From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Three–time member of the House of Representatives, Ben Nwankwo, has called on all the political parties in Nigeria, especially the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone their presidential tickets to the South East geopolitical zone.
Nwankwo, who represented Orumba North and South in the green chamber spoke on various issues.
Why do you want to go to the Senate after going to the House of Representatives three times?
It is a natural sequence to move up the chambers from the green to red after you have acquired consummate experience, skills, competency and legislative network. The natural thing you do is to move to the Senate and render better greater services to your people. Going to the Senate after all these years will afford me the opportunity of leveraging greater legislative networks to advance the course of social and economic development of my people. And if you talk about the red chambers, it’s made of people who have moved from the green to the red chambers; most of whom I know and had networked with; either I met them in the 5th assembly or 7th assembly or 8th assembly as the case maybe for which I was a member also. Some others may have been acquaintances and political allies that you have, one way or the other, interacted with in the course of your political activities. So, I am moving to the Senate because I believe that the time is now. And at a time it is of critical importance that the Nigerian project should be rebalanced. The country requires a lot of balancing from all angles; it requires some restructuring to be able to survive. Nigeria is like, to me, a cancerous patient. Refusing restructuring will mean inviting death. It will mean that outrightly that you have accepted to die naturally because if you are cancerous and some part of the body that is already affected by cancer has to go off and then let you be, there is no way there will be no surgery. At this point in time, we are pressing that the country should be appropriately and properly restructured; that the country should be rebalanced, equitable, liveable, progressive and peaceful for every Nigerian to thrive in their businesses. That’s my mission to the National Assembly. More importantly, I themed my campaign: Partnership Project, in the sense that I want to build partnership with the state government to be able to bring about dividends of democracy; to be sure that a certain percentage of the national wealth by budgetary intervention comes to Anambra State through my legislative encounters. These are the reasons why I want to go to the Senate, plus the fact that I need to connect the youths of my senatorial district to the opportunities that they so desire in terms of connecting them to employment, connecting them to some other opportunities, making sure that they are engaged constructively and not allow them to engage themselves destructively as it is the case now. These and so many other reasons propel me to want to go to the National Assembly, precisely the Senate to be able to sit over the legislative affairs of the country and to make my contribution leveraging my experience for the greater good of Nigeria.
Tell us about your years in the House of Representatives and what would you say were your achievements?
My first encounter was 2003 to 2007, that is the fifth assembly. But you must note that it was an election that I won while in detention. Those were the days of the godfathers in PDP. They conspired and put me in detention, and while in detention, I was voted by the masses of Orumba North and Orumba South to represent them. And that I did between 2003, technically speaking, to 2007 and during which period I brought about the biggest project in any legislative performance in Anambra State; the Oko – Ajalli – Umunze – Ibinta Road that cost billions of naira. That time, it was almost an impossible thing going to Orumba. Accessing Orumba was very difficult. Only tippers were able to ply that road and it was almost impassable, dysfunctional, completely out of use. But then, within that period I was able to bring through legislative instrumentation, to bring about the completion of that road. And within that period there were lots and lots of empowerment. In fact, I make bold to say that being the first Anambra person to go to the National Assembly three times, I was the first person that started translating empowerment in real terms by giving people means of livelihood, created cooperative societies, economic clubs and all what have you among the youths. Some were given loans, some were given vehicles, tricycles, motorcycles, etc. And besides that, employments here and there and I started computer training as at that time for over 300 to 400 persons of Orumba. Those days, not too many knew about computers between 2003 and 2007. And I started a bring- back-our-girls campaign. There were lots and lots of girls that were displaced out of school for one reason or the other, including not having money to pay school fees and all what have you. But I was able to bring them back to the classroom, gave them computer skills, and gave them certificates that were co-signed by the National Assembly. And with that, they were able to gain employment and have skills that were able to fetch them their daily bread. Those were the things that we did in the first one. In the second one between 2011 and 2015, I was there again during which time I chaired the House Committee on Culture and Tourism and some other ad hoc committees. I got employment for over 75 graduates of Orumba North and South origin. That was federal employment. They’re all living; none is dead by His grace. In the next 10 to 20 years, your guess is as good as mine what they will be in their respective positions. I did one ward, one project programme. Every community has got a project with me through the National Assembly and I launched the Greater Orumba Medical Mission, Greater Orumba Football Tournament which Peter Rufai was the technical manager at that time; and lots and lots of things were done. And projects were everywhere. Many people were wondering where I was getting what I was using to get those things. But the fact remains that if you’re a good legislator and you know your onions, you know what to do and where to get what at any point in time. Again, between 2015 and 2019 I was there. But you must also note that a greater part of that moment was usurped by an interloper until I wrestled the seat from him at the Supreme Court. I met him halfway and took over my mandate and completed it but at the same time, I continued with my community by community projects. I continued with massive empowerment, I continued with employment schemes and all what have you. And today, the records are there on what and what I have been able to do in Orumba.
Much has been said about the South East producing president in 2023? What are your thoughts on these issues?
I think that the constitutionality of the federation of Nigeria is under critical test with the Igbo presidency in 2023. I have been saying this. There is a systematic annihilation of the Igbo race by the state whereby the state is unknowingly carrying out garrison actions against the Igbo people. They have been pulling the wools by the eyes of the people over the years. And this 2023 Igbo presidency definitely will open up everything people have been saying. There have been denials of the Igbo being marginalised. 2023 is the political test and that 2023, the constitutionality of the federation of Nigeria will be under interrogation. What do I mean? There will be a major constitutional breach if an Igbo man does not emerge president in 2023. A community reading of the derivative principle of state policy and the federal character clauses make it imperative that every part of Nigeria should gain from the resources of the federation evenly, so much so that no part has advantage over the other. That is what I call equitable federalist structure whereby all parts of the country benefits evenly, equally, equitably and happily. But today, what has happened is that the federal character principle has been applied in all segments, in all forms, in every consideration thereof, but in terms of the presidency, no. Who is deceiving who? Who told you that if you can apply the federal character principle in employment in the police, army, admission into unity schools and others, when it comes to presidency, you tell us that ‘oh it’s a political competition’. The point is this; the mere fact that zoning is enshrined in the constitution and the essence of zoning is to maintain equity, and whereas all the zones in the South, namely: South West and South-South have benefitted, remaining the South East. The only constitutional pathway that is open to all the political parties is to choose their presidential candidates from the South East. Outside of that, they will be breaching the provision of the constitution by the fact that every other part of the federation down the South that is their turn to produce the president has done so except the South East. Without an Igbo president, you would have been pushing the Igbo out of Nigeria. You would have successfully told them that they’re not part of Nigeria. You have been told that the war has not ended. You would have told them that they’re not part and parcel of Nigeria. You would have told them that they’re not accepted in this country. You would have told them that they’re slaves in their own country.
How would you describe Nigeria of today considering the widespread insecurity in the country? Do you see it as a failed state or one that is about to fail?
Unfortunately, it is so painful to say but the reality that on ground is that leadership has failed Nigeria wholesomely. Nigeria has also disappointed its founding fathers and also disappointed the African continent because Nigeria, expectedly, was to be in Africa what America is to the entire world. We have lost all the glories that we had. We don’t have impetus within the African continent to play a leadership role. We no longer have the respect of the international community. The national trust has broken. The North does not trust the south and the south does not trust the north. Rather than nationalism, Nigeria has toed the path of politicking. Politics, religion and ethnicism have destroyed the country called Nigeria. Unfortunately, I doubt that we have a country again. The only thing that is left for us to do is to begin to stitch together, the bits and pieces we have left. Let’s hope that we still have a country that we can rebuild. And in doing so, we have to be conscientious in our selection of the next president. We need to be conscientious in what we do and how we do it. Dividing and ruling will not be the way out of it but reconciliation and communication will be the best way forward. The most unfortunate thing about the administration that we are under, we talk about the Buhari administration, is Buhari’s inability to communicate with his people. To that extent, he has abandoned that duty and responsibility to his spokesperson. I have never seen a president who doesn’t speak to his people, who cannot communicate directly to his people. I remember the days of Jonathan. He would come for a media chat, you ask him anything you want to ask him and he is open to you. Without a leader trying to influence his thoughts, trying to convey his vision, trying to convey a compelling picture of his vision for the country, how do you get a buy-in? How do you get the citizens to flow along the way that you want them to flow? I think that we have failed and it’s very unfortunate. But we can begin to build back the country and it’s very, very important.