Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
The New Nigeria Group (NNG) has said that it would actualise its mission of providing good leadership for the country on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former ruling party.
The Convener of the Group, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, dropped the hint in a chat with journalists at Gregory University Uturu, Abia State during the inauguration of the College of Pharmacy Building named after him by the privately owned institution.
NNG has been engaged in mobilising “like minded citizens” of Nigeria to join the movement to actualise its mission of installing enlightened, visionary and committed leadership in Nigeria that will motivate the country to optimise its human and material resources.”
“We’re going to run on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” he said, adding that the formal announcement would be made in due course.
Ohuabunwa, who is the President of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), explained that the choice of PDP as a veritable platform to enthrone good leadership for Nigeria was due to the disposition and policy thrust of the main opposition party.
“We’ve found that PDP has a couple of things that are in consonance in terms of policy and in terms of attitude to what we are proposing in the New Nigeria Group,” he said.
The NNG leader stated that the pertinent issues that needed to be resolved to move Nigeria forward has nothing to do with political parties but absence of right leadership. He pointed out that parties are mere platforms but it is the leader’s actions that reflect on the party that he represents.
According to him, the PDP presents the “best and credible opportunity that we have and luckily for us, we are fundamentally members of the PDP since 1998.”
Ohuabunwa said that he had been shying away from vying for elective positions “because we were developing strategies and supporting evolution of political thoughts,” adding that now the season has come for him to get involved in providing Nigeria with the right leadership.
He said that in looking for solutions to its many problems, Nigeria has tried many things but the kind of leaders that Nigeria has seen over the years were not capable of pulling the country together.
“Nigeria needs a man who knows how to motivate the country to create wealth. Wealth is the main issue we have because poverty is ravaging us.
“Nigeria needs a wealth creator. Nigeria needs a person with a private sector background who has been involved in founding and running businesses, running private sector organisations like the NNG, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN), Nigeria Economic Summit Group and understands how wealth is created.”
Ohuabunwa, who is the Chairman of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc and former President of MAN, said that he was going to infuse private sector principles into governance, attracting investments, thereby creating businesses that would in turn create wealth “and wealth will drive away poverty.”
He further stated that the second task facing the leader that would emerge in 2023 “is to unite and heal our nation,” noting that Nigeria has been ruled by people with poor knowledge of how to create a team out of the country’ s diversity and make a nation out of a country with disparate groups.
“Nigeria needs someone who has the temperament, empathy, emotional intelligence, who understands how to rule these peoples, somebody who has the emotional intelligence, the empathy, the understanding, and most importantly, treat Nigerians as equal, and design a regime of equity, fair play and justice.
“Once you have these, Nigerians will become united, and above all, we are going to create a country that is godly, a country that fears God, where God will be the one that rules the nation,” he said.
