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2007 Presidency: Here comes the first female
challenger 
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South 
The Vanguard Newspaper 

FORMER Nigeria’s ambassador to Germany and, in fact,
Nigeria’s first woman ambassador, Princess E.
Ogbon-Day, who fled Nigeria, some years ago, to 
America for refuge is back. Ogbon-Day who hails from
Olomu in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta
State is not just back to the country, she came back 
with a dream. She wants to take over in 2007 from
President Olusegun Obasanjo as the nation’s first
female president.

The Olomu Princess who is an advocate of human and
social rights paid a courtesy visit to Vanguard’s
Regional Office in Warri ,Tuesday. She radiated 
self-confidence, sagacity of purpose and direction as
she fielded questions from our Regional Editor on her
presidential aspiration, sometimes sermonizing on the 
Nigerian question. Excerpts:

HER mission: My mission in the race for the position
of the president of Nigeria in 2007 is to be at the
forefront of the struggle of the people of the
South-South to  take control of their destiny and
their future in their hands towards the liberation of
the masses. You may wish to know that Nigerians know
already that women are  marginalized and on behalf of
all the marginalized people,  the South-South people
and the marginalized masses, I have come out to serve.
I am running the race for  the people on the margin
and I am calling on all women, all young people to
come out and join me, and invest in this race because
it is about time for them to be  liberated from all
limitations of  poverty and whatever it is that has
stopped them from enjoying basic things of life.
Whether you are from the North, East or West, as  long
as you are marginalized, you are living on the margin;
I am saying that I am your flag bearer.

I share your sufferings and I say, that is not what
life should be with you in this new millennium, that
is not what life should be in a civilized world and I
say to you, join  me, let us move into the civilized
world and live in a civilized world.

Why I fled Nigeria: I fled the country at the time of
military administration because it was unacceptable to
me. And people of God, I don’t care whether they are 
Christians or Moslems, are not supposed to be in
bondage and I find non-democratic government as a
severe form of  bondage.  My residence at Effurun was
burnt  by so-called unknown persons but we know who
the unknown persons are, and so, I left the country. I
am back this time because Nigeria is still undergoing 
oppression, not under the military but under a
democratic government. We are going through hard-core
corruption, inequities, social injustices and I am
allergic to all  these.

I don’t understand why Nigerians are over
accommodative of these things. I don’t understand what
the local, state or federal governments are doing for
the masses of  this country, for since I came back,
they have been  living in  darkness, while the people
in government do nothing. This is slavery. You cannot
study, you cannot  sleep, and you cannot do anything.

Nigeria is so blessed with natural and human resources
but there is so much mismanagement of these resources
and Nigerians have become outcast and homeless in 
their own country. If you speak out, the government
picks you up and locks you up. It is about time
Nigerians rose up, stood up for their rights because
there is so  much abuse, not just abuse but rape of
human rights in this country.
We have to stop jungle politics: I cannot imagine this
process of amendment of the Constitution of this great
nation because of the selfish interest of either one 
individual or some greedy few. Who gave them the
mandate to amend the Constitution? Were there town
meetings held throughout the country to say, we need a
 change and we need an amendment, did the masses give
them that mandate? No. So it is about time we come to
the drawing table and do things the way the civilized 
world does things and we cannot continue to play this
jungle politics of mumbo jumbo and the government
doing what they like, sharing millions of the people’s
 money with no amenities.

Obasanjo should leave power: Well, I don’t know about
the God of President Olusegun Obasanjo but I know
about my God and I do know that President  Obasanjo
belongs to the Baptist Church of Nigeria and I belong
to the Baptist Church of America. All the civil rights
movements in America, all the struggles for  freedom
come from the Baptist Church, I don’t know which God
encourages an individualistic government. President
Obasanjo ruled this country when he was in  khaki as a
military head of state. He did a good job, went home
and came back and he is almost concluding two terms
and so, I don't know which God is asking him  to do a
third term.

My God believes in sharing. I serve a God that shares,
a God that shares everything. He is not a God that
holds everything to himself. Based on that, with all
the  things Obasanjo has done, as a man of God, as a
Baptist, he should share power. I have not listened
much to Pastor Kris Okotie but you know what, whoever
we  are, whether we have different gods or not, I
believe that our nation is under one God and I believe
that the God that I serve, the God that is talking to
me is a God  who believes in love and any presidential
aspirant that does not love you first is not fit to
rule you.
Male politicians are dragging the country backward:I
will not say that I am gunning for presidency in
Nigeria because a woman is now the president in
Liberia as you  asked because in1979 when President
Shagari made Nigeria to have a woman as ambassador,
Liberia did not have a woman in such a position then.
Like I said,  Nigeria is a pacesetter, it is ordained
by God to set the pace in the continent of Africa. So
Liberia is supposed to be behind us in female
presidency, not ahead of us,  except that the male
politicians are dragging us behind. It is like we have
been on a rocking chair since independence, doing
nothing, and that is how Liberia overtook  us, but
Nigerian women have been ahead of them before now
through people like others and me.

My party will be known at the appointed time: Well, as
my campaign unfolds, the political party I am going to
contest will be made abundantly clear to Nigerians.
The  word of God says there is time for everything. At
this time, at this point in time, my main objective is
to inform fellow Nigerians that I am here as the flag
bearer for the  people on the margin: the women, the
youth, the children and the unemployed.

This is not Babangida, Atiku, Marwa’s time: What I
will say to former President Ibrahim Babangida,
Brigadier General Marwa and Vice President Atiku
Abubakar  who are eyeing Aso Villa in 2007 is that,
this is not their chance. This is the chance of the
South-South; this is the chance of a woman; this is
the  chance for the  younger people, because if you
look at government today, all that is going on is
recycling of leadership. Nobody is indispensable and
this is also a message to the  present president.


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