‘Why Jonathan will sweep 2015 poll’

Simon Imobo-Tswam is the President/National Coordinator of FOUNDERS (Friends of our Nation, Democracy, Equity, Reason & Social Justice). A former newspaper editor-turned pastor, he spoke to Terhemba Daka in Abuja on a number of issues in the polity.
SINCE your organisation, FOUNDERS, made its debut on the scene, it has been quiet. What does FOUNDERS stand for? Is it, as it is being alleged in some quarters, another pro-Goodluck Jonathan outfit?
THANK you very much for the question. What FOUNDERS stands for is a good beginning point for our publicity thrust. Straight away, we are not a pro-Goodluck Jonathan outfit per se. And yes, we made a quiet debut on the scene, but it was a deliberate choice.
As you may already know, FOUNDERS is an acronym, which when expanded means: Friends Of Our Nation, Democracy, Equity, Reason & Social Justice. So, we have come out to take a stand for our country, Nigeria, our democracy; yes, we have come out to take a stand for reason, responsible politics as well as social justice.
So, on the surface, we may appear like another pro-Goodluck Jonathan group, but in essence, we are a pro-Nigerian group, and we stand for all that is best for our dear country at this point in time.
As one of our most illustrious patriots, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, once said: “We have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together.”
We are here, and we intend to do just that. It is not what one man or one group can do, standing alone, but we intend to contribute our quota. Thus, to your question, as to what FOUNDERS stands for, we stand for one united, fair, just and progressing Nigeria.
And by the way, being quiet in terms of media publicity does not mean we have been idle or activity-quiet. No, we have been working. We have not only been around, but we have also been about. It is just that we have been operating in the background, and quietly so.
We have even been making TV appearances, doing really very low-key media engagement while biding our time. But the time is ripe now to come out, and hence our public stand.
There are so many of such pro-Jonathan groups already. Will it not be a crowd?
I think we should get something right here so we don’t miss the big picture. We are not the typical pro-Jonathan group. If you see such groups, they have Jonathan in their name i.e. Jonathan this, Jonathan that; Goodluck Jonathan Support Group; Friends of Jonathan, etc.
But on the other hand, we are largely friends of Nigeria. And this is deliberate. We believe Nigeria is bigger than anyone individual. We also believe our democracy is more important than any one individual or group or party.
That is why our membership and mobilisation drives are targeting Nigerians outside of strict party lines or affiliations.
But having said that, I do not, honestly, see how, having many pro-Jonathan movements, will be an issue. In an affirmative way, it shows the popularity of the President or his anticipated candidacy.
Even for those opposed to him, the springing up of self-propelled pro-Jonathan campaign organisations is an invitation or summons to re-assessment of their positions.
You see; democracy is about the people, masses of people, and not one or two people. This is why it’s said that politics is a game of numbers. Hence, I will say: the more, the merrier.
In any case, FOUNDERS has its target audience. We are targeting the professionals and professional groups, the elite, the opinion- moulders and leaders.
So, if we do not foresee any conflict — and do not forget that there are over 20 political parties in the country at the moment, but it has not created any chaos.
Every party is targeting its target-public or publics, as the case may be. This way, every shade of opinion finds accommodation, and Nigeria is the better for it.
WHY do such groups target opinion leaders, professionals, and the elite?
The truth is that we are still playing opinion-leader politics in Nigeria. People still look up to the elite, for guidance, for affirmation, for mobilisation.
The masses want to hear from the permanent secretary, the director, the manager, the professor, as well as the lawyer, the engineer and the likes about whom to vote for, whom to associate with.
This is why when a big-time politician defects to another party, he does not go alone but moves with thousands of supporters. And when he changes camps again, thousands follow him out once again.
Therefore, we are targeting leaders in their respective rights: the literati, the intelligentsia, the traditional aristocracy, and the political elite — in fact, leadership at all levels.
From our research, we have discovered that the masses may not be averse to this or that candidate, but the elite could sway their loyalty this way or that depending on their interests.
Our target is to reach this category of Nigerians and persuade them to stay with one, just and united Nigeria; we will persuade them to stay with democracy, with reason, with responsible politics and with justice. Once we do that, mobilising the masses will be a matter of course.
Many people are talking of 2015 in terms of Armageddon, but we want Nigerians to talk of 2015 in terms of commonsense. Sentiments are flying about, but we want attention focused on the issues.
You are saying, in effect, that in canvassing these issues, you are not really targeting the masses or the grassroots people, but the elite and the opinion leaders?
No. That is not what we are saying in effect. It is not like we are targeting the opinion leaders to reach the people on our behalf, like once we reach the elite, the different hierarchies of leadership, then our work is done.
No, we reach them quite all right, and then together, we reach the masses — they are ultimately our target audience. And our message is not power-shift, but a paradigm shift; our passion is not destructive politics, but constructive politics.

EVEN though you are pro-Nigeria, is it possible that you will be campaigning for President Goodluck Jonathan in the course of your work?
Yes, it is possible, in fact, very possible. Now, look at it this way: Is President Goodluck Jonathan a Nigerian? Yes, sir. I submit that he is.
Is there something about his possible candidature or something concerning him that even hints at national unity, justice, reason, responsible politics, equity and the likes? My categorical answer again is: Yes, sir.
And is he doing a good job? The affirmative evidence is there in black and white.
So, if we believe campaigning for him will enhance our core values, if it will add value to Project-Nigeria, if it will deepen the content of our democracy, if it will consolidate national unity, if it will enable the tree of justice to bloom and flower, and if those flowers of justice will scent the lives of Nigerians irrespective of their geography, tribe, religion or zone, we will campaign for him.
And for that matter, we will campaign for any man or woman whose aspiration does not harm Nigeria, her unity or her strategic interests. No one, outside political calculations or mischief value, can deny that the President is doing a great job. That is the truth. So, we will campaign for him.
With the stiff opposition against President Jonathan, will he succeed in his re-election bid?
As I said, the future belongs to God, and to talk of it in absolute terms bothers on arrogance, even ignorance. This is why I am uncomfortable giving a definite answer.
And then, politics is not a precision science, where you can say: one plus one must give you the mathematically correct answer of two.
But knowing that his party is the biggest party in Nigeria, and that it has been the ruling party since 1999, if you factor that with his multi-sectoral triumphs, the salutary legacies of his transformational stewardship, I believe, for President Jonathan, 2015 will likely be a year of consolidation. He will sweep the polls.
What will 2015 be like? Will it make or mar Nigeria?
The future belongs to God, and humans can only make projections into it.
But let me say this: 2015 will be like any other election year. There will be tension. There will be intrigues. There will be high-wired politics. But in the end, it will come and go. Elections will be won and lost.
While 2015 will make some people, it will definitely mar other’s dreams.
YOU were in the media, and without warning, you just left. After working in several media houses, do you miss the industry?
Yes, I was in the media, and yes, I worked in a good number of media houses, but no, I did not leave without warning.
And did I really leave? Do we really leave? I believe the newsroom has its own unique appeal: the thrill of news-hunting, the excitement of being on top of a story, the exhilaration of a scoop, the headiness of an exclusive, the creative tension of the deadline hour, the pure pleasure of seeing the news-copy ahead of your readers…
This is why people say once a journalist, always a journalist. But let me get back to your question.
Yes, I was in a number of newspaper houses. My tour of media duty included newspapers like: Chronicle, Daily Trust, Champion, Daily Independent, Leadership, Compass, Peoples Daily, The Moment... I think in that order.
At a point, I began to think I had been everywhere. I went to Punch, too, but when they made up their mind about me, I had moved on. If not, I probably would mention it, too.
And while people know that I have been around the industry, few people know that I am the only person who has had the singular distinction of being a news editor in three rival newspapers, i.e., Daily Trust, Leadership and Peoples Daily.
I was News Editor, though in acting capacity at Trust; I was Group News Editor for the weekly titles at Leadership, i.e., LeadershipWeekend and LeadershipSunday.
If you recall, it was then that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua took me to court. And, of course, I was the Group News Editor at Peoples Daily for sometime.
So, why did you leave journalism, and without warning?
But I did give a warning. Those close to me knew that by 2011, I had become restless. I wanted something more, something new. So, in 2012, I left. That was as the Abuja Bureau Chief of The Moment Newspapers.
But I like to see myself as moving unto Higher Journalism, where instead of reporting man, instead of saying: the governor or the minister said this, I am now saying: “Thus says the Lord.”
I am now in Christian ministry as a pastor. I am also into writing Christian books (I have six now), and I am motivating my generation as a motivational speaker.
But this does not mean the newsroom has completely lost its allure for me. I am still a journalist at heart. This is why fortnightly, I appear on TV to speak on media-related matters.
And now, as you know, I am into political advocacy/mobilisation as the President/National Coordinator of FOUNDERS. And if the feelers we are getting are anything to go by, then we are doing a good work.
We may be in the media everyday, but we are doing our own thing. And then you know, we journalists are too modest or too selfless: we do not celebrate our own.