Former Minister of Aviation and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Osita Chidoka has stated that Nigeria does not require a good man as President.
According to reports within Nigeria, the former Aviation Minister stated this during a virtual national dialogue on Thursday.
Chidoka’s statement was in response to previous remarks made by Valentine Ozigbo, a Labour Party, LP, chieftain.
Ozigbo, Special Adviser on Technology and Strategic Alliances to Labour Party Presidential Candidate Peter Obi described his principal 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, Daily Post quoted Ozigbo as saying.
In response to Ozigbo’s remark, Chidoka stated that Nigerians do not require a good man, but rather someone who can build strong institutions.
When you build institutions around an individual, you are bound to have problems, according to the former Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal.
He said:
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 maintained that building institutions that will stop the ‘business as usual syndrome’ is “far more critical than a good man.”