I’ll implement 35% affirmative action for women – Umeadi

Prof Peter Umeadi is the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) for the 2023 general election. In this interview with journalists, he speaks on his manifesto and how prepared he is to tackle various challenges confronting Nigeria if elected president, among other issues. ANAYO EZUGWU reports

 

You seem to have an interest in women and the girl-child; are there projects that you have done previously to support that statement in your manifesto?

I have done quite a lot in my state as a judicial officer, especially as Chief Judge. One of the areas that I got involved in is the domestication of the Child Rights Act and I had an opportunity to be part of that event which took place in Kaduna State in 2008. We spoke about the benefit of the Child Right Act, and as I am speaking to you, only about five states have not domesticated that act.

So, a lot of progress is going on in that respect and it is an area where I am very much interested. I believe that the development of a child is the basis of developing any nation. I hope to concentrate my work on that and ensure that all the states in Nigeria domesticate that act.

I will ensure that the act is implemented to the fullest because when you are talking about the Child Rights Act, you are talking about the issue of vulnerability of those who cannot talk for themselves and of course it is the duty of the state to do so.

When it comes to gender issues with the girl-child, my concentration is to benefit the girl-child as well as the boy-child. I will ensure that they are treated at par and we agree that every child ought to be in school until 18 years then we will ensure that no girl-child is withdrawn from school before the age of 18.

Culture impedes some of these laws, and the problem may not really be to have these laws but to implement them. How will you ensure that some of these laws are implemented if you emerge as president in 2023?

We will uphold positive customs and practices that are progressive. When you talk about laws, they are the foundation for running a society and if you know that women possess leadership skills and it is what we need to develop Nigeria.

Women are at par in terms of number in Nigeria going by the last census, and you find out that the right to dignity which is the foundation of all human rights, should be reflected in the interest of women, and men too, the aged, youths and children.

You can see the progression that Nigerian laws have taken in upholding the inheritance rights of women, especially widows where these things were not done before. Generally, I would encourage all persons who went through training will take the best in society for a particular purpose, and if the best for the job is a woman, I would gladly pick the woman.

 

How do you intend to make these things work, especially in Igbo land where women are relegated to the background?

I am running on a tripod banner, the rule of law, separation of power and due process.

The question that you just asked now, relates to the second banner, which is the separation of power. If I am elected as the president of Nigeria, I will be running the executive arm of government. I won’t interfere in the process of law-making by the legislature. I won’t interfere in the process of adjudication of laws by the judiciary.

If there are laws or practices that survive these arms of government duly separated, of course as president of Nigeria I will give it the backing that the law expects to be done. It is not for me as the president to begin to say what law will happen at every point where the life of a woman or a girlchild is involved, but whatever laws come out from those elected to make laws, who are of course close to the environment where those laws are to be applied, they will have the backing of the executive arm of government.

It is not for me as president of Nigeria to begin to say what laws will be made for different parts of the country to solve issues of women. The practices that are progressive and unifying will be supported by my government.

Insecurity in Nigeria is linked to unemployment, especially among young people, how do you intend to tackle that if you become the president?

Insecurity is a phenomenon that we have to agree is present today. What we are thinking is that we should review our education curriculum and we have proposed in our education curriculum to have the German model. The German model is such that everybody starts together until everybody finishes and those who have technical skills will be admitted into the technical line.

They will go into skill acquisition, and skill acquisition development facilities will be there for them to use. They can employ themselves and will also be able to employ others. Those who want to go into the formal line will continue to grammar school and come out to get into the university and develop in that area.

The philosophy of APGA rests squarely on social progress; the essence of social progress in my thinking is the ability to achieve your life ambitions, presenting a level playing field and technical standards, which is the essence of social progress and which has been further defined to create conditions for all individuals to reach their full potential.

The whole essence of this is that you have to create change on the ground and that is why I think that the crux of the APGA presidency under my watch is to develop the people. We will invest in the people because that will come faster than trying to build factories or build structures that you may need to borrow money and begin to have all this interference when the people that you are governing do not have any form of support for their sustenance.

APGA presidency rests on care; care for the women, the men, the children, the vulnerable and care for the environment. If you extend this care to the girl-child as well as the boy-child and the students, and we impact skills into them and expose them to information technology (IT), there will be progress.

You also know that we have Nollywood which is the second, in the world. These are areas where my government will invest heavily. Some of them will go out to use their talents to find a livelihood. Don’t forget that everything will be tied to the school. If they are tied to    school, it means that we will have to make tuition up to a certain level free.

The road that we are going to take is going to yield dividends very quickly. Not just yield dividends to bring people who are going to use their brains to begin to factor out the bigger thing that the country will do, but in the interim to sustain the people and stop them from going into crimes, and to also prevent what Julius Nyerere mentioned in 1976, when he came to Enugu about the disaster of having African children go to bed hungry.

These days, it is not just about African children .we also talk about African parents going to bed hungry. Let me also say, as an experienced man, that if you are hungry, you cannot find sleep. So, APGA will concentrate on empowering the people from day one.

How will you raise the funds?

It is true that Nigeria owes a lot of debt and I envisage that you will ask where we will get the money to pay the debt before we start considering doing other things.

If you are owing and your creditor sees that you are into social progress, which is organised by care and you have reduced corruption, things are working out and people are taking care of, being shown the right way to go, to make the country more viable, your creditors are not going to call for the debt so quickly for them to give you the benefit of doubt.

They have embassies here and they see what is going on. So, if they see that the government is doing what they are supposed to do and people are happier, they will not call up your debt. They will give you time to change things and may even advance you more money.

What are your thoughts on state police and restructuring?

The first thing that we will have to do is to amend the constitution because item 45 of the exclusive legislative list gives policing to the Federal Government. It will be amended, so that states can have state police. We will amend the constitution to be able to have state police.

There should be state police and there should be local government police down the line. If you go elsewhere, you will find out that policing is a community thing. You will discover that the policeman who is a member of the community knows everyone, as they advance in school, and become men. So, it makes policing more effective.

We must be sincere to ourselves about what we want to get out of restructuring because most times, all of us pay lip service to restructure.

What exactly are your plans for women?

We are going to implement the 35 per cent affirmative action that the Nigeria Gender Policy has prescribed.

 

We have heard this statement from successive governments, how will your government be different?

 

Hold me to that, I will carry what I have said to the letter. The 35 per cent affirmative action will be implemented as the standard core minimum.

Don’t forget what I said earlier, if I have to engage people and the best man for the job is a woman, I will put a woman there. This is outside the standard 35 per cent. Anywhere that I have job placement and a woman is the best person for the job, I will put the woman there.