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Kanayo O. Kanayo, a trained lawyer and famous Nollywood actor, is a member of the Presidential Campaign Committee for Peter Obi, the presidential flag bearer of Labour Party.
In an interview with Saturday Sun, he spoke to CHIKA ABANOBI on a number of issues concerning the campaign and Obi’s candidacy.
You posted a video on social media, some days ago, asking Igbos living outside Igbo land, not to go home for fear of being attacked. Why did you have to do that?
The fact is, we got reliable information that some people are trying to foment trouble, just like what happened last year when some Igbos tried to get their PVCs in certain areas of the city and were attacked. So, there is this effort being made by certain people to scare the Igbos and inject fear into them to leave their primary areas of residence. The video was to say to Ndi Igbo: ‘You must not out of the fear of anybody’s intimidation or molestation or harassment begin to leave where you registered to vote and start rushing home. There is a constitutional provision that with regard to the post of the President, 25 per cent had to be recorded by each candidate in a certain number of states before one could be pronounced the winner. So, we need our people. I am an Igbo man. I can’t deny that. The fact is, other candidates or other people can’t also deny who they are. They come from particular ethnic groups. So, wherever you are, stay there and cast your vote. You must get your PVC; it is one tool you have to speak with. Let’s forget this idea about ‘will my vote count?’ and perform our civic responsibility first. That video was meant for any Igbo who live outside the Igbo land to stay there and cast their votes. The same thing should apply to other Nigerians who live outside their places of ethnic origin. They should stay there and cast their votes for any candidate of their choice. Nobody should intimidate other people.
Are you saying that the threat that you are talking about is a credible one?
It could be. Look at what they tried to do to the deputy governorship candidate of PDP in Lagos State, Funke Akindele, my colleague. She was attacked in Lagos. This is a Lagosian being attacked in Lagos. If they could do that to her, their own, what could they not do to others? As Ola Rotimi asked in his book, The Gods Are Not To Blame, ‘when crocodiles eat their own eggs, what will they not do to the flesh of a frog?” Are we looking for those who attacked her? It definitely cannot be people from her party, the PDP. I thank God that she was not harmed. But that is not the kind of politics that we should be playing in 2023, talking about real revolution or liberation, whatever that means. Nigerians should be allowed to express themselves through their voters’ cards, on who should be their President or governor, without anybody trying to intimidate them not to do so.
About a week ago, we read that men and officers of the 9th Brigade of the Nigerian Army conducted some raids at the motor parks in Ojota and Oshodi and arrested some hoodlums with drugs, charms and weapons. Do you think that kind of security measure can help to stop the country from sliding into anarchy?
It is a commendable effort. I mean, one that should be repeated time and again because we must not let hoodlums, bandits and political thugs sabotage our progress as a nation. Nigeria is still a great country; we will become greater if we get it right. If we have bad people who have invaded our communities in order to make it less peaceful, we must fish them out and deal with them. This is not the Nigeria that you and I are praying for: that people would harbour bad people or criminals who would do the hatchet job for them to rule. No. So? Kudos to the Army. Kudos to the police. And kudos to our security agencies. But they must work harder with information. Credible information is key to the 2023 elections. We must hold it as a sacred trust that those who came in to divide us, invited by whoever to come and unleash violence and mayhem and so on, must be fished out and made to face the music in accordance with the laws of our land.
The current political atmosphere seems to have divided the Actors Guild into various political camps. What’s your take on that?
I will tell you one thing for free. It is the civic responsibility of every citizen to hold a political view, to vote and to be voted for. I do not see why a husband and a wife would be in the same house and the husband cannot choose to belong to APC, the wife to PDP and the son to Labour Party. It is allowed for others. But immediately it happens in the home of an actor, it becomes a national issue. We must understand that actors are members of society. They are influencers, yes. But the fact of the matter is, no part of our constitution says they cannot support any person if they want. If Zach Orji goes to support Tinubu, that is his responsibility as a citizen of Nigeria. It doesn’t make him less of an actor; he has chosen whom to follow. After all, there are people created by God but who have chosen not to follow God and God has not punished them. So, no actor should be punished on the pedestal or platform of the political party he has chosen to support. If I choose to support Peter Obi as a Presidential candidate, it is my personal choice. If I am able to influence any other actor, kudos to me. But it must not make me an enemy of someone who has chosen to support a candidate of another party. We all are Nigerians; we cannot belong to the same political party.
One common argument that critics have against Peter Obi’s candidacy is that he has no viable political structure. What do you have to say about that?
Yes, I agree with them. He hasn’t got the structure of criminality, ineptitude, or corruption. I agree. He hasn’t got the structure that will enable him to share our money, to give money to godfathers and to mortgage the future of Nigeria. He hasn’t got the structure to deprive Nigerians of a regular supply of electricity, to look at what is coming to Nigerians and share it among his friends. Those are the structures they are talking about. Going by the records released by INEC, Nigerian youths have 37 million voter cards. The youths of Nigeria are the structure. Let them use their 37 million PVCs and vote massively for Peter Obi and let us change this narrative of ‘no structure.’ Let us for once prove that 37 million votes are enough to set up a structure. After the many unfulfilled promises of political parties, 16 years, eight years ago, the youths should not allow themselves to be taken for a ride again. That is the structure we need.
I think what his critics or opponents mean by that is in case he wins the Presidential election, how is he going to work together with lawmakers or governors from either APC or PDP, in order to execute his programme?
When he won the election in Anambra State, some years ago, he was alone. Nobody is averse to good governance or to something good. If we are talking about governance, we need to look at ourselves in the mirror and tell ourselves some truth: good policies are not based on the political structure. If for an instance, an educational facility is going to be sited in a particular locality, it doesn’t need a political structure or party; it needs the will of the National or State Assembly to approve that it is good for a particular place. So, if there are well-meaning Nigerians in the Senate or House of Reps., they will drive the political structure to fit into what Nigeria needs. It is not about the party they belong to because no party is averse to good education, good healthcare, technological advancement and good governance. So, he will definitely have people who would say, ‘Mr. President where you stand is where we stand because we know you will do the best for the country.’
How about corruption? How is he going to fight it, or won’t it fight back?
Definitely, we know that corruption will fight back. It has always fought back but a note of warning will be given to those who are corrupt. If the man at the top is not eating, who are you to come and eat? We are not looking for a Nigerian that is a saint. We want a Nigeria where things are working. If Peter Obi wins and the first thing he does is to cut down on the cost of governance, he has already got Nigerians because a lot of money would be saved. The cost of governance in Nigeria has gotten nonsensical in a nation where students are on strike for eight months and where people feed once a day. But if you come to an office and you get what you want without anybody asking you for a bribe, things would have fallen into place.
