Abia State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okezie Ikpeazu, in this chat with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, opens up on his plans and challenges he would tackle if voted into office.
Agenda for Abia
Abia State today, from our perspective, must be viewed from taking a clue from the larger Nigerian environment, both politically and economically. We know that the trend now is that the oil prices are going down and the economy of Nigeria as a country is looking at other sources of revenue generation and more innovative ways of managing the Nigerian economy. Taking it home to Abia, we think that our challenge is to keep pace with this turn of events rather than the other way people are looking at it. I am coming with great plan and I will implement all.
If we are talking about infrastructure in Abia moving forward, we should be talking about infrastructure designed towards economic advancement and development. So there is a new focus on economy of Abia. What we have in mind is to pioneer a private sector-driven economy for the future, where we can lay hands on pillars that God has given to us naturally. The first plan is our people. Abia is peopled by citizens with capacity in various areas. Our human capital is second to none and we are the best traders; we are very good in commerce. We are also very good with the things we can do with our hands. So in the years ahead, we want to leverage on these advantages that God has given us to make sure that the economy of Abia rests on a strong pillar of trade and commerce, small and medium scale enterprises.
Of course, we are there in oil and gas, but we want to let the advantage of oil and gas recede to the background because we are just marginal producers of oil. They should not be on the front burner of our economic decisions in the days ahead.
We have another advantage. If you look at Aba, for example, the city is at the confluence of about seven other cities in the South East and South South. The city is about 30 minutes’ drive to Ikot Ekpene, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Umuahia, among others. So, the strategic location of this city makes it what sugar is to ants – to attract people there. So we must leverage on this strategic geographical location of Aba to place world class infrastructure around Aba, so that we can return trade and commerce and build industrial clusters around the German model – looking at what they do in Germany. What I mean by that is the apprenticeship system where we have family line businesses. But government must intervene in terms of giving access to world class finishing and equipment, so that there can be mass production, finished products that can compete for space in shops – in top shops in European markets.
We will also do a mass re-orientation of the way our people are thinking. The time has gone when people will talk down on the people of Abia. We want to say that we are the best in the world and that we will attract the attention of not only the best in Nigeria, but in Africa to Abia in the days ahead. This is our focus.
Again, there are enablers. There are factors which must drive this economic agenda. For instance, we have the railway line again. For the first time, this administration under President Goodluck Jonathan has opened the rail lines with trains suddenly resurfacing around Abia. And Abia is one of the few states that has a full compliment of rail line criss-crossing five towns of Aba, Umuahia, Umuoba, Nbosi and Ovim. And from all these centres, you can assess Port Harcourt and Enugu. What it means is that if our dry port, which is located between Aba and Umuahia, comes on stream, with the new shopping mall that the present administration is building, we can get goods cleared.
There is a seaport that can give us three metres raft for barges to come at Obuaku, which we are also going to work on. What it means is that from all these centres, through railways you can transport. Railway can do a lot in terms of volume evacuation of goods and services, and we are going to leverage on that.
Another enabler, which we should work on, is this. If you think of someone coming to Abia to make it an investment destination and he has N1 billion. He wants to stay in a place where he can supervise his investment. And this means that security must be paramount. We could work harder and become perhaps the most secured state in the country. We can do it. I have been around for 14 years and I understand the strategy that the present administration deployed to bring security.
And we also want to create a diaspora village where Abians from outside Abia or residing anywhere in the world can come and reside. Security, service, roads infrastructure, water treatment plant and steady supply of electricity will be provided. And the hospital in the village will be comparable with what obtains in America and Europe. The people who are going to run it are Abians residing overseas. So Abia can also be a destination for healthcare delivery and covalence in the days ahead.
Abia is going to be one of the first states that will benefit from steady supply of electricity in the South East because the Geometrics Power Plant has power there, but the problem is the evacuation of that power because of the problem they have with the distribution company. I think the government can play a role in bringing about a discussion between Prof. Barth Nnaji, the promoter of the Geometrics, and the distribution company, so that Abians will have light. And once that happens, it means our industrial clusters will be one of the best in Africa. It means that our leather, the shoe works we do, which we are very good at, can become top of the class. And our garment industry can also come back on stream, including the textile industry that has been moribund for a while.
These are in a nutshell what we are focusing on. That is not to forget about agriculture. We want to also leverage on agriculture to create jobs. We are aiming at creating 50,000 jobs in the first two, three years. We are picking the integrated farming model because we don’t have the luxury of a large expanse of land. This is a densely-populated state, and so what we are looking at is even if all we have is a football field, it should be enough for integrated farming. So that the by-products from one side of the farm can become feeds in another section. We can also modify the Songhai model a bit to suit our needs in Abia.
Plan for Aba
People talk about Aba just because they are thinking about votes. I talk about Aba with more passion because that is where I come from. I don’t have a house in any other part of the world except in Aba. Nobody is more interested in the Aba problem as myself because you can’t be more Catholic than the Pope. And nobody has a better plan for Aba than me. First, I have a proper diagnosis of the Aba problem. Aba’s problem is rooted in the fact that infrastructural stock, in terms of drainage, houses, roads, have been static for a while and the population has grown geometrically. And when that happens, it means that there will be more pressure on the roads and the drainages and they will start collapsing, whether we like it or not. What we want to do is to, first of all, do ring road around Aba.
I have said earlier that Aba is in the centre of our plans because it is at the confluence of the states in the South East, South South and our industrial clusters are going to take off from Aba. What you can get in Aba in terms of internally-generated revenue (IGR) can help you develop other parts of Abia.
We have two options on draining and flooding. One, there is an underground drainage system, which has been silted to the brim and that is why each time it rains there is flood. Do we open up and use open drainage system or do we continue with the underground system where we have to get experts to open the underground drainage for it to enter into the Aba River? But draining straight into the Aba River is also not environmentally sustainable. So we are thinking about a secondary water plant around Aba River that would capture the storm water, treat it up to secondary level and then return it to the River so that aquatic life can thrive.
Our plan for Aba is a re-birth and a re-engineering that will drive our economic agenda. That is what we are going to pursue. Our development plan is structured, and the focus is the bigger picture, our economic plan.
We will develop other cities. Abia has more than two cities. We have Umuoba, Nbosi, Ovim and Ohafia. No other state has as many cities, and these cities are urban areas in their own right.
Environmental issues in Aba
The drainage system has remained unmanned and unserviced because it is underground. Once you have underground drainage system, you must maintain it. You must go through it every year. And it has been left for almost 50 years, and some people have also constructed buildings across the drainage system. We have three-storey buildings and churches across some drainage systems. So that is why I said we have two options. One is either we go to open drainage systems which is easier to maintain, which is what is done in some states, so that you can look at it and if it is blocked you can see what is blocking it. Or you go and open the underground drainage system and it will flow. This government has opened the major School Road gutter for the first time in 50 years, but we are yet to open the arteries that lead to the main vein. That is the issue.
Plans for IGR
I have been a member of the IGR committee of this state that assisted this government to move its IGR from N200 million to N500 million. I know what the problems are. We must strengthen the institutions of service. If you don’t render service with your left hand, work seriously with your left hand, you can’t collect revenue with your right hand. So, we are going to strengthen our domestic waste management template, strengthen our service delivery institutions in whatever we do in whatever we want to collect revenue on and then plug leakages. I am targeting a revenue of two to N2 billion every month.
Reaction to election postponement
It has only given me the opportunity to go down to the grassroots the more to know exactly what the people feel and what they want me to do for them. Whatever we need to do, we must do it. Patience is a virtue and if we need patience to protect our democracy, then let us keep patience to make our democracy thrive. I don’t believe in any hogwash arrangement. I don’t believe in putting the cart before the horse. An impatient person is a dangerous person, a desperate person.
Taking over from Governor Theodore Orji
The governor has enormous goodwill and he has carried himself as a gentleman. He has a lot of respect among the elders, and the common people of Abia. He is a huge challenge. But I know that by the time the people understand my style, the difference will show. I will try to be as meticulous as Orji, but I will run faster because I am younger.
Striking a balance between politics and family
I am a very religious person. I try to go to church every Saturday, play football every Sunday morning, but all that are threatened for now. However, I accept it because they are transient. My wife is campaigning as I am doing right now. Every member of the family is involved in it now. In future, I will return to my schedule.
