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2007: It’s Ukwa’s turn to produce Abia
governor- Emeka Stanley
Chief Emeka Stanley, former deputy speaker, Abia State House
of Assembly is the Commissioner for Works in the state. In this interview with
JAYNE OSONDU, he speaks on the ripples over who succeeds Gov. Orji Uzor
Kalu, the presidential ambition of the governor and a wide range of other
issues. Excerpts:
WHEN you look at
the roads particularly in Aba, nothing seems to suggest that something had been
done on some of them. How soon are we getting some of them repaired?
First and foremost, I want you to come out
of that impression. When you say the roads are all bad it means that there is no
good roads in Aba. This is false and I want to contest that. There are a lot of
motorable roads in Aba. But I quite agree that some of the roads are bad.
You look at the roads from that negative
point of view because the entrance roads to Aba are Federal Government roads.
Because that impression is created as you are entering you are made to carry
that mindset into Aba township.
In Aba township most of the roads are
tarred. Go through Aba East and through St. Michael’s road and a lot of them
within Aba, they are all tarred, asphalted. They are all within Aba.
We are now finishing the bridge connecting
Ngwa road to Ogbor Hill. I want you to take a closer look at roads in Aba, they
are tarred. The ones that are not tarred are in very very bad condition and
belong to the Federal Government. Coming through Osisoma into Aba and also
exiting from the Aba end of Port Harcourt-Alaoji federal road, they are very
very bad.
We are doing our best and we will continue
to do our best. His Excellency has graciously also awarded some contracts to
maintain Obohia and Ohanku roads. Work will commence before Christmas as the
rains have just subsided.
You pressmen should be objective in your
criticism. When you see some bad roads please also see some good roads and tell
us objectively the situation. We want to make Aba look like Umuahia. I am sure
His Excellency will achieve that if only the Federal Government will do their
own bit which they have also agreed to award. I know they have awarded the Port
Harcourt road end of Aba and work has commenced but at a very slow speed. We are
in contact with them to expedite action for people to use that road before
Christmas.
What about the Aba-Owerri road? That road
is in a very bad shape, you know one cannot talk about Abia State without
talking about Aba, even though Umuahia is the capital?
I have said it before. May be because you
call it Aba-Owerri road, but I call it the road coming from Osisoma junction. I
have said it, it is a federal government road.
You see, why we emphasize the quality of
work. That road was maintained about five months ago by Julius Berger Plc
running through Ikot Ekpene town through Ogbor Hill into Aba and exiting at the
Osisioma junction by Ngwa High School. It is not up to three months and you
cannot pass that MCC area. Infact, after the dual carriage way, the single way
that comes from the mid way to the expressway is completely in a state of
disrepair. So it is a federal road.
But remember that about this time last
year His Excellency rehabilitated that road. One thing is that you do these
things and you are not paid and it is impacting on the revenue of this state,
considering the little money we get from the federation account.
Let me say this, whatever we will do on
road maintenance to make sure that Abia people have motorable roads we will do.
It has a lot to do with dividends of democracy, and we are surely going to give
Abia that service. His Excellency is poised to give service. Not only giving it
in terms of saying it, but also giving it in terms of providing and people
enjoying the service. We will continue to work on Aba. That road you are talking
about is a federal road.
I know you harp on Aba because it is the
commercial nerve centre of this sub-region. All the same you will also agree
with me that we have never neglected Aba.
Why did it take you so long to get back to
the collapsed bridge that connects Ngwa road with Ogbor hill?
It did not take us so long. You should
know that there are gradual processes in doing these jobs and in checking a
disaster. You don’t rush into it because you don’t want to make a second
mistake. That thing was an unforeseen disaster. We didn’t know that the
sand-diggers at the end of that river had endangered the bridge. With the
constant rains it started to erode, and washed away sand from the base. It
affected the base.
What really happened? The bridge did not
collapse. The bridge is still standing, but outside the bridge there was this
eating off of the bridge. And it ate into the road, and the people had to be
stopped. It is the company now that is rectifying it. They have done it by
creating an embankment, by putting a wall, all round the axis and they have
fixed the road.
I can assure you that before long
motorists will freely ply through the bridge.
One thing your party, PDP, is talking
about now in the state is who succeeds Chief Orji Uzor Kalu in 2007. What is
your own stand on the issue?
That is politics for you. In the Abia
Charter of Equity, I have not seen it, but ordinarily, people will has to know
that there has to be conscience, fair play, justice and equity in whatever
decisions we take.
The position of a governor is not
exclusive to one zone. The position is now being held by Abia North. You have
three geo-political zones in Abia. So, the next governor will come from either
Abia Central or Abia South. We from Ukwa want it to come from Ukwa. Personally,
I want it to come from Ukwa. Anybody who will succeed His Excellency, should
come from Ukwa. I am not ambitious for that post, no way. I am not saying Emeka
Stanley should be the person. But for various obvious reasons, an Ukwa man, who
they know both in economic and manpower sectors should take it.
His Excellency has made his comments. We
still want the party to conform with His Excellency’s wish that it goes down to
the South. If at the end of the day the party adopts it, I think it is the best
thing that can happen to us.
For me it is either Central or South, but
let it move from Abia North.
You know getting political positions is
not just for the asking, you have to work for it, you have to be qualified for
it. So, are you saying that Ukwa people have qualified persons. There are some
Umuahia indigenes who are holding top positions in government who are claiming
that they are eminently qualified for the post. What is your reaction to this?
We have qualified people in abundance in
all parts of Abia, Ukwa inclusive. Our own problem is to ask for that
recognition and the mandate. Everybody knows that we have qualified people, but
I won’t mention names. We know them. In terms of money, in terms of political
wherewithal, in terms of experience, we have them in Ukwa land.
An Ukwa man has never occupied even the
post of Deputy Governor, but we are not saying we want the deputy governor, we
want the governor. It is not fair. Just let the party zone it to us and we will
have a retinue of qualified persons that can be brought out for them to choose
from.
You would have heard about the Ukwa
Peoples Congress. They have made their position known. Not only that, they want
it, but they have also talked about the governor’s ambition, the future and the
expectations of this state when His Excellency becomes the next president of
this country, fully well supported by Ukwa people and they are also asking for a
change of baton from him to an Ukwa son.
Your people are accused of fighting the
governor and some people see it as capable of blocking your chances of producing
the next governor of the state?
No, no. Not Ukwa people. Ukwa people never
gave the governor any problem. I disagree with you.
Ngwa, I don’t know. I wont speak for them.
They could say it is their political right to do what they did. I can’t also
judge them. But you know His Excellency’s first tenure was so turbulent and it
was based on ethnic reason. You know the Ngwa played it against the old Bende.
The Ukwa-Ngwa name has always been a taboo
to me. There is nothing like Ukwa-Ngwa to me. It does not exist. I want you to
put it on paper and I mean it. What exists is Ukwa and Ngwa or Ukwa Na Ngwa. Not
Ukwa Ngwa. Ukwa-Ngwa you put an Ukwa man as an appendage to Ngwa. For example
you hear Osisioma-Ngwa, Obioma-Ngwa, Isiala-Ngwa, then suddenly you hear
Ukwa-Ngwa. It means Ukwa is one of the Ngwas again. We have distinct identities
from them. We can work with them as political friends and it is expedient for
us.
In the international comity of friends,
ordinarily Principe or Equatorial Guinea has one person in the United Nations.
The United States and Britain also have one person each. No matter the size of
any group or anybody, please give them their due rights and recognition. So Ukwa
stands on its own, but Ukwa can go into alliance with any group, be you the Ngwa
group, be you the Igbere group, be you the Arochukwu group, be you the
Isuikwuato group, Ukwa is ready to play along with those who recognize them and
will give them their fair deal and fair share.
You said you have not read the Abia
Charter of Equity?
I have not seen or read it but Abia North
has taken their full share. The governor must come from either Abia Central or
Abia South in 2007. That is all what we are talking about.
Recently, Governor Kalu pronounced his
intention to vie for the post of the President in 2007. Just last week members
of the state executive council, of which you are one, gave him the go-ahead and
their backing. What are those things you think qualify him to have a shot at
that position?
What qualifies him are many. When you talk
about an achiever, an accomplished person, you start with the first thing that
qualifies him - ambition to rule. Because he is ambitious to rule, to give
people the dividends of democracy, you would have no problem. Governor Kalu has
been tested politically. He has been a member of the Federal House of
Representatives. He knows about legislation. He has worked here as a governor
for two tenures. He has also know the work of the executive.
Thirdly, you would have also seen his
achievements in governance. Look at Abia State with its limited and poor
finances. See the kind of development you have in the state, which can challenge
any other state with three, four times revenue per month as Abia State. He is an
achiever.
You come into administration, he knows
where to put the right peg in the right hole. That is why you see that in every
department in Abia State there has been progress. He is at peace with civil
servants.
Fourthly, you talk about a national
person. His Excellency is well disposed to every part of this country. He has
been turbaned in the north. He has taken chieftaincy tittles in the west. In
Igboland he has them in dozens. He reaches out to people with his very good
philanthropic gestures that cut across boundaries.
In terms of employment, he has employed
people from every part of Nigeria into the Abia workforce which is second to
none in the whole country even in Igboland. There are people who are not Abians,
there are Yoruba there are Hausas in his government.
He has helped resolve issues and believes
in a liberal situation where any religion will always stand on its own in a
democracy. He has financed the building of mosques. He has also financed the
building of churches everywhere. So, he is a true Nigerian to the core.
Who else can fit into that shoe? You talk
about experience even in the private sector, he has arrived, everybody knows
that. He has international connections, international experience in terms of
management of resources because if you cannot succeed in your own personal
enterprise then I don’t see what you are looking for in that position.
To me, Orji Uzor Kalu is not only
qualified, he is the most qualified man from the South-East geo-political zone.
Even at that, there are still obstacles
from the other ethnic groups. Are you optimistic the Igbo will get the
Presidency come 2007?
Yes. I think so, I am quite optimistic.
The original base of Nigeria was rested on a tripod north, west and east. The
predominant people in the east are the South-East people. We have never in one
day, despite our sacrifices in what is today Nigeria been given the Presidency.
The closest time we came to having a shot
at it was when the late Maj. Gen J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi became Head of State. He
ended as a child of circumstance. It was not through an election. He didn’t even
organize a coup to bring himself there. He came in to reconcile the feuding
parties. He was killed in about five months and three weeks.
There has been no proper way of Igbo
becoming a president. The north has taken it for more than half of the duration
of the country’s independence. The west has taken it for about one-third of
that. You can find out that equity and justice demand that it should come to the
South-East. Any other people looking for it should take it easy. It will come to
them appropriately. We have set the pace. We have ignited the light. We fought
very well to put Nigeria on the map as an entity.
How would you want Ndigbo to go about this
project to make it realizable?
They should first be united. Secondly,
you know that they cannot carry it through all alone. They have to reach out to
other groups and His Excellency has been in the forefront, reaching out to other
ethnic groups. We have to work together and we have to reach out. And with such
consultations the Igbo will make it. I am optimistic.
Would you say that Ohanaeze Ndigbo is
doing a good job as far as that project is concerned?
Definitely, they are fighting outwardly
for Igbo emancipation and Igbo realising its position in the present day Nigeria
without intimidation.
If they continue with this and let nothing
distract them, I am sure we are going to achieve this Governor Uzor Kalu an
accepted person.
The reinstatement of Chief Uzodinma Okpara
as chairman of PDP in Abia State is causing some ripples in certain quarters.
What is your reaction?
Let me tell you it is causing no ripples.
You see, they merely wanted to mess Uzodinma Okpara up. I am sure you don’t know
him.. If you know him he is a straight forward man who will not bend the rules
or shift the posts just to satisfy himself.
He stood by the dictates of the
constitution of the party and executed it very well. But you know the infighting
in the state, engineered by the federal people who are not relenting. But the
majority of state people who believe in fair play want Uzodinma as their
chairman. If they concocted any story and removed Uzodinma, we have not seen
justice. I want to thank the National Working Committee of PDP-led by Chief Audu
Ogbeh for the visible forthrightness they have shown. They have been honest
people, but this was the litmus test on their honesty and sincerity and their
application of democracy here.
All said and done, Uzodinma has been
returned. It is a good omen. But one or two persons are bound to complain and
grumble.
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