Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, is in the final days of his second terms. He is also a candidate hoping to be elected to his constituency in the next Senate come 2023. He is one of the key allies of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who has been locked in a battle with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the future of its national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu. In this interview with selected journalists, he speaks about his legacy as governor, the PDP crisis, the politics of succession in the state and contesting for Senate against Enyinnaya Abaribe, among other things.
What have been your greatest challenges as governor in the past seven and half years?
I want to start by thanking God first, for giving me the opportunity to serve, and also thank Abia people for finding me worthy in a state of five million people to be their leader between 2015 and now. If I summarise the seven years in a few words, I would say it has been the most eventful with its ups and downs. The greatest challenge was communicating my vision first to my team and secondly to the people. I always tell a story of a locomotive engine that is running at high speed without the coaches. It might arrive its destination in a good time but with no passengers or goods. Leadership in the 21st Century requires that one must communicate his/her vision in a way that your team will be able to replicate and drive it and also speak to the people so that they can be receptive to your vision and support you in any way they can. On the first flank, there is a choice as a governor to choose your team such as commissioners, aides, and structure of the political components but you have little or no choice about civil service, which is the bulwark of public service in general. At times, a governor might have a civil service that is stereotyped or focused on old ways, not receptive to change, not willing to run at one’s speed, and not willing to embrace 21st Century paradigms of development like digitalization and computerization. It impacts on everything negatively from revenue collection systems and there are problems inherent in the system orchestrated by labour’s stance and unionization. One is really handicapped if one is a democrat. Apart from the checks and balances that the judiciary and legislatures would provide, it is also a big bottleneck with bureaucracy and protocol, driving the vision, and we don’t have all the time. So, I experienced a lot of frustration in that regard and we had to devise a way to go round that.
What we did was to create an Abia Economic Advancement Team, which is my backroom and they have the mandate to turn my vision into a work plan and to adapt it to local dynamics to make sure it functions and to also support me in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation if there is a lagging and unwilling arm of the system. So, that was how we got around but it can be quite frustrating.
One of your projects, the Osisioma Flyover, which you inaugurated recently, is a very beautiful initiative that you started and completed. Looking back into the past seven years, what are the other things you did that when you look back, you can say you have done well?
Incidentally, Osisioma Flyover ranks 6th among the things I would want to be remembered for. When I speak about legacy, I speak about the peace and stability that we enjoy in Abia State. Abia is today like the oasis in desert that is the middle of conflict. Abia has remained relatively politically stable. It has also remained comparatively safer than other states security-wise. I give God the glory for that and I want to say that this is one state that in the past seven years, we have not had a case of bank robbery.
I wonder about the stability of Abia State when it comes to security issues in the South East and all over the country. For instance, in Lagos, it is one of the things former Governor Babatunde Fashola was given credit for. During his tenure, there was no armed robbery. How did you try to stem the armed robbery incidents?
First, I want to give God the glory because as a Christian, security is of the Lord. I also want to thank my people. Abia people are very vigilant because we connected with them, and we receive benefits of actionable intelligence. We are also blessed with proactive security agencies and we created a synergy. In most cases, there is always interagency rivalry. As a leader, at a time like this, the first one must tackle is make sure that there is no interagency rivalry. Once interagency rivalry can be nipped in the bud and let all the agencies know that they have roles to play in the structure that makes up the security architecture, then one would have done more 40 to 50 per cent of what needs to done. Beyond that, we track in a very serious manner all the miscreants that come to our knowledge and we have a digital platform in Government House that gives us satellite images of every inch of the state. We have a robust military specification communication system that links all the DPOs to the Commissioner of Police and those on patrol. We have powerful radio wavelength that gives us the real-time information. We also deployed a group of people we called ‘Gatekeepers’ into the various communities. They are watching, vigilant and giving us actionable information on movement of people, so that we can nip them in the bud whenever that happens.
You talked about Osisioma Flyover being the 6th-ranked project. What are the others?
The next one is our support for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, with the support for Abians in the shoe, bag, and leather work sector, has been unprecedented. There is Abia SME Bank which provides funding at the micro level even for traders that sell on the table on the streets. So, funding is critical. We have also been involved in aggressive marketing for Made-in-Aba, and Made-in-Nigeria products. We have mounted Trade Fairs in Abuja and even in New York. We have been with them to Egypt, South Africa, and China, and we did capacity-building by sending 30 young people to learn how to make shoes. A fall out of that, we imported the equipment for shoe-making and established the first automated shoe factory in history of Nigeria. So, the standard of products in terms of shoe-making has improved and we have started exporting shoes in large quantities and making shoes for the military and police. We are bringing our second factory, which is the garment factory. I understand that the first garment equipment container among the five containers has arrived. I am very sure by December, we will be commencing the garment factory. I will also want to be remembered for collaborating with the Federal Government to provide Araria Independent Power Plant and most importantly, on a better and wider scale, the Geometric Power, which we supported Geometric to provide. What this means is that Abia will be the first state to enjoy uninterrupted power supply sometime soon and we have been working hard to make sure that it happens because I know what power will do. If power is unlocked, the potential of the people will be unleashed and for me, that is very critical. I also want to be remembered for building over 650 new classroom blocks…redefining infrastructure and among them, four modern schools we have followed up with tweaking the curriculum and method of teaching. We have effectively transited into digital teaching. I have also been able to remodel four technical schools in Aba, Ohafia, and Umuahia. We have consistently embraced the school feeding programme from Primary One to Six and it has effectively reversed enrolment in public schools from private schools. It is important that access to functional education is key because if schools are available and not affordable, access becomes an issue. We have more trained teachers, world-class infrastructure. I don’t have any private school has the facilities we have in terms of smart boxes for teaching. I will also want to be remembered for our vision when it comes Enyimba Economic City. It is something close to silver bullet because our population is increasing geometrically and that is also part of why we have security problems in Nigeria. If we are unable to provide jobs in a geometric trend that will match the increasing population, we will have a big problem on our hand very soon and the only answer to it is a project like Enyimba Economic City, which promises to provide over 650,000 jobs in 30 years.
Are you not worried about the tendency of successors not to continue with such visions?
Yes, I have also tried to move away from that line of thought which has become the bane of our political intervention in Nigeria. I inherited about six to seven projects from my predecessor and I am proud to say that I have completed three and I am going to complete the Government House project which I inherited. We have a tradition in Abia of not allowing the people’s funds to be wasted on abandoned projects. If my predecessor embarked on some projects and they are life-changing projects, why I won’t I embrace it and conclude it? After all, it is our money that is being tied down.
In many states, war often ensues between the predecessor and successor. How have you been managing your predecessor in office?
Anywhere there is peace, even in a family, there must be a compromise. Luckily, I am a man that is devoid of ego because of my training. I am a very sophisticated person. I understand signs and times. My predecessor has also been a gentleman. He understands that there has been to be one key in the plug at a time; that Abia State has one governor, which is me. In return, I accord him his respect as an elder statesman. I seek his advice whenever I need and I also urge him to call my attention when he doesn’t understand what I am doing but largely, we build sufficient confidence that he is sure that I will act in the best interest of the state and not necessarily to undermine him. If there are things I do during the course of work that he is averse to, he would also see my view that it is for the overall interest of the state. I was confronted with his question recently and my response was that my predecessor understands me and he looks out for me, he is an elder statesman and I am grateful that he provided his platform and opportunity for me to serve. I really don’t have any problem with him.
That leads to the question of support for your own successor. Your predecessor seems far detached from your decision…
He has not told me about his preference for another person…
Many people in your party are not happy about that decision…
Which decision?
Your choice of your preferred successor…
You said many…
One of them is the man that left PDP, Senator Abaribe, to contest the senate against you…
No. His reason for leaving is that he wanted to be governor, and we are from the same local government. How do we conceive that it takes 84 years in a state of 17 local government for every local government to produce a governor? How does one justify eight years by 17? This is the bane of politics and politicians in Nigeria. When they don’t get what they want, there is no ideology and morality behind it. I don’t understand what it is. Somebody whose house is five minutes walk away from my house? I think we need to get to that point where we will be more sensitive to issues concerning politics.
Another thorny issue is that your would-be successor is from the same area as you…
No, I am from Abia South, he is from Abia Central. Abia Central has about six local government areas, three local government areas are in Umuahia, which is Old Bende, and the other three are in Old Aba. From the Abia Chater of Equity, Orji Uzor Kalu, who is from Bende Local Government handed over the next local government which is in Umuahia North, though in Abia Central, the same Old Bende. If it was a crime, it was committed long before now. So, equity dictates that if I am returning to Abia North, it has to also stay in the three Ngwa Local Government Areas in the Central and then proceed from there. In fact, a friend of mine, who is also one of the critics of the projects of Chief Ogbonna asked me a question when Governor T. A. Orji was running to be governor, and we were talking about it and he said to me that in Igbo tradition, that if one lifts a load from the head, he puts it on the shoulder as it is going down and my question to him now is that if one is carrying something from the ground, one will first put it on the knee and take it up there using the same analogy that he used. With Uchenna Ikonne’s emergence, it has provided an opportunity for equity. Old Bende would have done, Orji Uzor’s and T. A Orji’s 16 years, Old Aba division would have done Ikpeazu’s eight years and Ikonne’s eight years, which makes up for 16years. If it goes to Abia North, we don’t mind if it will come to Umuahia again before it comes to the South. It is a recipe for peace and stability.
Going to the Senate after serving eight years as governor, one would wonder if you are not tired. Why do you want to go to the Senate?
Let me say this. I am tired of being a governor but certainly not tired of responding to impulses from my people. If it is the wish of my people that I represent them in the Senate, so be it but after my stint in the Senate because of age, I will contemplate retirement from politics but if my people feel I am still young enough and also have something to offer, especially in the area of the fact that all that you see in Aba today is done under my watch. If you delete my intervention from Aba, in fact, Abia South and some parts of Abia Central will be left a void, formless and shapeless. But of all things you have seen, we have done so far, they are by efforts of the state government. There is no Federal Government presence in Abia South. They think they need somebody who has the capacity to create and attract Federal Government’s attention to Abia South.
Why was it difficult to do that as a governor?
As a leader of the subnational government, I have my job cut out for me. I couldn’t do everything. It’s important but that is not to say that nothing is being done in that direction. We have two to three ICT hubs that recently exported somebody that is valued at $1million. The person is residing in the UK now. The person came up with an app for a payment platform but we think we can do more. We have over 350 boys in one of those hubs and this ICT initiative has been recognized by Ford Foundation and we won many times through the Platform and by the grace of God, Ford Foundation put Abia State on CNN for several weeks where Made-in-Aba products and ICT exploits were promoted. We have done quite a lot. We just signed off to transform the digital library at Umuahia into an IT hub for young people to idealise, create and innovate. So, we have created the fundamentals. So, we have done this much as a subnational government. The real thing is the Federal Government and we think there is a missing link and my people felt I can do the needful by bridging this gap. Again, If you recall all the major issues we have today, be it Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway, or Ikot Ekpene… these are Federal Government roads because I have suffered a lot trying to do these things without a refund from the Federal Government and I have done several Federal government roads. The time has come for the man who understands where the shoe pinches to lead out in the next four years at that level to speak for his people.
The man you are contesting with was known for his outspokenness, and vociferousness on issues affecting the Igbo on the floor of the Senate. That gave him a heroic status among the Igbo as the voice of the voiceless. I mean, you have a formidable opponent to contend with. How do you see that panning out?
Going forward, I think our people are asking questions about the work he has done. If you go to Ike Ekweremadu’s local government, I don’t think there is any track road that is not better and no one will say Ekweremadu is a complete pushover in the Senate, either judged by his ability to play the politics of the Senate and position himself and he rose to become the Deputy Senate President, or by advocacy for Enugu or Igbo people as it were. In addition to all of these, people could see what he has done. I have a lot of respect and regard for my elder brother, distinguished Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and most of us learnt politics watching him. Nobody remains an apprentice forever. At times, experience is very important but if combined youthfulness and energy is unbeatable.
You and a few PDP governors were not at the launch of Atiku campaign. What happened? Is it an extension of the ongoing battle between you and your presidential candidate?
There is no battle between the presidential candidate and I. He is my presidential candidate. I don’t have any other candidate but at times, when one gets to a certain point in life, and a vehicle is put down for a journey, every kid will jump at that offer. What as a matured man questions will be asked about the destination of the vehicle. That is the question I am asking. I am a South Easterner. I am an Igbo man. We have been faithful apologists of the PDP since 1999 and needed to ask a question. The greatest need of Nigerians today is inclusiveness. Can we be sensitive to the feelings of other people? Can I be guaranteed a country where a criminal in Sokoto is a criminal in Abia and a criminal Abia is a criminal in Zamfara? Can I be guaranteed a country where my son will be not brutalized because his name is Okolie? Can I be allowed into a meeting out of respect for my capacity to make contributions in that meeting and not necessarily because I am here but because of where I come from? There was a time in this country when the quota system was the order of the day; even in admission, because if we take candidates on merit, some sections of this country may not have candidates and everybody agreed to it so that our brothers and sisters can catch up with us. When did we jettison that consideration? The other name for hypocrisy is double-standard and these questions were being asked quietly and politely before some characters escalated to the national platform. I was not in Abuja because I went overseas for a United Nations meeting held in New York and I just came back, which is why I couldn’t attend the launch. But going forward, if those questions are not answered, we will limp into the bus and see how it goes but I thank God for the courage to ask those questions and I will end this particular question with a proverb about a chicken that found itself the claws of a kite and the chicken continued to shout and it said ‘I am shouting not because the kite will leave me but let heaven and earth hear my voice.”
It is said that a group of governors like you, Seyi Makinde, Ortom, Wike, and Ugwuanyi are opposed to the candidacy either because of Wike’s loss or the quest for southern president. Was that the reason all the five governors boycotted the launch? Was it planned that the five of you were not there?
It will be very childish for me not to attend our party activities because Wike lost. I granted an interview on the floor of the convention that night and I have told Wike before the convention that we should be hopeful and prayerful so that we can win, but if we don’t win, are we still going to remain in PDP and his answer was positive that we will remain in PDP; that if another person wins, we will go with the person. However, in trying to make our party strong and give us a narrative with which to market the party from this part of the country, people would always ask me questions as a leader in the party what is the way forward and what’s in it for us? If that question is posed, I don’t know what I will say, or have we gotten to the point where nobody says anything again?
This is why I needed to satisfy my conscience that I have these questions. It is not about Wike and we are not against His Excellency, Waziri Adamawa. The problem is beyond Waziri. It is about dredging up the courage to speak the right words and this is also part of what is bedeviling Nigeria. I have said that if I were in the shoes of President Buhari, I will engage citizen Nnamdi Kanu. Engaging him does not belittle our president. He is our citizen, and there may be things that Nnamdi Kanu is not seeing because he is not sitting on the presidential chair. Then, you enlighten him, there could also be things that he is hearing because he is closer to the grassroots which the president doesn’t know and he would educate him.
Finally, the South-East is not speaking about Peter Obi. Is it about party politics or about the brightest chance the Igbo have to make an impact and possibly win the presidency?
I don’t know what you mean by the South-East…
I mean leaders…Leaders of a geopolitical zone cannot be synonymous with the geopolitical zone. Most politicians speak from a selfish reason and it is about how it satisfies what they perceive but if any leader in the South-East wants, to be frank, he will say Peter Obi is a narrative that is resonating and I believe strongly that God still interferes in the affairs of men. Secondly, I also believe strongly that a mango will fall when it is ripe and it is time. Nobody knows whether it is time and season now or not but whosoever will emerge as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should know there is a Goliath confronting that David. If the person is unable to dredge up the courage to kill that Goliath, then you are not the David. There is no way we can run away from it.
Can you explain that?
What I mean is that today for the candidate of PDP, his Goliath is to dredge up the courage to demonstrate your capacity for inclusiveness and nation-building. It is a big-time Goliath. For Peter Obi, dredge up the courage to speak Nigerianness into the seeming South-East agenda. For Bola Tinubu, the Goliath is to create a 360 degree departure from what has brought us to this path in the past seven years.
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