Before the Governor
mounted the Hot Seat, the President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Agunze Ikoku had
explained
the ground rule
of the question and answer session. Any member of the audience,
he said, was free to pose any question. The Governor was however at liberty
not to answer any question. But as it happened, that privilege
was not necessary as Governor Nnamani decided to answer all the questions
fired by a wide range of personalities in the
audience.
How can we get the Governors of the South-East come together and cooperate
as to ensure private sector-led development such as getting international
organizations like UNIDO to help lift up the people?
I am very glad to be here.
I feel highly honoured and humbled that these timbers and calibres; as it
were, have left their homes on such
a serene evening to
pay attention to me. It is indeed a great honour and privilege and I am very
glad that you have all left your homes to assemble here to listen to my humble
self. I am very grateful. Before going into that question, I will be highly
unfair to myself if I fail to utilize the liberty to pay tribute to Aka Ikenga,
to pay tribute to Ndi-Igbo. I have been on the lecture circuit for about three
years now, what we described as lecture circuit for critical consciousness.
The review process associated with those lectures has given me opportunity
as it were to reinvent my Igboness, to get closer to my people and more than
any other organization, Aka-Ikenga represents a central pillar to my Igboness,
because as you will understand, Aka-Ikenga is a major pillar in the trinity
of Igbo character. The trinity of the Igbo character is the inspiring spirit
that drives the tenacity, patience and struggle of the Igbo to re-establish
themselves in the firmament of the nation's history. The trinity of "Njepu",
sojourning, "Igba-mbo" endeavour and “aka-ikenga”, spirit
of optimism of the Igbo-man, crowned by "ntozu," true accomplishment
and when Ndi-Igbo accomplish, "O'na-ede-Odenigbo".
So having
said that, let me go directly to the question. Although I would have preferred
to limit myself to the affairs of my state, I will still answer
that question in the true spirit of asking whatever questions you wish to ask. When I came back to Nigeria ,I had a clear vision for Enugu State. Being aware
of the heritage associated with Enugu, in the history of Ndi-Igbo, I was also
conscious of the central role which Enugu continues to play in the affairs
of Ndi-Igbo. I also had a vision for the South East, and I believe that very
early in our administration, we tried to articulate that vision; what we described
as South East Economic Belt-Way. I Professor Anya was the chief initiator of
the conference at Enugu, I believe within the first six months of our administration,
where we did a presentation on the Eastern Economic Belt-Way Summit. We talked
about the South East Economic Beltway where a symbolic belt was connecting
all the Eastern States, with each section of that belt taking charge of an
economic sector. One end of the beltway, one state concentrating on, may be
education, healthcare; another beltway university of technology; another university
of business administration, while one anchor of the beltway will concentrate
on a specific type of business or industry. A beltway revolving round the merchant
spirit at Onitsha, the inventive spirit at Nnewi, the boisterousness of the
Aba trader.
One thing in government is to articulate a vision, the other is to face reality.
The hustles and bustles of governance do not really give much room for idealism.
It was very idealistic. I believe as the struggle of politics continued over
the four years, the vision was dropped and it was each state to its own and
that is where we are today. But as you rightly pointed out, all the international
organizations that have had cause to do business with us in Enugu State know
that we have a clear vision of where we are taking our people to and we hope
the whole South East is coming with us. Out interest is aggressive industrialization
as a poverty reduction strategy. Enugu State Government is about the only organization
in the so-called Third World that has articulated a poverty reduction strategy
paper; the only organization, at least in Nigeria. Globally, Enugu State is
the first organization to draw a direct relationship between environmental
sanitation and waste disposal as a poverty reduction strategy. If you have
been following the literature, we have our neighbourhood association where
we are using a formalized relationship between the various neighbourhoods and
the State. The relationship will be formalized in terms of number of people
and number of streets, either consanguinity, consanguineous factors or homogeneous
factors, which will be used for data collection; for micro credit scheme; for
cooperatives and for communal security surveillance, they are all part of our
poverty reduction strategy. We also have our community business organizations
anchored on junction towns at Obollor Afor, Oji River, Ozalla and Ninth Mile
Ngwo. The N40 billion Nigeria Brewery Project at 9th Mile fits into our community
business organization. So, as we go along, one would be able to further articulate
this vision.
You did ask a question about political cooperation. I believe the issue of
political cooperation boils down to the very roots of the Igbo question and
the issues of Igboness. I must say that over the years, our people have come
to exhibit some spirit of resignation, some spirit of defeatism, some spirit
of dependence, because indeed, even though our people were at the vanguard
for the independence of this country, even though we fought for the unity of
this country, even though more than any other group, we present true symbols
of unity, because indeed, in every village, in every town in this country,
if you have a vehicular breakdown, an Igbo-man is likely to repair it and provide
the spare parts; if you fall sick, you are likely to go to the patient medicine
dealer and an Igbo man will sell medicine to you and if you have to eat, an
Igbo woman, probably with her husband and children, working together, will
provide you the food you are going to eat in a local hotel. So though we are
everywhere, representing the true symbol of the unity of this country, we had
to fight a three-year war for the sake of that unity, to stay in that country.
So what I am saying is that for an Igbo man to be a successful businessman,
he may probably have a Yoruba-man or a Hausa/Fulani man pushing him along.
For an Igbo man to receive a big appointment and have his name announced on
the Network News, there is probably a Yoruba man or Hausa/Fulani facilitating
the process. So I believe there is a defeatist philosophy, some resignation,
in the air. The solution is that the men have to stand up. And the ladies too,
so that they will be counted. I refuse to associate with the optimists who
say that Ndi-Igbo must talk with one voice, who believe that subjugating the
republican spirit of the Igbo-man would in essence advance the Igbo man. The
republican spirit of the Igbo-man has never been subjugated by anybody even,
in the days of Late Z. C. Obi and the Igbo State Union.
They had to argue and make palaver, even within those State Unions. Even before
the advent of colonial masters, our people had to argue; either in the Umu
Ada and Nze-na-0zor, they had to argue. There is an innate boisterousness in
the Igbo-man, an innate curiosity, innate capability, innate desire to re-assert
himself. I believe that should not be an excuse for the failure of the advancement
of the Igbo man. I believe that the excuse lies in defeatist philosophy, in
a people subjugated to three years of the concatenations and vicissitudes of
a hard battle for survival. I believe that as democracy continues, as we continue
to re-invent our Igboness, we shall come together, not from a position of weakness
but from a position of strength, not from a position of conditions outside
the boundaries of Ndi-Igbo, but from a position of unanimity, based on a common
philosophy.
We have characters in this business who are creating problems for those in
governance. Is there no way our governors can come together and say look, we
have had enough, there should be criteria for characters who would go into
politics and speak for the Igbo. There are those who have almost put us into
a hostage in the East and make governance almost impossible. Is there nothing
the governors can do about them?
I know where you are going and you have asked for the spirit of bluntness.
In Igboland, they say that when you are climbing a tree, you should not forget
the ladder with which you used to climb because you may need it to come down.
Under a true democracy, you do not have a character that has to be excluded.
Democracy is an all comer's game. That is the truth. You cannot exclude anybody.
But if you use a ladder to climb, you had better know where it is because you
need it to come down.
Your Excellency, on arrival to Nigeria from the U.S.A., you had a vision which
probably was not shared. But I also know, Your Excellency, that you have the
capacity to lead, even without having a meeting with the people you are leading.
Take a particular cause and champion that cause and be in the forefront and
fight for that cause and others can follow. I believe you can do that. Another
issue is that since May 29th, 1999 till date, we have in the South-East of
Nigeria only one fuel depot in Enugu, the others will have to get fuel supplies
from various other places, why is it that the fuel pump price remains as high
as it is and nothing has happened or probably a lot has been happening and
you may wish to let us know? In Lagos we pay less and at home, we pay more,
why?
In the true spirit of Aka Ikenga Hot Seat, the issue of fuel prices, as you
know, is an issue that has to do with the Federal Government. They have to
really explain why we have the problems we do have. But as Governor of Enugu
State, we have addressed that issue with the immediate past NNPC Chief. There
is now an on-going NNPC mega- filling station in Enugu. They also talked about
extra depot in the South-East Region. But in the height of the current privatization
exercise they, have to wait until the exercise is completed. But I must say
that I feel highly reluctant to get into that issue, explaining the vagaries
of fuel supply and the inadequacies so involved.
I look at situations where we have a lot of our people who come all the way
to Lagos for visa and things like that. I would like to know why our Governors
in the South East could not persuade any of these Embassies to site their office
in the Zone. Secondly, there has been a kind of upsurge in your lecture series.
I am curious to know your next line of action politically?
On the first question, you know that the city of Enugu was developed as a result
of colonial masters who came to mine coal. The economy of our country, people
seem to forget - oil - is very recent. The major development in Nigeria, the
sea. and air ports, the major buildings, bridges, the high ways, were built
as a result of income from coal in the East, cocoa in the West and groundnut
in the North. I believe as the country's economy became a mono commodity economy,
interest shifted to Port Harcourt. Even the British Council that was at Enugu,
was moved down to Port Harcourt. We have done everything possible to see if
we can attract the British or the Americans to set up an office, a consulate
office, in Enugu but we have not succeeded. I believe that it is capitalist
market and they go where the business is or where their people leave. This
brings back to the reinvention of the spirit of true Igboness we have in Nnewi
and Onitsha. One wonders why the Igbo man who will set up shop at Alaba or
somewhere in Kano or in other cities, can not have a branch somewhere in Enugu
or Anambra State. If they can do that I believe we will have enough in our
economy to attract some of those foreign interests. Regarding the international
status of the Enugu Airport, I believe that there is a current programme to
expand the run way at the Airport and once it is done, it becomes international,
then we will need customs, and Immigrations and then find some Airliners that
will agree to come. Initially, when we took office, we went into negotiations
with Lufthansa but I can tell you that the effort did not work out. I stand
here as a Nigerian, I also stand here as an Igboman and whatever we can do
to contribute to the upliftment of the South-East, we can still do that while
maintaining our genuine Nigerian spirit. Regarding where we are going, you
have to solidify where you are before you know where you are going, and I can
say clearly that I look forward to the next four years active years of governance
in Enugu State: Reducing poverty, building roads, providing water, building
a permanent site for our State University and College of Medicine, providing
rural electrification, schools and enabling environment for other industries
to follow the Nigeria Brewery that came to Enugu. I believe that as we move
along, God has a way of giving people their portion and when our portion comes
to us, we will take it.
When we came here, we introduced Enugu State as having the best road net-work
in Nigeria, especially in the South East. It was an achievement of His Excellency.
My question now is, what is the formula and can you tell Nigerians and other
South East governors?
Well, first and foremost, we say, To God be the Glory, because there is no
way we can explain or rationalize where we are and how we got there. On a personal
basis, I cannot explain how I got where I am, so, we always leave it to God.
Regarding the road development, we were blessed and luckily, we got into office
with clear idea of what we wanted to do. Nobody begged me to come and be the
Governor of Enugu State, I wanted the job, I needed the job and I came back
from the United States with a clear vision of what to do for my people if I
became Governor. Once we got into office, we started right away. We came into
governance with vision and were non-pretentious about it. We had a vision of
the Enugu ring road network, a network of road connecting all the Local Government
Headquarters in the State. These are described as primary
groups of road. We also had plans for secondary groups of roads attires radiating
from these Enugu ring road network. We were lucky that with the cancellation
of the PTF programme, we met with the Strabag and reached an agreement with
them to start the ring road network. We mobilized them with N300 million upfront
and they got going. We also had an arrangement with them on modalities for
subsequent payments, and it was based on presentation of certificate for work
completed.
By the time you know it, the roads were built through contractor-financed
efforts. So, within three months, we had the Opi-Nsukka done asphalt, we followed
that up with the Enugu Urban roads, the Akwata road that had been done several
times and broke down. We did roads in Trans-Ekulu, Abakpa town, down to Campus
gate, up towards Obimo, where the Federal road started; we did the 0zalla,
Agbani Amagunze, 0zalla - Agbani, Ugbawka - Nara then the 0bollo Afor to 0gurute
with concrete drains on both sides of the road. We did Awgu-Ndiabor, then from
the Express to Awgu town through the Local Government headquarters. We also
did from Enugu/Onitsha Expressway into 0ji, heading towards Awgu, also the
0beagu, Umueze leading to the Law School and we began the bridge project a
few days ago. So, by the time you knew what was going on, we had done about five hundred
kilometers solid asphalt roads. Most of the roads are Federal Government roads
and we submitted a bill for over three billion naira to the Federal Government
and we got refunded N1.2 billion.
As I speak to you, we also have on-going road projects. They include the road
coming down from Etteh through 0gurute heading into Nsukka, to join the Opi-Nsukka
road; presently we are doing the road from Ehamufu to Ebonyi State border,
to Ikem, the road will also go through Ugwogo Nike down to Nike Lake and join
the Enugu community. We are presently doing the road from Oji heading towards
Awgu; then from Odume through Nenwe to the Express, also Ndiabo to Mpu to Okpanku.
We have just completed the road to Obuofia into Umueze. We are also starting
from Akpasha heading towards Agbogugu, Ihe and Owelli Court. Recently, government
embarked on three hundred
million naira road by-pass from the Enugu end of the Enugu/Onitsha Express-way
to the Nigeria Brewery Plant at Ameke Ngwo to decongest traffic at the 9th
Mile Corner.
This is a state that receives a monthly allocation of five hundred million
naira, our wage bill for civil servants and teachers is four hundred and eighty
three million naira. Our commitment to the State University and IMT is fifty
and thirty eight million naira each, subvention to parastatals and overhead
for running government. So it is a struggle from month to month. We have a
recurring facility for about three to four hundred million naira monthly. So,
by the time we get our five hundred million naira, we hope to get four hundred
million naira to add to it, which they will later remove. That is why we always
say, To God Be The Glory. Because there is no way you can explain it.
Just like the Law School, we had advance information that it was going to be
decentralized so we latched unto it with the help of a friend of our government.
We took risks and within three months, we completed the school and the federal
government agreed to take it over. Our government spent about eight hundred
million naira and we are claiming eight hundred million naira from the federal
government for the Law School. At the moment, we have not been refunded a kobo.
We also had a challenge from the Chief of Army Staff when he visited Enugu
and we told him that we could build a school within eight weeks if they would
take it. In eight weeks, the Airforce Comprehensive Secondary School was completed
and ready. Today, the school is into its third year of academic profile. It
has been handed over to the Airforce but we have not been refunded a penny.
We are happy that we have our own here in Enugu and that of Akwa Ibom is till
there. There is a lot going on in Enugu state and we are happy for it.
I am interested in your poverty reduction strategy; how does your government
intend to assist the youths to benefit from the programme?
As I said earlier on, Enugu state is in the forefront of poverty reduction
in Nigeria. We can correctly say that we put it on the road map. We have a
highly rewarding partnership with the DFID, United Kingdom Department for International
Development. Initially when DFID came to Nigeria, they had cooperation with
Enugu State, Ekiti, Jigawa and Benue states, but as part of Federal Government
NEEDS programme. They have now cancelled all cooperation with state governments
except Enugu State. That means that Enugu State is now the only state that
has a working arrangement with DFID. When we came into office, we were talking
about dividends of democracy, what our people will get in exchange for their
votes. We were aware of the feelings you expressed about the absence of the
middle class, and an expansion of the poor class, with a minority who are poor;
the poor getting poorer and rich getting richer. We are aware of that because
of the erosion of the dignity of our people, the business of the rich class
has been to keep in leadership are not in leadership for altruistic reasons,
but purely for their personal agenda. But it took us four years in governance
to get to fine tune the message, and the message is ‘poverty stupid’.
The restiveness in the land, the disquiet in the land, the pursuit in the land,
are all about poverty. It is all about the majority sharing small available
resources. We looked at statistics, going back to the sixties. In 1962 - 64,
the poverty data in Nigeria was the same as in Asian Tigers, Indonesia and
the Pacific Countries, the 84% of the people were above poverty live. By 1996,
it was about 65%, by the time the administration came in 1999, poverty level
was about 87% meaning that 93 million Nigerians lived below poverty live. What
that means, depending on how you define poverty, is that if it is by monetary
means, it means that 93 million Nigerians live under dollar every day. If you
define poverty by social exclusion, what it means is that the polity has either
through discrimination or marginalisation, deprivation or based on age, ethnicity,
cultural practice, excluded 93 million Nigerians. If you are to define poverty
by participatory indices that is where the stake-holders agree on who is poor
and who is not poor, it means that 93 million Nigerians agreed that they are
poor. If you define poverty through the capability approach, that is where
the system does not provide the basic minimum capability, then you know that
93 million Nigerians live under that situation.
So, what we have done in Enugu
State specifically is under long and short terms. When I talk about the Community
Business Organisation, the Junction Towns, Nigerian Brewery plant, and schools,
we are talking about jobs. When I talk about aggressive infrastructural development,
roads, water, electricity, we are talking about jobs, because you remember
that by so doing, you are decreasing rural-urban migration. You need to visit
those rural areas where they have roads and electricity, you see small mothers
and fathers shops and other artisans working, those are jobs. But as part of
government poverty reduction strategy, we have immediate goals and long term
goals. Part of our immediate goals is what we call the School Meal Plus programme.
It is an attempt to establish a synergy between health and education, that
is the human service. Enugu is about the only state that created a Ministry
for Poverty Reduction and Human Development, thereby bringing it up to cabinet
level, which is part of the millennium goal to reduce poverty by 2015. What
we are saying is that, there is a direct relationship between health and education,
because, remember, from antenatal to postnatal life, you are in the health
sector, then as the child moves to pre-kindergarten and to primary school,
the child is in the education sector. So we planned for a strong partnership
between health and education. Our School Meal Plus programme will take off
in January 2004 and DFID has agreed to fund about six local government areas
and I hope that UNICEF will also contribute.
Specifically, it is not just the school meal; that child will receive one balanced
school meal daily. Once the child enters the School Meal Programme, you now
follow the mother to provide maternal care. You can follow the child to find
out whether the children are in school, whether they are being immunized, or
receiving adequate healthcare. For the index child, you now provide annual
health evaluation which will include checking for vision, hearing, colour blindness,
attention deficit disorder and growth assessment. For that index child, you
use the School Meal Plus programme to provide immunization and other healthcare,
that is part of our poverty reduction strategy. Enugu state has the most successful
early childhood learning programme. We have a highly successful early childhood
learning programme through partnership with UNICEF and that is poverty reduction.
I have talked about our neighbourhood associations. The poverty reduction strategy
for Nigeria is supposed to kick off in June. Most of the other establishments
are not ready yet. So our own programme is starting in January.
However, we shall join the rest of the country in June next year when they
are ready. Our long-term programmes will focus on micro credit scheme and cooperatives,
access to justice, programme to provide capacity building in our criminal justice
system so as to decrease the numbers of those on awaiting trial. We also have
plans to computerize our criminal justice system and early discharge from prison,
using community service. We are working on a novel programme which started
a few weeks ago, with DFID, to work out where people can do community service
and decrease jail terms or even some of those awaiting trials for non-felonious
offences. That is about it. We also have what we call Millennium Summit, to
be hosted by the State Government next year. The summit will be held for young
graduates who made first class in various disciplines. They will apply to the
DFID and Enugu State Government who will screen them and select sixty candidates.
They will come to Enugu and spend five to seven days discussing the problems
of Nigeria, articulating a vision for leadership. They will be between the
ages of 19 and 29 years, so they are going to be articulating a vision that
will carry them when they get to 40 and 45 years of age. At the end of the
programme, DFID, with the State Government, will award free post-graduate work
to four best participants, two male and two female. We also have another programme
with DFID called Young Entrepreneurship Programme where there will be a competition
and people will send in proposals for doing business. Those who win will be
funded by DFID and the state government two each year.
In trying to answer the question raised earlier regarding why the South East
Governors found it very difficult to collaborate and co-ordinate to advance
the course of Igbo-man, I have the impression that the individual political
ambition held by some of these governors is so blinding that they refused to
subsume self interest into general interest and you know when a man subsumes
his personal interest into that of the general, he loses some personal benefits
and also runs some risks. I do not know to what extent that is correct but
I want you to clarify?
Secondly,
I know that governance centers around providing facilities. With due respect,
your Excellency, I do not see anything difficult in using
people's money to provide facilities for them; it is because of where we find
ourselves. In addition to doing these things, governance is all about leadership
I am impressed about the vision you have for your people and given your background,
where you are coming from, you know and that is why I guess your people voted
you into office. I am worried about the youths in your state and in Igbo-land.
Gangsterism seems to have been elevated to the level of an art. What have you
done in the direction of giving people leadership?
Initially,
I wanted to keep to the future rather than going back to the past. I am the
Chairman of the South East Governors conference. I can say that we
have collaborated a lot. We have had economic collaboration in the areas of
the jointly owned companies and industries, in addition to our support to Ohaneze
Ndigbo. I am not currently aware of any South East governor with political
ambitions. On the speculations in the newspaper about my future, I have decided
to keep quiet. They can go ahead with their debate. I am enjoying the debate
and that is what democracy is all about. I did not want to engage in any conscious
effort to abort that debate process. So, I am not aware of any governor in
the South East whose personal ambitions are affecting their judgment. We are
collaborating, to the best of our ability. The truth is that we are governing
boisterous and aggressive republican people; people who were making palaver
even before the advent of the colonial masters. We are going to do the best
of our ability. It is all about poverty. You see, globalisation has both negative
and positive effects. It is an exchange of ideas between peoples and countries.
It could be trade, economic or technology. We have joined the global world;
there is freedom in the land, after decades of military dictatorship. I say
it is all about poverty. What do you expect when the government is not meeting
its responsibilities, salaries are largely unpaid or paid late, emoluments
and allowances are not paid, kids going for three to four year programmes and
spend seven-to-eight years in school? When they come out, they have to stay,
wait for a year or two to do Youth Service. So there is poverty in the land.
I believe that the youthful gangersterism you mentioned is a major symptom
complex of poverty in the land. We are doing the best we can in Enugu State.
But you have to understand that Enugu state has the highest number of student
population, one of the highest. This is because, we have UNEC, ESUT, IMT, OSSISATECH
and other private schools. The Enugu State University of Science and Technology
was established so many years ago but there is no permanent site. UNEC does
not provide full accommodation to all its students, the same with IMT, so you
have our youths living in uncompleted buildings, living in boys quarters, without
order. It is a social problem. All we hope is that democracy will last. Bunmi
Oni described the situation in the land as an earthquake, and after an earthquake
there is the need to clear the rubbles before you start the building.
It is not too correct to assume that since you are spending government money,
it is easy, it is not that easy, because government money has to follow public
expenditure pattern. You have to be accountable. Spending government money
is more difficult than spending your personal money. This is because, how you
spend your personal money is your private business, but government money is
public money and if there is anything, you have to exert some research into
spending people's money.
My question is about security situation in the East. I learnt that part of
the reason why our people did not want to come home to invest is because of
lack of security. We always hear stories about killings and robberies in the
East; does it mean that armed robbers are governments in their own right or
that government does not know what to do, to cut down their activities? Isn't
there anything governors of the South East can do to encourage our people to
come home and invest and thus check the exodus to the North and to the West?
Thank you,
that is a very good question. I agree that we do have security problems in
the South East and Enugu State, but I also believe that it is not
different from what we have in other parts of Nigeria. We have places where
senior officers in government have been killed. I agree that we have a problem,
for us in Enugu State, we are working on our own problem. What we did was to
re-enforce our State Operation Fire-for-Fire, provide vehicle, and communication
equipment. We are trying to limit the use of high speed moving motorcycles
because that is what they use and we hope that in the next few weeks, we are
going to have a law clearly stating the level of the power of motor bikes that
will be used in Enugu State. I agree that there is a problem. I also believe
that it is part of the total problem of poverty. My study about the Igbo history
has
shown clearly that the sojourning (Njepu) is part of the trait of the Igbo
character. Wherever you go in this world, you will find Igbos doing business.
They build their best houses in other lands and come home once in a while for
Christmas, that is if they ever make that trip. I believe that, with the process
of reinventing our Igboness, organization, like Aka Ikenga, Ohaneze and other
Ndi-Igbo who show interest will come to realize our goal since charity they
say, begins at home. I believe that with time, it will get better. It is not
as it used to be. We will only hope that people who have businesses would try
to anchor something at home, even if it is ten to twenty per cent, it will
certainly make a lot of difference. We went from regionalism to statism and
there seems to be some regional re-awakening and I hope re-inventing our Igboness
will help in that respect
.
Your Excellency, the Nigeria Coal Corporation represents a symbol, especially
to the Easterners, and I believe that it has multiplier effects to remove the
poverty you speak, of not Just in Enugu State but across the South-East. I
am aware of several initiatives, I believe you will recall one in particular
when we visited your office on the issue. Are you willing, Your Excellency,
to become the champion of the Nigeria Coal Corporation, which is the one single
project that can turn the South-East around completely?
Thank you. I have to thank you for that question. I have acknowledged the role
you played in trying to rejuvenate the Coal Industry through the Coal Corporation.
This is only a limit to what you can do when it involves Federal Establishment.
I must also confess that because of daily rigours of governance sometimes you
lose focus, and we did lose that focus in the areas of Coal Corporation. I
believe that if we had brought in the energy we put into the Nigeria Brewery
and other projects, I believe we would have gotten somewhere. I believe the
Coal corporation project was lost in the process of governing Enugu State.
By the grace of God, we will pay more attention to the Coal Corporation. Two
days ago, we were discussing about the Coal Corporation and somebody was actually
telling us that whatever products we can get from crude oil, we can get from
the
coal. It's one area we are going to explore. And we will welcome your contributions,
again.
It is yet time of talks on the review of the Nigerian Constitution and we in
the East seem not to be catching on it. Second, I must also be blunt with you:
I want to know where we are going, that was why I came here today. I don't
want to be deceived again. But I can see we are talking to the whole federation,
maybe we will have another deal. Tell us where we are going, we don't have
time, we are in a hurry so that if we are going the right direction, I'm telling
you I will volunteer my service?
I have to thank you for your question, comment and your bluntness. I believe
you are a Great Lion. I must say that I share the great sentiments you expressed.
If you are talking about the Constitution of Nigeria, it is rather coincidental
that we have had easy constitutions during the military. I have refrained from
joining the debate because, having looked at the situation, I know it's virtually
impossible to review the Constitution of the land. It is almost an impossibility
under a democracy. To put a word or remove a word, it's almost impossible because
once you put it on the table, those who want more states will come in, those
who want more local governments will also come and if you do not create more
States, it won't go and those who want more local governments, those who want
a lingua franca, and even those who want the country's name changed, will come
up and I know it's virtually impossible changing a word in that constitution.
That is why I have refrained from joining the debate. It is almost impossible,
even with the perception that PDP has the 2/3 majority. Some people think that
that will make it easy but Constitutional change is not something you force
down the throat of people. It is not something you do on a majority decision.
It is something that involves consensus; you have to carry everybody along
for it to work so I doubt whether we can have any effective constitutional
change before 2007. Hope we can direct that energy for fashioning means of
abiding by the constitution and using it effectively, rather than dissipating
energy on a debate trying to change it.
Regarding the other issue you brought up, I believe that Ndi-Igbo have to reassert
themselves in the polity. I believe that Ndigbo have to re-engineer themselves
into the engine-room of governance. I believe that Ndigbo have to regain some
social and political confidence. I believe that Ndigbo have to be within the
corridors and beltway of power. I believe that the beggarly and subservient
attitude has to end someday and I believe that the time will come very soon.
I am so fascinated about your poverty alleviation programme in the State
and I congratulate you. You have identified that most of our problems stemmed
from poverty so we have to go back to the issue. I am concerned about the young
men who are on the streets of Lagos hawking. Apart from the beggars, 99% of
those on the street are from the South Eastern States. I do not know if you
have any initiative to address this problem. Would you like to consider what
is obtainable in South Korea where they established small scale manufacturing
villages that could produce components of various products in groups? I think
that would help to assist the youths keep them busy and stem the rural urban
migration.
Thank you very much. When
we talk about our poverty reduction strategy, part of the programme is continuous
assessment and injecting new
ideas. This fits
into our proposed community business organization where we hope to establish
cluster industries in those junction towns. I have taken note of your idea;
it is part of the UNIDO programme so we are going to work on it. The DFID working
with the Enugu State Government is also working on the school meal; male enrolment
in schools and also part of gender empowerment, in the fate of the girl child,
the discrimination of the girl child, in education and in other areas. So our
poverty reduction programme takes cognizance of that. But more importantly,
you go back to the root of the problem and you find out that this is part of
our problem as Igbos and the issue of our Igboness, what Pini Jason called “artisan
leadership”, what we have described at various fora as Teflon leadership;
I believe what Dr. Onuoha from University of Lagos referred to is part of the
problems of glorification of human waste, people without content who, by accident
of history, found themselves economically empowered and they become the toast
of the society; what we described as leadership without antecedence or background,
political jolly-men, political jobbers; commissioned agents, traders, contractors,
middlemen; people who, due to the abysmal ignorance in the society, have somehow
hit fortune; whichever way they hit fortune, nobody cares. They now become
pseudo leaders of society, opinion leaders and moulders, role models. So what
motivation does that eleven year old have, to go through all the rigors of
six years in Secondary School and start fighting over passing his West African
School Exams or NECO and then go through JAMB? Thereafter, he has to go through
a university somewhere for five years and with all the strike action, seven
to eight years; when he knows that he has seen a drop-out hitting the highest
echelon of leadership in the country? Jolly men, people who are where they
are by mere social coincidence, whose positions are purely incidental, it otherwise
could not have happened, that is under the norms, under normal circumstances,
there is no way they could be where they are. But they are there and that is
Nigeria for you. They become the movers and shakers, policy makers, who decide
where to move the country. So what is the motivation? I still believe that
we have made a good start in this country and what we want is for this democracy
to last. You are talking about a young nation which is about forty-three years
old. To me, it is still very young because the decades of military dictatorship
were wasted years. It was a period when the nation was not only standing still
but retrogressing. So we have to give time for people to realize that school
pays and that education pays. When that happens, with economic advancement
in the South East, I believe they will come back home.
I see this gathering as an avenue to bring the dividends of democracy nearer
to the people; and all we have been saying border on Enugu State. If the head
is sick, it affects the entire system and Enugu State is part of the system.
Sir, is there no way to introduce this kind of gathering to other Governors
of other States as a way to move the nation forward?
Thank you, the nation is moving forward. I believe that President Olusegun
Obasanjo means well for this country. I believe the pariah status of Nigeria,
to some extent, is no longer in existence. Please forgive me if I sound pedestrian,
but I do believe that even though things are hard, at least within Enugu State
and in some other areas, there seem to be a lot of new cars, there was human
flight from the civil service and from the teaching service. I believe that
wages have been increased, about three hundred percent, and there is greater
attraction to do civil service jobs, and at least, some of the lawyers are
going back to work in the Ministry, so do other professionals. I believe the
Airports are now full and busy compared to before, even with all the problems
in the land. I believe with private sector development, even when you have
strikes, education is on-going. I believe that things are moving on in Nigeria.
I have no doubt that things are getting better. It may be fashionable to bash
the government but deep down, you and I believe things are better. For me I
live in a better society than I found when I came back in 1996.
You were one of the very first governors to host the Southern Governors meeting.
Why have you stopped that meeting?
No, we did not stop that meeting. We went through elections and I believe that
people are still recuperating, we have not gotten back together, there are
tribunals and things like that. We did not stop the meeting.
By your training and academic background, I can see that you are well exposed.
What efforts have you made at sensitizing your colleagues, our South East Governors,
towards mobilizing our rich sons and daughters in establishing quality schools
in the East as obtained in developed countries?
I believe the process is on-going in the South East to establish a high quality
private education, both at primary and secondary school levels. I believe that
there are two or three groups coming from Lagos. All I can say is that Enugu
State Government is willing to provide an enabling environment for such project.
But I can say that in the next two years, a lot will happen in that area. There
is a lot of eagerness by South Easterners not to cross the Niger any more in
search of quality education for their children and wards.
What do you intend to do about this Federal Government-imposed monetisation
policy?
Thank you. There is no imposition of monetisation policy by the Federal Government
on anybody, in terms of time or defined processes. For us in Enugu State, we
are maintaining the status quo. We cannot afford the cash involvement needed,
giving them money to purchase cars. It is much easier for our government to
share vehicles to our House of Assembly members and our Local Government people,
than giving them money that will not be enough to purchase those cars. You
have to be practical. If you tell the members of the House that you are going
to give them one million as part of their monetization policy when it cannot
buy cars, you are going to have problems for the rest of four years, so you
have to be practical; we are just trying to be practical in Enugu.
You belong to the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Every once
in a while, you people return to PDP meetings. Somehow, all the South East
Governors are in the party but we do know that all the prime Federal establishments
in the country, none of them is headed by somebody from the South East. They
removed somebody from the NNPC, they appointed somebody from somewhere else;
they removed somebody from the Port Authority, they appointed somebody from
somewhere else. They even removed one from PPMC that was an Igbo, they appointed
someone else and a week later, you people returned to PDP meeting where you
speak grammar. At what time do you stop and tell them that something is missing
in your zone?
I believe the answer I gave to Barrister Igbo Agu's question is the answer.
You have to be the engine room. That is my answer.
Your Excellency Sir, I preside over international centre for commerce. We
built the ticket complex in the sub-region of Africa. I heard somebody ask
why didn't we take the project to the East. And the answer is simple. The
environment is not friendly. A lot of factors are responsible. Twice I went
with the Chinese, twice we ran into the bush at Umumba Ndiuno in Enugu State.
The projects were aborted. We need to get together and reduce academic exercise
and come to the people. The business community accounts for 70%, if not more,
of the livelihood of most of us who live in the South East. But our Governors
are insensitive to our plight. Therefore, I am allying with those who are
calling for South East Governors' cooperation where some of these things
on paper can be on ground. Your Excellency, we call for more consultation.
It is high time Governors of the South East to find a way of inviting the
big time importers and the middle scale importers of South East extraction
who are mostly residing in Lagos, 80% of importers in Nigeria are mostly
Igbos and 80% of them operate from Lagos South-West while about 20 percent
or 25 percent operate from South-East. The Governors should find a way to
invite them, bring them together to discuss how to attract their business
partners to invest?
Thank you very much for you question and contributions. We will consider your
contributions and see how it will work. It is good idea, so thank you. On the
issue of security, Enugu State is not different in terms of cases of armed
robbery. However, like I said before, we are beefing up our security arrangements
to reduce incidence of crime in the State.
Having said that, I wish to state that Umumba Ndi-Uno where you said you and
your Chinese partners were chased away is not far from the Ama Brewery plant.
It is only 5 minutes drive from Ama where people from Holland came and invested
a whopping N40 billion. Think about it. Thank you.
I want to tell you sir, that considering what you stated about our plight,
our inability to attract foreign investors, don't you think that by the time
you and your colleagues in Igboland start integrating your policies through
cultural projection like the movies, you will be able to communicate to these
people out there?
Thank you,
I am very glad that we have an opportunity to discuss this area. Before the
end of this dialogue, as you know, most of these movies are produced
in Enugu; 80% of them. When we got into office, we had a programme to build
the Enugu Film Village. We started working at the sight of Ikenga Hotel,
the former Catering Rest House. We got a group from Lagos here who came and
looked at the Enugu Film Village. What we planned to do was to provide a
film village, with movie production facilities, with props, with amusement
parks, with accommodation facilities, hotel facilities and now rent these
facilities to movie-makers. This village can also make its movies and distribute.
I can say that, that programme was also lost in a short time. In our second
term of office, we are going to revisit that issue. I made a visit to Lagos
a few weeks ago to launch the première of a film. That visit was solely
made to that effect. I came here for that movie première just for
sensitization for that purpose; Enugu State government is willing and able
to provide you the enabling environment if you decide to come to Enugu to
shoot your movies. We are certainly interested in looking at that sector
of our economy. What- ever we can do to help you, we are ready to work in
partnership to set up a movie village in Enugu State. We have all the facilities,
we have the human resources, we have the scenery. I believe that Enugu is
strategically positioned in this country. The 9th Mile is the most strategic
town in Sub-Sahara Africa. If you are going from the North to about 10 -
17 States, whether you like it or not, if you are going by road, you must
pass through 9th mile. So it is a strategic junction.
I would like to know if you are following the development at Ohaneze and
also, I would like to know your views on its restructuring?
Please may I convey my big respect and felicitation to Ugochukwu 0koroafor,
a Great Lion and many other Great Lions and Lionesses whom I am seeing here
for the first time tonight. I have seen John Chukwu who was my roommate in
the University and this is the first time after many years, possibly over 20
years, and so many others, I have seen Umeh, even Agunze Ikoku's wife, so many
I have seen here, so many Great Lions and Lionesses. You have my deepest respect
and I feel highly honoured to share the same heritage that you do share.
Regarding the issue of Ohaneze, my interest in Ohaneze is not necessarily whether
Ohaneze gets it right or wrong. Let them just get it over with. Are you following
me? Ohaneze needs to get on with it. They don't have to get it right. Let them
just get off with it. The reform of Ohaneze has been going on for well over
two decades, so the Ohaneze just need to get moving. Whatever constitution
they say they want, let them use that constitution. If they are holding the
election, they may be in the state here and there but the Ohaneze needs to
move as soon as possible. That is my attitude. Thank you. And we are going
to need a lot of help and interests from Ndigbo in Lagos and other areas who
come back at weekend for Ohaneze's meetings. And that is about the only contribution
to the polity when they run down for every other weekend Ohaneze's meetings
and other associated activities, with all respect, only to come down from time
to time. It has to be a continuous and persistent process. The dialogue and
interactions have to be continuous. They have to be persistent. It also has
to be the involvement of the professional class in the polity. The professional
class has to get involved in governance, rather than staging from the outside,
complaining and criticizing. You can get involved in the midst of the actual
process of governance. We need professionals all through the levels, councillors
to governors, all the way up, rather than staying from outside and criticize.
You can join the process and effect the changes you want effected within the
system.
Closing
Remark by the Governor::
I must say, more than anything else, I enjoyed the conviviality, I enjoyed
the passion. The passion you have for our people is palpable and highly exemplary.
I hope we get to do this again and I must keep saying, thank you, for I know
the quality of Ndigbo who are here. For leaving all you could have done today
to come here and spend two hours or more with me, I thank you. I hope that
the Good Lord will continue to guide you. That your various businesses will
proper, give you good wealth and we all shall continue to give the verdict
to our people, as we continue to say, To God Be The Glory.