By Agatha Emeadi
Senator Florence Ita-Giwa is a hard working Nigerian politician from the South-south region, who is intimately connected with the people at the grassroots just as she has reach out to many across the country.
Four times, she won elections to represent her people and even served as special adviser on National Assembly Matters to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
But her distinguishing mark is the enduring charity work she is doing among the Bakassi people in her constituency, which has given women and children in the area a new lease of life as she has adopted hundreds of the children and given them opportunity for high attainments in education, thereby equipping them to take their rightful place in society. Excerpts:
You appear to be quiet on the political scene. People are wondering whether you have quit politics. Are you still in politics?
I cannot quit politics because I have young people who have been with me from when they were kids. There are young people who virtually laid down their lives for me to win elections. The last election I won, I was the only opposition Senator from the South-south of Nigeria where I defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in my state. So, it is not easy for me to quit politics because those young men who laid down their lives for me to win four elections are still there. If I am not around, they would be trampled upon; that is why I am still around. My state is APC, so I am a member of APC.
As we look forward to the 2023 general elections, what message do you have for Nigerians?
I think the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would solve a lot of problems. For me, the first advice is to stop using people’s children for violence during elections. I have established a non-governmental organisation called “Say No To Violence” in my community, where I engage the young people. To those ones who are picked from some areas to become bad boys and shed blood, I said to them: ‘Do not shed blood for anybody, let them bring their own children to shed blood for them.’ We have established that violence hinders women from active political participation. One knows that the violence that occurs during elections hinders women from active political participation because in my state, since I finished my tenure as a senator, no other woman has been able to win even House of Representatives election because of fear of violence and poverty.
What is your assessment of women’s performance at the national level of government?
It is most unfortunately unimpressive. Maybe now that a new system of voting has been introduced, this time around, the women would be able to perform better. When they moved to selective syndrome it became impossible because they would think that the women are not good to support. But now, someone has to move and support you, and they rig election in your favour. With this, the women are unable to meet up. There again, the women organizations sit in air-conditioned offices and do the talk. But I tell them, go out to the streets and start working, go and endear yourselves to the people. The men have conscience, if they see you are working hard as a woman, they would work harder. No one wants to give away power just like that; no man wants a woman to defeat him because that will hurt his ego. I tell women to start early to work. I have done four elections and did not lose any election because two people are facing each other. I worked very hard having in mind that two people are involved. I do not believe in gender and I am not feminist; if there is anything like re-incarnation, I want to come back as a woman because there is a lot I can achieve as a woman.
Do you think 2023 elections would be different?
It will be highly competitive because of the awareness. Nigerians are very aware; everyone has gone to register. Nigerians want the country to move forward and they need the change. They want a president and governor who is interested in them and look after the people; that is what people are expecting, not one that wants the name and the juicy office. It will be highly competitive and tough. I personally think that former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu did well in Lagos State, even though campaigns have not started. But that fellow from my party who over 1,000 delegates voted for and supported to be the standard-bearer, that is who I am supporting. Then in my state, I am working very hard; we struggled for power to return to the minority where I come from, the southern part of the state and finally God did it for us, we have produced a non-serving senator who is very good and he is working hard to win the election.
A lot of Nigerians feel disappointed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not done well, judging from the three-point agenda he promised in 2015, namely, rebuilding economy, fighting corruption and ending insecurity. What is your view on this?
I do not think that the environment has made it possible for him to do well, which is most unfortunate and frustrating. I think he made a lot of efforts, which did not work out. I do not know from what end, but I also know that to govern Nigeria is not easy because I worked with two presidents as adviser and was very close to them. I worked with former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for four years and I know how it works to give Nigerians the nation they want. It depends on the people and commitments around him.
You have been involved in laudable charitable works. What would you say drives your passion for this?
My mother was a journalist and an analyst who made me imbibe the culture of caring for other people. She never liked injustice and was frequently detained for trying to defend others. She also tried to develop the people around the community. Growing up and going to Bakassi to see the number of people in need is one of the reasons I do what I am doing. In fact, if I pick 100 children from Bakassi in a day, I have not done anything. I am interested in human development, especially the girl-child who I develop in totality, building up confidence in them, to imbibe the right behavioural patterns and family values. When I perceive about programmes that have to do with human development, I throw my weight around it. I can boldly tell that I have brought up some very distant human beings from the creeks of Bakassi. There is nowhere I can be involved other than the creeks of Bakassi where my children come from. My last set of children are eight years and in Cotonou for a wedding this weekend (last week). The family they went to be with, the wife is from Niger Republic while the husband is a Nigerian who has lived in Cotonou all his life. My fulfillment in life is not because I won four elections as a politician, rather it is the human beings that I have developed, who probably would have perished in the creek or could have become militants or fishermen on the high sea. The girls would have been abused because in the creek there is no activity other than procreation. Once the girls reach the age of puberty, they impregnate them because there is no life there. When at 6:00p.m the fisherman returns from fishing, he drinks liquor (hot drink or ogogoro) and it is lights out, then he grabs whatever he can grab because there are no doors in the buildings. I thought of establishing a home for them, but remembered that most homes bring up miscreants. Instead I brought them into my family and made them members of my family where we don’t have any title. What I mean is this: my grandson almost made me emotional because he had the option of traveling with his father and mother, but aborted it and chose to follow his sisters. His sisters are my eight-year-old daughters. So, we don’t have a title in the family. I am not just bringing up ordinary people; we challenge them to be the best wherever they find themselves. I would tell them not to study courses like Sociology or History and they abided by that. They studied Electronics, Petroleum and Mechanical Engineering while the girl’s followed in the same vein in Engineering and International Relations from very good universities, which do not experience strikes by lecturers. In the past two years, I have been attending graduation ceremonies all over the world. Some studied in the University of Mines and Technology, Takwa, Ghana. Takwa is a mineral-producing town, which is one of the best universities in Africa. People come from all over the world to study mining. Two of my boys studied there, contested elections and became the person on international students’ union. These are children that I picked from the creek of Bakassi. I have no idea of their biological origin, but I picked them up, gave them my name and behaviour and today we are celebrating their graduation. I am always interested in programmes that would uplift the girl-child. In the last two years, we have had seven graduation ceremonies. I am always interested in human development. One is around waiting to be called up for the national youth service.