‘Agitators for interim government are coupists’
By JOSSY IDAM (Jidam14@Yahoo.com)
Saturday, August 12, 2006

•Gov Orji Kalu Photos: Sun News Publishing

Smoking Gun Index

Ever forthright and bold, Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, is vehemently opposed to the idea of an Interim National Government being bandied around for President Obasanjo’s administration, as a stop-gap between the elongation of the president’s tenure and eventual hand over to a democratically elected successor.

To Kalu, the idea of interim government is a rape of both the constitution and democracy, and those behind it, he intones, should be tried for coup plotting. He also bared his mind on the spate of assassinations in the country, problems in his own state, his presidential ambition, his successor and more.

Excerpts:
If the Interim National Government being canvassed for by some politicians scales through, will your hope of being the country’s next president in 2007 still be a reality?
Some Nigerians think as if they are fools. We have a constitution. Please, let them not annoy people like me… The constitution is superior to what people are discussing. You cannot begin to talk about an Interim National Government where there is a constitution. Are they taking us back to 1993 or what? They should allow us to move forward. Forget it, whoever is talking about Interim Government is planning a coup against the constitution and against the country. And anyone who plans a coup, should be charged accordingly.
But this is the time that President Obasanjo should come out clearly in no mixed terms to defend democracy and the constitution and tell them it’s not part of our system, it’s not part of our law. Even if the country is at war, we will still hold election.

What does Interim Government potend for Nigeria?
If you do Interim Government, you are setting us back. There’s nothing that will stop us from holding election. If we go back to square one, we might have a problem there. And if we do, this country may not survive it. I believe these people should be as wise as my grandmother and make sure we all work together and respect the democratic process.

By getting along with IBB and Atiku, its being speculated that you are indirectly negotiating to be vice president. Isn’t it exactly what you are looking for?
No, I’m running for presidency. I can’t be vice president. I cannot because of that severe relationship with Babangida, Atiku and even Marwa and Buhari. The options are open for everyone. I am marching on to be the president of Nigeria and not vice president. That is where we are.
I’m setting up structures. Even these people that you’ve mentioned, there are no indications that they are contesting this election. I’ve said it openly for the past three years that I’m contesting. In 2003, I said there’s need for my area to produce the next president. Now, am ready to run. Unless you don’t want to support me-a man of your generation.

The country is, at the moment, wallowing in a lot of developmental cum social problems. If you eventually emerge as president, what will be paramount in your agenda?
First, the economy. We need to stimulate the economy. Electricity for instance, we must have a sincere approach to it. We have to strategise and ensure that we refine our oil here and that all the nation’s refineries are working in full capacity. If it means having partnership with Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, Agip and other major oil companies, we are going to do it. After five years of building a refinery, they can buy it over and manage it 100 per cent.

We are going to ensure that we put food on the tables of Nigerians. Nigerians are hungry. Look at their faces. Next, are the nation’s infrastructures – they are not maintained. They are collapsing. A country of 150 million people has no railway system, no postal services, nothing works - nothing that stimulates the economy. These are indicators. These are things that should be used to shore up the economy. We shall raise the hopes of Nigerians and make them believe in their country.

But the nation’s values and culture are also suffering….
We also have to fight for our values-our values and culture have collapsed. We have to come back to the drawing board to ensure that people being respected are not just the ones with money. There is no respect anymore for people with honour. We have to change that. We are wrongly placing so much emphasis on money.

Will your administration just coast along; what will occupy your first four years?
The most important thing we’ll do in the first four years of my administration would be to build back the middle-class. No middle class today in Nigeria – it’s either you are rich or you are poor. That is not proper. There should be a middle class. For us to have stability in the nation, we must have economic stability. If you’re travelling abroad, they have no respect for people with Nigeria’s international passport. Embassies throw away Nigerian passports. I have to bring back respect to this great nation.

We’ll bring back prosperity in the nation. After four years of our administration, no Nigerian would be keen on going to live elsewhere. If he must live outside Nigeria, it has to be by choice and not because things are hard here. So, these and more are issues we want to tackle. We can’t be at foundation level for 46 years. If Nigeria were a business venture, it has failed.

When you run a business for five years, it should begin to pay itself. This means, we have not been running the country well. There are things that we are doing that we are not supposed to be doing. So, we have to go back on to the drawing board and bring back honour to our people.

You just visited the Berger auto-market here in Lagos. Aren’t you just playing to the gallery?
Well, that’s a motor constituency of ours. I tell people, it’s not those few elites that talk in the newspapers that vote. Honestly, they are the people that we need their support.

Okonjo Iweala is from your constituency. Isn’t her resignation a bad development for the country?
It’s a good development for her and the nation if you are doing a job that you are no longer interested in, the right thing to do is to resign. I share whatever views and sentiments that made her resign. Nigerians should learn how to resign. They shouldn’t stay until they are booted out.

So, I salute her courage. Although, they have set up economic policy that is not inclusive of poor people, I praise her courage for quiting.

The spate of politically-motivated killings is on the rise in the country. Now it’s Funso Williams…what’s your candid feelings?
It’s very sad to see a bright person, a very honest man, a man that we started this struggle together in 1988 till today, and the only payment they could give him is death. They even killed him in a very abnormal way. I call on both state and federal government to look for those that killed him and punish them according to the law. Let this one not be like others.

You know, so many years ago, I shouted they want to kill me... I shouted. If they have started again, we have to watch it. If they have started again, it’s a bad omen. It means anybody can be killed. I want the state and federal government to wake up. If it is not you, it might be your relation or friend. It’s unfortunate that our people have not learnt any thing. They should learn to accept defeat, respect one another and be people of honour. I believe respect is the basic tool we can use to move forward.

You recently beefed-up security in two of your cities–Aba and your state capital Umuahia. Have you restored peace and order there now?
Well, we have done what we can. We’ve beefed up security in these areas to make sure people live, move and transact their businesses freely. The most important thing in constitutional democracy is the rule of law and respect for other people’s feelings. What’s causing so much insecurity is that people are becoming so intolerant about other people’s views.

Does it bother you that most cities in your state are described as filthy? The condition of Aba, the business nerve centre of your state is a lesson on how not to manage waste…
Yes, we have waste problem in our state. In the next two weeks, I’ll be launching the new equipment we’ve just imported from Germany. It’s a problem in Aiba State and unless one admits he has a problem, it cannot be solved. Mind you also that the problem is something the local government ought to manage and not the state. But I’m going to intervene directly to manage it. People in Nigeria hardly know the responsibility of the state and local government. It really gives me a concern. Neither do they know the difference between federal and state road. So, I’m going to address that issue. It’s a problem.

But this December, people are going to see a different enviroment. I’m going to work on it. the problem is a challenge.

Erosion and landslide have devasted parts of your state, especially Isuikwuato. What are you doing about it?
I have just been given a person to handle Isuikwuato road. We’ll work out a system. By the next two to three weeks, we’ll find money, mobilize them to go and tackle those big gullies. This goes into about 3 billion naira. The whole money we collect in a month is about 1.3 to 1.4 billion naira. Then they will deduct the money the past administration owed - the one we are owing the Paris Club. It’s not that we don’t know what to do. It’s just that we don’t have the cash flow like the federal government. In our state, we have free education and as such, children are not paying school fees. This takes a bulk of our money and I don’t want to stop it now that I have only eight months to go.

You are still in PDP and, as we gathered, tactically in PPA. On what platform are you going for the presidency, will the problems tearing PDP apart ever be remedied?
Well, PDP has its problems. When you have problem and deceive yourself and do not acknowledge it, then you have a real problem. As it is, you will go into more problems.

You see, when you told me I have a problem, I didn’t argue with you. I said yes, we have a problem. PDP has not accepted or agreed that it has a problem. There are still people carrying on as though they were in 16th century. They carry on like warlords.

I like the name, Progressive People Alliance so much. If I don’t get the PDP ticket, I’ll go for PPA, reorganize and fight for the presidential race through PPA. Nigerians this time, are not going to vote for party, they will vote for individuals whom they know will liberate them and make them happy.

You will be leaving office as governor in the next few months, are you not bothered about who will succeed you?
I’m not bothered about that. The issue of who will succeed me lies in the hand of God. Those who worry about those who will succeed them may have done things they don’t want other people to see or know about. Let anyone capable emerge. The only thing that worries me is–I don’t see how someone from my senatorial district, Abia North, can come out and say he wants to be governor. I won’t support it. I know those I’ll not vote for. So, the issue of who will succeed me lies in the hand of God and Abia People.