From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

Lawyer and businessman, Chidi Amamgbo, has said that if the nation truly believes in zoning, the Southern part of the country should produce the next president in 2023.

In this interview with Sunday Sun in Abuja, the Ihiala, Anambra-born Amamgbo, explained why he is putting his hat into the political wring to contest the 2023 senatorial election in the state.

The Principal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Amamgbo and Associates, while saying that the reason for secession agitation in the country is traceable to real or perceived marginalization, maintained that the calls for secession will always be there until Nigeria addresses certain issues.

2023 is coming faster. There have been these arguments whether they should zone the presidency to the South or not. And there is also the clamour for the restructuring of the country before the next election. What is your opinion?

The fact that we are talking about zoning of the presidency to geopolitical zones, highlights the failure of Nigeria. If we are a country where we are truly a nation of one, we’re truly a nation of brothers and sisters, where merit as opposed to ethnocentric politics rises to the top, then you wouldn’t be clamouring for zoning of the presidency. Rather, you will be clamouring for the best person to win. Why? Because you know that person is a patriot and he has the best interest of the nation at heart. Unfortunately, our politics is very regional. It started in the 60s and it’s still so and because politics has become regionalized, a lot of people have been marginalised. There is the belief that if you zone the presidency to a region, then the benefits of governance will come to that region, the people of the region feel empowered, they feel the president from their place can bring that development to the region. They feel empowered because now their man or the woman is at the top. This is the irony of Nigerian politics. Having said this, we live in Nigeria of today. We cannot have one region with monopoly of power. It has to be devolved. This is the reality of Nigeria and until we get to that point in our national development, where it doesn’t matter where you come from, the situation will never change. The reality today is that, if you leave it the way it is, power will remain in one region. And that’s not fair to the rest of the regions. Ultimately, what you want is somebody who is a Nigerian, not somebody who is a novice, not somebody who is a Southeast President or not somebody who is a Southwest President. If you look at the history of all the other countries in the world, presidents are known for what they have done for their country and/or what they’re doing for their region. And as long as we play into this role of geopolitical zones, we will always be regional in our thinking, in our actions, in our thoughts and the way we operate. But again, like I said, the reality today is that these are the cards we have on the table, so the South should produce the next president. If we truly believe in this so-called zoning, then the South should take over the presidency next. Finally, I think our Constitution is completely flawed. With a flawed constitution, in order to have more of Nigerians buy into the geographical expression called Nigeria, you have to encourage them with such things as zoning the presidency to their region so that they feel like they belong as opposed to people who are either conquered or marginalised.

Why your interest to go into politics?

I’m pissed off, politicians can see our society is degenerating, but they are not doing anything to help the people. What exactly has a politician done for you or I after we have given them power? So, it’s either you sit and complain, or you join the race and complain and be the lone wolf and hopefully build a coalition of people of like minds and thought. And if it (politics) becomes too frustrating, I go back to my business. We have to drop the idea that, year-in, year-out, we just complain how bad Nigeria is and when election time comes around, some insincere persons come with a bag of money, hand it out to people and rig their way into office. When someone rigs him/herself in, then litigations begin and go on for months. Look at what is happening with Anambra PDP. Is this politics? It is not that they don’t know the right thing to do. They prefer to create chaos so that they can be settled. The whole process of electing a leader in Nigeria has become an enterprise that you spend money on and get return on investment when you get into office. Look at Julius Nyerere, look at Shehu Shagari, these are politicians who served and lived the simple life after office. So, it’s not like we haven’t seen politicians who were exemplary.

You referred to the Nigerian constitution as flawed. The National Assembly has commenced the amendment of the 1999 Constitution, do you have specific areas you want changed?

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If we start going through it all, it will take all day. First of all, you say there is constitutional amendment going on, how many people know about it? Very few! Every aspect of our national endeavour, this (constitution) is the document that governs it. The key part of the constitution is the mode of governance. Are we practicing federalism? Or what we have is something like a mixture of unitary Government and federalism? If we truly believe that what we have is Federal Government, then the key thing we must do is empower the constituting states to become not just independent, but fully independent economically and financially. You cannot have a situation where everything flows to the centre and then you hand out money to states monthly. If anything has to changed, then it is this sharing of money at the centre. Let resources be controlled by the state and let everybody pay to the centre for defence and other issues that are handled by the Federal Government in a federal state. Every state in Nigeria must be a mini-nation able to thrive on its own and depend on the monies contributed to the centre to survive. There are states in this country that have no business being called a state, but they were created for political reasons. Why would you go to Rivers State, collect all the oil, sell it and bring the money to the centre to distribute. After this, you turn around to give three per cent as derivation. In the United States which practices a functional state, you tax a state like Texas for its oil. It is from the taxing states that the Federal Government funds defence and other ministries. You don’t just monopolise everything as a Federal Government and then decide who to gets what favours from you. Secondly, our judiciary needs to be strengthened. We must make them an independent arm of government. You must make the judiciary a co-equal arm of government to the executive and the legislature. This is because until the judiciary can call the shots as the referee when there is a dispute,  he who pays the piper will dictate the tune.

What kind of governor do you want in Anambra on November 6?

Anybody, but Obiano. He is a failed governor. That’s my opinion. We are one bad governor away from becoming like some states. Anambra was seen as an example: good road networks, good educational institutions, industrious people and great capacity to generate IGR.  Today, if you go to Anambra, all those roads are now a network of potholes. People might underestimate the value of roads. But if a road passes in front of my village, the price of land goes up. People will build houses, hotels will come and business will come. The first thing America did after the Second World War was a marshal plan to build network of roads everywhere in America. Connect people and businesses, it was called interstate commerce. If I produce something in Ihiala, I have to transport it to Ogidi, Zamfara or anywhere. Everywhere you go in Anambra, you see signboards, ‘Willie is working.’ Each time I see them, I feel like stopping my car, getting a paintbrush to write in ‘not’ because Willie is not working. And right now, he is not working. But speaking strictly about the kind of person I expect, first of all, I’m expecting somebody who’s not a thief, somebody who is not there to steal money. If you decided you wanted to be the governor, or you’re willing to put up N1 billion or N2 billion to run, we don’t owe you anything. That’s your charitable contribution to Anambra because you decided to use that money to contest to win. But it doesn’t mean after you win, the first thing you do is to collect your N2 billion. That’s what I say we don’t want a thief as governor. And I’m not talking about a governor going to go into the treasury to collect money directly. We all know how it’s done. As governor, I’ll give you a contract and you give him kick-back. If I awarded a contract to you to build this table for $1,000, I expect you to build it for $1,000, and not that I give you a contract to build this table for $10,000 and then you return $9,000 to me because that’s how I recoup money. So, for me, integrity is one thing the next governor must have.  We need somebody who is really about the people, not somebody who is really about the politicians who supported him financially or otherwise. Integrity is important because if you have no integrity, you are just going to be a thief. The second thing is, what is your vision? Vision is a word people throw around. Speaking of vision, you have to ask yourself where do you see Anambra in four years. What are the key things? You know, if every governor came into power and said I will be known for one thing, and that’s the only thing I’m going to focus on, when you leave power, we will remember that one thing.

So, looking at your international exposure, why do you want to limit yourself to becoming  senator?

I have zero experience in politics. You know, you can’t just wake up one morning and say I want to be president. It takes a lot of networking and all that. I’m old enough to be president. I am 59 years old.  But you know, it takes a lot of work, a lot of money, a lot of efforts, a lot of relationships, and there are people who are better qualified than me, who have been on the scene, who can do it better. I need to have a body of work to point to and say, look, when I was a senator, I did this, I did that. And then can you trust me with this higher position. If I show up and say I want to be president, what am I going to tell him? I am a lawyer, I practiced in the United States and I run a business in Nigeria? So, you know, I believe in showing me, don’t tell me. A lot of people will tell you all kind of things and then you give them power, and then you realise that you have entered one chance.

What is your take on the secessionist agitations in the country right now?

I was old enough when the civil war happened in 1967. I remember things as a five year old will remember things. I lost uncles. Some of them, we didn’t even have the honour of burying them. They never came back from the battlefield. The calls for secession will always be there until Nigeria addresses certain issues. Today, it will be Nnamdi Kanu, tomorrow it will be an Okafor until we address the issues. The reason for the agitation is traceable to real or perceived marginalization. When General Gowon came to Aba back in 1970/71, I was in the primary school then. We all carried the Nigerian flag, lined up on the streets. We sang a song welcoming Gowon, ending with a line that we are one. But are we one even today? The answer is no. A lot of things were said to make everybody feel good, but subsequent policies and governments made sure that you realised that you are a conquered people.  Until you change that perception, you will always have the agitation for secession. Now, the solution is, how do you fix the federalism? Let each state or region be autonomous and we all contribute to the centre.

Talking about your vision, let’s go back to your personal ambition. Are you really prepared to do what it takes to win election in Nigeria? Politics here is like a war?

For me, politics is not a do or die. I’m not prepared to eliminate anybody so that I can have power. What you should put on the table are your ideas. You know, sometimes we fight fire with fire. But what does that mean? It means you have to protect yourself at all times. If you are true to yourself, then you ask yourself, why do I want power? Okay, I descended to your level to get the power. But after I get the power, to me, I will now stand up and try to change things. I’ll use the power I have been given to clean up the mess and effect change. This, to me, is the practical way. It’s not the best way. If you come from this utopic place and say, oh, I’m from the Diaspora, they are paying N2,000 to people to vote, I’m not going to do it. The question you ask yourself is well, okay, I’ll pay N3,000 now and get the profit, after I get the power, will I continue to sustain this? Or do I go on a mission to educate the people find a way to change the conversation? It is not going to happen with one person. Can you cut down a tree with one blow of the axe? Of course, not. It takes several blows, consistent blows. If you hit it three, four times and then you come back next year, you have to be consistent and apply the same pressure and things will change.