2023 Presidency: I’m on a mission to rescue Nigeria from decay – Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa

The former Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, says after many years of advocacy, he is now ready to serve his country to salvage it from its myriad of avoidable challenges.

He said come 2023, he will present himself to the citizenry as a willing candidate to help ensure the enthronement of a new vision for a country that is living far below its enormous potentials.

To actualize his ambition for the top office, has convened the New Nigeria Group, a think-thank pool, to help drive the process.

Speaking recently as a guest of the Abia Media Forum (AMF), an assemblage of top journalists from Abia State during a virtual interactive session, the boardroom guru said he is on a mission to rescue Nigeria and lead her citizens out of the morass of decay to the part of prosperity.

For him, Nigerians suffer because of visionless leadership that has engendered economic, political, and moral decay in the country that has enormous potentials to raise head high amongst the comity of nations.

After several years of advocacy for good governance without being heeded, the former chairman of Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Council (NECA) said it is now time to do it himself.

Indeed the several years of advocacy and experience garnered in different capacities, while searching for solutions to Nigeria’s challenges, he said, has prepared him for the huge task of piloting the affairs of the country.

The Abia State-born entrepreneur, who was a member of the Vision 2010 and Vision 2020 presidential committees, said he desires to change the narrative if Nigerians are willing to “give me the opportunity to have the redemption of this country from the hands and clutches of wickedness and darkness and bring it to a place of light, progress and prosperity.

“In my desire to express my views and to see if they would touch any hearts to do commonsensical things to repair our nation, I have done everything and gone to every length.

“But in 2019, it dawned on me that all the writings, speeches, economic summits and conferences will not cut the ice needed to get into the ring, to see if we can implement what we have been preaching, and put into practice our strategies captured in the Vision 2010 and Vision 2020 as well as all other economic and political recommendations made over the years, to see Nigeria fulfill its mandate and become a nation we can be proud of, and that which treats everyone equally, and give every citizen a sense of ownership and belonging – a country that works for all.

“That is my motivation. I, therefore, declare to step out and throw my hat in the ring, and offer myself to see if Nigerians are willing to give me the opportunity to have the redemption of this country from the hands and clutches of wickedness and darkness, and bring it to light, progress and prosperity.

“It is the motivation that made me to begin to lead a group – the New Nigeria Group – that will coordinate and recruit like-minded people to create a leadership cadre that can take Nigeria out of this chronic underdevelopment and poverty.

“I have decided, with the motivation from God and well meaning Nigerians, to offer myself to serve Nigeria in the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; that is where I am going to make the greatest impact.”

 

Ohuabunwa also commented on the leadership challenges plaguing Abia State – which he scored low – followed by his assessment of the leadership at the national level.

Ohuabunwa said: “We need leadership at the topmost level; someone who understands what leadership is all about. It is sacrifice, influence and motivating people to achieve the desired goals, not to serve themselves but the community.

“Leadership at the national level is harnessing the resources that belong to the people and to do the best good for the majority of the people, not for a group or a section of the country. That is what I see that has been lacking.”

Asked which political party he intends to actualize his ambition, the author, serial newspaper columnist and motivational speaker said he is still consulting across political blocs and would announce the platform at the appropriate time, especially as there are hardly any ideological differences between the current major political parties.

“I have been a member of a political party since 1998, but I am not insisting that I must come to office of the President through that political party because the party may decide its own way,” he said.

“I am looking onto God and my people, and those who buy into my vision and believe that a new and better Nigeria is possible; that we can build a nation where corruption, insecurity, injustice and poverty can be dealt with.

“What I am leading now is called The New Nigeria Group, which spells out the vision that, it is possible, within four years, to change this country and make it what we can all be proud of.

“When people buy into this vision, with these believers in my mission, we shall move to the appropriate platform to seek power. It is either PDP or APC or a third force. There is no ideological difference between these main parties. Parties in Nigeria are just political platforms to seek office.

“So at the appropriate time, I will announce which party I am going to use, based on how I am led by God, and the supporters of my mission, who agree that together, we can go to a political party and use it as a platform in an effective manner. That is why I have not announced a political platform yet.”