Anambra has been stagnant for too long, says Ekwunife
The Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) Mrs. Lilian Uche Ekwunife, at an interactive session with journalists in Awka said that being a woman should not be a handicap in politics. Ekwunife, who is also a member of the House of Representatives, (Anaocha, Dunukofia and Njikoka), points out that Anambra State is in dire need of a special kind of leader. CHUKS COLLINS was there.
ARE you worried about the suit filed by Mr. Andy Uba claiming that no election should be held in Anambra, as he is a governor-in-waiting?
Am not worried about any suit. I am not part of the legal tussle and therefore not in a position to discuss it.
How can politicians be made to keep their campaign promises?
The time has come when the electorate should look inwards and know exactly what they want. We have to critically assess the antecedents of anyone who is presenting himself for elective office. Many people are in the governorship race, but the people should take a closer look at each person's lifestyle and managerial ability. If anyone had a responsible position in the past and he didn't use it for the benefit of the people, it is not possible that the person will use a bigger position for the benefit of the people now. I believe that the time has come, when people should think of who can give them the kind of change they need to move forward. The electorates hold the aces; they decide who rules them. They know the quality they want in their leaders.
What have you done for the people of your constituency to deserve their votes for a higher office?
The people are in a better position to assess my contributions. I have attracted sizeable Federal Government presence to my constituency. I have moved two motions on the floor of the House of Representatives in favour of the state. They both helped to improve the quality of life of Anambra citizens. I moved the motion on the alarming cases of armed robbery in the state, thereby calling on the Federal Government to intervene. It was after that motion that the police headquarters sent in a team of mobile policemen, which has improved the security in the 177 communities and 326 electoral wards of the state's 21 councils of the state. Before this time, Anambra was under intense siege but that motion and the police response changed things. I also moved a motion on the Nanka-Ekwulobia erosion menace, which gingered the Federal Government into doing something significant there. The Federal Government is now giving the problem a priority attention. I also sponsored a bill on the National Projects Monitoring Agency, because I felt that no matter how much that was appropriated, if the funds were not well utilised, it will end up in private purses. So if you have the Project Monitoring Agency, which would be an independent office to monitor and assess all projects of the Federal Government in ensuring that the tax-payers' funds are utilised well, it would help us get value for our resources. I have also attracted other constituency projects to my area like boreholes, rural roads, electricity transformers, solar-powered streetlights, etc. Considering these and others that I cannot list, I think I can give myself an pass mark.
Comment on insinuations that external forces have been influencing political crises in the state.
It is a great pity really if that is true. Though, I don't know because nobody has ever used me against the state. However, why should I allow myself to be used against my own people?
What has the PPA got to offer the people?
In the PPA, we believe that, for everything we want to do, we must start with God. That is why in every part of Igbo land, at any meeting or gathering we start and end with prayers. The PPA is a party ordained and strongly believes in God. The slogan of the PPA is "Prosperity to the Nation." When you talk about prosperity that is where everything comes in. You cannot have prosperity without security of lives and property. You cannot have prosperity without creation of wealth, infrastructural development, and human capital development. And you cannot have prosperity without industrial development. The PPA is a party that believes in transparency and collective progress. Our primary election was adjudged the freest in recent times, not just in the state but nation-wide. When you talk about democracy, it starts with internal democracy of each political party. Any party that does not entrench transparency, accountability and internal democracy in their party cannot do well in any general election. So, democracy starts within political parties. From what happened at the primaries, the PPA has shown to the people of Anambra that they are transparent.
A PPA government is going to de-emphasise money politics in the state, so that good hands can attain positions in the state, because we need a functional council system for the state to move forward. The council is the level of government closest to the electorate, and therefore, we need to get them on place and working. I will ensure that dividends of democracy will get down to the people. Then, for the education sector, we do not even have a dependable well-fenced and equipped school in any of the three senatorial zones. It is clear that if you put computers and laboratories in a school that is not well fenced and protected, armed robbers will come and carry everything away the next day. We need secured environment for our children. Our children are currently been sent to Abuja, Lagos and even Ghana for their primary and secondary education. This creates an ugly situation where they find it difficult to speak their native language, as such cannot even get their bearings right as they simply know they are from Anambra. They don't know the name of their towns or villages. The PPA administration will restore the glory of education in the state so that people can be proud to send their children to the schools, as was the case in the past. We also have professional teachers in mind, people who can impact knowledge. And we also need to train and retrain our teachers so as to be abreast with modern technology. We will give serious attention to our hospitals; we don't have functional hospitals here. Most of our doctors here concentrate on their private hospitals because the public hospitals are not well equipped. The hospitals also need to be fenced and provided with adequate security because you cannot have equipments in an environment where there is no security. In addition, we have to step-up provision of other infrastructure like link roads and massive investment into agriculture. The northern part of the state; Ayamelum, Oyi Anambra East, West and Ogbaru are all exceptionally fertile. We need to encourage them, especially with the mechanised system of farming, particularly when majority are women. It will make things easier for them. Then we go to Nnewi, Ekwulobia, Nkpor, Onitsha, etc. where you have markets, we need to provide them with infrastructure that will assist their operations. Whatever helps them helps the revenue base of the state. We need to also establish centralised mechanic workshops. At least it will help us have their data base. We need to create a data-base to help us know our student and where they are; how many they are; how many our graduates are and their discipline.
There are so many other things we are going to do but we need to prioritise them, according to the practical needs of the people. There is this issue of women empowerment. Some are asking how can a woman become the governor of Anambra, but it is the same wisdom, God gave men that he gave to women. And it is on record that women all over the world have always performed whenever they are in positions of authority. In the Republic of Benin, you have the Amazons who were reputed great warriors; in Cross River State, you have the late Mrs. Magaret Ekpo, an associate of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The Calabar Airport is named after her. You have the late mother of the late afro-beat maestro Fela. She was the first woman in Nigeria to drive a car. In Philippines, you have Mrs. Corazon Aquino, in Liberia we Mrs. Johnson, then there is Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, three-time Prime Minister of Britain. The United States of America has Mrs. Hilary Clinton, a former First Lady, former Senator, former frontline presidential aspirant, now as Secretary of State, so was Condoleezza Rice and Madeline Albright. Remember Mrs. Indri Gandhi, who was the longest Prime Minister of India. She established a political dynasty, which she inherited from her father Jalwaal Nehru. In Israel, Queen Esther intervened and saved her people; same was the works of Deborah. So when situations become critical, women come in to make the difference, I must promote the issue of credibility where there is no Godfather or mother.
Why has Anambra not fared well in terms of infrastructural development in the last 12 years?
I think it is both a problem of leadership and followership. When the people know what they want, whether they see light or not, they will follow their hearts. If the electorates start following their hearts, then they consider what they actually need. Therefore, they will stop making mistakes, but when they continue to value the persons based on the size of their pockets, or how much they were given, then they would continue to mess things up. And in leadership, it is collective. After all, the governor is just the arrowhead. It does not mean he knows it all. Governance is all about the people. If you run a closed-door administration, especially in a state like Anambra where you have all manner of people, you can never do well. Part of the problem here is that once key persons that need to be recognised are not recognised, then, you have started on a wrong footing. Everyone has some value to add to governance. Anambra needs a mother now to balance the situation on ground, because it is only the mother that can balance the good child and the bad child and get them back on to work together.
In the past eight years in Anambra, nothing has worked, including lack of peace and development. One of the major retardants of the development of the state is because we don't have peace and unity. The government does not carry people along. The government should be the unifying factor and it cannot be achieved without the people. Then there is the issue of security. The security we have presently is temporal in the sense that the influx of mobile policemen is there now. But, they cannot be there forever. The only permanent solution we have in trying to solve our security problem is to provide jobs for our youths. There are families with four graduates who have been searching for work for more than four to five years. Frustration would force them into kidnapping, from there, the tempo rises and they even form cults. They now create a cabal. How then can they be stopped? Without providing jobs for youths, the issue of security will continue to worry us.
All over the world, there are Anambra indigenes who own manufacturing outfits but because there is no deliberate policy of the government to create enabling operational environment in the state and so they have not been able to bring their industries here. We need to open up industrial areas, create infrastructure to attract these entrepreneurs to set up in the state. By the time we have about 10 of such industries around, about 80 per cent of our youths would have been employed. We also think of setting up and equipping skill acquisition centers in all the council areas. We also need to establish links for the community police to encourage the communities to safeguard people living in their areas. Traditional rulers and president generals of town unions would be held responsible for any crime committed within their vicinity - because they need to know all the people living around their domains. We also give targets to the various Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) of every council. Everyone needs to sit up; give account of everything that happens around their environment. In a situation where you do not give set targets to the people with responsibilities, things would continue to go wrong.
A new government should be a target-driven administration. I will run a target-driven government where youth monarchs, police, civil defence, where all security agencies are involved. They will all have set targets that must be achieved. As governor, it will be my duty to safeguard the lives and property of every citizen.
What components of reforms would you suggest in the electoral reforms?
I commend Mr. President on his stand in championing the rule of law, because rule of law is the basis of everything we do. Our problem is not constitution, but the people. Even if you reform all our electoral laws and the people are not ready to adjust to the laws, then they would continue to go against it. We need attitudinal change. That is the only way we can make progress. I urge Mr. President to also make the environment conducive for those who go against the law to be reprimanded and disciplined. So, the major issue now is the re-orientation of our people for us to be able to adopt the electoral reforms.
Anambra has not had council elections since 1998...
It is unfortunate that the state government wants to ensure they organise it in a way that it is only their people that would sweep the stakes. That is why it has become almost impossible. I know the huddles I crossed to get to the Federal House of Representatives. If I become governor, I will encourage people to run for the council offices of their choice. I will encourage everyone in every party to put in their best to win. I will not have a hand in who becomes what, because, administrations in the state have been looking for a way to corner the council election and make their cowries to become chairmen and councilors, that is why council election have not been held. We have people from poor homes, people without godfathers but with great potentials. Such people need to be given opportunities.
QUOTE
The security we have presently is temporal in the sense that the influx of mobile policemen is there now. But, they cannot be there forever. The only permanent solution we have in trying to solve our security problem is to provide jobs for our youths. There are families with four graduates who have been searching for work for more than four to five years.
