I Would’ve Performed Better Than President Buhari – Female Ex- Presidential Candidate, Remi Sonaiya, Opens Up

In an exclusive interview with Premium Times
in Ile-Ife, 61-year-old politician and candidate
of KOWA party in the 2015 presidential election,
Remi Sonaiya, who is a retired professor of
French Language, Linguistics and Applied
Logistics at the Obafemi Awolowo University,
speaks on her political vocation, the Buhari
administration and other issues.
Excerpts:
PT: Looking at your scorecard at the last
presidential election, are you glad you did?
Remi Sonaiya KOWASonaiya: I am very happy I
participated. I had no illusions going in. I knew
it would take time to bring about a shift in the
political culture of money and violence which
had been so entrenched in our system.
I was glad that I had votes in every single state
in the country. I believe the chauvinists too
would come round when they realise we need a
change.
PT: Talking about the present administration, do
you feel you and KOWA party would have done
better if you were elected?
Sonaiya: Of course, I would have done better by
God’s help. For example, I would have
consulted widely in selecting members of my
cabinet, so that we would get the best people to
manage our affairs in different sectors.
Party considerations would not have been
primary; the interest of the country would have
been. And I would have gotten the cabinet in
place before my inauguration, so that we would
really hit the ground running. It’s strange to
nominate people for ministerial positions and
not have them assessed by the Senate on their
competence in specific areas.
PT: KOWA party seems to be a silent
opposition.
Sonaiya: KOWA is not a silent opposition party.
The fact is that in Nigeria if you do not have
plenty of money it is difficult for your voice to
be heard. We are very active in the social
media, where we have quite some amount of
following.
We are gradually building up the party, and we
are very hopeful that soon we will become more
visible as more people join us and contribute to
funding the party. KOWA does not believe that
parties should be funded by money from
government coffers.
PT: The present president has a track record of
three attempts before the fourth and successful
one. Come 2019, God sparing our lives, do you
intend to contest for president?
Sonaiya: Of course, it is the person who
emerges as the party’s candidate after we must
have conducted our primaries who will
represent the party in the presidential elections.
Who knows, maybe it would be me.
PT: Politics is a male-dominated area,
especially the race for president. And you
contested. What drives you?
Sonaiya: What drives me is a passion to see
my country be well governed and her citizens
live a dignified and prosperous life, as in so
many other countries that I have had the
opportunity to visit.
I believe there is nothing fundamentally different
from us and other human beings in terms of the
abilities we were created with. How come we
won’t use them to improve our lives?
How come we allow a handful of people to get
away with so much theft and condemn the
overwhelming majority to a life of penury? I am
driven by a passion for truth, righteousness and
justice. When there is righteousness in
governance, the people will rejoice.
I also believe Nigeria owes itself the
responsibility of getting her act together and
taking her rightful position of leadership in
Africa. I long to remove the shame which has
for long hung over us.
PT: What is your message to African women?
Sonaiya: African women should be bold. There
is no need to be afraid of politics. Let us begin
to see participation in the political life of our
nations as a duty we owe our nations, ourselves
and our children, just like we participate actively
in the running of our homes.
If half of the population is missing, we are being
short-changed. Women have their peculiar
contributions to make which will complement
those being made by men. It has been shown
that in societies where women are present in
governance, such societies become more
stable, more prosperous, leading to better
standards of living.