From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) for Awka North and South Federal Constituency for the 2023 general elections, Chief Kingsley Uyammadu, has promised to represent the constituency very well if elected in the upcoming polls.
Uyammadu said that he has the ideas, the requisite knowledge and the energy to do things differently from what those who had represented the constituency in the past did.
He said he was optimistic that he would defeat the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which is in power in the state, Anambra, as people no longer talked about parties but individuals. He also spoke on other issues.
The contest for the Awka North and South Federal Constituency seat is usually a very tough one given that it is in the state capital. Your party, the YPP, apart from producing a senator in Anambra South, has not won any other election in this state. How do you intend to battle APGA, PDP and Labour Party (LP) in this contest?
That’s an intelligent question but I want you to understand that things have changed; people are not talking about parties anymore. It is about the individuals. With respect to those parties you have mentioned, I would want you to go back and check the records and confirm to yourself whether they have helped us. One of the parties you mentioned was in charge of this country for 16 years, where is the result? One of them is still in charge (at the state level), what have we witnessed? So, it is a time we take records; we go back to our drawing board and check. All these parties you have just mentioned, how far have they helped the polity? But when you talk about Awka North and South where I am representing, I will tell you that it is given already to me by the virtue of the mandate I have from God which is supreme; number one. Two, given my background, I stand to say it without mincing words that I stand to be the best candidate; and eventually I will emerge as the winner; not just because of anything but because there is a working knowledge that I have that most of the people running for this don’t have. As you may know, I was in school and I left school; I was able to humble myself and went through the tutelage of apprenticeship which cannot be compared with Harvard in any standard. It moulds you to be a full human being. And I have it. I was able to start with nothing from William Street in the early 90s. So, we have an idea to sell to people that ‘look, you can start even with the little you have from your immediate environment’. Now, we are not talking about parties any longer. They’re platforms. But it is important to state at this juncture that if you profile YPP, you will bear witness that the foundation, if it is destroyed, the righteous in you cannot deliver you. Go and check our foundation, you will see that we have sincere people. We should be looked out for in this 2023 election. As for winning, it is given and I am sure nothing is going to stop me from emerging as the winner after the 2023 elections. I am not going to fight with anybody. If there is an opportunity, call on the other candidates, let everybody come and unveil their manifestoes. At that juncture, you would have been convinced that the victory had been given to me even before the battle.
In that federal constituency, the people of Awka South have been holding sway for a long time. Why has it been difficult for your people of Awka North to win that seat? Why has it been Awka South all along?
I wouldn’t want to sound partisan at this juncture. I would want to rephrase your language. If they have been laying hold on that in the past, then it is because people like us have not been in the race. Now that I am here, let them parade the best of the brains they have. I am sure they can’t stand me. Number two, it is the masses that determine who is going to lead them. This time around, even in the South, I am sure they are for me. Then, talking about Awka North, in the last 24 years we were there once. Now, it is obvious that under the law of equity and fairness, if there is anything to go by, you will know and bear witness that they should allow us to take over that place now for two notable reasons. Awka North, with respect, is the worst local government we have in Nigeria. I have my reasons for that. There is no bank, including micro-finance banks; you can’t draw the line between the North and the South. Here in the South we have all the banks. But in the North, there is none. There is no presence at the federal level. And they say charity begins at home. Not because I am not going to take care of the South but it has to emanate from the North. There is no road. You can’t ply on any road in Awka North on one minute drive; you cannot without applying brakes. And if you consider the potential that Awka North has, you will agree with me that we should be allowed to represent our constituency. Awka North is supposed to be one of the food baskets in Nigeria, not just in Anambra State. Thank God we have a free zone very close to us in Oyi/Ayamelum. They should allow us to harness it and I have said it when I met you guys before that I am going to site an agricultural free trade zone that will take off with a minimum of 5,000 people. I will complement that with a vocational institute in the South so that when you would have left school after six months training, we’ll give an automatic job in the North. So, like I said, it is our time; it is my time; not just because I am from Awka North but because I stand to be the best candidate.
But in politics, nobody gives anybody power or anything; you fight for it. Why are your people not fighting enough for it?
Whatever would have happened in the past that made us not to man that place, I would say was predicated on the fact that I wasn’t around before now. Now that I am in the race, I challenge anybody from the South, let him come out. You know, it is not about accolades. It is not about titles. We are talking about working knowledge. There is a difference between you knowing something and knowing about how that thing works. That is what is lacking. We have a lot of politicians but we have a few leaders. We are not here to give promises or talk about programmes. We have a vision that if you take from us, you will see where we are going to end even if I am not with you because the vision speaks. That is what makes me peculiar and distinguished in this race. The masses will have the opportunity to say ‘this is what we want, this is whom you want’. I stand to still say that if Jesus tarries, I will be in that position come 2023.
Are there areas of our national life you would want the government to improve upon as we go into the year 2023?
Yes; it depends, anyway. But if you look at the economic policies, there are too many things I will recommend that the government should do.
It is imperative and expedient at this time for us to change the political narrative of what is going on in Nigeria in order to create an enabling environment for the upcoming guys. We need to look at realistic policies that will enable starters to have opportunities. By my own assessment, I believe that success should be measured whereby somebody who is coming into business will have an opportunity to take the first risk. But as it is in Nigeria, it is difficult. Even the bourgeois, the billionaires are so afraid to invest. You can imagine if they are scared of making investment, what about the starters? And the problem is with the beginners. So, we’ll implore the government to look at realistic policies that will create an enabling environment for businesses especially; more so in this time of recession. And I will also implore them to see how they can also come to people’s aid in terms of palliatives. It is not easy now. People are struggling to eat. Hardly could you see families that can feed three times a day. So, at this defining moment of the country, government should come to people’s aid and see how it could better their welfare. Secondly, security is paramount. You need to be alive to pursue things. It should be attended to for the best of everybody.