Chief Omordi George Ugbomah was a Commissioner for Environment and Works in Delta State. Ugbomah, who is currently the Political Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in Delta North, in this interview, comments on the performance of the governor, the National Conference and other sundry issues. Excerpts:

The setting up of an Advisory Committee for a National Conference is generating mixed feelings in the polity. Do you support the move?

I want to commend President Jonathan for taking such bold initiative. I call it bold initiative in the sense that, it is long over due. There have been series of attempts in the past to get this in place so that we can discuss that are fundamental in nature.

So, it is a very good step in the right direction. Some persons have some negative feelings about it but I feel we cannot go on like that because there are certain things we must communicate among ourselves and put in proper perspective. We cannot keep pretending because there are certain things that are not good enough and are not acceptable to us even though they have been put in place by our colonial masters. So it is important that we discuss and bring all the issues to the surface. We just bring them to the surface, dialogue over them and agree.  We cannot keep,pretending that all is well with the nation.

*Ugbomah

What areas would be area of concern for the conference?

The fundamental area is the nature of our coexistence because we were brought together by the colonial arrangement and we have been living within that logic. It will give us a balance that is tolerable and acceptable by all because we were coerced into it and we have tried to manage it.

Fair enough, we have not disintegrated but the events of the past few years and particularly in recent times, are beginning to point to the face that, if we do not take time, we will disintegrate totally and that is why we need to discuss and bring to the floor all those issues we think concerns us as a people and establish a proper order that is acceptable to,everybody and the, we live along that line. That is why I think it is important. The question of how we should coexist as a people is very important.

Right now, we say we have a federal structure, but to me, we are not operating federalism the way it should be. Now we have a quasi federalism, we do not even know whether we are operating a unitary system or not.

Would you say Nigeria has failed in the last 53 years of independence…

Nigeria has not failed. I will not say we have failed but I will say we are developing. If you read the history of developed nations you will know that they have gone through all these processes. For us, we have been trying to manage our entity as a nation state and along the line, we have been having a lot of contradictions which we have been reconciling. So, I do not think we have failed, we are marching ahead. But this thing is coming to a height where it is necessary that we should dialogue, we should not keep sweeping them under the carpet. We have certain things that should be made clear to us as Nigerians. There are no pretenses about it.

Boko Haram had become a menace to Nigeria especially in the Northern part of the country. With the state of emergency imposed in three northern states, would say it has yielded any positive results?

That is why we need to dialogue. If you look at Boko Haram, it is a not a sect that you can see, it has a base, they do not act by reflex. They have been consistence in their operations and the way they behave , which means it is an organized structure aimed at executing certain programmed. It is also a reflection of things that are perceived not too good, rightly or wrongly.

That is why there is need for us to discuss because all attempts to finally put them to rest have failed. The issue of a state of emergency being declared is good because it has given us a sense of appreciation that government is concerned about the state of security in the nation. That is why I am happy that the president has taken a bold step in calling for a national conference to discuss the sovereignty of the state. If you ask me, that is the greatest thing he has done as a president. Let us discuss it, let us not hide anything because I do not think we have reached a level where we will go our separate ways. Let us agree to stay together.

The PDP has been enmeshed in crisis for some time now, do you see any end to the crisis?

The idea of a new PDP is just an expression., it does not affect the constitutionality of the PDP as a party. It is a reflection of so,e grievances from certain persons, which to my ind, is one of those things you see in party formations and party operations, particularly in a young democracy like ours. As we go ahead, we must be able to reach a level of resolution. We have had cases in the past where people have had to leave the party to join other parties, eventually, they came back to join the PDP. These things have been happening.

How has the crisis affected Delta state because some states controlled by the PDP have been polarized?

In Delta state, the crisis has nothing to do with us. Delta state has nothing like new PDP and even those who left the party for one reason or the other, have all returned. That can also be seen in the level of performance which we recorded in the last bye election.

But the All Progressives Party, APC, has cried foul alleging that the election was rigged…

We have also not outgrown this question of when we do election, they are always rigged. It is a common thing in this country. If not, I do not know who is APC in Delta state, all I know is that we have pockets of APC formation in Delta state. I do not know who is their chairman because when you talk about party, you must have a chairman and other structures put in place. I do not think there is APC, we only hear of the name.

Though somebody contested on the APC platform but if you look at the whole thing, it has not really come to a level where we can seriously talk about APC let alone talk about going into contest and winning an election in a state like Delta where PDP has been existing for a a very long time and has consolidated seriously.

Reconciliation

PDP has done a lot of reconciliation because those that were aggrieved, have all come back. So there is serious internal solidarity and reconciliation because everybody went to the field and did proper campaign for the PDP in Delta central. I also went there to campaign and mobilize because Delta state is PDP.

And besides, the government of Delta state, under the able leadership of Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, has done well and is still doing well. We have been able to record tremendous achievement in the state.

Two years from now, the administration of Uduaghan will be rounding up. How would you assess his administration?

The success recorded in the bye election is a reflection of his achievement. He has done so well and he is still doing well. He is even working harder than before despite the fact that he is not contesting election and this is because he is committed and he has the passion for development. He is committed to leaving legacies and that is why he is doing projects that future generations will  really appreciate  and also laying proper foundations, he gives proper direction and that is why we are getting it right in Delta State.