Senator Chris Ngige
Why Chris Ngige again? Did you forget anything in Government House, Awka?
I forgot a lot of things in the government house and those things are still there waiting for me to give the desired attention. This race that we are talking about requires experience and I have the experience. First, let me say that my mission is simply to build Anambra State that would truly be the light of the nation in her human capital, natural resources and material development. Yes, I have been there before, but with one hand tied to my back, yet I performed creditably well. Now, I have to come back without encumbrances to finish the work that I started. It will only be proper to appeal to Anabrarians to give me massive support by giving me the mandate so that together we would continue and finish the task of building a state that we would all be proud of, and happy to call our home and the light of the nation. Governance is an art that is experience-based. Governance is not the same as business or corporate enterprise. In business and corporate enterprise, profit is the only motive without much regard for human capital and environmental developments and without concern for civil service welfare or even for our cultural values. Business and corporate enterprise focus on profit and maximising shareholder values without much regard to legislative guidelines or grassroots development. Governance on the other hand, requires skillful combination of politics and consultations with different interest groups such as labour, civil society, traditional institutions, the church, business world, youths etc for the masterful management of the resources, personnel and materials of the state. People that are vying with me, do they have the experience of governance? Of course, they have none. I have done the work of governor for 33 months. Even if it was three months, I have a good experience. I have told Anambra people that I am the best qualified for the job. I have done executive function before and I have also learnt more on the legislative aspect of the job as a senator and I want to combine both experiences to help not only my state but the people of the South East. Before I became Anambra State governor in 2003, no other government did asphalt roads in the entire South East; the best they did was surface-dressing, which was cheap; they were complaining that there was no money to construct the type of quality roads that I did. The roads I did are still there and if given this opportunity I will do more. Anambra State is strategic to the South East so we must put our acts together. I have a manifesto which is a 12-point agenda that I will use to transform the state. These are issues concerning security of lives and property, education, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, electricity and power supply, water supply, housing and environment, labour and civil servants welfare, third tier government, infrastructure development as well as the issue of youths and sports development. I am just calling on Ndi Anambra and challenging them to open their eyes, reject primordial fears and sentiments designed to sectionalise us in this age of globalisation. The truth is that with their support, we can take our state higher and make it a better, safer and sweet place to live, work, transact business and raise children with great joy. I still have 70 per cent of unfinished business and I am the one who will do it. I will do urban renewal. I will make Awka what a state capital should look like. I will build a new Awka city. I don’t have a house in Awka but we will develop the city so that I can have one just like others will want to have and live there.
Lets look at security, for instance, because it is a serious issue in the state. How do you hope to tackle that problem?
I did it before when I was there and together we can do it again. You see, the economy of the state can only grow and our people live well when there is security of lives and property. The situation now in Anambra is that the rich and our elite run and stay away from the state for fear of kidnappers and armed robbers. Of course, when they finally come home due to unavoidable family obligations, they simply sneak in with a retinue of armed policemen, soldiers and other bodyguards, but quickly exit before sunset to spend the night across the River Niger in Asaba or they would go up North to Enugu, denying the state the economic opportunities of their patronage and thus denying employment opportunities to hundreds of thousands of our youth. But I assure Anambra people that this will stop with my leadership. Companies, factories and industries would not locate or establish in areas where the safety of their staff and infrastructure are not guaranteed. But all that will change because I know what to do to arrest the situation, I have done it before, I have the blue print. I am a scientist and as I have always said, it is not good to go and treat symptoms but the cause of the disease. Kidnapping started with unemployment, so I decided to give jobs to the youth, I lifted embargo on employment, made promotions and paid backlog of salaries. We did not have much money but I had to pay them. I mandated companies, those doing the roads as well as the multinationals to give jobs; it could be driving, bricklaying, carpentry etc., to the boys so as to keep them busy. Communities were able to give us tips on bad elements in their domain and we tried to engage them by at least giving them jobs and it worked for our good because since most of them were bad and you have now engaged them, they on the other hand became informants and we used such information to burst crime even before they were executed. I was paying them fabulously and like magic, we had results. I used my security votes in most of these areas to ensure there was peace and calm in the state. Security votes now are being misapplied. Kidnapping is a variant to original robbery but we can stamp it out. It is not only with the Niger Delta militants that we can do amnesty; it can cut across other sectors, it can be given to kidnappers, after all, the Niger Delta militants were kidnapping too until amnesty was offered to them. If you put the necessary gadgets on ground, you can track down those that would not want to change from either kidnapping or armed robbery and you can put them away for life. I believe that kidnapping can be handled and that we can secure everybody.
What is your position on this persistent call for Anambra North to produce the next governor in the spirit of justice and equity?
I have always said that there was no time we sat down to zone the governorship position but people are just harping on it to score cheap political point. I have said that in a place where every zone is qualified for something, if you now begin to say that a particular zone is a mediocre, then you are insulting such people and it is not right. As far as the case of Anambra State is concerned, on this zoning issue, there was no time that we either covertly or overtly agreed on any zoning formula. We have never even by implication done anything that could suggest such. Anambra North that people are talking about have political heavyweights that can on their own win elections and they have always been contesting with other zones. The fact that they have not won yet should not elicit statements that they should now be allowed to have or that it is their turn to taste it. Elections have always been keenly contested and all the zones have always participated, so why are some people now being mischievous? Onitsha is in the North and great men like the late Zik of Africa, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, was from there. Ukpabi Asika was from there, Chuba Okadigbo, Moses Balonwu, Mbanefo were all from there among their other great sons and daughters, who have been at higher positions and every other zones supported them without discrimination. Why now? Anambra North has politicians that are no push-overs, so why this position of weakness that is now being taken? Anambra North has always been fully represented in all governorship elections. The truth is that this issue has not been discussed before. Today, Governor Peter Obi is about to end his tenure and he is now saying it is the turn of the North. The question is that when he finished his first tenure of four years, if he was so concerned about equity, why did he not ask Anambra North to come in? Why did he come back? He is not only saying that it must be the North but he went there and hand-picked the person. So there is a hidden agenda and that is why I said before now that it is a poisoned chalice. If we have such discriminatory tendency, we will no longer allow any body from the North because when their sons were in big positions even greater than the position of a governor, all the zones supported them massively. The administrator that was appointed for the entire South East, Ukpabi Asika, ruled and reigned for eight years and other zones were happy because they saw him as Anambra son. Why are we now bringing discrimination?
Your opponents are cashing in on your comments on the repatriation of some Igbo indigenes from Lagos
I visited Lagos State the week the repatriation was an issue. Then I didn’t know all that was involved but the little I read from the newspaper and what Anambra State government said. I told Aka Ikenga people when I hosted the group as one of the past presidents that I do not have all the details of what happened but that I will get across to Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola. I cannot sit back and watch a government to which I belong do such a thing. So I wanted to know what really happened. I was to travel to Hong Kong and I arranged for Aka Ikenga people to meet with Fashola while I was in Hong Kong. Anambra State government was written to come and take their people and re-unite them with their people at home. Some other states were also written and their people came and took them. But I think in the case of Anambra, they wanted to play politics with it. It is condemnable the way and manner they dropped those people there. Those people were just overzealous and I know the state government will punish them accordingly. I think I was quoted out of context and my political opponents went to town with it. Of course, looking at my antecedents and having made great commitments for Ndigbo, I will be the last person to support any action that diminishes Ndigbo and you can see that even the Lagos State Governor, Fashola, has offered an unreserved apology on the issue.
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