Enugu State Governor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, has said that he deserves some commendation that people who just joined politics are now ministers, senators and Senate president. According to him, the political structure he set up in Enugu State has made many politicians. On his relationship with Senate President Ken Nnamani, Governor Nnamani said the government and people of the state welcome the opportunity that they have a Senate president. He said, however, that the issue is that Senator Nnamani assumed the office of Senate President because the state government worked for him to replace Chief Jim Nwobodo at the Senate. “You are talking about Jim Nwobodo’s seat that we replaced with somebody. Is that not the issue?” The governor spoke on many other things. Story by Onuorah Ukeh.

Venture into politics
A lot of my colleagues out there I think are also doing well. What we are doing in Enugu State, we always say to God Be the Glory. We have said to God be the glory many times, but people don’t take it serious anymore. Sometimes, they think we say to God Be the Glory because we feel like saying it. We say to God be the glory even on a personal level I cannot rationalize my presence here. I cannot explain it.

I’m a maternal – fetus medical specialist, I went to medical school, I read Obstetrics and Gynecology, I became a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology, I went to do a super specialization in Fetus medicine, I acquired skills by 32, you know what American dream means if you have a Posh in a garage, you have a million dollar, house, a wife and children.

That’s American dream for you. Here, I am sitting down here for the past six years as the governor of Enugu State. How do you explain it? How do you rationalize it? This is my first job in Nigeria, this is my first house where I live, the staff car is my first car, so how do you explain it? How do you organize it, how do you arrange it? So only God can have the glory for what is going on in the state.

We have a commitment of over 30 billion naira worth of projects of which we have paid up for some of it, and that is in spite of the fact that we receive as low as about 800 million, sometimes one billion, sometimes 1.2 billion monthly in terms of allocation.

I can tell you today that we spend about 500 million every month for the past few months, but very soon I believe we are going to be paying about 800 million every month by the grace of God I believe till March next year or at least till October. This is because we are trying to finish some of these projects by October, projects like the teaching hospital, the tunnel, Nza link road, Ozalla road, the judiciary will be finished by October, so we decided to increase the payment, we are going to do that till October and see whether we can push it all the way to March. We are using the remaining 400 million to pay civil servants salaries, which is about 20 million, teachers salaries which is about the same, subvention to the state university and polytechnics, then impress account and overhead for the various ministries and parastatals and the course of running government, so we just have a recurring overdraft.

We are in pursuit of excellence, we have an acute awareness of history, awareness of man’s mission on earth, awareness of our people’s plight. What we have is cacophony of perennial laxity in the polity. Men who for years have tried to distract people.

The issue is about feutal mortality, maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, malaria. It is about basic education, gender empowerment developmental governance, and environmental protection, which is the debate I would like to participate in. The elite will talk about 25 per cent, 70 per cent, 50 per cent that is not the debate. You are going to talk about true federalism, fiscal federalism, rights to freedom, rights to information. You talk about dignity from the people when we are talking. What I am talking about basically is that the elite those who have spent their lives in the corridors of power controlling the wills of our people and beating it according to their whims and caprices, they will continue to beat it. But the most important thing is how the debate can affect the man on the street whether you give them 100 per cent or you give them 50 per cent, how does it relate with sons and daughters of the tradition?

Relationship with Senate President
Why is it that human memory is too short? Have you forgotten that I came back to this country in 1996 and we got into office m 1999, we waged a war here with many political opponents for four years? After four years, a new political class emerged. Are you not aware of it? Suddenly people are talking about Senate President. Who is Senate President? You are talking about Jim Nwobodo's seat that we replaced with somebody.

Is that not the issue? What is new, if we did not fight to remove Jim Nwobodo, would he be a Senator or Senate President? Why is man's memory so short, what is new, what has changed in the political landscape? You have one senator among 109, selected to chair a college of his colleagues. Is that not what it is? A senator selected to chair a college, a meeting of his colleagues, is that not what Nigerians call Senate President? We say we have a constitutional democracy, presidential democracy. How many times do you hear about the Senate President in America, why is our own different? Our own is different because they have elitist agenda. They are the people who want to control the agenda and our daily lives, create jobs where there are no jobs. They make news where there is no news. Nothing has changed in Enugu State. The political equation in Enugu State has not changed because we are talking about a new political structure that has emerged, a new political class from the ward executive all the way to the top.

Can’t people give us some credit, that people who join politics the other day, are ministers, senators and etc. We have Senate President. Can you be a Senate President without being a Senator? He has not even been the Senate President two or three months, his is something of yesterday. First because people are trying to create a total new exhibition, the Senate President has been there, how many, four, five, how many? So what is new? So, it does not arise.

The government and people of Enugu State welcome the opportunity that we have the Senate President. When he was elected, we shut down the state for almost two days, shut down the government for almost two days to receive him, so what has happened because we live in a society where people have short memory. The issue is not about Senate President, they are diverting issue. The issue is that we are maintaining peace and tranquility in Enugu State, completing our projects and going through a good transition to the next government, that's the agenda. The Senate President will come and go just as the others have come and gone and will also come and go, but the bottomline is Enugu State, that's the agenda.

Refund of money spent on federal projects
In Enugu State we are not really trying to differentiate because it will have little or no impact on the people whether it is Federal Government or state government. I’m sure you know we built about 500 km Asphalt roads some of which are Federal roads. We have received refund of about 1.4 billion or thereabout from the Federal Government for roads built. That is good enough for us. The law school, we are' claiming about 800 million, it has not been refunded, that's not the issue, but the mere fact is that the law school is in Enugu State and we are happy. Whenever they refund us fine. We are happy we have an Airforce school in Enugu state, that's good enough for us. Whenever they come to refund us no problem, we have no problem with it.

Successor
This is a fundamental issue that I have had cause to address several times. The Igbo will say that "Nna na-ekpe ekpere ka nwa karia ya". Translated in English to mean that a father prays that his son will be greater than him. So, we have no reason whatsoever to entertain fear that government that will succeed us will not be better than us. We have that level of confidence; we know that the people that will come after us will probably be more educated, younger, hard working, may be more relaxed. We pray that tomorrow will be greater than today, so we have no doubt whatsoever that we will have enough people in Enugu state who will succeed us and whom we pray will do more.

They may have more resources, they may have more access to communication, to computerization and globalization would have had more impact on debt burden reduction drive. This is an indication that democracy has thrived and succeeding. So, we have no doubt whatsoever, that they are going to face a brighter future. So we like our people to look at the future with greater optimism. Future of Nigeria, future of Enugu State is very bright where people see dusk we see a brighter new dawn. Where they see other fault we see rainbow in the sky.

Democracy in Nigeria
I believe democracy has taught us that we owe a lot of this to the efforts of our president, who if there is any translation he can be described as an African president; the president! that has got the country from a near failed status to a country that is playing major role – not just in West African sub-region, but also in Africa and in the World over. You should recall that it has become a tradition to talk about debt reduction, since it was started in Nigeria, you must remember that the president brought the issue of debt reduction to elementary level, to the level where all of us can talk about and understand it. You can now believe that the so-called western nations are now coming back to face the reality of debts reduction. I believe the President has been able to bring to a level of sensitization, so that the western powers can now address that global problem. It has become clear that debt has to reduce for you to enjoy your wealth.

It has become a major foreign policy. So, for our president going from country to country, from continent to continent, I believe to arrest the issue and that is why we have achieved such magnitude of debt reduction. You cannot give $18b reduction to a country that cannot pay, where democracy is not been practiced, to a country where reform is not working, where anti-corruption is not working, to a country that is not stable, it does not happen. So, the Nigeria president cannot move here and go to Togo, to Guinea Republic, Benin to France or other European nations and United States to say that things are not well in Nigeria. So, I believe that democracy has come to be. I believe that the reform process is working, anti-corruption is working. I believe that the foreign policy has reached a crescendo. So, I believe democracy has come to stay. I also believe that it is the responsibility of the press and other social critics to have direct debate, to increase their enlightenment and sensitization, so that democracy can stay further.

Role after 2007
It is a very good question and very relevant question. What role do you see me playing after 2007? We are here today to address the issue of what role am I playing now. Am building a university on a 600 hecters of virgin land, there would be nothing comparable to it in Nigeria. The only thing that can closely be compared to it may be university of Ife.

We are talking about a state government implementing a total master plan of university site. It has never happened in the history of this country - complete master plan, hostels, faculty buildings, residential buildings, administrative headquarters, roads, water, electricity, even power supply. It will be ready for completion by the grace of God, by March next year. We are talking about a state government building a teaching hospital, medical school; full master plan. We are talking about a state government building the first dual road carriage tunnel; underground tunnel way in Nigeria. That is the role I am playing today. When 2007 comes God will have his glory and we see what happens.