Stanley Usifo, is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and he believes that Nigerians should limit their belief in popular candidates and vote for people with integrity and character to move the nation forward.
The presidential aspirant, in this interview, spoke about what makes him different from others. INIOBONG IWOK brings the excerpts:
Why are you aspiring for the post of president despite the heavyweights in the party that are eyeing the office?
The consideration to lead Nigeria is not based on the aspirations of anybody. They are all Nigerians and whoever emerges as the President would lead them too and they will be part of those that will make their contributions to the development of the country.
A lot of people would say they are popular or known; every human being has his or her own advantage. I strongly believe that I have a much more defined capacity and I am better focused in my decision to be president. I have plans and programmes that I have lined up and I strongly believe that if they are implemented they will bring positive changes within the Nigerian nation.
What are your pedigree and those things that prepared you for this big position?
This is not my first time vying for the position of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I did it four years ago in 2019; this is coupled with my activities over the years, and my involvement in national activities. The researches and findings that I have undergone brought me to a stage to realise that Nigeria needs someone that is different and someone that is a nationalist.
We need someone that is not tribalistic, that wants to unify all parts of Nigeria, who wants to use his service as a peace advocate and as someone that understands all the social and political fabrics, economic fabric and the religious fabrics of the country. We need someone that would put these together to get a nation, where there is peace and harmony. I mean a nation where the poor are uplifted from their status, a person that wants to take Nigeria out of the dungeon.
We want someone that understands the issues affecting the country, especially insecurity. I realise that many things have been abandoned by those that have been saddled with the issues affecting the country. Even the Central Bank that ought to drive the nation’s economic policies is not focused. We need someone that would head the CBN and put it in the right position. We need a Nigerian devoid of mediocrity, we need a Nigerian that is different, who would give instructions to the subordinates and they will do it.
Your own lifestyle should show that you are someone that is doing the right thing. I mean a country, where you have people move from the North to the South and from the East to the West without any form of hindrance. A Nigeria where peace prevails and there is respect for everyone.
That was why I came out. We have many plans and programmes and I am looking at how we can reduce our dependence on foreign goods and promote made-in-Nigeria goods. Apart from that, we are looking at the issue of inflation and seeking a way of reducing it. We discovered that Nigerians cannot afford so many things. I want to have a situation where you give instructions to the army and the Nigerian police and they act accordingly. If anyone does not act accordingly I want to have a system where such a person is disciplined based on the laws that we have on ground.
There are so many things that I want to bring on board in Nigeria to make it a nation that is reckoned with globally, internationally and a nation that is respected. When that is done I know that there will be peace and prosperity. The fundamental purpose of the government is to provide peace, security and welfare for the people.
When all these are done, the nation would not have the kind of crises that we are having right now. Then, most importantly the agitations around the country, these have not been properly looked into, the government has not done much on them.
All these agitations have led to a crisis, people are not able to go to farms, there are killings everywhere, we are going to look at them holistically so that there would be peace and everybody would have a sense of belonging. We would look at what they want and try to solve them so that everybody would be happy.
The issue of money comes in, you will buy a nomination form of N100 million and you will go round the 36 states of the federation for mobilisation apart from other things that would cost huge amount of money; how prepared are you for these?
Right now, we are just starting; the task of becoming president is not a child’s play and I want to tell you that we are prepared. We have representations and we have presence in the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). We have coordinators all over the states down to the local governments. I strongly believe that these are the things we need; we need to reach out to the people and the grassroots.
But before you become the party’s presidential candidate you have to go through primaries as we might have 10, 20 or even 50 of aspirants, and only one person has to be chosen. It is when the person is chosen that the real business of campaigning will start. At that stage, the finance would come from members of the party. Right now, the finance that we need comes from friends and other sources, including your own as an aspirant.
We are on ground; whenever we have anything to do we have been doing it. I have been there before; this is not the first time that I am doing this. I have done it in the last election and I am doing it again. In terms of readiness, and experience, I have been there before. Everything that we are doing, we take them as they come.
How do you hope to break the ranks of the leaders of the party, we have big guns in the race, who are your backbones?
When it comes to the presidential election there is no rank, you are looking at people being in different levels. You should know that immediately after the primaries everybody would come together and the candidate remains. As it is now, everybody has opportunities. I have opportunities, I am someone that has no baggage, I am a young man with good records, I strongly believe that I have great advantages as a young man.
When it comes to governance, you look at capacity; the fact that you are popular does not mean that you have the capacity to govern. Many of these popular people fumble and they would not perform, when they are given opportunities to serve. We have seen that giving popular candidates’ positions has not worked.
We have seen that in some states such as Akwa Ibom, Governor Udom Emmanuel of the state was not popular, he got there as someone that was not known by Nigerians, but if you go to Akwa Ibom you will see what he is doing.
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Professor Babagana Zulum, the governor of Borno State was not known, nobody knew him before, he was not a senator or anything before, see the way he has performed. Now, nobody wants to contest against him, even all the political parties in the state want him to continue. He came from nowhere.
If Nigerians want things to work, we don’t need people that are popular, we need people that are determined, people that are ready to work, not those that have been there and people can see what they have done. What is in their ranking; the ranking that is causing insecurity.
I want to tell Nigerians that wealth is based on your character, which is the greatest wealth any human being can possess. Material wealth is useless. You may have material wealth if you don’t have character, then it is zero as far as I am concerned.
The greatest wealth any man can have and which you can give to humanity is the wealth of integrity, it is the wealth of having the desire for the welfare of the people, providing security and your integrity.
These are what I call wealth, not wealth of money, or wealth of materialism. I know God has blessed me, but that does not make me a wealthy man.
The wealth I want to bring on board is the wealth of experience that I have, the wealth of capacity that I have, the wealth of activities to be able to transform Nigeria and governance and to ensure that we should not have things that we complain about and those that we don’t complain about we improve on them. We are going to look at those areas that are not so good and make them okay.
I am not the kind of person that talks much; you discover that those who talk much don’t achieve much. I want to really work, let your work speak for you. I don’t believe in going round to tell people this or that.
Let me get into this position, try me, just for four years and see what I can do for Nigeria. Let the President hear me today. I am 46 years old; I want to be given a chance. Let them give me four years and let us see how Nigeria can be transformed in four years with me as the president of the country.
I want the members of the party to look at me very well, I am young, I’m still vibrant, I have not mingled with all sorts of people, I have not mingled with corruption, I have not mingled with lack of integrity, I have everything intact for me. Let everyone of them look at me and let them all make me the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we will never regret my emergence as president.
President Muhammadu Buhari and the National chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, members of the National Working Committee (NWC), and all the members, I am telling them that I am capable.
Money is good, but I want to tell them that the wealth I have is the wealth of character, integrity, good understanding, and good background to handle issues, courage, good management ability, good leadership, and being a peace advocate.
What I have done in the past prepared me to lead Nigeria. Just give me one term of four years, let me transform Nigeria after which power can go back to the north. I want to assure Nigerians that if I am given one term Nigeria would be transformed, I assure you.
