By Emeka Mamah

Mr Fidel Ayogu, a former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives and currently an ambassador, explains, in this interview, why the North stands no chance against President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election. Ayogu also speaks on governance in his home state of Enugu and the 2015 gubernatorial race there.

What is your take on President Goodluck Jonathan’s purported interest in the 2015 presidential election?

President Jonathan has not said publicly that he would contest the 2015 election. However, I believe he has performed creditably well for the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to be proud of him.

The issue is not about  whether the occupier of the nation’s highest office has performed and can fly the flag of the party again. If you look at all the ministries, they are performing. The critics of the administration may turn the blind eye to what is happening in the aviation sector but there is no gainsaying that Jonathan has done well there.

*Fidel Ayogu

He has also performed  in the transportation sector. If you look at the railway, you will discover that a lot is going on there. For example, the Abuja- Kaduna rail project is on-going. You can also travel by rail from Lagos to the north now unlike what obtained in the past.

In the East, the Federal Government is handling the Onitsha- Enugu road, the Enugu- Port Harcourt or Enugu to Abuja road. It used to about seven to eight hours for people to travel from Abuja to Enugu by road but now it is just four hours. It is same with those travelling from Abuja or Kaduna to Aba or Owerri. The roads have improved tremendously.

The government recently signed contracts for the construction of the ever busy Lagos- Ibadan highway just as the Ore- Benin road project is on-going. The Abuja- Lokoja- Auchi road is also receiving attention just like the government has linked the Southern Kaduna with Jos, Plateau State, making such journeys very short.

Also, if you visit our airports, you will notice the transformation there. For some of us from the East, the Akanu Ibiam Airport has been upgraded to  international standard. This is something that the people had been crying  over for a long  time. This will bring more progress to the region. The Second Niger Bridge project is also coming and all of us know what these things mean if you are really talking of economic progress.

On foreign affairs, it is not possible to gloss over the fact that almost all African leaders  have visited Abuja, once or several times. This is a plus for Nigeria. We now have Missions in some places like Rwanda unlike before. Nigeria has signed bilateral agreements with more countries within and outside Africa.

This shows that more things are happening now than ever before. You remember that President Jonathan was in China recently to sign cooperation agreements with that country in so many areas. So, what are we talking about?

Again, you can see that most of the state governors are performing and this is due to non interference of the president. In this country, states depend more on the centre just like local governments depend on the states. If the president is the type that gives the states trouble, you will find most of them being distracted, thus slowing down their progress, but this is not the case.

Jonathan has never delayed the financial allocations from the centre to the states unlike before and this has brought economic growth, even in the states not controlled by the ruling PDP. The performance  of state governors is tied to the enabling environment provided by the Federal Government.  The National Assembly is another organ which is very free under this administration.

During the previous regimes, Nigerians, the National Assembly was not free to make laws for the country. Many Nigerians would remember that the leadership of NASS existed at the pleasure of the president then. The system is more stable these days, indicating that President Jonathan is not the overbearing type. So, Jonathan has  performed creditably and is, politically, a sellable product.

What about the education sector where ASUU has been on strike for months? ASUU began its strike when Polytechnic teachers are also on strike

The problem we have in the education sector did not start during this administration and it will take time to sort out. It is omnibus. If all the country’s revenue is  spent on the education sector, it cannot solve the problem and education, as important as it is, cannot be said to be our only problem. Health, electricity and roads are equally important. The problem in the education sector is like cancer, it will not heal in a day or two.

The North says it is their turn to produce the next president. Many people think they have a good point?

Is it the North alone that wants power? What of the East which has not tasted power at all? This country does not belong to the North alone.  Easterners also have a lot of stakes in this country. The North was in power for over 35 years before it went to the South-west. Now, power has gone to the South- south and will remain there for another four years after 2015;  so the logical thing is that it would go to the South east after the South-south had served out their term.

Again, the north as at now does not have a better presidential material than Jonathan. Most of the people showing interest in the North are not better materials. They are tribal jingoists. We do not have better persons than Jonathan in the PDP now. He is the best candidate to fly our flag based on performance. Nigerians should sit down for the first time and judge the President objectively based on what he has done and not on what those who want him to do their bidding are saying.

You are from Enugu State. How do you rate the performance of your governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, in the last six years?

Chime has done very well and posterity will judge him positively. You know that political killings have stopped in Enugu. There can be no progress without peace and there is peace now in Enugu State. You can now sleep in Enugu with your two eyes closed. If you have not been to Enugu in the last few years, you would probably not recognize it now if you visit the place because of the changes he has brought through road construction and other land mark projects.

The development is widespread because he has also given local government chairmen the latitude to perform. In Enugu, there is healthy competition among local government chairmen in the all areas of development; be it on roads, provision of light, water, schools among others. It was not like that in the past years. The allocations to the local governments are given to them and this is also a marked departure from the past.

In the area of politics, Chime has given the assurance that power would rotate to Nsukka and this has brought a lot of relief to the people. The fact that only about two or three people from other parts of the state opposed the decision of the governor and the PDP caucus to cede power to Nsukka shows that the idea is popular. I believe that Nsukka people would ever remain grateful to Sullivan Chime and the PDP.

How easy do you think it would be for the people of Nsukka to select their candidate in view of the high number of aspirants from the zone?

The PDP is a large family. There will be no problem. The party will cross the bridge when it gets there. In spite of what you describe as high number of aspirants, there will be no stress about it. The Nsukka people will support whoever is chosen.