Boko Haram Can’t Stop President Jonathan’s Re-election- Orji Uzor Kalu

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Dr. Orji Kalu, stated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will do all it can to present President Goodluck Jonathan as its sole presidential candidate for the 2015 elections.

He also said Boko Haram cannot stop the president’s second term bid.

Kalu, who spoke against the backdrop of the recent declaration by the Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, that Jonathan would contest the 2015 presidential election, said what that meant was that all other aspiring candidates for that office would jettison their ambitions to ensure victory for the party.

“All PDP candidates should step down for him (Jonathan) to run. I will support Jonathan fully to run. But the good part is that no party is a match to the PDP,” he added.

Kalu described the activities of the Boko Haram insurgents as somewhat political and said it was obvious they were targeted at the incumbent administration. He, however, noted that the group would not stop the PDP from presenting Jonathan as its presidential candidate in the next election.

Kalu, who is also the chairman of Slok Group, spoke with aviation correspondents on Wednesday, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos shortly after his return from the United Kingdom (UK).

“Let me tell you, Boko Haram has always been a political issue. People know this too well. And it will remain political. It is from the people that hate President Jonathan who also want to discredit him.  I can, however, assure you that luckily, Boko Haram will be taken care of by this government.  I am sure with the new steps taken by the government, even the abducted schoolgirls from Chibok in Borno State will be seen and people will be able to come down to face other issues.

“In fact, I cry every night for those girls that were abducted. And I pray for them always; very innocent girls that was just abducted by people and has not been seen up till now.

“It is a total blackmail and it is targeted at Jonathan, but that will not stop Jonathan from contesting the Presidency in 2015. I cry for those families of the abducted girls. At present, there are tragedies all over the world; Nigeria is not an exception.

“On Chief Tony Anenih’s declaration that President Jonathan is going to run again for the Presidency in 2015, I align myself with that position. I will support Jonathan fully to run.

“Four years in the life of a country means nothing if Jonathan is going to run. All PDP candidates should step down for him to run. And the Boko Haram insurgency does not make any meaning if we say that should stop him. As I said, we will find those girls; it is a question of time.”

Does that imply that you don’t have the ambition of running for the position or office of the President of Nigeria by 2015?

No, I have already said that I am not running for the position of the President of Nigeria.  Jonathan is a sole candidate of PDP.  Politically, I can’t tell you what I want to do; I will be in consultation with my people before deciding.

And then there is this one in Abia state that people are spreading the rumours that all my brothers want to contest. I want to assure you that none of my brothers want to run for any election, but I will rather support a consensus candidate by Abia people, a candidate basically supported by Abia people.

You have seen already that Chief Tony Anenih declared that Jonathan should run and as the Chairman of Board of Trustees which also means the conscience of the party, and he has already endorsed President Jonathan. We will all align to support him, so there is nobody in PDP that will be running for presidency come 2015. But the good part is that no party is a match to the PDP.

What do you make out of the recent US- African summit organized by President Obama?  Nigeria was a participant in that summit, what are the lessons or benefits for us?

I have always advocated to President Obama that he has not taken a special interest in Africa as he should being from an Africa descent.

I am sure that the Chinese have done enough in terms of investment in Africa; they have taken over Africa and the Americans are nowhere near. So it has come to a point where Americans can’t continue to keep quiet. So the investment forum by President Obama is a good step in the right direction and I hope the recommendations from the forum is going to be implemented not just reduced to a talk show because right now we are in need of cooperation from genuine partners like America in Africa.

And there are areas that I think Nigerians can exploit from the discussions at that forum. Here we are talking in terms of Hi-Tech. we should focus more on how we can tap into the technological expertise of the United States. Let us deemphasize crude oil. Americans have crude oil, the high technology is more important for us now than the oil. So I believe sincerely that we should be able to leverage on American’s high technology in terms of boosting our security, in terms of infrastructure development in terms of electricity. This is where we are lagging and this is what we should be looking at and I believe also that we have not utilize our relationship with the US very well.

The West African sub-region has recently been hit by the Ebola Virus, which has also claimed the life of a Nigerian. The Saudi authorities said they would stop the issuance of visa to West African citizens that are going for hajj operations. So far, do think that the government is doing enough in Nigeria to curb the spread of that disease?

First, let me say it is discriminatory if it is true that the Saudis have taken that position, they should not do that, rather they should have equipment at their airport to check those coming in if they are infected by the virus or not. And that way, they can isolate the candidates or pilgrims that are Ebola positive or not. I respect countries like Saudi Arabia and they should do the right thing, nobody should discriminate any person because of the Ebola virus, it has been there since 1976. Rather what is required is for the west to find solutions to it immediately.

Now, to the Federal Government, from what the minister of health is doing, you can see that the ministry of health have come out positively in attacking it and they have taken the right step that they suppose to be taking. Precaution is the only thing that we should do, and you see that at the airport that they are taking precaution to screen passengers coming into the country.

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