After two terms in the Sen­ate, Chris Anyanwu has thrown her hat into the ring for the governorship bout in Imo State. According to her, it is time for Imo to get the leadership it deserves, stressing: “We have made serial errors in the choice of leadership in Imo State and that has greatly affected the pace of devel­opment.”

In this interview with Senator Anyanwu who represents Owerri senatorial zone, she speaks on her mission and vision for the state among other issues.

Excerpts:

You have declared your intention to run for the office of governor in 2015. Why do you want to rule Imo State?

I would like to turn around the state. We’ve made serial errors in our choices of leadership in Imo State and that has greatly affected the pace of our develop­ment; that has also shaped the attitude of the people. It has also shaped our reputa­tion; we don’t have a very good reputation right now. A state that has some of the best educated people, some of the most quali­fied and most capable, yet each time we don’t seem to come up or reflect that in our choices. You know, among the states of the federation we are among the top producers of university graduates in the country. In terms of graduate unemployment, I think that we are top. That means that we pro­duce a huge number of university gradu­ates but without the expected absorbance in the system in terms of job. If you go to the Diaspora, you will see very outstand­ing sons and daughters of Imo doing so well out there. There is no reason in the world that we should not be an example for others to copy in the polity in terms of quality of leadership, quality of representa­tion and pace of development etc.

I know we don’t have all the money in the world. We are not like Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Delta states that have a lot of money but there are states in the federa­tion that don’t get a lot of money, they get among the least in terms of their share of revenue allocation and yet you can see spectacular things happening there.

I think we need to draw a line and stop all these errors, the quality, the sort of people that we are throwing up because it is affecting us in immeasurable ways. We need to draw a line now and move forward and begin to produce leaders that are more reflective of the best of Imo State. I mean, compassionate leaders that will spend the state’s money with compassion and not pour our money into useless projects. We need leaders that don’t come to deceive the people and mind-bend them with propaganda and do things that are just to impress, ‘shine shine’ things that don’t last. Because of the level of our revenue, which is not the highest, we need to spend our money wisely; we build to endure; we invest in projects that touch at the core of Imo people’s problems and concerns. We need to build things than can help to reduce the level of unemployment, things that will shape the future and direct it posi­tively. Those are the kinds of things we are talking about.

Unemployment is the number one problem in the state, especially graduate unemployment. And if you are running a state without dealing, in any visible and enduring way with that problem, you have not started. I do have a very clear vision of what needs to be done, but then I do not approach it with the attitude that I have all the answers. No, I don’t have all the answers, but I’m willing to engage with the best minds that Imo has produced, to see the way forward, to plan out this place for the next 20, 30, 50 years, to have a mainframe plan of development in which anybody that comes in can then queue up, adjust a little bit and move forward.

There is no plan here. Everything is so whimsical. You wake up in the morning and you want to build a 21-storey building and you pour all the revenue that the state has in it and at the end of the day, you ask the question, to what effect? What is this for? How does that help us solve our prob­lems? You constructed 27 hospitals, one in each local government and each of the local governments already has a general hospital. And you go half way without fin­ishing them. Would it not have been wiser to modernise the general hospitals that are existing, furnish them and equip them up to the best practices rather construct­ing brand new hospitals and stopping half way after pouring money into the ditch? We need to have a plan that will affect the people in the future, that will guide us, in terms of what we spend and what we try to build here and will also have the appropri­ate linkages with the core needs of the people.

Some people are saying that there is a charter of equity in Imo in terms of zoning, while some have a contrary opinion. What is your take on this?

All I know is that Imo has always had a tradition of peaceful devolution of power. Power goes from one part of the state to the other peacefully; no context. I don’t even understand why there should be a context at this time. What happened the last time was an aberration and it was brought upon us by maybe the conduct of the people that were at leadership at that time. If things had gone right or if things had been done right, the man that was there should have continued and finished his second term. But somehow, there must have been things that he did that completely turned off the people and without even saying it, they decided this guy has to go. So, there was an aberration. Rochas is, in fact, an accident of history. It was unplanned. At that time, anybody else could have taken the job because of that general decision that this guy would not return. What happened was an aberration and I think it is best for the state to get back on track with its tradition of peace­ful devolution of power. The people from my zone deliberately pulled out of the last election; they could have gone in and if they had gone in, maybe they might have gotten it. But the people from my zone are very peaceful, very understanding and they like equity a lot. So, even when they could have grabbed power, they always restrained themselves from that because they know it is better they take it when it is their turn than jumping ahead and cause disequilibrium in the system. So, the equity thing makes sense.

Every state has its own way of doing things and if you cause things to go out of track, in the future it might cause a prob­lem. But I think it is a recipe or tradition that has ensured, over history, peaceful co-existence. I think it will be a mistake for people to now cause disequilibrium in it and start jumping in and out when it is not their turn. We should abide by that tradition; it has served us very well and I think we need peaceful co-existence for us to have progress.

Considering the caliber of aspi­rants on the turf‘We have challenges, we need more staff, and we need more equipment to do the job effectively. We need fund, we appreciate the fact that government is trying within the limited fund they have, but I am of the opinion that security should be given more priority.’, what are your chances of picking the PDP ticket and winning the election proper?

What is the caliber we talking about? A lot of it is hot air, noise. It is not about noise making, it is about what you’ve giv­en back to humanity, what impact you’ve had on human beings around you. You could spend your life making money for yourself and you have all the money in the world but how has that touched lives, what impact have you made, what positive repu­tation have you built? So, I don’t always get flustered by all the noise and hot air. I do have a very good, very strong chance but it is the Imo people that will decide. I have the confidence that Imo people will do the right thing. Of course, there has been mistakes made in the past, but as I go round, I see that building-up of the will to break away from the past mistakes.

Some people are talking about your gender as a woman …

Gender is the weapon of weak candi­dates. You’ve been with us for two days, how much of that gender thing did you hear? Was there anywhere we went that the traditional rulers, leaders or even the ordinary people said go to hell because you are a woman? As I go round, I see that the real people don’t care about gender. And I think, truthfully speaking and to be fair to our people, gender has been minimised in the whole thing. You only hear it as whispers coming from aspirants who think that they are being outdone. The people who are fanning the embers of sexism are weak people. I’ve been here for two terms and people have tested a female public servant and they have observed me the way I have conducted myself, the type of things that I have done, the compassion I have shown in working for people, the total commitment because I don’t do any other job other than this. In fact, it is so difficult for me to find the energy to start dealing with my own personal issues. I am fully consumed by the job of a senator, working for the people. And people are no fools; they have seen the difference.

So, when you tell them about gender, it is not your gender that you use to do the job; it is your head, your heart, everything God has given you to work for the people. Saying she is a woman is nonsense. The only thing they will say is, who is going to break the kola? They think that when they ask that question the whole world will be up in arms against any female. But there is a solution. I was the commissioner for cul­ture in this state for two years; I know and understand the culture of my people. Even, being a woman, I was born and bred here, so I know what tradition means to my people. I have told them I would never be found violating our tradition. I know what to do and what not to do. When it comes to kola, you let the men do it; you don’t go and try to do something that is completely aberrant or insulting to your people. I will never be part of that.

I will make sure that the culture is prop­erly observed and if anything add more creativity to it. Culture is not even static; it should be evolving. And if you have a culture that you cannot get other people to admire and adore, then you are not do­ing the right thing. We have to add more creativity to it, which I intend to inject in all that I do.

People who talk like that are being very myopic and I don’t think anybody is listening to them. They just want to use that as a recipe to have an exclusive preserve that they can continue to suck out the blood of this state and take our money elsewhere to invest, thereby creating jobs in those countries while this place is dying slowly because of the haemorrhaging of our resources and that haemorrhaging has got to stop. I insist that we will use Imo money to build Imo for Imo people. Some of the opportuni­ties in Imo State right now are not given to Imo people. People who come from outside find it easier to get contracts, to get things done and to get land than Imo people. I’m not saying that everything should be exclusive to us or that we should be hostile to outsiders, but there has to be opportunities for the natives. They have to be able to survive here. If there are things they have the capacity to do, you have to let them do it because that’s how you have the good life cir­culate. If they make some money, they patronise local businesses and the trickle effects help society move forward. But when everything is captured and taken outside, there will be no progress. There may be a few flip-flap, superficial and ‘shine shine’ things done, but they are not deep, they are not enduring and they are not impactful, they are not impacting on the lives of people.

Politicians are known to make promises, which they don’t keep. Why should Imo people trust you?

I don’t promise what I can’t fulfill. I think Imo people have seen me here with them for seven years. I live here and work in Abuja. I’ve been here with them during their burials, wedding ceremonies and child dedications. There is nothing else they can find about me. There are no pretensions in anything I do. By nature I don’t pretend; what I cannot do. I’ll tell you I cannot do it. At the worst, I’ll keep quiet, I pull away. I do not promise what I don’t fulfill. That’s why they call me promise keeper. The people that gave me that name are young kids because of their experience or encounter with me. When I promise I keep my promise. I don’t promise too much; I promise what I can deliver. And my promise to Imo people is that I will do everything humanly possible to help bring about transformation. Not just in physical transformation but also in the way we do things. We have to reorder this place, make it more orderly, more secured and more attractive such that outsiders would want to come here and invest. We will do everything that needs to be done to get this place ready for outside investors and most especially to attract our sons and daughters in the Diaspora to bring their friends to come and invest. This place needs some real push and I know that our people all over the world are willing and so emotionally hooked to this place. They are willing to help push this place forward. But the place has to be right; it has to be secure. People don’t want to come and hear stories about kidnapping; people don’t want to come to a place where there is disorder. They want things that are better organised, orderly and better attitude. The attitude of our people has to change for the better.

There is a lot that needs to be done, but what I can promise is that I will not carry away their resources. I will not insult them. Their money will be here working for them. And I’m going to have an inclusive kind of governance. People are going to participate in it. You know, there are responsibilities for the leaders, but the people also have their own responsibility. I don’t think they have been able to really pull the people in and give them a sense of ownership of the agenda of transformation or develop­ment. When you get the people to feel a sense of ownership of what is being done, you see great things happen and that’s what we have to try and do.

How do you assess the admin­istration of President Goodluck Jonathan, considering the issue of insecurity in the country?

I think that the president has been out­standing. No head of state that I know in this country and in the region has been assailed with the kind of relentless ter­rorism of the level we have never known in this region and continent before and still stands. The problems that he has faced are enough to pull a man down or pull a government down. And I think that that was the whole calculation, the intent of all that they have directed at this government. The intent is to pull it down, to make it cave in, but still it stands and that is admirable. But I say to Nigerians and whoever is doing this: No nation can survive on unending fair of trouble. There comes a time that you have to give up this terrorism and distraction for the sake of our children, for the sake of this nation. There is no greater nation for the black race than Nigeria. This is all we have; this is one place where the black man or woman is king and queen. You can get to be any­thing if you really work hard and dream to be in this country and you won’t have to be pulled into prison under some spu­rious assumptions and reasons as done to black people elsewhere.

So, we have to really fight hard to save this country. It is not about Presi­dent Jonathan alone. He is only a human being who is trying to do his best to serve Nigeria. We have a responsibility to put hands on deck and help push this place forward and help make it stand firm and stand tall. And I think that giv­en the problems he has had, he has done so well. Apart from the distractions, some of the things that he has been doing are revolutionary. I think without the distractions, we could have gone very far. But you see a situation where resources that should go into transfor­mation and development are now going into security. It’s very disheartening. All told, he has done very well. Who knows, if we didn’t have this we would have had a historic presidency.

Source:  The  Sun