KENNETH OFOMA, 
Prof Nick Ezeh is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Enugu West Senatorial District in the forthcoming general election. In this interview with KENNETH OFOMA, he speaks on the problems of the zone and how he intends to tackle them if elected
You once said that Enugu West is the least developed senatorial zone in the state, which seemed like an indictment of the current senator representing the district, Ike Ekweremadu. What do you intend to bring on board if elected senator?
Concerning the institutions and the performance of former senators, we are not here to discuss or to score anybody. However, what I will say is that between some of us, training differs, exposure differs and capacity differs. So, everybody is bringing his own to the table and whatever you can present is what you have, what you don’t have you cannot present. Maybe, somebody said we have the best performing senator at the Senate.
Yes, at the Senate, we have one of the smartest senators but that has not resulted in the development of Enugu West Senatorial District. I challenge anybody to point to the other side of it.
There are institutions in the district that are obsolete. How will you work to ensure they are revitalized?
All these obsolete institutions and industries are what is driving other parts of the country; go to the West, there is no waste, they have bitumen, they use it. We have coal here, we don’t use it, and we have agriculture, we don’t use it. I personally invested money in the Ministry of Agriculture in Enugu state to rehabilitate the Oghe Cashew Plantation; it’s on record that I spent money. They gave it to somebody, and then the person came and I invested. The problem we have is when you have people implementing reforms and they themselves have not been reformed to Implement the reformation process, you are not going anywhere with your reforms.
What plan do you have for the abandoned Oji- River power plant if you become a senator?
There is practically non-existence of federal institutions. Where they exist, they are moribund. Somebody mentioned the Federal Cooperative College Oji-River but you can’t even access it, there is no road. I was there; it’s just a glorified primary school to say the least. We need a senator to talk to the Minister of Education and say I have an institution in my constituency, is it in your record, do you have a record of these institutions within my constituency? I have been to the College of Education Iwollo in Ezeagu. I’m also aware of some approved institutions, one in Ihe, in Awgu Local Government Area, another one at Udi; they are all operating from existing primary and secondary schools. There is also one at Inyi, also operating from Inyi Boys High School. This is not obtainable in other parts of this country. When the government approves an institution they build an institution, they equip it. The president or any minister has never come to Enugu West to commission any educational institution to the best of my knowledge. That means it does not exist. Oji-River was at a time the only power station within the Eastern Region of Nigeria,powered by coal. In 2013, I applied to the Federal Ministry of Power. Then my brother, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, was the minister. I said let me take over Oji River and rebuild it for historical purposes; that this is an edifice, we don’t need to write it off. I processed till the end; I didn’t get the approval to use my money to reverse our asset because Oji-River power is the address of Oji-River. That’s the first approved urban town within this zone, Oji Urban. It didn’t work. I also applied to the Enugu State government during the Sullivan Chime administration that I want to revive the Niger Steel Complex, but I didn’t get the approval. I had brought in investors from Russia to reverse and then reconstruct and put the steel complex back on stream. I didn’t get the approval. I also applied to the Ministry of Mines and Power for us go and clean up Onyeama Mines. They said it was flooded, I said leave the water, we are going to de-flood it. I didn’t get the approval for all these because I was not in government. If I’m a senator, I will get the approval and do it and our people will benefit from it.
How do you hope to face the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state?
I was a member of PDP for 16 years; I also ran for senatorial primaries in PDP in 2020. I ran for senatorial election on the platform of Labour Party in 2011. The rest is history. You can check the records. Today, I’m in APC; PDP is one party, Labour is one party, APGA is one party and APC is the amalgamation of all political parties. So, that makes APC stronger, better and bigger. Again, the structure of APC in Enugu State is not in doubt. We are lucky to have someone like Barr Ugo Agballah, who is a mobilizer, energizer and a workaholic as the state chairman.
The structures of the party are intact. Nobody has left APC in Enugu State to another party; rather people leave other parties to other parties. So, we have structures and sub-structures in APC. I personally have structures; you know I have been around town as national director of support groups, civil society, Diaspora for the presidential campaign of PDP in 2015. So, I’m a mobilizer. Political administration is what I teach and how to make it cheaper is also what I teach. Whether I have capacity to take on the PDP? I believe it is not about PDP, we are talking about the senatorial candidate, but you must have the capacity and ability to take on any of our opponents and we are going to defeat this opponent because we are better, well equipped, well informed and we are well connected. We can talk about politics from today till tomorrow; we have people to listen to us. We are not boasting about finance, I’m the contractor you are the client. So, I will do the job for my people and my people will pay me, it’s not the other way round.
APC did not score up to five per cent of votes in Enugu West during the 2015 and 2019 elections. How do you intend to navigate the belief that the party is not popular in the state?
You know that in 1979, we held elections in Nigeria and the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) won the entire south eastern zone because of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. 1983, we held elections here in Enugu State, where the incumbent Jim Nwobodo lost to C. C. Onoh of Nigeria Peoples Party (NPN). Enugu State has remained a one-party state and that’s why no meaningful development is going on.
The president has never come to this state to commission any project, nor has anybody come to this state to say a bigger project has been commissioned. Now, in terms of ability to defeat the PDP, it is very simple. We all live in Enugu; very few people go to vote.
In fact, if elections will happen in the next four days, today the results are written and that is why it seems they are winning. There is a new electoral law, which will ensure that everybody’s vote counts. When everybody’s vote counts, it makes it easier for genuine politicians to win elections and we are going to win the elections.
The record of 20 per cent and 10 per cent of the previous elections is a matter that has been discussed often; how people sold and bought these percentages. They don’t really reflect the stand of the people. We are going to win the election, we are not going to rely on people who are paid to return percentage because our people are in the field, they will vote for us.
Do you support calls for a part time legislature, and what’s your opinion on issue restructuring?
First on part time legislation, yes; in developed countries representation is on part time basis. If you want to go to Senate you must have a profession, you must have what you do, you must have means of livelihood, so that when you go to represent your people, it should not be a full time occupation. It’s not a job, it is representation, so it should be part time. I will support that. Remember when I ran in the election in 2011, I proposed the scrapping of federal allocation. My view is that people who call the family together and share money every month will never ever develop, you don’t share money.
But it didn’t work because there are so many excuses. I don’t know how much allocation M. I. Okpara, Akanu Ibiam and the rest got in the South East but that’s a matter for another day. So, I will support part time legislation, so that people will be paid allowances. Senators and the representatives, including councilors, should be paid sitting allowances. If you know you don’t have the resources to do that, you quit.
On the issue of restructuring, you know the word in Nigeria is not what it is. The former Soviet Union restructured, they got divided; America restructured, they came together; Germany restructured, they came together between the East and Western Germany. The truth is, you are going to restructure something that does not exist.
I was born an Igbo man, I have never sworn an affidavit to become a Nigerian but we are Nigerians by amalgamation and because we are Nigerians we accepted, our fathers accepted. So, when you are restructured, you move from state to states. You are talking about restructuring and you are creating more autonomous communities in our villages, separating families by autonomous communities instead of uniting them. These are issues that call for proper examination. I believe that everybody will support what is workable and what is doable, including restructuring and adjustment of the constitution.
What is your solution to insecurity in the South East?
Security has become a global phenomenon; it is a threat to the people all over the world. Security is something you must discuss at all levels. The question is that we have retired military officers, who are of South-East extraction, can they come together? What are the state governments doing, bringing security personnel and intelligence people together for advice on how to tackle security challenges because security challenges cannot be wished away, they are here with us? In every family there is a security problem, so my thought is that we must sit down and tackle our security.o
