Shonekan: I'm Not For Politics
BY CHUKA NNABUIFE
HE tasted power for 82 days as head of the defunct Interim National Government (ING), the shortest by any leader in Nigeria. Eleven years after that brief reign, Chief Ernest Shonekan has reaffirmed that he has no future in politics.
In an interview with The Guardian in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Shonekan said either now or in the future, he would not stake his name or resources in partisan politics.
When asked if he was interested in party politics, Shonekan first shrugged, and replied: "I am not."
The interview went thus:
Are you interested in party politics?
I am not
Not in the near future you mean?
Yea
Not at all?
Yes, not at all
Reviewing the reform programmes of the Federal Government, Shonekan observed that Nigerians and the government were singing discordant tunes on the initiative.
He believes that both the government and the people could do more to make the reforms work.
According to the former chief executive officer of UAC, one of Nigeria's leading conglomerates, President Olusegun Obasanjo's reforms could only move the nation forward if the people and the government were singing the same tune.
Before the interview was cut short by aides, Shonekan also responded to these questions.
What is your reaction to the on-going reform programmes of the Federal Government? And what is your opinion of how to go about them?
Well, reforming is a continuous exercise. We have to continue to reform all the time because there is no standstill in nature. You must continue to try and improve on what you are doing at any particular time. And reforms don't come easily.
How do you mean?
You must have to work very hard. For a reform programme to succeed what it means is that everybody has to contribute his quota.
Yes, you have to contribute your own quota, What it means is that you have to improve on what you are doing. If the general target is say five per cent, what it means is that you, as a journalist, if you have been interviewing 10 people, you add five per cent to it. That is an improvement and that is your contribution. So, what I am saying is that everyone of us must ensure that we contribute our quota to the development of the land.
Where do you think Nigerians and the government should work harder to make the reforms work?
All of us, both the leaders and the led must work together as a team.
Are we working together as a team now?
It doesn't appear so. It would not appear so. There are so many divisions and until such a time that we all sing from the same hymn book, we will continue to have these conflicting interests.
Diversionary interests do not help in allowing you to achieve the desired goal within a short period of time if we must be sincere to ourselves.
Following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late businessman, Chief Moshood Abiola, Shonekan was appointed the head of the ING by former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) on August 26, 1993.
His regime was declared as illegal by a court and on Wednesday, November 17, 1993, former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Sani Abacha, seized power from Shonekan and ruled until his death on June 8, 1998.
Abiola later died under questionable circumstances on July 10 of the same year.
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