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We
met at a cosy apartment in West London, having spoken in the morning
and agreed to a chat about his decision to return home to Nigeria. On
arrival, we reminisced over some things that happened in the past and
our previous encounters, and then we sat down for an interview that I
can only describe as candid, sincere, and truly no-holds-barred. I was
allowed to ask any question I wanted and I had a promise that I will
get a sincere answer.

Nasir El-Rufai has
been on exile, but the time spent abroad seem to have done him some
good as he looked fresh, calm and seemingly overflowing with energy and
passion to implement change. The first question I asked was why he has
chosen this weekend in April to return to Nigeria. Mr. El-Rufai
explained that he had planned to return to Nigeria in December of 2009,
but friends and family prevailed upon him not to return because of the
ill-health of president Umaru Yar’Adua and the whole fall out was
described as not being a conducive time.

It was also
conjectured that with the threat to his life in the past, and the
chaotic state of the national polity at that time, no one would be held
responsible if anything happened to him and in fact, devious people
might take advantage of the situation to wreak havoc and get away with
it.

As he talked, my
ears were listening and my eyes were taking in the body language of a
man who now seems to exude the confidence of a successful matador, one
with wisdom and understanding about the best time to strike. Mr
EL-Rufai expressed his disappointment and disgust at the way Nigeria
has been run down and on the verge of becoming a failed country.

He stated that
there is no better time than now to return to his beloved country after
he has been forced into exile by people he loved, respected, campaigned
and put himself on the line for. He told me that the only passport he
has is Green and it’s Nigerian. He has never contemplated or given a
thought to seeking asylum anywhere in the world or desired citizenship
of any other country, especially considering the fact that it would
have been easy to do that.

I quizzed him about
the people he loved and campaigned for, who drove him into exile, and I
saw a change on his face as a frown formed, with what I could only read
as deep-seated hurt in his eyes. Mr EL-Rufai said he was hurt and
disappointed by the fact that he campaigned and supported Mr. Yar’adua
and till today could not understand how the man could turn against him.
He believed that the people after his life were agents of the president
and he could not find a tenable reason for the assumption that he was
any threat to the man.

Mr. El-Rufai did
not mince words in declaring that he is sad that he made the mistake of
believing Mr. Yar’Adua could do Nigeria some good as President. I asked
him if he feels guilty for the failure of this regime and whether the
likes of former president Olusegun Obasanjo share the feeling of guilt.
He said he feels partly responsible for the disappointing failure of
the current regime as someone that campaigned and drove the agenda of
seeing the Mr Yar’Adua become president. He said he believes Mr.
Obasanjo feels the same sense of responsibility, but quickly added that
every Nigerian that has failed to fight against Mr. Yar’Adua’s
embarrassing government should also be held responsible for the state
of the nation.

I pointed out that
there were allegations that the PDP rigged the election anyway, and Mr
El-Rufai’s quick answer was, Yes, no doubt the election was rigged and
every political party tried to rig the election in 2007, but PDP was
more successful; though he still believes that even if the election had
been free and fair, PDP would still have won because of the wider
spread and the financial muscle of the party.

I listened as he
philosophized, quoting Plato, “those who are too smart to engage in
politics are governed by those who are dumber”. Then he dropped all
subtleties and declared that a large number of people in government in
Nigeria today are failing not just because they are dumb with no plan
to better the lot of Nigerians but also because a sizable number of
them are criminals out to milk the nation dry.

As I asked more
probing questions, he became even more combative, alleging that there
is no explanation for the kind of criminals governing Nigeria to remain
in office, and his decision to return to the country is to ensure he
makes life uncomfortable for them as well as ensure they do not get
re-elected in 2011.

How will you do
this, I asked Mr El-Rufai, and his response was detailed as he revealed
a clear strategy of education and enlightenment of young Nigerians with
a view to inspire them to take their future and that of the nation in
their hands. Mr El-Rufai believes that if young Nigerians can be
galvanised to start the revolution that will change the nation, the
impact on the nation will be massive.

He express a
conviction that politicians and those who control power and government
in Nigeria at the moment are old and a core group of them can be
described as a the group of ’66 because they have all been recycled in
one form or the other from 1966 and still have a strangle hold on how
the nation is governed. They have robbed and ruined the nation and
should no longer be allowed to hold sway on how the nation progresses
from here on.

I asked Mr.
El-Rufai a pointed question on his political ambition, and the response
was that he wanted to see a groundswell created that will lead to a
wholesale change in the quality of people elected in 2011. He intends
to hit the ground running by empowering and inspiring young Nigerians
to change the course and direction of the nation. He is working in
alliance with a group that will make this become reality and they are
in alliance with other civil groups that have teams around the country
to implement the change.

I was not satisfied
with his response and I asked him whether he will be interested in
becoming the next President of Nigeria, and that brought out the first
sign of elusive or evasive response throughout our entire conversation.
He would not say no, consistently insisting that there are better
candidates that he will be looking to support. When asked to mention
names, he expressed belief that someone of the calibre of Nuhu Ribadu,
the erstwhile chief of EFCC will be a fantastic candidate. Since Mr.
Ribadu is a close friend of his, I asked him if they have discussed it
and Mr Ribadu is interested in the position, Mr El-Rufai said Mr.
Ribadu is yet to take any such decision.

I probed him again
on why he would not say yes or no, he stated that his stance is that
Nigeria deserves the best President to turn things around. He believes
that in a nation of about 150 million people there will surely be quite
a few that are better than him, and since he is working with a team of
people that are extremely competent and experienced, he expects the
emergence of a leader that will be worth supporting in the weeks to
come.

Mr El-Rufai was
very clear on the need to have a complete change so that the nation can
have a fresh new start in 2010. He believes that the young people of
Nigeria can make that happen so that the “criminals and thieves” in
high places will be swept out of government for new men and women of
character and integrity to take the rein of power. He said the change
should impact the states and national assembly, especially the senate
and house of representatives.

He could not find
any reason why men and women in the senate and House of Representative
who are paid millions of Naira annually will continue to fail the
nation the way they do now by not delivering legislation that will move
the country forward. He expressed sadness at the number of people found
to have committed one crime or the other and yet have been allowed to
contest and win elections. He wondered why Nigerians expect anything
good to come out from criminals, thieves and fraudsters who have forged
documents and committed crimes not only in the country but also abroad.

He said we deserved
the government we have because we have failed to act and take civil
action against the people in government, but now is the time to move
against them so that we turn the country around into a nation we can be
proud of.

Before we wrapped up the conversation, I raised the issue of
allegations of corruption against him; his response was short and
sharp; that all the allegations were false and designed to malign his
person and track record in public service. He emphasized that he has
never committed any fraud while in service, never taken any bribe and
never abused or misuse his powers while in office. He did concede that
he approved a land application from his wife – then he asked a
rhetorical question, whether anyone will refuse any Nigerian their
rights when they have applied and followed due process, only because
the person is their wife? He said his wife applied like any other
Nigerian, followed due process and met all requirements, so there was
no basis to reject her application.