A 40-year-old presidential aspirant in the 2023 election, Dr Nicholas Felix, speaks on the need to change the narratives in the educational and health sectors as well as a new style of governance to lift Nigeria from its present state, in this interview with QUADRI AKANBI

What has prompted you to contest for the position of the President of Nigeria in the next general election?

In 2004, I will use the word I escaped, I thought I had escaped because of the situation going on in Nigeria. I went to primary school in Nigeria and did well, I went to secondary school like we know JSS1, JSS 2, and JSS 3, the then governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, introduced free education in public secondary schools, but as soon as he left office, I entered SS1 and a school fees regime of N300 per term was introduced. I can tell you that from SSS 1 to SSS 3, I could not pay the school fee of N300 at the beginning of the term and they sent those of us that were not able to pay out of school, I wanted to go to school.

What I did then was to always stay by the window to receive lectures and I get notes from my friends but when the term is getting to an end, they will let us back to the class, and when it is time for exams they will let me write exams but won’t give us our results. They will tell me you passed, they promoted me up to SSS 3 and the same thing repeated itself all through my SS classes. When it was time for WAEC, they said you have to pay all your school fees before writing WAEC, I still could not afford it. I had to go to another school and it was that period I was lucky to win the United States of America lottery and I left.

I went to the USA, and when I got there I did not know anybody. The man I stayed with kept pushing me to go to school. I told him that school was not on my agenda that I want to work. I told him I hadn’t paid the money I borrowed for my flight ticket to the USA and that I have family back home to take care of and that right now school was not in my raider. I told him I couldn’t raise money to pay for my fees even if I consider it. For one year the man was so adamant and one day I told him I was going to try to make him happy. Lo and behold, I went to school and they asked for my financial record, I gave them, it was not good enough not only did they pay the school fees they gave me money for books I bought my first car in the USA from the leftover money they gave me.

That was 2005 and that was the day I fell in love with that country called America and nothing will change it. That kind of thing cannot happen in Nigeria. If I had remained here my destiny may probably have been aborted but because of the extra effort which some people may not have. In the past 18 years that I have been in that nation, I have had companies and in the past four years, I have hired more than over 1000 people over the years.

At the moment, I have not less than 126 people in my company in the USA. I have been able to establish small branches in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Edo State where I have some workers too. I have four people working in the Edo State office just to try to create little employment. I never dreamt of coming back to Nigeria because I last visited in 2013 and my wife last came 10 years ago because we felt we were doing well abroad. I am also a pastor and we have some branches in the USA and recently planted a branch in Abuja. But whenever I travel and present my American passport, they will still ask me, where are you really from, I will mention Nigeria. The truth is that I discovered that we are just carriers of American passports.

Are you a politician?

In January 2018, ex-President Donald Trump insulted Africans calling us the asshole countries as backs. A lot of things changed my perceptions. That period was not funny because that guy finished us, I could not sleep. It was like how do I remove this thing called Nigeria from my blood. I made up my mind that night that I can’t run away from it enough of complaining let me join the presidential race. I went on Facebook and I posted a simple post that I’m coming to Nigeria to make Nigeria great again to run for president. Part of the phrase that I used to make Nigeria great again I wanted to mock Donald Trump that was why I use that phrase Thinking we all laugh and mock him maybe I will get over it the insults and I’ll let it go, but lo and behold I woke up over a thousand messages and it kept building and building and building. And I said enough of the complaint. I’m going to join the race. And I was told that politics is a dirty ideology. If something is dirty, you need somebody with a clean heart to clean it.

What are you bringing on board to change the leadership style?

When you look at the state of Nigeria, Our current leader’s children are abroad going to school. Some of them come to this nation to see what is applicable. They see how the system works. The system has been so built that if you take the worst leader in Africa, Nigeria, and make him a leader in America, he cannot spoil the system, no matter how corrupt they are, because there is a system. Now, if you think Nigerians are corrupt if you think we don’t obey the law. Find out from the Nigerians in the diaspora how many times apart from immigration crime and maybe yahoo crime.

How many times have you seen it on TV that a Nigerian went to rob in America or Canada? How many times have you seen those commitments, I’ve been there for 18 years. I’ve been to 16 countries. I’ve dealt with Nigerians rich, poor, I have a medical doctor who works in my company who doesn’t have documents and he is a practicing medical doctor.

He works in our company. Why he doesn’t have documents, I kept wondering why he left. The medical practice in Nigeria and now you’re in America doing this menial job below your pay grade. You get a clear example. I don’t want to raise my children in Nigeria. Nigeria is killing our destiny. And people are living. They’re coming to this country. They’re coming to this nation. The question is, we are both here on earth. They are not on another planet.

Why do you think our leaders don’t copy one thing and replicate it in this nation?

It is because they just look after their pockets. Every one of them and their kids are abroad. They go to the best school. I went to school in the USA and they teach you well. I didn’t know much about Chemistry when I was here in Nigeria, but when I got there they taught me to the extent I got many of the best in the classes. They didn’t manufacture a new brain for me. Why was this system conducive after class? If I don’t understand, people are waiting, and they will teach you until you get it. It’s free. So we learned and this mind-set of you don’t bribe anybody, so you know you are going to read your school. No lecturer is going to ask you for money. If you attempt it, you are going to prison.

So with that mind-set, you know you have to read this book. If you must pass. But the system still does not allow that. When Nigerians struggle to travel abroad, they behave. We are responsible people. Are you aware that we are the most educated black in America? They don’t play with us when we are in school. They know we excel. Nigerians are the most educated and the most successful blacks in America, but when we are in our nation, we don’t succeed.

We don’t excel, we don’t do it like we ought to do. Several things. And my main agenda why I came out and when I look at the problem we have in Nigeria. The number one issue we must fix and anybody running for office. This is not to be politically correct. But you understand the number one responsibility of any government is the protection of the citizens and property. Until Nigeria is safe, you will never see economic growth.

Under what platform are you going to contest in the 2023 presidential election?

One of the reasons it has taken all this time is because we are still consulting. We are almost there and as you know, I ran the 2019 and I was number three after Atiku Abubakar, I came to the third position and before I got to the last party I went to several parties. I know what I saw if this was America I would have written books as the best seller by now in my experience from these parties and what we have seen.

So, because of that, I want to be very careful because trust me, I didn’t leave America to come here because I have nothing to do. I didn’t leave my comfort zone, as they say, look for something for my pocket, no. So, we don’t want to just dabble into anything if you do not work, we are just wasting our resources here, and our money has been spent on this, so that’s why it’s taking us the time we are consulting every day. We discussed recently on the phone having meetings, trying to make sure we make the right choice.

So, we’ll be able to at least make an impact in this election, instead of keep hitting the nail and not making any progress, so that will be out in the next few weeks, and on the day of declaration, everybody would get to know.

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Again, I ask, what is the driving spirit behind this your presidential ambition?

It’s very simple if a fish wants to rot, it starts from the head. During the last election, my party went to a joint coalition behind my back, I was against it. Now I feel the reason I’m coming in is to make an impact. If I cannot, there’s no need to stay. I’ll be very blunt with you, they have been telling me what if they give you minister, and my PA can tell you more about it.

If I cannot make an impact, I will not take it, nobody is pursuing me where I’m coming from, so our drive is the impact, So if I’m not in a position where my impact will be felt when Nigerians will know somebody got into power. So, that’s why I am going for the position of President. As a President, if you do the right thing, all the state governors will sit up, our senators too will sit up. Security agencies too will sit up.

Why do you think you will be different from others?

Number one, there has to be a change, a youth with a lot of leadership experience will need to take over power and that is what I represent and that is what we have been clamouring for. I know some of our fathers don’t want to hear that, but I wanted to look at 1983, and I wanted to look at the 80s and 90s, where was Nigeria then? You will agree with me that Nigeria was a little bit better in the 80s. I’ve lived in a system that worked is in my blood and it can be replicated here.

How do you hope to address the security challenges confronting the nation?

Yes, I talked about the economy- that when the security is fixed we get investors. A politician will tell you he will create five million jobs every year, but that is a lie. There is no nation on earth where the government has even 30 per cent of the citizens as their employers. If you apply for a federal government job it may take you 10 years to get it because the space is filled up. Economies strive through the private sectors.