Igbo Still At The Bottom Of National Politics says Kwankwaso in an interview
How realistic is NNPP’s aspiration to win the 2023 presidential election with the APC and the PDP in the race?
Nigerians know the APC and the PDP very well and they’ve failed. The two political parties themselves know that they’ve failed. The only chance they have is to buy votes. That’s what we’ve seen in Ekiti State, we may possibly see that also in Osun State and every other election. The masses don’t want the PDP or the APC again. The people want a change. Nobody is happy with insecurity, the level of poverty; nobody is happy with the entire happenings in this country and it is because of these challenges that the NNPP, by the grace of God, will win the 2023 presidential election.
What kind of alliances are you considering to be able to achieve this Herculean task of defeating the ruling APC and the PDP at the poll?
We are working around the clock to come together with other parties, especially those that have similar ideologies with us. Therefore, we are working with our friends, brothers and sisters so that we can get stronger than what we are today, so that at the end of the day, we can win elections. We have multiple parties we are working together with because these two parties (the PDP and APC), are not the best for the country. Some of those who are in the two parties and also share the same ideology with us will definitely be leaving the two parties. The NNPP was re-established three months ago and before you knew it, we are all over the country within the period of four months. We are very organised and we are a united party. In 2011, I contested election in Kano State, men and women came out to support us, and we won the election. That’s why I went back the second time. We took the issue of education, empowerment very seriously in order to create job opportunities for the people. I do not doubt that the NNPP is here to stand. We are going to tackle the issue of insecurity from every border of the country.
I believe many people who are not members of our party today will soon join us. The party is growing so fast despite being less than four months old. I believe that before the general elections, some people will change their minds and join us because of what the other parties are doing. The APC and the PDP are coming down because they are not been fair to this country.
What is the overriding philosophy behind the Kwankwasiyya Movement which you lead?
Education, education and education, but that does not mean we are stopping there. What I meant is education is the key and in Kano State, we have done so well in almost all the areas that we can remember. If you go to Kano State now, it is looking different, even the enemies agree that Kwankwasiya is the architect of modern Kano State. There’s no question about it and I believe if we have government again in 2023 for Kano State and northern Nigeria, the sky will be our starting point even in other areas like agriculture, health, infrastructure and security. I am sure you don’t know that for the eight years I was governor, I never borrowed one naira from anybody. In 1999 when I was coming into Government House, we had billions of naira debt owed by the Kano State Government. The first thing we did was to settle the bill. When I was governor, in 2003, Kano was not indebted to anybody in this county or anyone or anywhere in the world. When I came back in 2011, I settled the money borrowed by successive government in four years and did all that you are seeing today in Kano. So, the management of resources is very key. Now, we have the federal and state governments borrowing money, when I know and I have proved it that there is no need to borrow for governance. So, all these things put together is the meaning of Kwankwasiyya.
How can governments survive without borrowing to finance governance?
I have done that before. What we need is the prudent management of resources. I don’t see any reason why this our government will go on borrowing all over the world. This means our future, including that of our children, is already been sold to Europeans and Americans; that means whatsoever they are going to do in the future, their hands are tied. We are told that whatever we are borrowing today is equivalent to what we are paying as interest tomorrow. So, it is unfortunate that leaders in this country are so careless and sometimes very selfish. They take money from everywhere without accountability. Unfortunately, these loans are to be paid in hard currency
What is the stage of your collaboration talks with LP and the others?
From the discussion that was going on, the issue is who the presidential candidate will be when the political parties come together at the end of the day. Some of our representatives thought there should be criteria in terms of age, qualification, offices held, performance, etc. Most of the people on the other side thought there was a belief that the presidency had to go to another part of the country. Nobody is against the presidency going to any part of the country because we are national politicians; we are not local politicians contesting for local government positions in the state. The population of the NNPP is built on an individual that the people believe in. Therefore, people of like minds decided to come and join me. Under that circumstance, the committee believes that if that person is not the presidential candidate, the implication is that we will only help another person in another political party in northern Nigeria (Atiku), which will not be in the best interest of the party.
I like people of the South-East so much that even this Kwankwasiyya you hear, many thought it is Okonkwo and Sons. They said because an Hausa man can’t say Okonkwo and sons, he now turned it to Kwankwaso. One thing the South-East must learn, in addition to many other things, is that the South-East is good in terms of business; very hard-working, industrious but one area they must learn is politics. They are at the bottom line of national politics. If you look at the situation, they have lost out in the APC and the PDP. They have no presidential, no vice-presidential candidate. The only opportunity the South-East has to be president or vice president is with the NNPP. Coincidentally, the party was registered by an Igbo man from Anambra State 21 years ago. It is even their party, and it is only that I took it up and my growth did not start from the South, it started from my local government area about 30 years ago in Kano State.
What will be your advice to the people of the South-East?
This is the golden opportunity they have. If they lose this opportunity, it will be a disaster even for the country because the young men and women there think they are being sidelined. I have attained my current position because I worked very hard based on thinking, planning and projection of things. That’s why I am relevant to my local government area, state, etc. What the South-East doesn’t know is that if they miss this opportunity, it will be a disaster for them because they will continue to say they are been marginalised but no one is marginalising them. Leaving the APC and the PDP was a strategy, and the South-East must learn how to play politics. If I decide to become vice president to anybody in this country, the NNPP will collapse.
About The Author
