A NOTE TO ORJI KALU

Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu was at UNN yesterday Via Akanu Ibiam International Airport for the commissioning of sets of computers, Laptops and ICT centre donated to the Institution by Orji Kalu Foundation in fufilment of a promise made by Dr. Kalu when he visited the insitution in March for a lecture presentation. Kalu was recieved on arrival by the UNN VC Prof B. C. Ozumba.

A NOTE TO ORJI KALU

Good morning, sir.
I just read your piece on the above subject and wish to say a few things. In the first place, I really do not think you should have bothered yourself telling us the kind of person Gov. Orji is. We have for long known him. He is an abominable ingrate.
Again, from my reading of men, I think I quite understand why he is behaving the way he does. He is exhibiting the symptoms of one suffering from complex. Those caught in this terrible disease of extreme low self-esteem try to compensate for it by going after those they can NEVER and should NEVER raise their voice up to.

That explains your situation with Gov. Orji. He cannot imagine that God has placed you millions of miles ahead of him in the race of life. That is an eternal pain for him. Most of us think that we are likely to have it smooth when we install someone who puts up a facade of humility as our successor. In the end, we find we have succeeded in installing someone who has come down with the disease of inferiority complex, who will eventually seek to compensate for what he lacks by seeking to destroy his benefactor. That, for one who suffers from complex, is an assurance of strength.
I can assure you, Gov. Orji is already fighting another self-battle - what he would look like outside Government House in less than nine months from now. And that would be a spectacle to behold. If he likes, let him install his own son in Government House, he cannot deny us that laugh. We are sure going to enjoy seeing him outside Government House.
Have you ever wondered why Gov. Babatunde Fashola has never openly fought his benefactor, Bola Tinubu? That is because the governor believes in his own esteem as an individual, Government House or no Government House. What else can we tie to Orji's name outside Government House? Absolutely nothing!
You have been out of power for close to eight years, but you still command huge following, even more than you can ever imagine - for several reasons, of which politics is the least. Most of us actually see you as an inspiration to make it in life no matter the challenges we face in life. This is not about politics. It is rather about how you have been able to conquer grounds to make yourself a success and add value to society. I do not see even Orji's closest aides standing with him after he drops his governorship garb next year.
Finally, did you ask to know what you did wrong against Orji? I assure you, we do not care to know. No matter what Orji thinks you did to him (I am convinced there is none), I guess he has no right to even look you, a man God used to deliver him from destruction, straight in the eyes, not to talk of this very dirty war he stages on all fronts. What an abomination! But I will advise you leave him to his conscience, for karma is already waiting for him at his gates. You do not need to fight back; just sincerely pray that God should save him.

 Chris, Lagos.

Kalu: Standing for himself

Chief Orji Uzor Kalu is not facing the greatest opposition because of the political animosity the man at the helm of affairs in Umuahia, Abia State, has been showing against him. What the international business man, renowned peace-maker and ex-governor of Abia State does understand is that while he is persecuted unjustly by his perceived political foes, he is closest to his biggest miracle on earth.
 That could be the philosophy that has kept Kalu moving. For a long period of calmness on how his traducers in the present Abia State Government have hounded him for no fault of his through blackmails and character assassinations, the Igbere-born outspoken personality bared his mind in the article – Reign of terror by Abia triumvirate – on his Column, The Sun, Saturday, August 9 2014.
 It was obvious after reading that article that Kalu did not stand for pride and selfishness. Notwithstanding, some of us knew that he would face a first degree attack from the attack dogs of the government that he told the truth in the face without mincing words. They knew that Kalu hates false personification of power; he does show his love, strength and independence in the wilderness of cowards, as many people aren’t wont to showcasing.

I’ve read many attacks from the government’s aides against Kalu since he published that article. But without mentioning names so that the government does not see me as one of the Kalu’s aides, I would say that Kalu did a profound analysis of ‘truth’ in that article and wish the government would learn from the points that Kalu raised therein.

If Kalu hated anybody or the government in his home state, he would have been very far and would not make any contribution to better the lots in that state. But that was not the case for Kalu who is not muddled in all ramifications. Kalu is not like a growing cancer that stays silent; he does not show the trait of a coward; he does not see such trait as intelligent for anyone who does not stand for himself, according to the dictates of the society. At least, Kalu wants all to know what he stood for.

Instead of attacking Kalu unreasonably, I would have preferred that the aides of the government in Umuahia saw that article as an encouragement from a father to his child to do the rightful explorations in order to evade molestations from the society in the near future. That was how I saw Kalu’s article, not as an attack against the governor and the government in Umuahia.

It is obvious that a child that does not take the rebuttals of the father does not grow and does not master the art of whatever he or she is doing. That child will be over controlled by obnoxious anxiety and will continue to fail and the outside world will continue to overrun, maneuver and control such a child to the chagrin of the father.

I did not see Kalu’s position in that article like the voice of somebody that was insecure. I’ve known Kalu as a man who does not show any sign of insecurity in whatsoever and he is a man who does not falsify the past from any angle one looks at it.

Kalu always makes his ways straight and his voice shows a big difference, always looking for a reason to better the lots of humanity around him; and the government in Umuahia is a part of that humanity around him. I think those calling Kalu names should have seen him as a man who does not welcome dull moments, as one who copes with difficult times and aswell, does everything within his coffers to rise above odd times.

Against this backdrop, the world could see that his God is always giving him blessings, but his traducers rather than see reasons to enjoy the mammoth experiences that Kalu is embedded with, they obviously think that their hearts are full to receive any outside advise let alone Kalu’s. Any government, group or person that has no love, has no power to exhibit to the society, except fierce and steady falsification of ideas to sell to the society. This is the reason Kalu calls for love and truth through his stream of consciousness so that any group or person who is showing any sign of weakness can rise from slumber.

However, one Anthon St. Maarten, as if speaking to Kalu, was quoted as saying: Never shy away from opportunity and wholehearted living. Never be fearful of putting yourself out there. The courageous may encounter many disappointments, experience profound disillusionment, gather many wounds; but cherish your scars for they are the proud emblems of a truly phenomenal life. The fearful, cautious, cynical and self-repressed do not live at all. And that is simply no way to be in this world.

But as if speaking to the government that Kalu was writing to about truth, Susan Forward, in her work, “Toxic Parents: Overcoming Their Hurtful Legacy and Reclaiming Your Life”, says: Just as verbally and physically abused children internalize blame, so do incest victims. However, in incest, the blame is compounded by the shame. The belief that ‘it’s all my fault’ is never more intense than with the incest victim. This belief fosters strong feelings of self-loathing and shame. In addition to having somehow to cope with the actual incest, the victim must now guard against being caught and exposed as a ‘dirty, disgusting’ person.

Chief Orji Uzor Kalu should continue to stand in the shoes of compassion and tell truth to power without any form of biasness, although I have not read him as a myopic personality. He is always straight to the point.  He should not degrade himself by listening to the side distracters like the aides of the government in Umuahia or bother to reply them. He should add to his solace with Israelmore Ayivor’s “The Great Hand Book of Quotes”, which says, faith has won it! Fear has lost it! When you get full of faith, the devil gets filled with fear! Keep your faith in light every day and you will keep the devil in fright always! To waste a life with fear is, really, the scariest thing.

Rubby Obinna contributed this piece from Ohaji, Imo State.

LETTER TO ORJI KALU

By Mecha Udo

I commend you for your write up of 9th August 2014 captioned “Reign of terror by Abia triumvirate”. It was Edmund Burke who said that “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Your write up is timely if not even belated. The tragedy of Abia is not only in the persecutions that are said to be going on there, but more in the fact that a state blessed by God with human and material resources once tagged as” God’s Own State” basically ranks amongst the least developed states in Nigeria today.
A number of Governors in the present dispensation have delivered quality service to their people counting from the South West to the North, the South South and even the South East.  Unfortunately Abia allowed itself to be more engulfed with politics of hatred, bitterness, exclusion, intimidation, and criminal acquisitive tendencies, thereby abandoning the original intent of governance which is to cater for the needs of the society so being governed.
While other Governor’s of the ruling party trooped to Abuja to congratulate the new party Chairman, and position their states to benefit from the largesse that would be offered, that of Abia and some of the elders one thought should know better, instead choose to advertise their politics of acrimony and give it national prominence, by seeking the exclusion of one of the prominent sons and indeed a foremost one at that, from the scheme of things in the state and the nation. Even more embarrassing was the deployment of Policemen with state resources to come all the way to Lagos to abduct a Journalist, whose only crime was his exercise of his right to free expression. It was hurting, watching as the rest of the nation/ world mocked our state for this primitivity. We were not visited with such blatant and arrogant abuse of power even during the military. It was a dark day in the history of Abia. 
The borders between Abia and neighboring states are now recognized/described by the state of the roads in each state’s stretch.  You know you have entered Abia when you hit gullies on the road.  Indigenes of our state hired helps from neighboring states in the past, but these days our people are being driven to these states (albeit as second class citizens) on account of the extent of development and the transformation of the economies of those states. This is besides the fact that a lot of towns and villages are no longer accessible on account of the state of the roads that lead to the. A journey from Umuahia to Arochukwu (about 71km) now takes as much as 4 four) hours, with the concomitant high risk of accidents.
Abia belongs to all of us, it will be a case of collective irresponsibility if we all continue to “siddon look” while the state goes to the dogs. At the time of its creation Abia was a very viable state, but today we are losing that attribute very rapidly. We may not rank with Akwa Ibom, Delta or even Rivers states as an NDDC state, but we are indeed one, meaning that something extra is coming into the coffers. Even non NDDC states are being rapidly transformed into modern societies deploying innovative and modern governance and business models to deliver quality service. In Abia (the home of Michael Okpara), no old institution, industry or facility has been revived, no new ones have been built, and no environment to attract private players (local and foreign) has been created.
It is time that the series of abuses of this family be documented and reported to the Federal authorities as these mindless infringements are not going on in other states (at least not anyway near the proportions in Abia). The incumbent is not the only Governor in Nigeria who has a wife; he is not the only one with a son. I believe that if these abuses are publicized and reported to the superior authorities, it will bring pressure to bear on these characters and cause some measure of restraint and caution to be exercised by them. This is must not be done as an extension of the TAO versus OUK unwarranted skirmish, but with a the largely objective of putting the state back on the path of civility.
The Lord God almighty endowed our state with fertile soil for agriculture, minerals for industry (including fossil fuels), and planted intelligent, hard working, and determined people in the land. A people who set out to create the Taiwan of Africa, but who today live in such squalor, decay and rot  that their initiative is being eroded, their strength drained and their vision blurred on account of the absence of relevant structures required to make any meaningful impact in their respective endeavors.
With a large population of small scale industrialists, there is no reason why the government would not have exploited this situation to create a viable industrial park in the Aba Umuahia axis, which would have absorbed the hoard of unemployed youths who litter the streets of the state; instead we allowed Kidnapper’s havens, baby factories, killer gangs and other devilish institutions to take root in our state.
It will not be enough to complain in the pages of newspapers; genuine Abia leaders of thought and elders must brace up to deliver the state from total decay and collapse. Consultations must commence immediately on the ways and means of ensuring that the state is rescued from those who hold it down, and also ensure that a stooge who will continue with this visionlessness is not imposed on hapless Abians. Politics must take a back seat as we commence a rescue mission for Abia. It is time we declared a political emergency in our state. We must educate and mobilize our people on the need to ensure that in choosing our next leaders, they must exercise extreme care, caution and discretion in making such choices. If it becomes necessary to guide them, then we must do so. The imposition of any body’s lackey must be resisted.
It is obvious to any person of sound mind that, a number of states are powerfully marching forward; we must not allow the economic, political and social stagnation of our dear state to continue. One family with a bunch of thugs and hirelings will not be enough to stop us.  The mobilization of Abians must commence immediately, towards ensuring that we hand the state back to the people by ensuring that only men of high pedigree with vision, and on a mission, and who understand the dynamics of developing societies and its many institutions are entrusted with the affairs of Abia state.  
It has become clearly obvious to the incumbent that there may be nothing positive that the administration will be remembered for, hence the avalanche of propaganda, self adulation and intensive motion without movement that you see in the state now. It will not be the business of Abians to save the incumbent.  History, posterity, Abians, and Nigerians at large will judge him. There is no doubt that it will be impossible for the incumbent to mend  half of the bridges that he has broken before he leaves office, so he goes into life as an ex Chief Executive of a state with a sizeable population of adversaries; enough to make him understand the transient nature of power. It is his brew, so he will have to stew in it.
The maturity in your write up is commendable, it revealed your sincere concern for the state despite the barrage of attacks on your person, your family, your career, your legacy and your business. These attacks did not matter to you, it was Abia’s interest that was paramount.
Despite your disposition, you must be ready for the attacks of the incumbent’s hired guns, whose means of livelihood you threaten by seeking that things be done aright in the state. You must ignore them, they seek their daily bread, but it must not be at the expense of our dear state and its people.
It behooves you as a frontline son of the state to draw men of like mind, who share the same passion for the state to come together despite their political leaning, to deliver the state from the clutches of ineptitude, greed, avarice, and warped sense of obligation. For the wheel of progress to start rolling again in Abia, you must throw yourself into this fray, after all you gave us this man and I believe it was with good intentions. May I reiterate that when a good thing goes bad it is not the end of the world, we must salvage this situation!
From all indications and information available in the public domain, the quarrel with you has gone way out of every realm of decorum/civility, caution has been thrown to the winds, reason has taken flight, the thirst for destruction has reached fever pitch and conscience has died. The absurdity in all of this is the difficulty in putting a finger to the reason(s) for this obsession. Since those who are gathering and conspiring to destroy you were not there when the Almighty father was creating you, equipping you and finally determined to drop you in Igbere in Abia state, they may plot, they may conspire, they may scheme, but they will surely fail. Your destiny is held sacrosanct in the bosom of the Lord.
You must fulfill the mandate that is the raison d’etre that made the Almighty father deliver you to Abia, by being in the fore front of the salvation of the state.   
Be rest assured that there is a battery of dynamic, knowledgeable, experienced and highly skilled Abians who are ready to be part of this mission, but like everything that will succeed, there must be a leader, history beckons on you. Do not ignore it so that it will be kind to you.
Let me end by urging you to continue to insist on dragging your several business initiatives and those of you associates to our ORIGINAL fatherland. It is our duty to develop it, as it is commonly said, “you do not plant flowers in some else’s house”.
I commend you sir.

Your Brother

Mecha Udo 234 806 576 7415, 234 708 422 3377           

Migrating from Nigeria or even from Africa cannot address challenges of our youths –Kalu

A lecture delivered by Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State, in commemoration of the 2014 International Youth Day at Cultural Centre, Calabar, yesterday.

At a time like this, especially in Nigeria and Africa by extension, the pertinence of the subject of our discussion here, that is, appraising the relevance of youths towards achieving the desired change and national transformation, cannot be overemphasised. Or what else can I say about the fate of our youths, in the face of the rampaging violence that has enveloped us, as a nation and now already extending beyond the regional boundary?
 The wheel of development of any country lies on the shoulders of a productive, creative and youthful population. These youths are the engine of growth and development. They provide the labour force for production of goods and service to take effect. 
We must also understand the fact that societies are not only recreated through the youthful population, but, youths are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow. So, their mindset and roles are of major importance to the development of any society.

Therefore, no nation will experience development when the preponderance of the category that constitutes the largest percentage of its population are idle and ineffective. In essence, youths have a greater role to play in national development because the future of this country cannot be built on oil but on the productivity of her youths.
However, the story of Nigeria’s youths today leaves one to wonder what future awaits the world’s most populous black nation. 
In Nigeria, cacophony of bomb blasts, fratricidal killing, kidnapping, rape and violent protests have become daily occurrences and things have degenerated so steeply an average Nigerian no longer long to either read newspapers or listen to news because they claim the papers celebrate too many negative reports. But are the negative reports fabricated? Definitely they are not, but such is what our society has been reduced to.

The questions that then come to mind are: How did we find ourselves here? When did Nigeria and, indeed, Africa become home to violence and why have our youths derailed? Why would any individual decide to take to crime rather than be focused and live a good life? The more embarrassing thing is the fact that many of the culprits are not only able-bodied young men and women but are also educated ones, who claim to be pushed into crimes by certain dangerous societal factors. And unfortunately for us as a nation, these are individuals, who, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), constitute about 80 million of the country’s roughly 160 million population figure.

At several fora, stakeholders, including members of labour unions, government officials and non-governmental agencies have identified several reasons behind the crises, facing us as a people and leading the pack is the high rate of unemployment in the land.
Further statistics from the NBS show that Nigeria’s unemployment rate is at 23.9 per cent with youth unemployment rate, standing at over 50 per cent. The statistics implies that about 44 million Nigerian youths are unemployed. And this scourge of unemployment has deprived many Nigerian youths access to contributing their quota to national development.

The result of the rising youth unemployment situation in the country has provided shrinking options to job seekers, as those who find work to do are forced to be less selective about the type of job they settle for, including part-time work and temporary contracts because they are in desperate need for any income. 
Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently lamented that while the Nigerian economy grew at the rate of seven per cent for the past five years, unemployment has actually doubled at the same period, noting that the current security upheaval and internal insurrection all over the country were as a result of severe poverty and rising unemployment, stressing that jobs can only be created by establishing industries that rely on little technology but high in productivity similar to the ones adopted by the Asian tigers. As the number of unemployed youths continues to soar, the rate of crime will certainly be on the increase, insecurity will always arise, under-development will abound and migration of our active and indispensable population needed for national development is inevitable.
An evidence of this sorry situation was the stampede, leading to the deaths of more than 15 youths during the last Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) test conducted across the country where the turnout of applicants for less than 5,000 vacancies was more than a million.

As Nigeria joins the world to mark this year’s edition of the World Youth Day celebration, rather than focusing on the global theme of Youths and Mental Health, what I believe should preoccupy our minds should be how to overcome our challenges. According to the late novelist and celebrated literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe, no one folds his arm because the condition of his child is beyond hope. As a result, we must continue to strive towards resolving these contradictions, staring us in the face by providing enduring solutions.

Before we go on, let me re-emphasise a singular fact that migrating from this country or even from the continent, cannot, in anyway, address challenges of our youths. We must realise that plants do not leave their habitats; they remain there and solve their problems. 
According to the latest data of the United Nations (UN), more than 21.4 million young people are among the annual total of some 214 million international migrants.
The UN believes many of these young men and women are fleeing prosecution and others are escaping economic hardship in the cause of seeking greener pastures but wherever they find themselves, they still face lots of challenges, such as sexual exploitation, crowded and unsanitary living conditions, poverty, challenges of finding decent employment, bad weather conditions, ill-health, imprisonment and even untimely death.

The current migration of Nigerian active youth population speaks volume of the condition of our youths. This action has continued unabated, with many never getting to their dreamland or destination, while many are wallowing in jails across various countries in North Africa, Europe, Asia and America. Some are in hospitals or homeless in these countries. Bitter stories of Nigerian youths, who suffer one hardship, molestation, death or another, are heard and watched every now and then in the media with the host countries, remaining insensitive to the plight of these unexplored potentials, who are important for national development.
Today, majority of our youths, even those who have reached the highest academic echelon, are hopeless, helpless, jobless and, at times, homeless.
For a change that will prevent total collapse of our value system as a country, youths have a big role to play. Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.

All young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies.
Today, there are many Nigerian youths, at home and in the Diaspora, who desperately and genuinely yearn for a better living. These youths have been fighting in their various capacities for a better society and a better tomorrow.
But even in the face of enormous difficulties, besetting the youths, it is sure that we can still collectively mobilise ourselves as agents of change and help build institutions of democracy, devoid of generational corruption that Transparency International and the entire international community have come to associate with the mention of our country. We need to transform our ideas into sustainable reality.

Our problems in Nigeria will not be solved by secession; our problems in Nigeria will not be solved by waving spears and arrows, using youths as political thugs or throwing bombs. 
Our problem in Nigeria can only be solved when Nigerians, at all social strata, embrace the humanity of one another; when Nigerians embrace the spirit of “live and let live;” the true spirit of egalitarianism. Our problems could be solved through non-violent and persuasive discussions, objective engagement and sustainable diplomacy.
Youths have enormous responsibility in the making of a new Nigeria.

Today, there seems to be a growing and continual push for a national youth-initiated agenda and a youth-led coalition that would push for the renaissance that we all aspire to see in our country. There is, by all accounts, hundreds of youth-led Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), dotting the country, determined to bring social and economic change.

I want to bring to the consciousness of all of us, as we sit here peacefully in this gathering, that there is a war being waged, a war where youths of this nation must actively participate: A war of good versus evil; a war of virtues versus vices; a war of material prosperity versus peace of mind; a war of education versus character building; a war of professional management versus social commitment.
The lines for battle have been drawn and this battle will be fought on individual, social and environment fronts.
This will, indeed, be a unique battle where everyone will emerge as a winner. And what are the weapons to be used in this war? Right Conduct, Love, Co-operation, Justice, Equality, Patriotism, Non-Violence, Peace, Excellence and, last but not the least, the all powerful weapon of Truth.

What do we do to make our youths indispensable agents of change and national transformation? 
Every stakeholder, government officials and those in the private sector, must ensure meaningful engagements of our youths through what is now known as Technical Vocational Education (TVE). This form of education can assist our youths to adequately get themselves engaged.
Aside from this, what roles do we prepare for our youths politically? When will they step into the shoes of their elders in controlling the affairs of this country? Are we preparing them towards such task? These are political questions that need quick answers, as the 2015 general election is approaching.

To achieve the much-desired national transformation, therefore, we, as leaders, must allow the assemblage of youths in a meaningful and peaceful manner, and ensure that they take on one task or another, to show their innate talents and exhibit their leadership charisma. 
We must ensure that what some states are currently doing to alleviate poverty among youths by engaging them in their thousands through skill acquisition programmes and offering them stipends must be emulated by other states, pending the time the situation will generally improve. In conclusion, doing otherwise will lead us to more danger. We have no choice but to get our youths meaningfully engaged so that they can see the good side of life and be inspired to live it, rather than getting themselves bombed by hunger, insecurity, joblessness and idleness.

Letter to Orji Kalu (2)

Despite your disposition, you must be ready for the attacks of the incumbent’s hired guns, whose means of livelihood you threaten by seeking that things be done aright in the state. You must ignore them, they seek their daily bread, but it must not be at the expense of our dear state and its people.

It behooves you as a frontline son of the state to draw men of like mind, who share the same passion for the state to come together despite their political leaning, to deliver the state from the clutches of ineptitude, greed, avarice, and warped sense of obligation. For the wheel of progress to start rolling again in Abia, you must throw yourself into this fray, after all you gave us this man and I believe it was with good intentions. May I reiterate that when a good thing goes bad, it is not the end of the world, we must salvage this situation!

From all indications and information available in the public domain, the quarrel with you has gone way out of every realm of decorum/civility, caution has been thrown to the winds, reason has taken flight, the thirst for destruction has reached fever pitch and conscience has died. The absurdity in all of this is the difficulty in putting a finger to the reason(s) for this obsession. Since those who are gathering and conspiring to destroy you were not there when the Almighty Father was creating you, equipping you and finally determined to drop you in Igbere in Abia State, they may plot, they may conspire, they may scheme, but they will surely fail. Your destiny is held sacrosanct in the bosom of the Lord.

You must fulfill the mandate that is the raison d’etre that made the Almighty father deliver you to Abia, by being in the forefront of the salvation of the state.

Rest assured that there is a battery of dynamic, knowledgeable, experienced and highly skilled Abians who are ready to be part of this mission, but like everything that will succeed, there must be a leader. History beckons on you. Do not ignore it so that it will be kind to you.

Let me end by urging you to continue to insist on dragging your several business initiatives and those of your associates to our ORIGINAL fatherland. It is our duty to develop it. As it is commonly said, “you do not plant flowers in someone else’s house”. I commend you, Sir.

Concluded

2015: Boko Haram can’t mar Jonathan’s presidential aspiration – Kalu

Former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Kalu, has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would work 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 were just abducted by people and have 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 utilise 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 will 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.