Guardian

AS the National Assembly continues with the process of amending the 1999 Constitution, Chief Ndukwe Ikoh, an Abia State leader of thought and promoter of Mezie Obodo, a socio-political group in the Southeast, expects the legislators to use the opportunity to place Nigeria on the path of progress by addressing the lopsided nature of the country.

In an interview with The Guardian in Lagos, Ikoh said hoped the National Assembly would be bold enough to “do the right thing now, no matter how they arrive at it.”

He said: “I expect a true constitution that will operate in its letter and spirit, devoid of ambiguity; a constitution that will address the imbalance among the regions, especially the creation of additional states for all the regions to have equal number of states.

“The Southeast obviously should have additional state(s), no matter how it is done. We should at the end of the exercise have a constitution that has the imprint from the people and not made by certain class of the society.

“If this is not done, Nigerians would still be clamouring for a people constitution.”

He is, however, optimistic that the Constitution Review Committee would do a good job and come up with a type of political system that would suit the multiplicity of ethnic groups in the country.

This, he said, would encompass recognising the six geo-political zonal structure without the current 36 states operating as the federating units.

He stated: “We had three and later four regions before and that was the best era for Nigeria,” he added.

Ikoh also wants the constitution to give full autonomy to the local governments, noting the governors are running the councils as their private estates.

“For me, local government does not exist. No opposition party wins a council election, just because a governor conducts the election and puts the people he wants in order to control the councils’ funds,” he bemoaned.

On the clamour by the Southeast to produce the next president in 2015, Ikoh reckoned that it is long over due, saying: “We have people to occupy the position. We have the talent and we are enterprising enough to steer the ship of the nation.

“In 2015 when Igbo man will be in Aso Rock, that is when Nigeria will experience growth, innovation, direction and purposeful governance.”

Ikoh hinged the leadership problems of Nigeria on the inability of the electorate to look beyond the surface in choosing who will direct their affairs.

“Nigerians are not concerned in choosing their leaders; they are carried away by the size, education and appearance in determining a good leader. That is far from real ingredient of leadership. A leader must be somebody who is tested with well-known background. Leadership must be progressive from one level to another. Yes, leaders are born, because the qualities of leadership are like any other qualities inherent in people. They are people who are very careful to listen and articulate issues.

“After God, leaders are the ones everybody looks up to when it comes to giving directions. A leader should not have enemies among the people he leads. Followers play important roles in choice of leadership. In democracy, all sort of people come up with money to bribe their ways, mortgage future your conscience and lead you wrongly and by the time you complain things had gone bad. People should be educated on how to make choices of leadership,” he said.

On the performance of Abia State Governor Theodore Orji, Ikoh said: “I have stopped assessing the governor or comparing him with other governors based on people’s opinions, because there are lots of confusions when you hear the complaints of Abia people against the governor, bordering on non-performance and the response and position of the governor against their complaints and grumbling.

“In the same vein, the governor had at different fora in Lagos explained or debunked those allegations and I was among the audience.

“Be that as it may, I do not want to draw any comparison between what he his doing and what is happening in other states. He has told us his limitations and the reasons for his poor performance, including his resolve not to borrow money to execute projects.

“However, from my perspective, I look at governance as a complete business. If you want to borrow, borrow and justify it, in terms of provisions of quality governance.  It doesn’t make sense to me if you don’t want to borrow to impact on the lives of people.

“If you have to borrow to make the people see the dividends of democracy, then borrow reasonably to improve the people’s lot and when the times comes, the people will pay the debt.

“You are not borrowing for yourself; you are borrowing for the entire state and not personal debt. It becomes an offence when you borrow to put into your pocket.

“I have refrained from joining issues with the governor on his performance for the time being.”

He, however, criticised the delay in the payment of civil servants salaries, adding: “I have relations in Abia State civil service who are owed three or four months salary arrears.

“It boils down to the focus and style of governance of the governor. I don’t see reasons, after subjecting workers to clocking system, at the end of the month you don’t pay them salaries. It is inhuman and biblically wrong, as a labourer is worthy of his wages at the end of the month,” he noted.

Ukoh said Mezie Obodo is not a political group or  his brain child, but a social interest group trying to complement government efforts in the environment and constituted of people from different classes and political affiliations, who are gainfully employed.

He stressed: “Our interest is that the next governor of Abia and some other states in Southeast will come from Mezie Obodo structure. By then, from a social interest group, we could assume political position and from any political party, push a candidate that will bring the dream and aspirations of Abia and other states in the zone to bear on governance.”