Looking at the national level, I believe the election will be successful. There may be pockets of violence due to intolerance - ethnic or religious intolerance. However, it will be successful because all contending parties want it to succeed. All politicians are selfish in a way; that selfishness will drive the process successfully because they know if you stall the process, there will be in trouble. So in the end, because of the primary selfish interest of the politician, he will like the system to succeed, because he believes in fighting another day. That is my perception. Eventually, the contending forces will say rather than lose everything, let us try and get to 2007 because you must realize that when the Second Republic failed, there were people who were rejoicing. There were people who lost out in Enugu state (former Anambra Stat), they were rejoicing. Some were abroad; they came back. And what happened? They ended up with records of jail terms from 300 to 400 years. Right? It cut across - people from the Nigeria Peoples Party, NPP, people from National Party of Nigeria, NPN, people from Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, even people from the Peoples' Redemption Party, PRP. They all went in for it. Even Great Nigerian People's Party, GNPP. People thought it was going to be an anti-NPN government, but it turned out that it affected everybody. So, if the system fails, we are all going in for it. So, I believe the selfish interest of the politician will make him live to fight another day. But I also believe that it will be highly competitive. Very, very competitive as other political parties are gaining some vibrancy unlike in the first election. You can't just dismiss them with a wave of hand.

Q. You sound so dismissive of opposition in the state; does it mean you do no lose sleep over the activities of Senator Jim Nwobodo and his opposing group?
A. I lose sleep. But, you know what I lose sleep over? I lose sleep over how to pay salaries. I lose sleep over the regional market located on the Enugu-Onitsha expressway, which our government is building, but has suffered setback due to insufficient funding. I lose sleep over the Airforce School that we built and handed over the Airforce that just took in their second intakes, and we are trying to build one or more classroom blocks for them there.

I lose sleep over the school districts at Agbani, Awgu and Nsukka that have almost been abandoned because of money to pay contractors. I lose sleep, I agonize over the medical students of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) Teaching Hospital at Nsukka who are ready to go into clinical years, but they can't go because the Teaching Hospital is not ready.

I lose sleep over the fact that we started Odume-Nenwe road, the road where the chairman of my party in the state and the Speaker of the sate House of Assembly ply. I lose sleep over not continuing the Awgu-Ndeabor road, facing it down to Okpanku. I lose sleep because up till now we have not done any substantial roadwork in Udi, and we are supposed to do the Ameke-Ngwo, Egede and Afa amongst others.

I lose sleep over the security situation in the state. Will there be one more armed robbery attack, and somebody dies, the opposition rejoices. They make merry! They all come back home from all parts of Nigeria; they make noise, rejoicing that one more person has died. You know in the tradition of Ndigbo, it is almost a capital offence that if somebody dies, you rejoice the death. If you accuse somebody falsely of murder, you are banished. It is only in Enugu State because of the politics that people make unguarded and false accusations when deaths occur. So, these are issues I am very conscious of.

I am conscious of the security of the citizenry. I am very conscious of armed robbery attacks. Those things concern me. I am very conscious of some level of quietness in the state higher institutions - the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT and ESUT, the State University. I am highly conscious of having a good relationship with labour. These are things that worry me. I do not lose sleep over election. I challenge you to go round Enugu State, talk to the people and see what we have done. Then, you know why I don't lose sleep over election because you can count the opposition. You can sit down and count the opposition, and you see it is not worth losing sleep over.

Q. What about the opposition from Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka's Adoration Ministry in the state?
A. I don't see Mbaka as political opposition. I see him as a young New Hope evangelist in an advancing Third World democracy, where poverty is the norm; where people have lost their dignity after decades of military dictatorship; where fathers agonize over school fees and salaray payment; where they agonize over basic things like healthcare and food on the table; where people do not see any future for themselves. So, they go to God. And you look around over the past few years, you observe an emergence of large number of religious groups - Pentecostal and faith-based churches. People are looking for hope! So, this is a product of that system. And because of democracy, Mbaka has to express his views from the level of vibrancy, from the level of energy that may not be in tune with the way reverend fathers should. But we respect that. We will always respect that.

Q. Enugu seems to be a large Catholic state and with the seeming opposition from the church, do you entertain fears as regards your electoral chances in the next political dispensation?
A. First of all, it is not true to say that this is a largely Catholic state. It is a very general statement, highly unscientific. We have a big Catholic population, no doubt. But we also have a big Anglican population. We have a Methodist population, the Pentecostal, the Presbyterian as well as the New Hope evangelists. Still, our government has a larger support base from the Catholic Church in the state. My Deputy Governor, a lot of my commissioners, multitude of my party people, they are all Catholics. I don't think they will go and start voting for another party other than ours.

You know, in democracy, there are stakes. It is not only me that am contesting election. If I go, a lot of people go. That is what people forget. Members of our team are keyed on me. I am not the issue. We have about 320 ward chairmen who feel threatened. Each has a 15-member executive who feel threatened that if I leave now, a new person may come and start changing them, fiddling with the party structure as they have been fighting with me over one year now. We have 15-member local government executives in the 17 Local Government Areas. We have state executives, special advisers, special assistants. We have members of Boards and their chairmen. We have workers who are at least having their salaries paid regularly. We have teachers. Their concern will be: are the next people going to be better? We have those who have seen over 400 kilometers of asphalt roads. You can check it. We have done well over 400 kilometers of asphalt roads, and most projects are still on going.

So, those who haven't gotten would know that we are not going to build where we had built before. So they are sitting down, saying "Maybe, it will be our turn soon". We have over 45 water projects, over 120 towns electrified; we have a Law School; we have an Airforce School. Those are the factors that will come to play in terms of the expression of the mandate. That is why despite all the opposition had done, you must understand that our political system in Enugu State, compared to other states in Nigeria, is unbeatable.

Members of the cabinet have been killed in this country during this democratic dispensation. Party people have been killed, even legislators. The list is endless! I tell you that what happened in Enugu State is not one tenth of what has happened in other states. No single politician has been killed in Enugu State. I challenge them to show one single politician who has been killed or slapped in Enugu State. Absolutely none! Not one, with all the talk about killing in this state. We have had stampedes during in this administration in this country. We had stampedes in other states; at least two states where more people died. I can mention some states in this country where people are being killed, on a regular basis. But, nobody says anything.

We have an opposition that have a lot of money. The impeachment move initiated by them must have cost almost N300 million. Yet, nothing happened. We knew it was a joke from the beginning. We knew we were not under an impeachment threat. We had no choice than to be drawn into it - the fireworks in the press amongst other things - and nothing happened. We are still here.

You had 16 legislators staying in five star hotels in Abuja, chauffer driven, being brought into Enugu State on board two chartered aircraft, two or three times a week. Nigeria kept quiet. For months, they were trying to impeach the most successful Governor in this country. I stand to be challenged. No state government has done more than what we have done in our regime. No state government has built more asphalt roads than Enugu State in this country. None. We built a Law School, handed it over to the Federal Government. And, when you talk about democracy, no government, state or federal has attracted more foreign investments than Enugu State. We have N40 billion Nigeria Breweries. Talk to NBL people, they will tell you how it came about. They went to other places before they settled for Enugu. N40 billion!

Look at all the foreign agencies DFID, World Bank amongst numerous others. Look at all their assessments on project applications by states. Enugu comes number one! Our community council project is being used as a model, but we have a rich opposition with a lot of money to spend. But, the reason we have had to keep quiet is that you have to keep your eyes on the prize. If you don't keep your eyes on the prize, you lose focus, and they draw you out. They draw you out, and you lose focus. I tell you that the opposition cannot win up to five percent of votes in this state. It is impossible! Because what we have done for the people cannot be quantified. They cannot replace it.

Q. The Nwobodo led opposition said it would organize its congress in the state, and forward the result to Abuja as protest. What is your reaction?
A. That is the beauty of democracy. I am not a party official. I am a government official. I belong to the PDP. PDP has rules and regulations for the conduct of its congress and primaries. So, the party will take care of that.

Q. Enugu State like any other state is heterogeneous. What have been the major obstacles in the governance of the state?
A. Well, money. Our major problem has been financial. It is a miracle when you consider what we have done so far with our meager resources because we receive on the average about N500 million monthly. Our wage bill alone is well over N450 million for civil servants and teachers. You are talking about subventions to the parastatals, to tertiary institutions in the state. So, it is a big struggle whether you pay teachers or pay civil servants or pay for projects executed. Our main problem is financial. And, a lot of people forget that Enugu is not the Enugu that they used to know. Enugu has changed. We are not talking about the Civil Service City of Enugu. It is not. The state has expanded and the population has exploded. The suburbs have opened all over. With the crises in Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Lagos, Shagamu, a lot of people came back, and they are all here, and name it, every single Igboman - be it a retired general, retired federal permanent secretary - they are all here. They stay quiet, but they are all in Enugu. The state has tremendously expanded. So, our problem has been how to apply the little resources we have for the optimal benefits of our people.

Q. It is obvious that the crisis in Enugu State is a fallout of the strained relationship between you and Senator Jim Nwobodo. Do you think there can ever be reconciliation between two of you or will the rivalry be determined by the 2003 polls?
A. It is unfortunate that people have tried to personalize these issues. I came back to Nigeria just like any other young man trying to serve his country. As of 1996 I started coming home regularly, way back before Jim Nwobodo started his latest political activity. I passed through UNCP, unto other parties I had to deal with, up till General Abacha died.

So, I was fulfilling my social and societal obligations. Just like Senator Nwobodo was playing his own politics, I was playing mine. I have no personal relationship with him other than politics. We had opportunities of working together politically, and we had political differences somewhere along the line even though we belong to the same party, but on the other side of the divide. But we can still express those differences under an atmosphere of peace. That is why we extend our hands of fellowship to our brothers, Senator Jim Nwobodo, Okwesilieze Nwodo, to all of them, saying: look, we belong to the same party. We disagree politically, but come back to Enugu, let us express those political differences under a peaceful atmosphere. We said to the legislators, come back from Abuja, come and do your job. It is in our interest to guarantee your security. Come back, let us express those differences, and then we can go through the primaries. We move on. As the Governor of the state, I am extending my hands of fellowship to them. Even though we disagree, let us express our disagreement under a peaceful atmosphere.

Q. Are there some policies and programmes your government has not been able to realize? What have been the constraints?
A. Of course, there are some, and the constraints, as already remarked, have been finance.

Q. What actually is the cause of the general poor situation in the country, which has, in turn, affected the running of government?
A. Well, I think the financial situation was really as a result of bloated workforce. The operating cost of running government is more than 100 percent. The cost you need to keep government afloat is more than 100 percent of what you have. That is the problem.

Q. Any remedy?
A. Yes, I think there is going to be a lot of infusion of capital into the private sector. As the private sector improves, it will reflect on governments. Government will generate money internally. Government workers will move to private sector.

Q. Some prominent Nigerians resident in the state such as Engineer Victor Nwankwo and Prof. Chimere Ikoku were recently murdered by alleged assassins. How do you react to these killings?
A. First of all, I must say that the killing of those prominent citizens saddens our state. I convey our sympathies to the families of the deceased. But you should recall the press conference and various releases by the commissioner of police - where he said that at least six people have been arrested and they did confess that they were involved in the activities that led to the killing of Engineer Victor Nwankwo. On the killing of Prof. Chimere Ikoku, clearly, first hand information documented that the killers entered the house through an open kitchen door. They accosted the wife and asked for money, and finally they accosted Ikoku and asked for money. Thereafter, they shot him. So these cases appear to be armed robbery attacks.

However, whatever may be the origin of these cases, you ask the Nigerian Police. You seem to forget that the police command is not under the command of the Governor of Enugu State. This is a federal police. All we do is to help with some allowances, communication gadgets and logistics. We help them do a good job. They are certainly not under our command.

Apart from the opposition, when you compare what is going on in Enugu to other states, you know Enugu State is very peaceful. Very, very peaceful. You see in the past three weeks, we have not had any armed robbery incident. That was after we restricted the use of commercial motorcycle, from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm. The only attack that happened during the day was where an Okada rider, on high performance motorcycle, snatched somebody's bag; but then the robber was shot. Few days ago, we had over 5,000 motorcyclists who came to Government House on a solidarity visit. They said they supported the action, and that a lot of them were law-abiding citizens. They said only a few ones are giving them bad image.

Q. Some people have suggested one tenure for elected public office holders. Do you subscribe to this? Secondly, both the president and some governors have declared their intention to run in the 2003 election. When are you declaring your intention to run?
A. Regarding the first question, we have a constitution. That constitution has inherent mechanisms for amendment. If the constitution is effectively amended, we will be subject to that constitution. If you provide another constitution and we swear to it by the grace of God on May 29, then we spend five more yeas in office, which will give us nine years, and subsequently we will be having single term. You cannot really change the rules in the middle of the game.

Regarding the second question about when we are declaring to run, I will say we have been running. We have been running from our first day in office. If you want me to tell you the truth, we have been running right from the first day we were sworn in. But you must remember that Nigerians are making a big issue out of this second term.

Second term is an affirmation. If the incumbent deserves it, it is an affirmation. It's a way of saying you have done a good job, and you are doing a good job, you should continue. The constitution guarantees this. That is why it is second term, and that is why you are continuing.

I think the greatest democracy is America. Their incumbents always almost get re-nominated by their parties. This is because you run for the party. You are not an independent candidate. The party confirms that the governor has done a good job. If the party says no, we are not going to re-nominate the governor, he has not done a good job, then the party has failed. Therefore the other party should be given a chance to excel. So we have been running.

When you built 400 kilometres of road, inherently we are expecting to build another 400 or 500 to complete it. The Enugu ring-road network needs to be completed. But I must say I do not have to be the one to do it. What we have done in Enugu State is that we have done the foundation. Members of my team know what to do even if I am not around. So I believe we have been running. My team has been running.

Q. In some states you see posters bearing the names of governors as having constructed a given project. But we find it interesting that in Enugu State, you attribute your achievements to God. What is the reason behind this?
A. It's because we don't know how we came about it. That's the truth. If you know how much money we are supposed to have paid on roads - we have done over 400 kilometers of asphalt road. The federal government owns a lot of these roads. The federal government has refunded us about N400 million. We have spent another N200 million on roads. Ask yourself how did we do it?

We have built a Law School, which cost almost N700 million. How did we do it? You talk about the health and water projects. You talk about the fact that we could still hold together after all these temptations - after all these trials on the newspapers, even how we made it in the first place. So a lot of glory has to go to God because we cannot explain the source of our power and the source of our effectiveness, how we are able to even pay salaries.

Look at the House of Assembly crisis, something that was totally unnecessary. Do you know that the opposition almost spent N300 million on that crisis? I am sure the government must have spent money too. Government had advertorials; organized press conferences, had to pay some of the debts owed, like Revenue Mobilization Allocation, even though we did not plan it. It amounted to 5 or 5.6 million naira. We had to pay lawyers. Government devoted a lot of time to this crisis. So the whole financial wastage is certainly more than the N300 in a system where people barely survive. The opposition certainly must have spent more than N300 million - chartering two jets to fly legislators into Enugu three times a week. This is a lot of money.

Look at the Adoration incident where 14 worshippers died during a stampede. The whole crisis started all over. This is something that had happened elsewhere. There were two commissions of inquiry, press releases, conferences, visits, all sorts of wastage. Look at Nwabueze Ugwu accusing us of killing his brother.

Look at the motorcyclists (Okada riders) who burnt the residence of their chairman, and tried burning a police station, and were arrested by the police. And so we have gone through all these crises, and we believe that for us to have succeeded, we cannot claim credit. This is why I don't even take personal credit. I talk about our team.

Q. All work and no play, as the saying goes, makes Jack a dull boy. How do you unwind?
A. Ah, that is a very good question. I actually appreciate it. Sometimes in the cacophony of contending voices and huge dance steps of political actors, you forget that political actors do have a life. So I appreciate your question. I go to the gym. I walk out. I play squash. I engage in a lot of intellectual exercise. I read books on history, government and politics.