North, the next president, for now, should come from the South, that is what will bring inclusiveness, unity, love or otherwise some people will think that the country is owned by a section of the country.
And like I have said, I want to run for the office as president of Nigeria. I’m not running because it’s for the South East. I’m only speaking that it is for maintaining justice, equity and fair play that we should do the North-South, it doesn’t matter which party. It is not about the party. The president of Nigeria is not the president of APC, not the president of PDP, not the president of ADC, it is the president of Nigeria.
