By Egufe Yafugborhi

Hon (Barr) Olivia T. Agbajoh was just three months into office as member representing Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Reps when military takeover truncated her lawmaking career in 1983. In this interaction , Hon Agbajoh says 2015 is the set time for her to complete her mission on that truncated tenure. Excerpts:

You have been a recurring decimal in politics and public services for years, holding one office or the other. Which has been your most fulfilling public service engagement and achievement?

I would say when I was in the Federal House of Representatives in 1983. That was some 31 years ago in the Second Republic. I was there for only three months but I was able to actualize a milestone that is there today for all to see. That naval base in Warri was a structure I attracted to the Warri Federal Constituency by speaking to then President, Shehu Shagari. If in three months I was able to do that, you can imagine what I will do in four years because, quite frankly, I intend to spend only one term in my aspired return to the House of Reps.

Why limiting yourself to only one term when the law allows for limitless terms?

Oliva Agbajoh

I feel it is a position that should be rotated. There are many people aspiring to serve. I hate a situation where people want to sit tight doing two, three, and some even wanting to do four terms, for what? People argue about maturity with multiple terms, but that does not mean you should sit tight there forever. If you do one term, two terms, that is okay, but I don’t even want to do two. Two is okay but not three.

How does party politics today compare to what it was when you got into the House of Reps then?

A lot has changed. In those days, it was normal to consult, reach to the electorates, and in doing that, present and wedge kolanut. It is traditional to go with drinks or give transport handouts for visitations and all that. But now money has become a mega thing. You see people spending money in billions because they want to contest an election.

Not everybody has this money, and the people who have it may not be right the people to lead, but because the electorates have been deprived and believe that people who want to contest to represent them are not accessible after gaining power, they live with the mindset that they must grab all they are able to get from them at the point of aspiring. They say, “This is our only toll gate. Let us get what we can get now because we will not see them again after supporting them in.”

I am sorry to say, but we have really been retrogressing. I do not know when we are going to get out of this quagmire, but I think it is a mindset. There is a lot of hardship in the land. If the poor man has food and shelter, it would help a great deal in stabilizing the situation. As a result of mass hunger, people concentrate on taking what they can grab now, and the people who give the “now, now settlement” are often not the right persons to enthrone. They pay for their votes and they close the door to them.

In those days, I used to have breakfast with my constituents, but nowadays, somebody who is a member of the house will not even open his gate for you, not in the least having breakfast with you.

What is the motivation for gunning for return to the NASS now after the short spell in 1983?

I want to go back because I believe that my people have not gotten much from the federal government. I want to be there to attract more federal presence to them. Secondly, in 1983 I was only 32 years. Today I am 63, more mature, a grandmother and all my children are grown up. I am no longer breastfeeding any baby. I am free to go where I want even at 2am for any meeting. I am not restricted to anything. This is the right time for me to make more purposeful contribution to society when I don’t have any encumbrances bothering me. Upbringing of children takes time. I did that for five children, and now I am a grandmother.