Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign director, a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has said Nigeria does not need a good man as president.
NewsOnline reports that Chidoka said good men like Adolf Hitler, late president, Umaru Yar’Adua did not leave their countries better – Germany and Nigeria – because they were good men in government.
The PDP chieftain added that tough men, like Atiku Abubakar, who get things done and build strong institutions are what Nigeria needs to make progress.
Chidoka said this on Thursday at a virtual national dialogue, in an indirect response to Valentine Ozigbo’s – Peter Obi aide and Labour Party chieftain – statement that Nigeria needs a good man with character, fear of God and conscience to be president.
Ozigbo, Special Adviser to Obi on Technology and Strategic Alliances, while speaking on the dialogue said, “When it comes to the personality of the candidates, we don’t emphasize character. You need someone who is humble, who you can engage.
READ ALSO: BVAS CAN’T BE HACKED, VOTES WILL COUNT – INEC CHAIR
“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 describing why Peter Obi is the best candidate for Nigerians.
In his contribution, Chidoka highlighted PDP’s achievements when it controlled the federal government between 1999 and 2007.
He also compared Adolf Hitler and Umaru Yar’Adua who were elected by their countrymen because they were good men but ended up putting their countries backward to Obasanjo and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who were tough men but got things work for their countries.
Chidoka said, “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.”
Comparing Adolf Hiltler, Umaru Yar’Adua , and Lula, the former Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Corps Marshal said, “One of the good men that ruled the world was Adolf Hitler.
“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.”
“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.
