Chief Isaac Shaahu was a First Republic Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Benue State and one-time Minister of Communications in the Second Republic. Shaahu, a member of the parliament under the banner of the UMBC/ Action Group alliance in 1961 and one-time chairman of the Middle Belt Forum, in this interview with HENRY IYORKASE in Makurdi, scores the Goodluck Jonathan administration low in performance. He also speaks on the 2015 presidency and other issues. Excerpts:

How would you assess the Goodluck Jonathan administration in the past two years?
Things are happening in Nigeria; things which are fundamentally very wrong. Some of us who have seen Nigeria for a very long time and were there immediately after independence feel so unhappy about the happenings because we had high hopes for democracy.

The elections, which we conducted to usher in independence were fair enough. There was apprehension in the North, but those of us from the Middle Belt happened to fight for our rights and therefore, we won some few seats despite all the oppressions.

Now as it is, after 14 years of democracy, when we should be trying to do more, we are retrogressing because with the present administration of Goodluck Jonathan, I am sorry and I will always be sorry and continue to apologise to the people of the Middle Belt, because I saw President Jonathan as someone from the minority group who will do well to show the majority tribes – the Ibo, the Yoruba, the Hausa, that the minorities too can well practice democracy and we can do even better.

So I led the Middle Belt Forum throughout his campaign; he doesn’t know me but throughout the Middle Belt, we won elections for him. It started from when they tried to prevent him from acting when the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua became incapacitated due to ill health; they didn’t want him to act. But I was one of the leaders of the Middle Belt that kept on talking and talking until they say that it was his constitutional right to act.

Not only from my talk, but from others’ efforts, they succumbed and he started acting. When he wanted to fight for his own term to be elected, I also led the people of the Middle Belt because I was the chairman of the Middle Belt Forum, but in the last few days I had to apologise to the people of Middle Belt that even though I am not the chairman now, but I misled them by leading them to vote for Jonathan. He has failed us.

But that is not the end of the minorities and I specifically say the Tiv people will never fail them. That is, if they have seen my efforts, when we have a leadership, we will do it very well. How have we fared so far? We have fared very badly.

As much as we want this democracy to continue, it is not well practised. Either Jonathan is incapable or his advisers are not giving him the right advice. Ordinarily, infrastructure that should have given him the kick up has failed; all the roads that were there during Shehu Shagari’s time are all dead. Is that not a failure of democracy and his administration? It is.

Some few weeks ago, an Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark said that whether Jonathan has performed well or not, he should be given a free hand by Nigerians to re-contest and he emphasised that there will be problem where Jonathan’s chances to re-contest are suppressed. How would you react to these utterances?

First and foremost, he is a Nigerian and he is free to make whatever contributions he thinks proper to this country. I know him very well. He was a commissioner in the old Bendel State while I was Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources under J.D. Gomwalk in Benue State and therefore, we knew ourselves. Well, he can make his own statements, but the thing is as I’ve just said it. I did my best but Jonathan doesn’t know me even as I insisted he is from the minority. If he fails, must Nigeria fail because of Jonathan? But if Clark had said what he is quoted to have said, I think it was wrong, but I don’t believe Clark will say that because the failure of his brother should be blamed on him if he does not help his brother to do better.

Just like here in Benue State, the failure of Gabriel Suswam should not be attributed to the far North or any other state; it is the failure of Benue State for not fostering what they want on him.

So the failure of an individual because he comes from your area doesn’t mean the failure of this country; we cannot allow it. Anybody who does not want should quit and leave Nigeria to exist and get better hands. And since I am not from his party, but the new party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, I cannot talk for them, let them go and fight it out in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

2015 is fast approaching and almost every segment of this country is laying claim to the presidency, especially the South-South and the North. Giving this scenario, which of these zones would you say is supposed to produce the next president?

Continue reading from here: http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/i-misled-middle-belt-to-vote-for-jonathan-shaahu/

People, stop all this talk of 'giving' the presidency to the SE or to any part of Nigeria for goodness sake! A leadership position is not 'given' but earned by strong leadership skills, diplomacy, negotiation, bridge-building, strategy, a strong record of achievement at lesser positions, etc! The ibos do not have any empirical or anecdotal evidence of any of the criteria I listed previously except of course theoretical evidence like that used to foist the retardeen on Nigeria as we speak presently! If Igbos want to be put forward as leadership material, first they must disengage from follow-followism since the days of Balewa, Shagari, till current date!

A man that cannot stand on his own two feet is a man that can never be allowed to lead, even ants or inanimate objects. Leadership is not business, selling a few spare parts or importing a container! Let potential leaders from iboland be groomed from their governorship, deliver unquestionable results, build human capacity and build bridges to other parts of the country where they hope to gain followership as well as win electoral votes. Anything short of this will not make it possible for the presidential slot to be 'given'! It must be earned! The loonie, retardeen, that was 'given' the position on theoretical evidence of leadership is the biggest loser in the history of democracy! Nigeria is tired of such loser presidents!!

This is wot u get wen u vote a clueless retardeen an ex-militant as president

They will soon, in their uncouth glory, start insulting this man without even minimally trying to understand why someone who passionately campaigned for GEJ is now against him. This is what some of us have argued consistently. GEJ himself has squandered the considerable goodwill he enjoyed in the past.

Almost everyone who supported Retardeen in 2011 is now backtracking and it was those sycophants who werent bold enough to face the cabal that are now shouting

He misled the middle belt as if they all share one brain.

Igwe.:
He misled the middle belt as if they all share one brain.

Dont mind them. Every nonentity is now trying to form "political heavy weight"

Even if he campaigned for the president, the only important question would be, what did the president promise his people then that is yet to be fulfilled. Is it roads, jobs, dams, rail line, etc. Are we talking about failure to meet individual aspirations (post election appointments and all that) or COMMUNITY needs?

That is why I love the approach of Governor Peter Obi who said his support for GEJ was not based on appointment of politicians but on delivery of services to the PEOPLE, ie things like building of 2nd Niger Bridge

Sincere 9gerian:
Dont mind them. Every nonentity is now trying to form "political heavy weight"

Even if he campaigned for the president, the only important question would be, what did the president promise his people then that is yet to be fulfilled. Is it roads, jobs, dams, rail line, etc. Are we talking about failure to meet individual aspirations (post election appointments and all that) or COMMUNITY needs?

That is why I love the approach of Governor Peter Obi who said his support for GEJ was not based on appointment of politicians but on delivery of services to the PEOPLE, ie things like building of 2nd Niger Bridge

you just called an oldman who is probably old enough to be your grand dad a nonentity simply because he view things differently from you. that's not a right way to defend mr. president. mr shaahu is entitled to his opinion about his president just as you are. attack him based on issues not name calling.. no offence intended.

I really wanted to stop reading when I got up to point, UMBC/Action Group alliance in 1961, but decided to see what the old chameleon will say further. I wonder where he was when Ahmadu Bello instructed elements of Nigerian army under the command of Lt Col James Pam to deal with the Tiv people who were supporters of UMBC.

I had liked to hear this dude on his take about the Mobile Corporation hiring of JS Tarka, leader of UMBC, to sell Nigeria’s propaganda against eastern region or Biafra before the American public.