Prof. Victor Izegbu speaks on the National Conference due to be inaugurated tomorrow by President Goodluck Jonathan. A gubernatorial contender in Delta State, he also speaks on his blueprint to transform the state among other issues.

What is your view on the state of the nation?

I  believe  we have moved forward as a nation compared to where we were eight years ago, but I strongly believe we can do better . If you look at the economy now, there is probably more power supply than we had eight years prior to the bold step of the privatisation of the power sector  because the privatisation  changed things a little bit,  but I believe that in a short little while, the problem of poor power supply will be a thing of the past. So I strongly believe the privatization of the power sector is a major success of the Jonathan administration.

*Prof Izebug

Although the improvement in power supply may not  be evident  now, if you understand how the sector works, it takes time before customers start enjoying the dividends  of the privatization. We had problem in the sector over the last 20years and such problem cannot be fixed overnight.  The amount to take over by the private sector is quite large,  billions of dollars will be invested in  infrastructure; so you can’t expect the situation to change easily, it will take at least one or  two years to fix it.

The suspension of the CBN governor. Mallam Sanusi  Lamido Sanusi has generated dust globally. What is your view about it?

Sanusifs suspension is a big shame for the country. I believe it could have been handled better but there are several issues  that are being investigated.  Sanusi himself has his own story while government has its own story about it.  The National Assembly should  have been the appropriate body to handle the situation. I would strongly suggest that a judicial enquiry be instituted on the oil money Sanusi alleged was stolen.  It has to be investigated by a committee to get to the root of it.

Looking at the centenary celebration, some people are of the view that Nigeria as a nation is moving  round in circles without moving forward?

I would say yes because for any government you have to look at what transpired in the past.

We had over 50 years of colonial rule; what was our education system 12 years before  independence like, there  was no university in Nigeria. There were very few secondary schools,;so you would say the reason for handover was not there.  So, having  handed over in 1960, we ran into crisis and six years after, we had military regime and a  civil war, all  within the last 100 years.  We just started a proper democratic process within the last 16years because I canft imagine any military regime being successful.  So to be able to judge our performance as a nation, we should be able to wait for at least 20 years of civilian rule being  managed by Nigerians.

What is your take on the Boko-Haram insurgency?

Nobody actually knows the cause of the insurgency.  Some people say the insurgents are sponsored by some northern politicians, while others believe they have the backing of northern warlords and the emirs. All we need to contain this insurgency is help from western countries . We need significant grassroots intelligent information gathering.

Some people are of the view that most of the delegates at the National Conference were among those who contributed to the woes of Nigeria.  Do you foresee anything meaningful coming out of the conference?

Delegates to the conference should be men of wisdom coming together  to provide what would be the future of Nigeria .

People have divergent views on the agenda.  What is your take?

I really agree with those who say regionalization is the way forward.  The way we are running our federal system is unimaginable; power is concentrated at the centre while the regions have no power.  The fact is that at the end of the month,  governors go to the centre to collect money and then go back to their states to start spending  because they donft know how to generate income for their states.

My strong recommendation is that we change the system of federalism we operate.  Power must shift from the centre to the regions; this would transform this country. We should try to incorporate the united state system into Nigeria where state governments are very strong and they generate income through tax; their police are managed locally.

How do you intend to compete with the political gladiators in Delta State?

There should be a new focus in Delta State.  I feel  the time is ripe to break away with the past and go with the future . Many people  approached me saying the PDP governors are not doing too well compared to opposition parties governors  like of  Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State,  Raji Fashola of Lagos State , Peter Obi of Anambra State and Olusesegun Mimiko of Ondo State, but I find it difficult to defend myself  because the opposition governors performed evidently well in their various states.

I think what we need to do in Delta  is to change our direction by taking bold steps by giving somebody like myself a trial; at least I have not been part of the corrupt system. And I have brand new visionary ideas on how to transform the state. This was what Anambra  did with Peter Obi who had no political experience but totally transformed his state .

If the people of Anambra can do it, I think the people of Delta  can do it as well.  I have great vision on how to transform Delta . I intend to set up an economic team that will work on income generation ideas , industrialisation of the 25 local government areas , massive employment opportunities for our youth and adults as well. It will be a brand new method of governance . I had to go to Dubai to study how they were able to develop their country. My plan is to have a 50-year plan  that we will run with.

Talking about the brand new direction, you are contesting under the PDP.  That is a big challenge,

We can learn from other states that succeeded like Lagos and Anambra.  Maybe my predecessors have not thought about it  but we can cooperate with even  non-PDP states to learn from what they are doing. This is the kind of new direction we are talking about and a radical development  of the economy .

How do you tend to achieve the 50-year ambition?    In any developing  state like Dubai, for example, they have a 50-year plan for the city; it is going to be something that will happen over two to three generations which will equally stand as a master plan for how the state will be run. If we want to be an industrialised state, for example, we will set out a master plan on how to achieve it; so any reasonable economy would do that and, generation after generation , wewill grow with the plan, but the immediate need for Nigeria is power supply and jobs.

Nigerians have been bamboozled in  time past with empty promises in the name of manifestos?

This has opened a can of worms that truly needs to be addressed. I have been actively involved in politics for two years and the level of poverty in Nigeria is endemic and those  who want to be elected know that what they want; so they go round giving people money.  So once they have been given money they vote for the politician who recoups his investment on getting to office to the detriment of the people who need development.

I don’t have a billion Naira to spend; so this is the  obstacle I have  with the big spenders that have been in government and also have access to public funds. There is need to convince the electorate that accepting money is not good for them , they need to be empowered so they can have long term benefit like being educated and  jobs created for them.  I believe I am the only one running for the office that will truly do that. I can prove in a debate that we can trash it out because I have no doubt that they are only trying to help themselves not the poor people.