Oparandudu: APGA is the Party to Beat Today in Imo
Mr. Nick Oparandudu, a governorship aspirant under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, is a former banker with experience spanning over 20 years, he served as Chief Economic Adviser to the current Imo State Government, Commissioner for Pl
Your campaign has been anchored on the message: ‘Imo Cry No more’ and ‘Imo will Rise Again’. Why is Imo down and crying, and what do you intend to do to raise the people and wipe their tears?
Thank you for that question. I think the background to those facts, that's what I will like to call them, is the rich history of Imo State. If you look at the whole of South-east Nigeria or the former Eastern Region, the area currently called Imo State was like the shining light of that region in terms of the quality of people who came out of these places; in terms of the people's commitment to education, civilisation and even in terms of their commitment to issues like Christianity and all that. And when you remember that it was an area that produced people like the late KO Mbadiwe, the late Raymond Amanze Njoku, the late Chief Nwoga who was an Eastern Region minister; the late Basil Nnanna Ukaegbu who has the distinction of having started the first privately-owned university in the country, and several others.
The late Professor MC J Echeruo, the late Eze Dennis Nwachukwu-Abbey, these are all very prominent people. You go to the Orlu area you look at the Acholonus, and so on and so forth. You can start counting. You have a situation where even most significant commercial centre in the South-east which was Port Harcourt, you had even Imo indigenes being the Mayor there. So, you can describe this Imo State or Imo State as currently situated as a place that has been recognised as made up of trailblazers, people who set standards for the rest of Igboland.
Regrettably in the past seven years or a little longer than that, we have been bedevilled by what I will call bad governance, particularly the type of which we are witnessing today in the state. The people are so despondent and they are beginning to ask the question: Is the basis for governance or government truly the welfare of the people? Because we have a situation where the civil servants are not being paid as and when due; we have a situation where pensioners are crying; practically every pensioner in Imo State has one or two dud cheques in his hands; cheques that were issued by government; and the old men and women would get to the bank and they are told there's no money. And whereas as we know, government cheques are supposed to be cash as it were. As a matter of fact, some of us who had the opportunity of maybe working or doing things in a place like the UK, once you are given a municipal cheque or government cheque, it's as good as cash. You can never have a situation where it comes back, never! But we have a situation in Imo State where old women who have earned their dues are issued dud cheques; they go to bank and they are told there's no money to pay them.
Then you look at the physical side of the state. There has been significant decay of infrastructure and you try to situate where the state has found itself relative to a state like our neighbouring Anambra State and you see that we are miles apart. You find that everywhere in Anambra State, the nooks and crannies of Anambra State, right from the time of Ngige, through Peter Obi to the current governor Willie Obiano, they have done marvelously in terms of providing perhaps the most extensive network of roads that you can find in any state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And sometime when you go to Anambra you will be missing your way because all the roads are tarred. And if you look at the fact that 12 years ago it wasn't like that in Anambra but they have been able to turn the corner. And today, they are enjoying the dividends of democracy.
When you juxtapose this with the neighbouring Imo State, you are disappointed. Because even in Owerri, which is the capital city, we only have roads in certain areas. Even though the good roads in Owerri, built by Mbakwe, Ndubuisi Kanu and the rest of them, is now being expanded by the governor to what he calls six or eight lanes, in places that do not even require such expansions, all in the name of some bogey urban renewal programme. Meanwhile off those roads, all of them, from Government House Roundabout to Wetheral Road to Port Harcourt Road, wherever you want to go in Owerri you find that the roads are all bad. You go to Aladinma, all the roads are bad; you go to Federal Housing Estate the roads are bad, you go to World Bank the roads are horrible; everywhere. And yet that is supposed to be urban renewal. To me, it's all about deception. It's so unfortunate that Imo that has been recognised nationwide as perhaps a citadel of learning for most people, a melting pot of people who embraced civilisation a long time ago would now find themselves in this very sorry state.
Given the mood of despondency across the state, there's yet an urgent need for a reawakening of the Imo spirit, to let people know that it's not over, that indeed it could be better and things would definitely get better; that what we are seeing now is, as it were, in my own thinking, a passing phase, and beyond this phase, there will be good times for the people. And these good times will be brought about by serious governance that they truly deserve.
Governor Rochas Okorocha has always claimed that he's very popular, that the people are behind him and with youth groups declaring support for him. Are you saying all that is not true, that the people are not with him? Again, there was a time he had an altercation with the governor of Anambra State and said Imo has the best infrastructure in the South-east and cited building 27 general hospitals in the state.
Well, I don't think that is true because I was also at some point part of that government. So, I don't think that is true. You cannot compare Imo with Anambra; it's like comparing day and night, light and darkness; that comparison is not right. And if you talk of 27 general hospitals where are they? What we have in Imo State, and I want you to go and verify, are 27 uncompleted buildings which the governor has for the past four, five years have been mouthing and saying are general hospitals built for the people. None of those buildings has been completed with the exception of one at Ikeduru on the way to Okigwe. And the second one on the way to Imo Airport which he has now handed over to the Nigerian Navy or Nigerian Airforce, for whatever purpose. So, none of those so-called 27 general hospitals has been completed. So, that claim is hollow, is not factual. You can find out for yourself by visiting the 27 local governments. What you will find is that the outside of these buildings have been painted. But when you go into those buildings, you will find that they have not even been plastered, you find that the conduit and wiring have not been done, the pipes haven't been laid and so on and so forth. It's all about deception.
You were at a time part of that government. At what point did things began to go wrong and what was your response to this?
Well, Governor Rochas Okorocha started out well. As you know he's a populist, so to speak, he knows how to turn some of these things to his own advantage. But truly I must tell you that most of the claims are not what they are. I was part of that government, that's a fact. I was a commissioner, that's a fact. The way I look at it is that I went there to give my best to Imo people not really like serving Rochas Okorocha in a personal capacity, that's mistake people make. Government belongs to all of us.
I understand you are running on the platform of APGA. How strong is APGA compared to other parties in Imo?
APGA is the party to beat today in Imo. That is a fact. APGA has always had a popular appeal at grassroots; but regrettably they have always suffered because each time people finish voting for APGA, what happens to the vote before they are announced normally surprises everybody.
I think with the experience of 2011 which will definitely dovetail into 2019, nobody is going to steal APGA votes in Imo State.
What are you going to do differently if elected governor of Imo State?
There are so many things that are wrong in Imo State. First, we must restore the people's confidence in their government. The people of Imo State are despondent. The school system is not working even though you'd say the number of people in the schools has gone up; the hospitals are not working; there's single hospital in Imo State that is working to the standard they are used to in other states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; the civil service in Imo State is comatose. As a matter of fact, there are only two ministries that you can go and see activities, and those are the ministries of Land and Urban Planning, and then Finance. Every other ministries, the civil servants resume about 9 or 10 O'clock in the morning and they leave about 12 noon or 1p.m. to do their school run; and from there they go home.
This is so because the government they have seen since the past seven years has completely usurped the functions of bureaucracy. Government transactions, 90 to 95 per cent of them are done from Government House.
Transactions that ought have been run through the ministries, complying with due process provisions and all of that, are not even brought to the attention of the civil service; so the civil servants are redundant in Imo State. This coupled with the fact that at some point the governor told them they could work for only three days and use two days for farming. I mean this is not a question of saying things that cannot be verified. If you go to the Secretariat in Imo State you will see what I'm talking about. So we need to restore confidence in government, even the civil servants, we need to restore their faith in the bureaucracy. And as you know there is no government that can succeed in the implementation of these programmes if the civil service is not given its rightful place. Unfortunately, this does not happen in the state.
If you talk about the pensioners, that's a long story. And I'm sure you guys in the media must have heard it severally over the past couple of years the running battle the pensioners have had with the state government. So, I think the important thing is trying to restore confidence in government because government is all about the welfare of the people.
Talking about uncompleted projects don't you think that could be a factor of funding? Also given the fact that this seem to be a common problem in Nigeria, don't you think this can also affect your chances of performing if you become the governor?
I don't think it's all about funding. I think the problem of Imo State and uncompleted projects has to do with the fact that the civil service, the bureaucracy, has been completely sidelined. And you have a governor that feels that it's only when it's done from the Government House that's when it gets done. And it has nothing to do with funding. Imo State has received in the past seven years well in excess of N800 billion. If you take the states and local governments and you look at costs and other intervention funds that come to government from time to time: the 13 per cent Derivation, the Paris Club. But you don't find it anywhere. And for goodness sake, if you haven't completed a building that was meant for a hospital, you truly know, honestly, that it has not been completed, in which case it's not a hospital, why claim it's a hospital when you know it's not a hospital? You might as well leave it at the realm of uncompleted projects or buildings. So, I don't think it has anything to do with funding. Yes, there could be constraints in funding but what you find in Imo State are not found what you find in other states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At least to that level. So the issue for us is all about execution management.
You are in APGA, at a time you were in APC which is currently the ruling party in the state and at the federal level. Are you not worried that APGA may not be able to withstand APC because of the incumbency factor?
Well, it's all about one's philosophy of your politics. Even when PDP was the party at the centre, had all the resources, had all the control of the apparatus of state, I still joined APGA as a party because it's all about what you understand about politics and what role you want to play in politics. I believe that APGA represents the interest largely of the South East and its people. And I also believe that even if you gave me the opportunity to remain in APC I probably won't have been comfortable. So, that is the fact about it.