Former national vice president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, speaks on the challenges facing governors of the five South-East states and what needs to be done to achieve stability and progressive development of the region. In this interview with Cajetan Mmuta and other journalists, he discussed key deliverables in Anambra State, among other issues.
The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, recently urged the South-East governors to form a synergy for collective development of the geo-political zone. What’s your take on that statement?
Bishop Kukah said the obvious because God has created Anambra state as the number one state in the South-East, if not Nigeria in general, and our people are used to saying as a people that they are the pathfinders. So, God has given the Anambra state everything it takes to lead the Igbo race, and according to Kukah, Governor Charles Soludo has been fully prepared for that synergy. During the time of the Ohanaeze South-East Summit, Soludo was the chairman, and the agenda of the Ohanaeze, as it were, was the South-East Development Commission, and he was the Chairman of the committee then. We talked about interconnectivity in roads and railways; that was his first year in office. Soludo said that he would put down N500m and that if each of the five states put down N500m, that would be N2.5bn, which would be a take-off, but unfortunately, nobody brought that money. Now Soludo has started dualizing all the Federal roads, getting to the point of every nearby state, and has promised a railway line from Onitsha to Nnewi, Nnewi to Ekwulobia, and Ekwulobia to Awka. So, what we had in mind as Ohaneze at that time was to have a railway from Onitsha to Owerri, Owerri to Aba, Aba to Umuahia, Umuahia to Okigwe, Okigwe to Enugu, and Enugu to Abakaliki to Nssuka and from Nssuka back to Onitsha. This policy also connected the roads in the South East just as the railways would connect the major cities in the South-East. In Anambra, for example, you know that you can attend four to five functions in one day and come back. What Ohanaeze had in mind was to propose to the South-East Governors Forum to make the region one urban state. This is because creating more states from the former East Central state did not mean the creation of more countries. After all, administratively, we are one family. For example, what Soludo is doing in Anambra state is such that he doesn’t understand which states one comes from. Today, Soludo says it is easier to make Anambra a one-city state with all the connections of roads. At every kilometer, you see a developmental project that is bringing Anambra together as a one-city state. Soon, Anambra would become like Lagos state because, in Lagos, you do not know when you will get to Ikorodu. The development from Ekwulobia has gotten up to Nanka, and it is getting to Nibo and Nise, and in the shortest time, somebody can come from Awka, lodge in a hotel at Ekwuluobia, and attend meetings in Awka. For somebody from Ikorodu to Lagos, is it not more than from here in Awka to Enugu? So, I agree with what Bishop Kukah said because it is evident and workable. When Soludo talked about five thousand housing units, people asked how, but he is now on it.
Since the election of the new President-General of Ohanaeze, have we seen anything new?
We just finished our election about a month ago, and our new President is Sen John Azuka Mbata from Obiakpo local government area of Rivers state, and he is the right choice. We did not make any mistake in electing him; it is constitutional because it is rotatory, and this is the turn of Rivers State. He is a perfect mixer and a no-nonsense man. I have served about eight President Generals of Ohanaeze, and I can tell you that when you discuss with Mbata you will discover that he has put down millions of his money to establish the state headquarters of the Ohanaeze in the respective states and he is making foundation for Ohanaeze Secretariat in every state and at all the higher institutions to institute a chair of prominent Igbos in those schools. He is trying to bring it down to that level to make people know what Ohanaeze Ndigbo stands for.
You earlier said that the Igbo are united, but how about noticeable political differences that seem always to rock the boat of unity and development of the region?
That was in the old, not now. The Igbo of today are not the Igbo of the past. Political differences do not count anymore; it’s in the old. That one comes from Imo or Anambra, Enugu or Ebonyi, and it doesn’t change you from being an Igbo man because we are one family. So, any governor not thinking about the interconnectivity that will unite the South-East is doing a disservice to the Igbo Nation, and I do not see any of them thinking that way. When some of these northerners want to divide us they use the states or political parties to do that but our people have become wiser and more focused to know that the political divide cannot help us but ruin us as a people. There was an incident where a woman married to Abia was to be the Chief Judge but they protested that she is from Anambra. By then, Anambra was employing people from Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, and Enugu states. You look at the last employment by Soludo, once you are living in Anambra state, you apply for an interview and if you get the cut-off point and pass you will be employed. Go to the local government service commission, and you will discover that people from different states are engaged. A Yoruba man was recently promoted to permanent secretary at Anambra state. So, that shows you that the old order has changed, and most people have realized that those things do not apply in this modern day. Division cannot help us in any way, and we are now soft-pedaling.
The issue of insecurity in Anambra appears to have been drastically reduced yet other states in the South East are still grappling with the scourge, what do you have to say about this?
It is a matter of methodology and every Governor in the South-East has his own style and if they find what Soludo has done good, they can apply the same method.
Soludo has just been in office for three years. What are your opinions?
It is interesting to note that the man under three years has done very well, and it is there for us to see. When you look at the road network and the projects he has embarked on, you can agree that he has done well. Some people say nobody should contest with him, but I say no. It is not democratic because it is through an election process. If you say that you want to challenge, go ahead, and that is why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had to register many political parties so there would be more candidates for the election. Soludo tried it once or twice and could not get it, but he came again and won the election. So far, he has proven that he wants to serve the Anambra state and is doing it to show that he desires to develop the state. The essence of democracy is the government of the people, for the people, and by the people. You must give people a chance to express themselves, which is the beauty of democracy. If you say let him alone go and contest, it becomes autocracy or dictatorship, not democracy.
