Former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka has declared that Nigeria doesn’t need a good man as President.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwart made the remark on Thursday at a virtual national dialogue monitored by Media Talk Africa.
Chidoka’s “good man” assertion was in response to previous comments by a Labour Party, LP, chieftain Valentine Ozigbo.
Ozigbo, Special Adviser to Obi on Technology and Strategic Alliances, described the LP presidential candidate as a humble man.
“When it comes to the personality of the candidates, we don’t emphasize character. You need someone who is humble, who you can engage.
“You need somebody who is compassionate, who cares about his country, fellow human beings; someone who fears God, who has conscience.
“There are some people who want to be empire on their own. Even as they are today, you cannot even reach them how much more when they become President,” the 2021 Anambra governorship candidate said.
In his contribution, Chidoka highlighted PDP’s achievements when it controlled the federal government between 1999 and 2007.
“The challenge is when you build institutions around an individual, you are bound to have problems.
“The lesson of our past history was that Obasanjo was a strong active leader, and afterwards we had Yar’Adua.
“Yar’Adua was a honest and quiet man, but under whom not much moved because every move was susceptible to conversation and long debate.
“He was a good man, the first man to declare his assets publicly and also made his vice to declare assets publicly.
“The first man to reform the electoral system, acknowledging that the election that brought him to power was not good.”
Chidoka however insists building institutions that will stop the ‘business as usual syndrome’ is “far more critical than a good man.”
The former Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal cited ex-German ruler Adolf Hitler as an example.
“One of the good men that ruled the world was Adolf Hitler,” the politician said.
“When he was elected, the whole Germany said this is the man that we need to restore the German pride.
“We all know how it ended because the German people for the first time, instead of trusting in their institutions, trusted an individual.”
Chidoka, a former governorship candidate in Anambra, also mentioned the President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“Despite the challenges of being charged to court for corruption, the people of Brazil re-elected him again because he gets things done.”
“Getting things done is different from an Umaru Yar’Adua who was a good man, a very decent man, but could not get things done”, he added.
