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You are currently viewing Why I want to be Anambra governor – Okwuosa

Why I want to be Anambra governor – Okwuosa

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Hon. (Sir) Azuka Okwusa has been quite visible and active in Anambra politics. He was the former executive chairman of old Nnewi Local Government Area in the 1990s, former commissioner for Works and Transport and has served in other high political offices in the state.

In this interview, he talks about his aspiration to be the governor of Anambra State under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The APC chieftain listed the criteria needed for one to be a good governor of the State.

You seem to be out of the political scene for sometime now, why?

No, I have never been out of the system. Remember that in the last party primaries in 2021 I played an active role. I was an aspirant and remember how I toured, moved around the length and breadth of Anambra State. I covered 326 wards of Anambra State within that period. After the primaries and what transpired some of us are still playing active politics. I get involved in community development, I get involved in party activities; I get involved in a lot of social works. At any time my services are needed I will always play a major and prominent role. After the 2021 election, I was the APC chairman of finance committee, Anambra State where I was involved in raising funds for the party because without funds the party cannot move forward. So, I have not been passive, I have been actively involved both on top and under the top, I have always participated effectively. But you know in this dispensation I have also indicated my interest to run for the governorship of Anambra State under the platform of the APC in Anambra State and I have also made my formal declaration to that effect. I have studied with keen interest what transpired in 2021 up to this date, nothing appears to have changed. Instead things are getting worse on a regular basis. Look at the level of insecurity in Anambra State. I believe that good people shouldn’t keep quiet. Insecurity is a paramount issue in Anambra State. That is one of the major reasons I present myself once again amongst other areas that need good attention and I know that without solving the issue of insecurity no meaningful development can take place in Anambra State. So, from the look of things that’s the basis and the main reason I have made myself available again for governorship, to lead the state out of quagmire.

Anambra is currently APGA-led. Do you think you can uproot the sitting governor of the state?

Well, the issue is that Anambra State is for everybody. Nobody owns it alone. Yes, the governor is of APGA extraction. We know that, and party should not be the issue. You should also know that members of the National Assembly are from the various political parties, for instance. What the basic Anambra people need is good governance; party is a means to an end and not an end in itself. You only need the platform of a political party to aspire for any position to enable you to be there. So, Anambrarians are weary of bad governance, they are weary of the high level of insecurity. Our captains of industry, our critical stakeholders want to come back home. We are having a lot of capital flight and this is affecting everybody. In a festive period like Christmas you find out that many people do not visit home because of insecurity. So, once you give them the right leadership, they will follow you. And how do you get the right leadership? Look at people’s track records and antecedents over the years. What have they achieved? Where are they coming from, where are they going to? We have tried lots of different categories of human beings. The era of this man is in APGA or other political parties is gone. Party is not the issue now. The issue is about good governance, sense of direction.  Our people are good followers if you give them good leadership. But the absence of good leadership is what we experience in Anambra State today.

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The basic role of any government is to protect lives and property. No matter what you do, if you don’t protect lives and property, you have failed. But today the issue is very clear. Anambra State is in a state of quagmire and the worst state in terms of insecurity in the Southeast. We have to do something and that is why we offer ourselves. I believe that come November next year 2025, APC, if I’m able to get the ticket, and I will by the grace of God, be in a position to give a new leadership dimension. In Anambra State, our people know what they want and they will go for it.

Governors of Anambra State in the past had promised to fix insecurity, but as soon as they assume office they appear to be overwhelmed to fix the challenge. Why is it so?

The reason for their failures in governance is the absence of basic qualities before aspiring to be governor of the state. Before you aspire to become the governor of a state, you need an entrepreneurial ability and political experience. In the absence of these two things, nobody occupying the office of the governor can be effective. What do I mean by that? When you talk about entrepreneurial ability the person must have a strong thing he is doing, a visible means of livelihood, a good background and then political history and experience. The office of the state governor is not meant for people who learn the ropes, but it is meant for people who have learnt the ropes who are going to apply the trade. Now, if you look, for an example, in my own case, I have been a local government chairman, I have handled an executive position at a lower cadre, if you make a mistake in a local government where you have 21 Local government areas the other 20 can survive, but if you make a mistake as a governor the entire state suffers. So, I have been privileged to hold a key position at the local government level in old Nnewi which happens to be one of the legs of the tripods in Anambra State. Other tripods are Awka and Onitsha. These are urban centres. Nnewi’s own is quite unique because it is an indigenous urban centre. So, I have functioned there. And I have also worked as an Honourable Commissioner for Works and Transport in Anambra State. And since then I have been very effective. In terms of entrepreneurial ability I have been managing my businesses. So, with these two experiences, I’m not going there to learn the ropes rather I’m going there to apply my trade. If you have entrepreneurial ability without political experience, you can’t make it when you get there. You know what happened in 1999 in the era of Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju. Mbadinuju had entrepreneurial ability as a lawyer. But because of the absence of political experience when he was elected as a governor, within the first six months he was very popular. After that when pressure started coming he could no longer meet up with the demands of his office. We witnessed closure of schools, teachers being on strike for more than a year, collapse of a system to the extent that at the end of those four years we had a history of a sitting governor who could not be re-elected by his party to be a flag-bearer not to talk of winning the main election. After him Chris Ngige came. Ngige has an entrepreneurial ability. He served as Deputy Director in Federal Ministry of Health. But in terms of political experience, he was the foremost Chairman of Aka Ikenga, an Igbo socio-cultural organization which he managed for more than 10 years. He was able to intervene in some crisis. So, by the time he found himself as governor, that was the most chequered era in the history of any governor in Nigeria. In the period, we witnessed the withdrawal of security details of the governor and other things. But for close to three years he was able to navigate and provided infrastructure for which he is remembered till today. The roads are there and all of that. So, because of his entrepreneurial ability and political experience he was able to navigate. When Peter Obi came, Peter has entrepreneurial ability having served as chairman of banks and chaired so many businesses, but he was politically inexperienced by the time he assumed office and he faced many issues. He was impeached, but being a dogged fighter he was able to get back to his seat and fought for tenure elongation. Peter worked, but he could have done better, if he was not distracted. But when he was leaving he could not bring a viable successor. That is history. When Willie Obiano came on board, he had entrepreneurial ability. Someone who retired as executive director of a bank, but politically inexperienced.  You saw a lot of issues here and there. But he tried his best because he was able to give us an airport and international conference centre, among other things. But because of that political inexperience he could not give us a viable successor like what we are experiencing now. The current governor, Prof Charles Soludo has entrepreneurial ability. But politically inexperienced and that is why we see what we see today. He has gone there to learn the ropes whereas we need people who have learnt their ropes to go and apply their trade. That is the fact. You cannot offer what you don’t have. They promise they can do this and that when they are coming, but when they are given the mandate, they can’t do it. But in my own case, and with my background, I understudied the likes of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and the likes of Dr Alex Ekwueme. I think I’m well equipped and positioned to be the right governor of Anambra State.

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Last APC primaries were rejected by many including you, do you think something different will happen this time?

I’m somebody who doesn’t dwell in the past. The late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, my great icon and mentor, once told me that he never thought about what happened in the past. If God had wanted us to dwell in the past he would have given us two eyes at the back which he gave you in the front. In the absence of that all you have to do is to face your front and work to achieve a greater height. We should not look back to check what transpired in 2021 and by the grace of God the party  will get it right this time around. And looking at the indices now things are in the right trajectory and I believe that at the end of the day, we will be able to get to the Promised Land. Anambra State is yearning for a change, yearning for a leadership that would secure lives and property of the people of the state, yearning for a leadership that can work harmoniously with the traditional rulers, with the captains of industry and other stakeholders. In the absence of unity, there will be no meaningful progress. So, we need a system that can bring people together. I believe that we can work together to actualize this. Our blueprint in 2021 is more relevant now. The only difference is that in 2021 we gave security 30 per cent, but this time around we are giving it 50 per cent and above. We must do something here otherwise all of us will get lost. But by the special grace of God we must get it right to restore the confidence of our people. I believe that if given the opportunity to lead as governor of Anambra State, we will have a new lease of life and a better leadership by the special grace of God.

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