Stanley Uzoaru,Owerri
Former National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and erstwhile Vice Chancellor of the Imo State University (IMSU), Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, has said that it would be difficult for power to return to the Southwest in 2023 going by power equation in the country. In this interview, he bared his mind on the 2023 Presidency; the unending power crisis in the country, dwindling standard of education, among others.
How would you describe the political situation in the country today?
We have a wobbling leadership, sometimes it appears to me that our president is on holidays, he has to take grip of situations. A country you cannot go to bed with your two eyes closed, a country you cannot guarantee six hours of light, a country priding itself that we can produce 8,000megawatts when South Africa produces 30,000megawatts, you are talking of 8,000megawatts for a country of 200 million population, I think we have a long way to go. What I am saying is that the leadership should be more pragmatic, we must look at harnessing the best; our problem in Nigeria is that we are not using the best to drive both the economy and governance.
What about the incessant herdsmen-farmers’ clashes and the threat to food security?
In this century, we are talking about grazing routes when other countries have developed ranches. In the United States of America and Britain, you can’t see cows on the roads, they are producing more cows than we are producing here. Why can’t we adopt ranching; why must cows be on the roads and destroy the farmers’ crops? We need to have food security in this country, a country that continues to import 70 per cent of its meat; we must be able to provide on the spot and when the farmers want to guarantee food supply, the cows would overrun there farms. Some of them are afraid of going to their farms because they are afraid of the herdsmen, it shouldn’t be so, the issue of ranching must be returned, let the government provide this, Israel and others are into ranching. Nigeria is ripe to use modern technology, but overall on what I am saying, what is happening today in Nigeria is lack of leadership, if they want to do the right thing they would, but it appears to me that the government is encouraging the herdsmen, maybe they want to use them for colonisation as they move, they occupy, maybe we don’t know, but time will tell.
Some people like Rotimi Amaechi said Igbo should wait after 2023 for the presidency; what is your opinion?
I am not supporting Amaechi, neither do I believe in Igbo presidency in 2023. Let me tell you why, they should know the people they are dealing with in the North. Before, the Sokoto emblem was “Born to rule”; now if you look at the six geo-political zones in the country, the Southwest has served for eight years, South-south six years, put them together it isn14 years, they left Northwest alone another eight years with two years of Yar’Adua, which is 10 years, only one zone out of the three, the Northeast has not gone, North-central has not gone, the Southwest has gone, the South-south has gone, it remains the Southeast. Look at the number of years they have gone, South has covered 14 years; North has covered or will cover 10 years when Buhari completes his tenure. I don’t think they would allow the West, even if it is Tinubu, let him bring all the money in the world, the President will go to Northeast in 2023.
Recently, an Imo boy, Ezeala Ekene got the highest score in the UTME, but from the UNILAG rules, where he made first choice, it appears he may not be able to attend the institution of his dream. What do you make of this?
As an administrator, someone who has run the university for some time; if the University of Lagos laws or prescriptions said before now that this is their method of admitting people, it is not going to be easy to change it, because I know that when I attended the University of Nigeria in the 70s, you must be 18 before you are admitted in a university in those days. But today, our children are developing faster and they are now saying this is the number of years, it is not like that in other universities. I believe that the nation owes the young man a duty to find him another university where that is not a condition for now and then pressure would be put on UNILAG to amend its rules and laws to reflect the new change. It must be obeyed, not because the young man comes from Imo, he could have also come from Lagos; but this is what the rules say. They did not make it because he got the admission; it was not like that 20 years ago; we have to be dynamic. There are some people who did not score the highest and want to go to the University of Lagos that could also be prevented by the same thing, but I think as a nation, in order not to frustrate the young man, we must look for a university of the same standing with UNILAG for him.
Having been ASUU President before; what do you think is wrong in our tertiary education today?
In fact, they should declare a state of emergency in our education system because when you look at our pronouncements and our actions, politics is being brought into our educational system, we start university without planning it, we admit students without providing enabling environment where they would study, we have moved from analogue to digital, but when you look at our own system, we are still very far from getting the minimum. So, the standard of education has been nose-diving every year. I know it’s like that in other sectors, but education should be taken seriously, you can’t talk about true democracy when you are not educated, people are still playing on the emotion of others instead of looking at the hard facts; who can give us leadership, who can move us forward. So, I think that education is the key and something urgent must be done. And what is that urgent thing that must have to be done; investment in terms of infrastructure, in terms of technology, in terms of man power, training and retraining, from primary to secondary; they say garbage in, garbage out. If you don’t train the people well, you can’t get there.
Could you please set an agenda for the new government in Imo state?
My agenda for the new government would be, look well, look at the situation; use the best you have in Imo to turn the place around, restore hope to the people and tell them that Imolites can take their destiny in their hands and make their state a model in Nigeria, they can, Imolites can do that.