Senator Arthur is a stakeholder in Imo State. In this interview he bares his mind on the State of the Nation concluding that Governor has shamed his detractors.
Except
Nigeria will soon mark her 50th year anniversary. As someone who has been in national service for a long time, looking back today, how do you feel?

Well, it is just like yesterday. It is hard to believe that 50 years have passed since we got independence. Indeed, a lot has happened in the last 50 years. Some soul- uplifting, some depressing.

We have had our own share of political instability, military coups, a civil war, religious conflicts, ethnic clashes etc, etc. But above all. I think the good news is that we have remained a nation.

Senator Arthur Nzeribe

Though we may not have achieved our founding fathers’ dream, I believe nation-building is a work-in-progress. Agreed, we have wasted a lot of opportunities. With what we have seen in the last fifty years, I believe with a more visionary leadership in place, the next fifty years will be more glorious for the nation. At my age, that should be my prayers, so that my children’s children will live a better life.

Talking about the question of leadership, what is your take on the forthcoming 2011 elections?

Like 1 said before, nation-building is a work-in-progress. So, we keep learning from our past mistakes. Given the realization today that there is a nexus between good governance and development, I believe more and more people are taking more than a passing interest in the democratic process.

With that kind of consciousness taking root by the day, I believe the coming elections would be more keen than the previous ones and as a result, we should expect a more robust outcome in terms of people insisting that the right things are done. I have confidence in Professor Jega would rise up to the immense challenges as the new head of INEC.

There seems to be a division in Igboland today as to which direction to go visa-vis 2011. What is your own position?

You are right to say there is division in South-east over who to back as far as the 2011 presidential race is concerned. But don’t forget that the situation is not peculiar to Igbo nation. In the North, you also have division. You have some people speaking about zoning.

You also see some people speaking against zoning. In the South-west also, you see some people canvassing  zoning and others speaking against zoning. Going to South-south, you also have division also, even though President Jonathan Goodluck is from that zone.

So, if you ask me, 1 will say it is healthy for the Igbo political elites to disagree on where to go, or who to support in 2011. That is the beauty of democracy. We must disagree to agree. For me, personally, I believe in merit. I believe the nation deserves the best candidate to rule.

If Jonathan is the best man available, why not? But then, the question is: is the short time he has spent in office enough to realistically assess his potentials to deliver?

Having said that, the Igbo nation should think properly before casting their votes. We should ask which arrangement best suits our hopes and aspiration. It is not a question of blind support or loyalty this time. You have to look at what is best for the Igbo nation.

It is on this note that I think the South-east governors have done the right thing by saying that they would support the candidate that brings the best goodies for the zone. That is how to play politics.

Kidnapping has assumed a frightening scale in Igbo-land today. In fact, some of our   people in Diaspora are even scared to travel home. Aren’t you worried yourself?
Of course, 1 am worried.

It is partly a fall-out of youth unemployment and the inculcation of the wrong values in the society today. Once upon a time, it was the issue of ritual for money. You will recall that trris kidnap thing actually began in the Niger Delta as a means of political protest.

The-’ militants who were agitating for the control of resources felt that was the best way they could draw international attention to their plight, because those being abducted in those days were mostly expatriate staff. But over the lime, they lost focus.

The struggle became bastardised. The revolution began to consume its own children, as they say. From kidnapping foreigners, fellow Nigerians became the target. It grew worse when some idle youths realized it was a means of making quick money. But with the government taking a more drastic step on the matter, I believe the situation will soon fizzle out.

Since the South-east governors came together and jointly issued a statement denouncing the development, in fact with a state like Imo already prescribing the death penalty for the crime, the incidence is beginning to die down. But beyond issuing threats, I think governments should do lot more to create jobs and enabling environment for the youths to be gainfully employed. Because, come to think of it, these are the real factors fueling the crime.

You mean in your state in Imo State?

No, I am not trying to find a scapegoat here. I am talking of authorities at various levels, be it at the local, state or federal level. To be fair, I would say the security arrangement in Imo has been a lot tighter.

If the incidence of kidnap is relatively low in Imo, it is because we have been enjoying an integrated security arrangement in the sense that you have a state-funded security outfit called “Operation Festival’ working in collaboration with neighbourhood vigilante consisting of volunteers.

That ensures a closer monitoring of the underworld. If you say Igbo in Diaspora are reluctant to come home during festive periods, I disagree with you with regards to Imo State. Thanks to these wonderful young men, Imo has consistently recorded relatively low level of crime during the yuletide period. The security situation in our state is not that bad.

In fact, I think it is on record that not too long ago, the Inspector General of Police commended the crime-fighting arrangement in Imo State recommending same to other states of the federation.

Can you say that of the political arena?

Thank you for that question. I think this provides me a good opportunity to debunk the notion being propagated in a section of the media that Imo is unstable politically. It is a misleading argument. I say this with all sense of responsibility.

In fact, I can tell you that there has not been a time as far as 1 can remember when the bulk of Imo intelligentsia were on the same page as what we have today. It is a thing of joy to people of my age to see that political actors shun the politics of bitterness and join hands together to fight  for the common interest of I mo State.

We must realize that politics of recrimination and blackmail will not do our state any good. My spirit is uplifted seeing influential Imo citizens pulling  their resources together for the betterment of the state.

Let me confess that I didn’t expect much difference when Ikedi Ohakim was sworn in as governor in 2007. We were already used to people coming into office and promising heaven and earth, only to continue business as usual. But Ohakim disappointed many initial pessimists like me a great deal.

He has accomplished a lot in the last three years, in fact more than what many of his predecessors could not achieve for all the donkey years they spent in the Government House. Is it roads you want to talk about? In just two years, he tarred more roads than all his immediate past predecessor, (Chief Achike) Udenwa did in eight years. Is it about urban renewal and opening of rural towns?

Go to Owerri today and see the transformation the city has witnessed in three years. You won’t believe the beautiful city you now see sprang from the same city that was full of garbage until May 2007. Ohakim has also been able to attract lot of federal projects to the state, something unheard of in the past.

Is it job creation you want to talk about? Ohakim has created more jobs. He lifted the embargo on employment placed by the previous administration to the extent that a process is going on now to engage 10,000 young Imo graduates into the public service.

Can you beat that? In the civil service itself, reforms enunciated by his administration has ensured that thousands of ghost workers have been fished out, thereby saving tax-payers’ money.

Is it in the area of the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)?

Recently, the United Nations reports rated Imo State high among the states of Nigeria which are providing more access to healthcare, portable water and education to the ordinary people. With that, I think Ohakim has done well for Imo and deserves all the support to do even more.

Imo State of today has long list of illustrious citizens and 1 am glad that majority of them are willing to shun political differences and work for the common good. I speak of people like Chief Innocent Nwoga, former minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the first state chairman of PDP who delivered Achike Udenwa in 1999.

The Professor Obiozors. Ambassador Greg Mbadiwes. Ambassador Mathew Nwagwus. The Emmanuel Iwuanyanwus. The Walter Ofonagoros. The Ambassador Kema Chikwes. People like Fidelis Ozichukwu who was the National Vice Chairman of PDF, South-east for eight uninterrupted eights.

The Ebere Udeagu’s. The Innocent Oparadikes. I can go on and on. These are people who have accomplished a lot in their chosen fields but who have now resolved to work for the advancement of their home state, putting petty politics aside.

So, to answer your question directly, I will say what you people in the media try to magnify as big issue is, in reality, not more than the noise-making by a few disgruntled elements who, as a matter of fact, believe the only way they can be relevant in the scheme of things is turning themselves to public nuisance.

I can tell you that the people making all this noise are very few indeed. As far as I am concerned, they are the problem of Imo today. I can name them. They include Achike Udenwa, Rochas Okorocha, Ifeanyi Ararume and Festus Odumegwu. But then, you want to ask: who are they, what is their electoral worth and where are they coming from?

For me, 1 feel highly disappointed with the role Udenwa chooses to play today when I, as a senator, know what 1 did to safeguard his administration from the nuisance and distraction of political saboteurs and blackmailers.

Having sat on that seat, he should know better on how challenging it is to govern a state with lot of enlightened people like Imo. But the irony is that he is now at the fore-front of trying to undermine someone else in government.