bring it on all or nothing

Senator Tanko Ayuba represents Kebbi South. Before his foray into politics, Ayuba spent about four decades in the military service during which he served as Kaduna State governor and Minister of Communication before his retirement in 1994. In this interview, he speaks on his experience as a retired soldier now politician.

WT: Can you share with us your experience as a former military officer now politician?

Ayuba: Well, I spent the better part of my life in the military. To be precise I spent about 40 years serving this nation as a military officer. I left the Army in December 1994 and rested for a couple of years. I am very close to my people and having come home and having served my country I came back to realise that I need to do more, this time to my community in view of the numerous problems I met at home. In 1998, I decided to go into politics and I joined the PDP. My participation in politics is about a decade now whereas my life in the military is about four decades. Politics is the only vehicle today in all developing nations in the world through which individuals or a group of people can address their problems. So I joined politics principally to ensure that what my people lacked or have been lacking is now made available to them.

When I compare my life as a military man and now a politician, I would say military is a regimented life but now I am living a free life. You can express yourself, a life that gives you the opportunity to fight for your freedom and your right-that is the advantage of politics over the military. In military you are regimented, you do what you are asked to do. But one major advantage of the military is that it breeds discipline. So, if I learnt anything in the military, I learnt discipline. I learnt about mission statements and accomplishing those statements given the right environment and the right frame.

WT: There are insinuations that ex-military officers are taking over the affairs of Nigerian politics. What can you say about this?

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Ayuba: Well if it is true, great idea, if it is not true it is an opportunity for everybody. This issue has repeated itself time and time again. Nigeria belongs to you and I. There are so many professions in this country, the military is not the only profession. Nobody talks about other professionals who abandoned their professions and go into politics but you talk about the military officers who served their country and retired legitimately. They were not sent by the military to go into politics but it is an individual choice to go into politics. Once they get there and win election, people start making comments, they did not win election out of nothing. They won election out of followership, out of belief and support of their people that they are credible enough to emancipate them, to lead them and take them to the promised land. What you are saying today's there are people in this country who are political scientists whose duty should have been the sole monopoly of Nigeria
n politics because they are Nigerian political scientists. How come no political scientists today are the oldest politicians, where are the political scientists? Politics is a game that is free for all but only those who are fit, proper and can deliver the goods and the dividends of democracy should be encouraged to go into politics and to win elections. Unfortunately what we have experienced in our politics today, we have seen people who are less credible, who are unqualified and ill prepared, they are brought into politics through dubious means, through dubious wealth and they got responsible positions. The Nigerian Army officer is not an exception in the Nigerian community, he is part and parcel of this country. He has every right to seek whatever political office he wishes because the constitution guarantees that.

WT: Before you got the senatorial ticket you lost primaries and decamped to the ANPP and later decamped again to the PDP. How do you manage to secure the ticket of the party without any congress held?

Ayuba: First, I am a true believer of destiny. What God has destined no one can change it, I joined the PDP of our own period, for the period I was in PDP we were all here in Kebbi State. When you are leading people who are eager for development and they don't see it coming as a good politician you have a duty to ensure that those good things are available to your people. I decided to leave the PDP not because I didn't get the primaries but I didn't challenge it period. As a man of God I left everything for God to judge, I decided I had a duty to lead my people to the promised land and if I cannot succeed from the centre I may succeed from the state and I decided to imbibe politics of flexibility and moved a bit from PDP to the ANPP. When I move to the ANPP I made it point blank that my reason for decamping to ANPP was to bring those good things of life that my people lacked and I can tell you within a few weeks of my moving to the ANPP a lot changed with my people, all those
things they have been seeing they now began to see them. Today my people are happy and if my people are happy, General Tanko Ayuba is happy. On the issue of decampment, there was nothing like merger but total movement of a large number of people within Kebbi State who belong to the ANPP into the PDP and I happened to be one of those people. So there is nothing wrong politically for one to do that. The essential element there is to get what you need to move your people forward and to move the state forward. I think I have contributed and I am satisfied.