Leader of pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, REUBEN FASORANTI, speaks with Special Correspondent, JULIUS ALABI, on his fears for Nigeria, given the permissive culture of corruption in the land, rising rate of unemployment and the need to diversify the nation’s economy, among other issues.
Given your relative young age, many had expected you to commence your political career from the lower rung of the ladder. But you are going for governorship of Imo State. Why?
The thing about aspirations, as far as they go in Nigeria, is that most people look at where they think there is vacancy. For them, it’s like a job placement; they just want to see themselves doing something. So, they look for where there is opportunity and perhaps see politics as filling that vacuum. It’s like putting the cart before the horse. What I think should be the proper sequence should be: what skill set do you possess? There are people who possess skill set that will best fit into legislative role. Some people, by their skill and comparative advantage (if I may use that phrase), are already imbued with certain qualities that they may be better placed to function in an executive capacity.
So, for me, it sshouldn’t be where one should begin from; rather where your skill set falls into. I have been prepared for what I am aspiring to be all my life. Over the years, I have had hands-on experience in the business of managing men and resources at a corporate level and with global best practices. If you look at where our country is going now and where we desire to be as a country, we need to begin to seek out people who are professionally grounded and credible; people who are unblemished. When I say unblemished, I know there is nobody who is perfect, but best practice in progressive countries all over the world is to look for people who have unassailable track record in leadership, in administration, in management of men and resources because that is how countries can survive.
Leadership at the level of governorship should not be left in the hands of people who are looking for job.
In Nigeria, what we have experienced over the years is that somebody comes around, does one or two things and then there is nothing else to do and the fall-back is politics. So it’s like those who cannot be accommodated anywhere gravitate towards politics. But I think we should move away from such and allow people who have the exposure, experience and other needed leadership credentials to run our states and, by extension, the country. We need to create a new paradigm where we have people that are adequately prepared for leadership, who are talented, who are skilled, who are otherwise comfortable in their professions come into politics, not because it’s an opportunity for them to make money, but because they also want to make a mark in public life. I see myself as reasonably accomplished. Going into politics or public service will be a welcome challenge because I am desirous of bringing about genuine change and impacting on people positively.
There are already some established names that have indicated interest in the office. Don’t you see your relative newness in the game working against your aspiration?
If you look at my requisite experience, I have more than enough to govern the state. I can say, without sounding immodest, that I am better exposed and more knowledgeable than those you say are far older than me, and I have done more things than they. I have managed budgets that are bigger than whatever allocation Imo gets in a year. So, when people look beyond the smokescreen of: oh we have not been hearing from this person, we don’t know him or this person is still new, then they will see real quality.
Name recognition is different from popularity. Most of them have name recognition for all sorts of reasons. Some may have been involved in one scandal or another, some may have been dismissed from one position or another. So when you have people who are well known most times for scandals and controversies, could we say that is good recognition? Well, my happiness is that Imo has a very sophisticated electorate. The state has never gone to the highest bidder. The supposed forerunners have never won any election. It’s always a strong dark horse factor. That is why we are very confident because we are dealing with a state that is vibrant, with preponderance of young population who know on what side their bread is buttered. They recognise competence when they see it, and that is what I am offering. We are saying that there is going to be paradigm shift with young competent professionals with proven track record relatively unblemished coming to take charge of their lives and future.
Even in your party, APGA, there are some other names also aspiring in the same position; for instance Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho. Are you not bothered or intimidated by such names?
The reverse should be the case. Political watchers know the trend in the state; that frontrunners don’t always win, looking at our history. Again, big names don’t win elections. Look at the demographic map of the state, as it were, you will find out that the people that decide electoral outcome in the state are people that fall within the ages of 18 and 45. On election day, those who turn up, those who are on the register to vote, are still those within the group. They control the outcome of elections and I come from that group. That is the biggest attraction we have. They want to see one of them come into government because we share the same ideas, the same world view, more or less. If you look at that, it is even those who are outside that circle that have good reasons to fear.
I will bring some freshness into the race. I come from a professional background and my credentials speak for me. I think, what people are looking for are those that come with no political baggage. I have no reason to fear anybody because, at the end of the day, the electorate will decide what is good for them. I stand a real chance, and if you ask me, I am the candidate they should be afraid of; I am the candidate to beat. We are satisfied with what we will bring to the table. The electorate will decide what is in their best interest. What we are asking for is a level-playing field for everybody.
In 2011, APGA was a household name in Imo; but with the defection of Governor Rochas Okorocha to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and subsequent developments, there is this impression that APGA has lost its clout. Are you not bothered running on the platform of such party?
I think the reason you ask this question is because you are looking at APGA as just a political platform. But it will be most uncharitable for anybody to see APGA as just a political platform where you can come and win election. No! APGA goes beyond that. The party is enshrined in the souls of Igbo men and women. Make no mistakes; APGA is a national party; it’s beyond Igbo land. But what we are saying is that every party must have its catchment area, as it were.
APGA is seen as a religion in the South East because people see it as the closest approximation to their ideals and dreams. Everybody wants an egalitarian society, where their children have opportunities to fulfil themselves as human beings. They want to have health facilities, quality education etc. APGA is a party that guarantees all that. The free education you see in the state today is an APGA programme; it’s in APGA manifesto. So those who have left the party should be worried because the party is an institution and no single individual is bigger than an institution. APGA stays, but individuals can come and go. APGA is like a national religion; so there is no wishing it away.
Do you see an APGA candidate beating a Rochas Okorocha, assuming he decides to run on the platform of APC?
Absolutely yes.
What makes you think so?
What will make news is if APGA does not win and another party wins. Our people are passionate about APGA; they live with it, sleep with it and wake up with it. If you look at all the political parties’ configurations in the country, you will see that APGA, perhaps, has one of the best records in terms of internal democracy, ability to meet with the aspirations of the people etc. Historically, APGA has always won in Imo. Although there were certain instances where there were developments, mishaps, as it were, that took away victory, consistently APGA has always won election not only in Imo but in the whole of South East.
Don’t you think that such ‘mishaps’ can always come up?
No. that is one of the reasons we are working with the President Goodluck Jonathan-led federal government because we have seen in Jonathan someone who can keep to his words and serious about the growth of democracy in the country. With the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) raising a credible electoral bar, nothing can be more welcomed. Let victory go to the man that wins.
What do you intend to offer the Imo electorate?
We are the only aspirant, as at now, with a comprehensive developmental blueprint in the state which we have christened I-MAP (standing for Imo Marshall Plan). It seeks to position Imo as the third largest economy in Nigeria in the next five years, starting from 2015, by way of per capita income and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We will re-engineer the productive sector, create industries, and attract foreign investments.
My driving force is that I believe I can create economic opportunities for Imo. We think that Imo has a lot of potential, but it has remained potential till this moment. We tend to move away from potential to actualisation. Imo, as you know, is an oil-producing state. Imo has a vibrant educated population. We have unacceptably high unemployment rate – over 800,000 going by the national employment survey figure. That is something I am seeking to bring to an end.
How do we do it? It’s quite simple. Imo is an agrarian society. We have very good arable farm land. We have huge potentials in production of different agricultural products. We probably have the best soil for growing cassava in Nigeria. Presently, Nigeria earns about $235 million per annum from cassava, and we are not even talking about the derivatives from cassava, things like ethanol, flour etc. We have good farm lands for palm oil. We have the Adapalm, which is grossly under-performing. It is a place that can be turned into producing so many other things, rather than just have it in its crude form. We will devise a way to add value to all the produce, and the state will fly because we have comparative advantage. With it alone, you create jobs that you cannot imagine, and we will employ our young people who are coming out from school. We will revive the Imo economy.
All that we are going to do is all enunciated in the I-MAP. You can see that our exploits in education is no longer there. We will properly fix our educational system and the standard will come up again because being the first in education has always been seen as a given because we have always come tops. I learnt in the last NECO and WAEC results, Imo placed fourth behind Anambra, Abia and Delta. We will bring our glory back. First position is something we had taken for granted before, but all of a sudden, we started tumbling.
A whole lot of wrong emphasis has been laid in different areas. It has been on quantity rather than quality. We will address all that. We will go back to the basics. If education is free and not qualitative, if it is free and not accessible then it makes nonsense of the exercise. We will look at the teachers, infrastructure, right budgetary support and the environment for the impartation of knowledge. A whole lot of work needs to be done; some of them are not just generic to Imo. Education will be given a premium position and all other sectors will be equally receiving the desired attention. I have comprehensive agenda for the youths, women and for all sectors.
