My 2011 presidential ambition was borne out of frustration, says Dele Momodu

The CEO of Ovation Media Group Dele Momodu has revealed that his ambition to become Nigeria president in the 2011 general election was borne of frustration for the country.

“I contested in that (2011 presidential) election because of frustration,” Momodu told Funmi Iyanda the 10th episode of Public Eye Live, a show that airs 8:00 pm every Friday on Instagram Live.

“I was tired of lamenting like Jeremiah, we like lamenting in Nigeria about the leaders being bad, so why don’t you bring yourself into it to see if you can make the difference, unfortunately, maybe I was too naïve and I thought Nigeria was ready, and I would say I was influenced also by the emergence of Barack Obama.”

Momodu, a journalist who enjoyed a large following in the country, rallied many Nigerian youths to unseat former President Goodluck Jonathan through a campaign slogan “our time has come”.

In September 2010, Momodu submitted his expression of interest form to contest for the 2011 presidential polls on the platform of the Labour Party (LP).

He later resigned from LP in December 2010 and joined the National Conscience Party (NCP) where he contested and lost the election.

Momodu, according to the election result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), polled 26,376 votes which ranked him 11th in the election log.

Since the election, Momodu said he returned to his business to prevent him to “join the growing list of serial contesters who contest and lose at every election.”

While the Ovation Magazine publisher still contributes to discuss on national issues through his weekly column ‘The Pendulum’, he hinted that he is still available to serve the country.

“The day my country needs me, they would find me,” Momodu said.

On his career as a journalist, Momodu attributed his success to integrity.

“The keyword in journalism is integrity. Once people can trust you with their life, you will succeed as a journalist, but if people have doubts about you, if they think you’re out to leak their secret, then no one would touch you,” Momodu said.