By SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

Matthew Iduoriyekemwen is the former Edo state representative in the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Iduoriyekemwen who also is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state spoke to Saturday Vanguard last Monday, regretting that the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan in moving the nation forward is not being recognised. The Benin- born politician who was one of the governorship aspirants of the PDP in Edo state in 2012, described the seeming opposition against the 2015 presidential ambition of Jonathan as unfair and declared that the President’s achievements will guarantee him second term in office. Excerpts:

You are one of the leaders of the PDP in Edo state, how would you see the defection of some PDP governors to the APC?

I look at it from two perspectives. In as much as I wish that they had remained in the party that made them what they are today, that they explored every possible means to resolve their grievances and stay in the party because I know that there is no problem beyond resolution through constructive dialogue.

But when they decided they had to go and they feel that the party must bend and accept their position, I also see their defection to be in the best interest of the party because I believe that now that they have defected, it gives the party the room to re-strategize and assign responsibilities to others so that the party does not have a vacuum anywhere. As a matter of fact, I feel it is more dangerous for a party to habour people who will work against their party in a general election due to their anger. So in that light, I think their defection is good for the party.

*Matthew Iduoriyekemwen

Again you will also ask, that these governors that left, how many of them had the control of the PDP in their various states? Recently, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto state and some PDP leaders expressed their support for Jonathan. If the governor leaves and the deputy is still in the party, that means the governor does not have absolute control of the PDP structure in that state.

In Kwara state not too long ago, there was fight at the PDP secretariat which shows that many of those governors left due to their personal reasons and not that of their people. I visit Rivers State quite often and I have seen that the strength of PDP in Rivers State is even stronger now than before.

I think it is to the advantage of the party that these persons left and I don’t see it having a negative impact on the PDP.The truth is that the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan are evident for all Nigerians to see. I think that Jonathan has done better than any of the Presidents that I have grown up to know. Put his achievements side by side with that of any President before him, I don’t think there is any basis for comparison.

Now Jonathan is building Federal universities in the entire state while during the tenure of President Obasanjo and others, they built private universities with our funds. I drove to Lagos about four days ago, I knew the time it took me to get to Lagos from Benin because the road was better now.

I have not driven on that road for about four years now but today the road is better. If you are driving from Benin to Port Harcourt through Ughelli, it is like your driving on grade A road in any part of the world and I just think that any right thinking Nigerian knows that the process of building takes time and that as Mr President is building, we must put hands on deck to ensure that he succeeds.

This idea of people thinking that it is the turn of a particular region to produce the next President of this country is the biggest threat to our national unity. We must not begin to run Nigeria like a progressive union where your tribe or ethnic background takes precedence before merit. I think if we must build a country that we all will be proud of, we must stop this issue of ethnicity.

We must know that anybody can lead this country as far as the person is qualified irrespective of his tribe. I am even trying to look at all the people clamouring to be President and I still have not seen any one that can do better than the incumbent President. I am one man that if your government is doing well whether you are in the PDP or APC, I will acknowledge that because first of all, I am a Nigerian and will speak the truth.

As it is today, I think Jonathan has earned a place in the heart of Nigerians no matter the turbulence in the PDP, to guarantee him a place for the 2015 election. The people that have greater stake in this country are Nigerians and they are the most important people.

Recently, we all read the letter from former President Obasanjo and the reply from President Jonathan. Obasanjo is a respected elder statesman in this country and I don’t expect him to go on the pages of newspapers to try to rubbish the President. Even in the developed democracies that we have seen, I have not seen a former President of America and former British Prime Minister openly criticising a sitting President.

They may have differences but they treat them discreetly because of national security. Why will President Obasanjo write a letter based on the letter from the Governor of Central bank who within two weeks withdrew the letter. You see, we are the younger generation of Nigerians.

These men have all played their part in this country. What I feel they need to do now is to encourage the incumbent President. A lot of Nigerians believe that Mr President has done well that he deserves the support of these former leaders so that at the end, Nigeria will come out stronger. Most of the problems that Jonathan is tackling today started over twenty years ago. People like Ango Abdulahi have been in government one time or the other.

Why did they not fix these problems then? Since they had the opportunity to fix these problems then, what now makes them think that they can now become advisers to Jonathan. My advise to Mr President is for him to remain focused and deafen his ears to destructive criticisms. He owes Nigerians a duty to perform and he is already doing that.

So, I urge all those elder statesmen to learn from other statesmen outside Nigeria. Recently Mandela died and the entire world celebrated his life. Do you think that Mandela does not have his personal problems with the ANC leadership after him? How many times have we heard Mandela criticising them publicly?

The unity of this country is something that the elders must bear in mind each time they talk in the papers. The letter from Obasanjo was uncalled for. It did not achieve any purpose. Rather,  it made Nigerians to see Jonathan in a better light because the President’s response helped him to disclose many things Nigerians were not aware of. I think this government is taking Nigeria to the next level and I urge Nigerians to support him. I think Nigeria has passed that stage of clamouring that one ethnic group must produce the President at any point in time in this country.

But the people of the Niger Delta are disappointed that the NDDC is poorly funded under President Jonathan, even the East West road is still not completed?

I don’t agree that a lot of Nigerians are disenchanted with his administration. First and foremost, Jonathan is a Niger Deltan but he is not the President of the Niger Delta but President of Nigeria as a country. I told you earlier that the East West road is better now than before.  The road is also good from Port Harcourt to Uyo.

That belief that NDDC is poorly funded  is also wrong. I think the NDDC is better funded under Jonathan than before and I think that is because being somebody from the region, he also feels the pains of our people. But it is another thing for government to award contracts and another thing for the contractors to work.

I agree that there are agencies to monitor these people and if everybody does what they are supposed to do, results will come. Again, I think that the President has done well by having the political will to privatize PHCN. Recently, the power sector was handed over to the private sector and we believe that it is just a matter of time for it to get better.

We have also observed that power generation has improved drastically unlike previous governments that will promise us heaven on earth, yet nothing will come out of it. What about the efforts he has made to revamp the fortunes of our Airports, making them look like Airports in other parts of the world?

These are commendable efforts. How about the dualization going on between Benin-Okenne road? What we all should know is that a lot of things were bad before the man came in and it will take him some time to fix them. You and I know that the only schools the children of the poor can access are public schools,  and Jonathan is building twelve federal universities at the same time in these few years. If you visit our universities and other federal institutions, you will observe improvements in infrastructures.

I recall that ASUU went on strike for about six months but the question is, was Jonathan the cause of  those problems that made ASUU go on strike? The answer is no. These were problems that have been there and were inherited by Jonathan. But this is the first time the government is listening to these unions so as to tackle the matter.

The list of what he has done is endless. I was impressed when I was reading about Kingsley Kuku the other day when he mentioned the number of youths from the Niger Delta that have been trained in different fields. Some are pilots, some are marine engineers and these are people that when they come back to Nigeria they will be able to train others. These are all the achievements of this administration.

But he has failed to fight corruption?

The people that were said to be fighting corruption before now were said to be using EFCC to witch hunt political enemies. Is that fighting corruption? Have you forgotten so soon how Obasanjo used EFCC to fight people like Dariye, Ayo Fayose, Alamieyeseigha and others because they have divergent political views? But under Jonathan, these bodies that were saddled with the responsibility of fighting corruption have been given the assistance they needed to carry out their jobs without being tele-guided.

I think that when people say that Jonathan is not fighting corruption, I laugh because they just want to use that to destroy his name. Jonathan is fighting corruption truthfully and legally but not the type that witch hunts people and send them to jail because he wants a third term. Recently we saw how the Supreme Court acquitted Bode George and it was clear that he was set up in the first place.

How optimistic are you that President Jonathan will survive the APC onslaught in 2015?

We are giving him our support for the 2015 presidency and he will win no matter the gang up against him.

Your people in Edo South  have lamented marginalization in the hands of the President Jonathan’s administration, what is your view on that?

I agree completely with my people that the Edo South Senatorial district has nobody in the Federal government since Gen Abbe left office. We have nobody in any Federal Government institution and it is sad because the Edo South Senatorial district whether people like it or not is the father of Edo State.

Whether by land mass or population, a senatorial district that is almost 60 per cent of the state deserves a place in government and Edo South has not been patronized by way of appointment. It does not matter who gets it but if we are given an appointment, it will make our people feel the impact of this administration. It will give them that sense of belonging.

There is this rumour that you will run again for the 2016 Governorship race in Edo state. How true is that?

I am not talking personal politics. I am a practicing politician and I believe that when the time comes and I have the support of my people to run for any particular office, even if it is councillor, I will run.  But for now, I am more focused on my business.

But the PDP in Edo state has suffered defeats in the hands of Oshiomhole ‘s APC. What is the party doing to change the situation?

It is true that we have suffered several defeats in the hands of Oshiomhole but I want to believe that we have learnt our lessons and we are repositioning now to ensure that we take our rightful place in the politics of Edo state. I am quite optimistic and positive.