I will not say that the idea has not passed through my mind one way or the other in the past, but I quickly stuck to it for the same reason that I told you that, actually, it is not a good job. I strongly believe that if Nigeria were to be under an average president, it would be unlikely that I would be doing this thing. It is not as if in the past I had not thought about it. But after the 2011 elections, I started getting calls from very serious Nigerians, politicians who said that they had been thinking about this thing, that they had thought about this country and they thought that I should join the race. Of course, it was sudden. I was amused initially. I was wondering. I am talking of very serious politicians — I won’t call names now but they are very serious people – starting from the North here and eventually around the country, especially from the Lagos end. I knew that I would have to make up my mind quickly before I was pushed into what I have not thought about or, since I don’t want to be president, I really wanted to be sure that this is how I wanted to live my life. Not that we don’t know what is wrong but to really have a plan on how to get us to the First World.

Why do you say Nigerians should trust you with their votes to become the No. 1 Citizen?

I think the scores of people that have been following me recently, even those that have not met me, know me and know I have a plan. You can’t pretend to be what you are not for 10 – 20 years. So I think those that know me already know the kind of change that I believe in. And for those that don’t know me, I think it is my duty to show them who this person is and to convince them. And they have the right to ask all questions. That is why, in this election, starting from the primaries, we are going to insist on a series of debates among ourselves so that Nigerians will see. They should know what they want to pay for, and that is what democracy should be about. I know that there will be many debates; I think also that Nigerians will need to do things a little bit differently. They won’t just vote for you because you appeared from nowhere and you had no shoes growing up; and so what? They want to understand more.

If you have not started something from the scratch and succeeded in spite of the rough and tumble of doing anything in this country, that is, you have not started. I am not talking about being lucky to be given one appointment here and there and maybe you are part of those who kill this country. No. And you come and use that as an experience. No. I am talking of what Nigeria is now as we speak. The serious thing that I intend people to know is that we have to start from ground zero.

So nobody has the experience of what we are going to be doing or to come and tell me, I have been this and that. Then the thing we are even going to do first, if we are talking like that, is how to defend yourself if you are not part of those that brought us to this particular state. So I think that we have come to the crossroads, and if you have your ear to the ground you will know that, even for Nigerians, some things have changed. So that is it. It is my duty to sell my candidature to the public. It is not yet time for campaign; I’m not campaigning; I have been consulting very seriously and we are talking today.

In some of your interviews you talked about running a government of big ideas. What are these big ideas that you want to sell to Nigerians so that Nigerians can give you their support?

That is our trade mark: we want to be assessed by that. We want to be held accountable by that. I have been saying it: if you have been watching, for instance, the kind of adverts that Jonathan is placing for his campaign, which is not even true – like showing some roads… Are you not supposed to build roads as a government? That should be the normal work of the bureaucracy of every country. I want to be that president that will come and, for instance, do big projects and implement big ideas like the one I just discussed — moving Nigeria forward as a First World nation in five years.

Look at Nigeria. We are already the biggest economy in Africa. So why is our port the sixth or eighth largest seaport in Africa? Why shouldn’t we have by far the biggest port in Africa? When you look at the location of Nigeria in Africa, it is in the middle. Why is Nigeria not the hub of aviation in Africa? Why shouldn’t it be that everybody that is coming to Africa to do whatever it is that they do, why wouldn’t Nigeria be the point of interest to start? We are in the centre, we are supposed to be strong enough to be able to present ourselves as that hub that it is. I am just giving you examples. The last time I checked, they said we have 17 million housing deficit. And then somebody will come and tell you that I built 3,000 houses.

We should be building houses in millions. And why I am talking this way is, when you build one million housing units across the nation, you create 35 million new jobs — from engineers or architects to bricklayers or block makers, brick sellers, labourers and those that are selling tiles, furniture makers. Just look at the plumbers, those that are selling food by the sides, electricians. Housing is always a major economic activity. We cannot do it this way. So, that is the kind of big ideas that I am talking about. As we speak now, we have about 48 million Nigerians out of employment and Okonjo-Iweala told us that every year 1.5 million new graduates are being added.

That is for those that finished school. Nobody should explain to you why we have all these when you look at the whole country. Some people want to deceive themselves that it is only in the North-east that we have problems; in fact the same place in Abuja has had serious casualties of bombings. See what happened in Jos. For God’s sake, go to Zamfara State — you hear of gunmen. There is nowhere you go to — in fact, go to South-east: I can’t forget about two or three months ago that some people went and attacked the government house. They called themselves the Biafrans and went to announce that they wanted to send a message because they knew and they had agreed that they could do it and get away with it. Is that how to run a country? A relation of the President was kidnapped. So it is not the North-east alone; the whole country is in disorder, unemployment.

And the truth is that we don’t have 48 million new jobs to give people; the jobs are not available. So what we intend to do, for instance, is to create the enabling environment; not just creating it but guiding it to create like 5 million new businesses; technically, 5 million small businesses. Typically, a small business employs between one and five people. Somebody is leaving school and is able to start something, or even somebody that is able to package what he is doing well. I mean an organised setting that you call a business. It is not just to say I have done Sure-P. No, it has to be something very serious. You guide them — and that is how to create 5 million jobs. So, by the time you include this and the housing units I told you about, and then massive investment in infrastructure, most of these kidnappings will cease. Because they won’t have recruits.

Then you can now deal with those that are sponsoring them. You cannot sit down as a leader or president and be saying that some people are sponsoring killings; they kill themselves because they want to bring my government down. That is a good place to start: then get them and let them face the full weight of the law. Don’t blame your incompetence. That is by the way. I am talking about what I want to do.

With all the plans and ideas that you have given now…(cuts in)

Sorry, this is just a little: I think I have given you about two or three. This is just a few, so when we start the campaign you will see the real me, by the grace of God. I have noticed that all those funny adverts that we see on TV now, they are already using our terms and shamelessly saying some things, but I don’t mind. We have been there for five years; so I don’t know why they think that Nigerians are that foolish.

There is the question of funding for some these ideas that you have mentioned. Because the government will always argue that there is no money to do all these things, that it cannot be actualised. How do you intend to get funds beyond the paltry money we are getting from the sale of crude oil?