By Chris Ajaero
Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Chimaroke Nnamani, governor of Enugu State has faulted the tendency of the Nigerian political class to emphasise zoning instead of merit in the choice of the next president of the country in 2007.

He said that although all the six geo-political zones of the country could aspire for the exalted office, the time has come for Nigerians to elect the best candidate for the job irrespective of where he or she comes from. In an interactive session with journalists last week, in Enugu, Nnamani said that this new concept of merit should be embraced by politicians because Nigeria has joined the globalisation process which is anchored on excellence in governance.

He explained that President Olusegun Obasanjo was gradually embracing this trend as shown by his appointment of his economic think-tank from one geo-political zone of the country purely based on merit. He said: "Where mediocrity reigns, backwardness is the result. The world today is a small technologically driven village. When President Olusegun Obasanjo picks Professor Soludo as CBN governor and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister, two Igbo personalities to run the nation's economy without protests, it shows that Nigerans are appreciating merit and excellence."

In recent times, politicians from the South-East and South-South geo-political zones have intensified campaigns to persuade other zones to allow them to produce the next president of the country in the interest of justice and fair play. Although Nnamani is from the South-East, he believes that the only way Ndigbo can produce the next president of the country was by presenting the best candidate for the position. "I am not looking at it as an Igbo, Hausa, Fulani or Yoruba issue. I am saying that in line with globalisation, it is an issue of what do you bring to the people. When you are in a plane or ship, you will like the best pilot or sailor to steer it to safety and comfort. The same consideration should guide our choice or election of political and other leaders," he said.

Nnamani debunked the speculation that he was positioning himself for the 2007 presidency. Rather, he said his interest for now was to concentrate on the completion of on-going projects in Enugu State. He listed some of the projects being executed in Eungu State as the construction of the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, the permanent site of the university, the judiciary headquarters, housing estates and the ultra-modern International Conference Centre. According to him, these projects would cost about N36 billion and would be completed and commissioned before March, next year. "My priority will be to complete these projects. It is difficult to imagine if they will be completed before 2007. If I complete these projects, hopefully, I would be able to find somewhere to do some teaching, research and critical consciousness," he said.