FRANK OGBUEWU, former Minister of Culture and Tourism and one-time Nigerian Ambassador to Greece, talks to Editor, Politics/Features, EMEKA ALEX DURU, on his assessment of governance in Ebonyi State and at the federal level…
Return to PDP and intention of contesting the governorship seat in 2015
Frank-EgbuewuIn the first place, as a politician, I have interest in whatever that is happening in my state, but not for me to run for governorship again, at least for now, because the current governor is from the same local government with me. There is no way I can ask my people to vote for me at that level. So, the best I can do now is to support the incumbent governor to achieve the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) dream. I don’t believe it will be easy for anybody from my zone going to run for governorship now.
Charter of equity in Ebonyi
It is not about whether there is any rotational understanding or whatever name they call it. Some call it charter of equity. But it is a matter of conscience. Ebonyi struggle was not a one-person or a one-zone issue. We all combined effort to struggle for the creation of Ebonyi State. So, if the incumbent governor is from Ebonyi Central, the same zone I come from, I do not think it is right for us or anybody from Ebonyi Central to ask for the same position again.
Assessing Governor Martin Elechi
I think he has done his bit. He has done his best. The governor took interest in an area where nobody tried before. And that is the area of making all parts of the state accessible. Moving from one area or zone of the state to another has become quite easy. The gigantic Water Project that is on, by the time it is concluded, will impact significantly on the issue of water in the state. If he is able to reticulate the water before he leaves, Ebonyi people will start enjoying pipe-borne water all over the state. In the area of human development, he has done his best as far civil service is concerned. In Ebonyi today, civil servants are trained (and retrained) from time to time. In fact, he has a centre developed by him where civil servants are trained. That wasn’t there before. He has succeeded in inculcating the culture of discipline in the people, particularly workers in the state. One of his cardinal points when he assumed office as governor was attitudinal change. He even has a dedicated Special Adviser on Attitudinal Change. And this has brought about serious improvement in the workings of the civil service in Ebonyi. In Ebonyi, you have different offices at different places. But by the time the secretariat is completed, if you are going to the secretariat, you are going to a place where you will meet all ministries. For me, I think he has done his best.
Elechi under-performing?
When you talk about performance, it is relative; it depends on where the person is coming from. You are supposed to evaluate performance based on the resources available to that person. If a state is getting N4 billion to N5 billion in a month and another state is getting N25 billion, N15 billion or N13 billion, as the case may be, you don’t expect that the development is going to be the same. When you look at what he has achieved or what he has been able to achieve within this period and relate it to the amount of money that he actually gets at the end of the month, I will say he has done his best. It is not just about physical development; capacity building is very key also. This is an area he did excellently. And you know you cannot really assess it except you are told. Training or capacity building is invisible; it is not like building roads or constructing buildings that you can easily see. When we look at his effort in the area of capacity building and other things he has done, you would agree with me that he tried his best within the resources that were available to him. There was nothing like master plan of Ebonyi before. But he came and designed one.
PDP retaining Ebonyi in 2015
Ebonyi is almost a one-party state now. PDP will not have any problem in remaining in power in 2015 as far as Ebonyi is concerned. Opposition has been reduced to the barest minimum, if at all there is still anything like that in the state. They may exist in name. But nothing is on the ground to show that they are there. The only party that is on the ground in Ebonyi today is PDP. And so, nothing is going to stop the PDP from continuing beyond 2015 in Ebonyi.
A decade and half of democratic experience under PDP
I can say unequivocally that the PDP government, for the past 15 years, has done well. People are good in criticising government. Criticism is good, no doubt; but we must be fair and constructive in our criticisms. You don’t have to criticise just because you want to criticise. We should not lose sight of where we are coming from. PDP took over government when the country was almost ruined. It was like there was no economy; nothing was happening. The country was being underdeveloped by the military. What was the infrastructure on the ground in all areas when PDP took over? So, when we look at where we are coming from and where we are today, I can hit my chest and say PDP government has done well.
It is wrong for people to say that the PDP government has not done well in the last 15 years that this current democratic dispensation came into being. At least, today you have freedom of speech. Today, you have press freedom. Today you have Freedom of Information (FoI) Act. You have all these in place. These were not there before.
When it was said that Nigeria today is the leading economy in Africa, some people were saying: how can you say that Nigeria is the leading economy in Africa when people are dying of hunger and the rest of them? We need to know that there are indices used in determining the growth of an economy. With time, people will come to understand and appreciate that the PDP government has really taken Nigeria to a higher level.
Security challenges in the country
I cannot tell you how we got to where we are today in terms of the security situation in the country. I would rather say that I feel bad about the situation as a Nigerian. I feel really bad that life has no meaning again in Nigeria. It is sad that we no longer have a single respect and value for the sanctity of human life. Well, only those that started it can tell us how we got to where we are today. As far as I am concerned, those that started it, those that are doing it, know why they are doing it. But all I can say is that it is sad that we find ourselves in the situation we are today. The government has been doing its best to protect life and property. But you see, I don’t think we are giving the government enough cooperation for us to get out of the woods. You see a situation where people are not volunteering information; people are not assisting the security agencies, it makes it difficult for them to take full control.of the environment and situation. The security agents are human beings like you and I. They cannot be everywhere at the same time. The Boko Haram members that are committing this atrocity, killing and sending innocent Nigerians to their early graves, are not spirits. They are not from the outer space; they live among us. They are the children of people. They have brothers and sisters. What are we doing on our own part to help the security people in fishing them out? If we refuse to volunteer information, there is no way the security agencies will be able to take full control of what is happening. Nigerians need to volunteer information. When you talk about intelligence gathering, it is people giving secret information. It is information that is intelligence gathering. No matter the technology you have, you still need people to help, so that you can actually achieve anything in intelligence gathering.
I think what we should be talking about now is how to get out of where we are and not about what led us to where we are. People have given different reasons that led us to where we are. Some say poverty level; some say lack of employment. There are different shades of opinions as to how we got to where we are. But I do not agree that poverty should cause anybody to take human life. There is no particular place that is free of poverty. We have unemployment everywhere. We have poverty everywhere. So, how would somebody take that as an excuse to indiscriminately and wantonly kill his fellow human being? But like I said, we have to think more of how to get out of this quagmire than dwelling on the motive behind it.
Politicians behind Boko Haram
I think we must try as much as possible to stop making inflammatory statements. It will not assist anybody in anything. It will not take us anywhere in the fight against the activities of the terrorists. What is important is that Goodluck Jonathan is the president of this country, and he is there by the grace of God. It is God that gives power and God gave him power. Nobody can take the power from him, except the same God that gave it to him. No matter what anybody does, you cannot take power from him, if it is not the wish of God. So, there is no point for anybody to think that making the country ungovernable is the only way you can remove Jonathan or force him to leave the office. You cannot succeed in doing that. It is not even necessary. What is important is recognising that God gives power, and whoever that God has given power should be supported to serve the people.
Jonathan’s re-election amid allegation of cluelessness
As far as I am concerned, not minding whatever some people are saying about him, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has done excellently and he is eminently qualified to seek another term in office. You are wrong to say that most Nigerians are of the belief that he is a clueless and non-performing president. It is not the belief of most Nigerians; rather, it is simply few people who perhaps also want to be there that are saying that. It is those who do not appreciate good things and only interested in themselves and not the general good of the country that will not want Jonathan to go for a second term. Otherwise, Jonathan’s performance in office has been quite impressive and wonderful. Despite the serious daunting security challenges, he didn’t lose focus. He has remained determined and committed to the actualisation of his transformation agenda, and he is delivering in his campaign promises. So, why can’t he ask for another term?
Mind you, it is Nigerians that will determine his fate and not those few that are saying he is clueless and calling him all sorts of names. Jonathan has worked very hard to improve the country’s economy. Our roads are now better. On the issue of electricity, he has made innovations in the power sector which will certainly bring about improvement in power generation and supply. In fact, we are beginning to see some level of improvement and I believe that, with time, power will become completely stable. We only need to be patient because this problem of power has been there for a very long time. So, instead of unnecessarily criticising him, I think we should rather commend him for the remarkable effort he is putting in to salvage the country. We should support him to continue with the good job he is doing for the growth and development of our dear country, Nigeria.