Q. Your Excellency, we are gradually gliding to the end of the first four years of our democratic experience. What would you say your experience has been like as the governor of Enugu State?
A. I will say it has been a very rewarding experience. Rewarding in the sense that we have seen our dreams transformed into reality. We came into governance with a clear purpose. Clear purpose on infrastructural development, because we believe in an merging Third World democracy, that what would reinforce the positivity of democracy is the difference democracy makes in the lives of our people. That is what we call dividends of democracy, what they get as their returns on their investment in democracy. Well, it has been three years since the dream of the Enugu Ring Road network was transformed into over 400 kilometers of asphalt roads, a dream that saw the emergence of the Enugu campus of the Nigerian Law School and Airforce School. It has been an experience that saw the fulfillment of our commitment to electrify 120 communities, saw 24 cottage hospitals, saw 45 major water projects duly completed and handed over, other projects of drilling boreholes. 500 KVA transformers, the dream that saw the transformation of Enugu's economic base, with the greatest investment attracted to this democracy, in Nigeria being the N40 billion Nigerian Breweries Plc plant in Enugu. There are other plants going on here, we saw the housing development, we saw to agricultural improvement. And the transformation that saw Enugu roads restored to its pride of place and history, as the head and capital of the Eastern Region. So the fulfillment has been seeing the transformation of our dreams into reality. Being able within three and half years to leave a footprint on the sands of time and history.
Q. Sincerely, would you say you have delivered on your promises?
A. Certainly. Honestly, we have.
Q. What were the most difficult tasks you have faced in the governance of the state?
A. Being able to apply scarce resources to many demanding projects, being able to balance it.
Q. From the outside, Enugu is seen as a political battleground. What do you think is responsible for this impression?
A. False perception. It is all in the media. It is all Abuja-based politics. It is not home-based.
Q. Why is it that all the political godfathers of Enugu State like Nwobodo, Nwodo and some ex-military governors are all against your administration?
A. I don't believe that prebendalism in the current situation is important. That is not the issue. It is the mandate of the people that is important. The godfathers will come and go but the people will remain. We invested in the people rather than the godfathers.
Q. But the relationship, how has it impacted on the acts of governance?
A. Noise. Noise. Noise.
Q. Perhaps, Enugu State is the only state where the activities of the first lady are not visible. Why?
A. It may not be visible to you but it is visible to me and the others.
Q. Have you enjoyed your tenure so far?
A. I don't look at it as an issue of enjoyment. I look at it as an issue of duty. There is a great deal of difference, between duty, responsibility and enjoyment - hence enjoyment for us is secondary, we are here to do a job.
Q. Sir, the rate of crime in Enugu has been accelerating upward. Now why is it so and why did you not, like some other states in the East have done, invite the so-called Bakassi Boys?
A. I believe that the Nigerian police command given the right resources and logistics can meet up with these constitutional responsibilities which is to protect lives and property, which we are doing in Enugu State. And compared to other states of the nation, to say that Enugu's crime rate is high is only in the papers. Enugu is quiet. Currently, crime and other related activities have been at the lowest since we took office. Since we have restricted the activities of he commercial motorcyclists from 7. am to 7 pm.
Q. Most of your critics, none have really said that you have not delivered, but they allege that you also use that as an opportunity to rip-off the people. Like for example, you build a campus, like Augustine Nnamani Law School Campus, when you are handing it over to the Federal Government, you inflate unnecessarily so that you make some profit not even for Enugu State government, but private profit.
A. Thank you. It is just sad that the law enforcement authorities are not prosecuting people for false statements. This law school was built by Enugu State government with a total commitment of about N700 million. I believe that by the time of hand over, the Federal Government, the Nigerian Law School and Enugu State Government got together to verify the actual amount spent on it. I don't think that has been completely done and the Federal government has not refunded the state even a kobo. It is easy to find out. You can contact the Federal Ministry of Works, or the Federal Ministry of Justice or the Federal Ministry of Finance to see whether any such money has been paid to Enugu State Government. We have not been refunded a kobo. But we don't address such issues.
Q. After building the rural electrification project do you find it difficult making NEPA accept responsibilities for its maintenance?
A. There are certain monies that they have to pay (the villagers) for their maintenance.
Q. What is your administration doing for the economic empowerment of women?
A. Very good question. We were the first government east of the Niger that appointed a woman as Head of Service. We may rightly have one of the highest numbers of female secretaries in this country. We have women councilors and a chairman, local government transition committee. We are going to have new councilors, and we believe some of them will end up in the House of Assembly. In the areas of private empowerment I believe the society is not going to suffer. It is our women who know how to fetch water; it is our women who agonize over the kids who die from diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and malaria. So, I believe we should empower our women. I believe it is our women who bear the brunt of poverty in the country.
Q. What will the focus of your 2003 budget considering the fact that you will have just five months to stay?
A. Infrastructure. Remember we have a programme. The Enugu Ring Road Project, a network of roads connecting all the local government areas, we have the programme to electrify all our communities, programme to provide hospitals and water projects statistically within a certain area. We have a programme for our school system. We divided our state into various neighbourhood school districts, we are going to build school district centres, realizing that you cannot put computers, libraries, science labs in all schools. We are building these district centres where you can all these things for schools to share. So there is a lot to do. My interest is in infrastructure. That is all.
Q. A lot of incumbent governors have been staging rallies declaring their intention to run for a second term. We have not heard from you; are you not interested in the second term?
A. We have been running, we have been running from the beginning. We have never stopped running. So, we can's stop and declare. It's what we have been doing all along. We believe that the second tenure is an affirmation, is a confirmation. It is a vote of confidence. So it is, indeed, expected and guaranteed by the constitution if the mandate is renewed. So you start running from the first day. You don't stop and declare. But I also associate with my colleagues out there who have declared because what they are doing is to confirm it publicly to their people. So that, in a way, is okay. But we have chosen to continue running and not stopping.
Q. What can you say is the saddest moment in government and why?
A. None that I can remember.
Q. What of the happiest moment?
A. I have had many happy moments, many, many happy moments. Being in a position to change the lives of people. Seeing the people of the villages go to pilgrimage and coming back. Women talking about their flights, that I made it possible. People dance by the roads when my vehicle is moving, seeing people who have suffered politically get compensated. The law school, for instance, which I named after my late uncle, Justice Nnamani. Being in a position to see my dreams transformed, these are my happiest moments.
Q. We have seen some of the roads. Yes, they are good well-built roads but what of the maintenance?
A. Yes! I see what you mean. You see, we are in a hurry. And we are still in a hurry. That is expected of us as young men. So we are in a hurry. When we started doing this road, we were advised. First of all we used Strabag Construction Company. We were the first regional government to use an international company to build asphalt roads in this country. I want you to record that. So we are in a hurry. The company had advised to do the earthwork, then leave the earthwork to sit there for months before coming to do the asphalting but we said no that we wanted the work done. So I think that explains the cases of structural breakdown of few parts of the roads.
Q. What is your administration doing to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state?
A. Thank you very much. As you know the menace of HIV/AIDS is real. The menace of malaria is also real. But in many Third World society, it is poverty, ignorance and diseases. To those who are below adult age, the emphasis should be abstinence. But of course, we talk about condoms. We talk about enlightenment and, of course, early diagnosis and management. This is my own area of training, especially women and children. But I must say that malaria is doing a lot of damage to our country.
Q. The world is now on the information super-highway and nobody wants to be left behind. What are your plans for Enugu State?
A. We are certainly interested. We are on that highway. We have an IT unit here. We are trying to get computerized. We also have moved up, in terms of involvement with international organizations like the World Bank. We also have other organizations helping us in terms of capacity building, so we are certainly there.
Q. We also went to Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH) and
all the rest. When will ESUTH move to its permanent site?
A. I don't know. My heart bleeds for the medical students who have completed their third year and have no hospital to go to for their clinical services. That is the irony.
I don't want to launch into personal attacks, but I am sure when you look at it, somebody would have claimed to have built that University. But certainly, there is no university, if you have a university on borrowed campuses. There is no university essentially, so someone has to build it.
Q. What do you want to be remembered for?
A. I believe it is already there. I believe that we will be remembered for building
infrastructures in the state.
Q. A lot of politicians and governors from the state have climbed to prominence through Enugu Rangers Football Club. I don't see you emphasizing on sports.
A. Enugu Rangers has been number one and number two, and for two and half years.
Q. But you don't make political capital out of it?
A. It is not necessary. Besides, Enugu Rangers does not belong only to Enugu. It belongs, virtually, to the East. They have fans all over.