Anthony Okonkwo, an integrated development economist, leadership expert and management consultant is the National Secretary General of Atiku Support Organisation, a political pressure group rooting for the election of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, as President of Nigeria come 2023. In this interview with BRIGHT JACOB, after the declaration by Atiku in Abuja last week, Okonkwo offers reasons why Atiku is the best option for the country now. He explains why the People’s Democratic Party should prioritise winning the election above zoning and why Atiku is not deterred by the number of times he has had a shot at the presidency among other things. Excerpts:
On Wednesday, Atiku Abubakar, declared his intention to vie for the office of the president of the country in the 2023 election. As the National Secretary-General of the Atiku Support Group, what does this mean for the group?
To start with, the Atiku Support Organisation was officially formed in December 2019 as an independent youth campaign organisation to sensitize and mobilize the youth voting population (which constitutes over 60% of registered voters) across the country to support and ensure His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, emerges victorious beginning at the People’s Democratic Party’s primaries and subsequently the 2023 Presidential elections. Our conviction is that he has all it takes to revive Nigeria from its current comatose and perilous state, stark disunity, economic and security woes and redirect it to a viable and sustainable country. For us, therefore, his declaration sets the stage for the august journey to building the bridge of mutual understanding that assures One People, One Future and One Country.
His declaration comes at a time when there’s a huge and unrelenting clamour for the zoning of the presidency to the South. How would you justify His Excellency’s declaration?
Nigeria needs to be resuscitated or we are done. It’s a binary option nowadays. The bond of unity has been rendered fragile and mercilessly injured by the abysmal failure of the APC and President Buhari. Put simply, we have never been so despicably misled and abandoned. Therefore, the PDP would not gamble in the face of this present threat to our survival and fritter away the only opportunity to salvage Nigeria. Nobody is against zoning. For us what we need is to wrestle power from the APC and the luxury of zoning the Presidency without ab initio consideration for the very best and winnable candidate is doom in waiting. We already have 12 million votes from our electorates in 2019 to Atiku Abubakar, and we can double the numbers this time around to make him the President. He is head and shoulders above every sentiment as the most charismatic, experienced, exposed and energized candidate for President in 2023.
As we speak, the 37-member Zoning Committee of the PDP is being inaugurated. Will Atiku accept the decision of the committee if it goes against him?
Atiku Abubakar is a dynamic and patriotic Nigerian whose entire adult life has been dedicated to public and private service in building human capacity among the youth. There are 36 states and the FCT in Nigeria. Each state would have a voice in the 37-man Zoning Committee. We are very hopeful that they will make a choice that ensures we win the 2023 election. We can only triumph with our very best. Every Nigerian should have an equal opportunity as enshrined in our constitution. That’s our stand.
One of Atiku’s spokesperson in 2019, Kassim Afegbua, has been very vocal and trenchant in his criticism of Atiku’s decision to contest again. How would you react to these criticisms from a one-time spokesman of the Waziri?
We do not debate whatever choice others make. They are free to hold their views. That’s the healthy nature of democracy. But for us in the Atiku Support Organisation and very assuredly more other vocal supporters of Atiku Abubakar, we are in an exam that offers only a pass or fail option. With Atiku Abubakar, it’s a sure result of passing.
“The PDP would not gamble in the face of this present threat to our survival and fritter away the only opportunity to salvage Nigeria. Nobody is against zoning. For us what we need is to wrestle power from the APC and the luxury of zoning the Presidency without ab initio consideration for the very best and winnable candidate from all the zones is doom in waiting”
This will be the 6th time Atiku will be attempting to become president. Doesn’t this look like desperation?
The philosopher Confucius imbibes in us the unfailing victories latent in determined persistence with his famous line “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”. Only losers quit. Winners stay in the midst of it all. Atiku is a winner. He never quits. Successful people keep moving ahead. Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan.
This time around, Atiku is coming out with a 5-Point Agenda. Do you think they are enough to solve the many problems facing Nigeria?
The Atiku 5-Point Agenda is to capture the entire vision and mission in a very adaptive manner. But the entire Atiku Plan for 2023 is currently being updated and re-infused from the one used in the 2019 Presidential Election Campaign to reflect current realities. The update is ongoing in consultation with relevant groups and agencies, selected top experienced and exposed individuals and others with variable knowledge in endeavours that align with what obtains in modern societies.
If at the primaries Atiku gets beaten, will he accept defeat or will he walk away from the party?
We are going into the primary election with so much preparation. Atiku Support Organisation has presence in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria and down to the Ward and Unit levels. We already have at least 20 delegates who are members of Atiku Support Organisation in each of the 36 States and the FCT. Do the math. Atiku has also been in consultations with numerous other delegates and we are in a very hopeful position.
This mass mobilization has been on since 2019. He will clinch the ticket. We have the numbers. Atiku is an institution. He is not a rabble-rouser or trumpet blower. We know the people and the people know us. That’s the point of departure.
Assuming that he emerges the candidate of the major opposition party, do you think Atiku can beat the candidate the ruling APC will present at the polls?
We make bold to say today in Nigeria, no visible candidate of the APC can match the ability, competence, antecedents and glaring results aligned with the unbridled excellence of Atiku Abubakar brand. Show me any please. Atiku Abubakar knows how to stimulate and generate the economy. Call him Mr. human capital developer and builder, you will be right.
It has been said that Atiku’s defection from the PDP in 2014 with some prominent members and governors, led to the emergence of the APC. Today, however, he is calling for the rescue of Nigeria from the party he helped to install. What do you have to say about this?
Atiku is the father of modern democracy in Nigeria. He was eminently amongst the first five to build and nurture the PDP and subsequently served as a successful two-term Vice President with President Olusegun Obasanjo. Their record of raising the standard of living of Nigerians is unequaled in the annals of history. Movements within the democratic political system is acceptable insofar as elected officials resign their present membership and position of one party and then vie in another party as freshmen.
