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• Why LG funds should be probed
From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Anambra State, Eminent Uzochukwu, has taken a swipe at Governor Chukwuma Soludo, saying that he’s wasting the state’s scarce resources on a needless airport.
He argued that a second airport is not needed in the state, considering the fact that the Chinua Achebe International Airport built a few years ago by Soludo’s predecessor, Chief Willie Obiano, is currently underutilised.
Uzochukwu, who is also the state chairman of Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), in this interview with Sunday Sun, demanded that the LG Chairmen in the state should step forward and tell Ndi Anambra what they have been doing with the LG allocations.
Many people have criticised Soludo for building another airport in Anambra, saying that the current one built about five years ago is underutilised. What is your position on that?
I just wrote about what you just said. Maybe you saw what I wrote. Proliferation of airports. Do we have that kind of money? Our money should have been deployed to other areas that are begging for attention. What is the distance between one end of Anambra State to the other end of it? It’s not much. Maybe the governor wants for him to drop and move into his house. Do we need it? This one, as you said, is underutilised. Asaba (airport) is there. It is good for us as a state to have one. We have one already. I think flights come into this place two times a week. I don’t know if it has increased. The last time I flew through that place, they said it was two times a week. In other words, it’s underutilised. What is this second one going to do for us? Are the Chinese and the Japanese going to fly directly to that place? That’s the question. This one that is being used now, what is the population of Ndi Anambra that makes use of it? Or even people coming from outside? Around us here, we have Asaba. We have Enugu, which we were using before this one came. Fine, when this one came, we hailed it. As IPAC then, under Willie Obiano, he organised us and we went to that places to see what he was doing. I was secretary of IPAC then. We went to see what he was doing and we commended him. Now, this second one, for me, is a jamboree. Put it that way. It’s a jamboree. Because we don’t have that much money to spend on a second airport. I thought he said that he was going to build an industrial park there. Good. That will develop that area and moreover, place jobs before our people. But building an airport there; airport is not a tea party. How are the passengers going to be attracted to that place? Instead of either taking Asaba or taking the one that is here; serving people now. Nobody is complaining. People are happy.
Are you saying that Soludo is wasting Anambra’s scarce resources?
For me, this is another white elephant project. Yes, that’s what it is. If there is money for us to waste, mark my word, waste, that money should have been deployed for other uses. Our youths are there, unemployed. So many of them. Go to Benue State, they have revived Taraku Mills that has been moribund for some time; built by Parako, the former governor during the civilian era in the 80s. The military came and brought it down; even tried to sell it. Benue people said no. The governor recently revived it and it’s working now. They said it’s creating more than 1,000 jobs not including the chain. Things like this should come. When they say government doesn’t run business, it’s not true. Build it and hand it over to the private sector to manage. I think something like this should suffice. Not going to give us a second airport. What is the population of Anambra people? My mother in the village, does she know what an airport is all about? Even that place it is being sited now. How many of them from there use this one that is our own. But if it is to create jobs for our people, good. But I’m seeing it as something that is elitist because we have one already that is serving our people. And Anambra people are working there. I’m referring to the one at Umueri here. But this one that is being built now, what purpose is it going to serve? If not, just leave a monument that will be said so, so and so man, when he was the governor was when the thing came on board. But the issue is the utility value. What will be the utilitarian value of the new airport to Ndi Anambra? So that’s the way I see it. I don’t see it as something that will give more jobs to our people. Before it gives jobs now, it must be operational. It must be profitable as to generate and pay people. The business you are doing and you are bringing from elsewhere to serve it, is not a good business. The business will be able to generate money and take care of itself. Thank God our governor is a Professor of Economics, a renowned one for that matter, anyway. I’m sure he’s only playing politics. When it comes to economics, I know he will discourage it. If he were not the governor, for somebody else to come and start building another airport after this one that is not up to 10 years. I know he will criticise it and call it a white elephant project. So that is it.
What is Soludo’s governance style that is not okay with you? What is he doing that you don’t like?
As I told you, if you stay too long, people will start asking questions. Yes, he has entered into his second tenure. But the issue is that he is going to have a local government election. And that local government election, I want to tell you, is programmed to produce what it used to produce. People are railroaded. It’s just APGA, nothing more. No plurality. It was not anchored on the fact that people should also contest from other parties. They use high fees to bar others from contesting. That’s what is happening. I can tell you authoritatively. So, if you come to Awka, the state capital, besides the fun city that he built and people go to that place to relax, the roads in Awka are still dotted with potholes. Look at this road, this Works Road that you passed as you were coming now. You can see how rough it is. It’s not supposed to be. This is the state capital. This is the symbol of the Anambra man. The pride of the Anambra man is our capital city. So, if other areas like Nnewi, which is just a commercial hub, is still better than our capital, what is our pride? Where is our pride coming from? We can take comparisons from other state capitals. Go to Ebonyi. Ebonyi is our sister state that is close to us here. Go to Enugu State. You can hardly see potholes within Enugu State capital. The buck stops at the table of the governor. His Commissioner for Works, what is he doing? Does he take reports to the governor? Because the governor does not move around as it is supposed to be. Because the governor is supposed to, at the time, once in a while, he moves around the town to know what is happening. Not depending on information from his commissioners or workers. So, our state capital is still looked at as it was before the creation of the local government area; not state capital. But I want to tell you, houses are springing up, I agree. But were they built by the government? These are individual efforts. But anyway, there is no state where you see all houses belonging to the state government. But making the roads passable. This is one of the infrastructure that gives a state its good name. Go to some states, you will not see potholes. People move in and out seamlessly. No hindrance.
What would you say about the issue of security?
Well, with the setting up of the vigilance group, I think the crime rate has reduced. But more needs to be done. But in terms of governance, governance is an art. It’s not carried out by talking. Talking and talking and talking and speaking grammar. It’s not that. It is what people see is what they believe in.
Are you saying that Soludo is talking too much and doing so little?
Well, that’s what people say. He’s speaking grammar.
What are you saying?
What I’m saying is that the governor should do more working than talking. Let’s see it happen in Awka, our state capital.
As the leader of IPAC, can you tell us what is happening to the funds that are meant to go to the local government coffers from the federal account based on the information available to you?
You first asked me about my party. That is politics. IPAC does not play politics. IPAC is an inter-party advisory council. We advise. We are not confrontational. We don’t play politics when it comes to IPAC because there you have all parties under one umbrella. And whatever we are going to say must be a collective decision. If you are asking me about my party and what is happening in the local government, I will answer you.
Okay, I’m asking you as a politician. Based on the information available to you, what is happening to the local government funds?
The local governments as it is today are not performing to their optimal capacity. We know money flows in from the central government, what they call revenue distribution. Go to the local government, you are in Anambra State. What is happening there? Is there anything happening? The local government chairmen, are they working based on the money they realise from the federal government? There is no local government in Anambra State that receives less than… Let me underestimate; less than 200 million a month. We are talking about roads now. There are local government roads. There are federal roads. There are state roads in Anambra State as it is in other areas. Where have you seen bulldozers moving, and you are told that these bulldozers were deployed by the local government chairmen? It doesn’t exist. We hear, we read that they receive money. That money they receive, where does it go? What happens to the money? Let me not talk about what is happening at the grapevine. But we talk about what we see. It looks like nothing is happening. It looks like they get no funds from the federation account. Even the one they generate internally. Where are they deployed? These are questions you as a journalist will go into the town and find out. We have 21 local government areas. What is happening in the local government A? What is happening in the local government B? In my own local government area, nothing absolutely is happening. Nothing absolutely is happening. Forget about the press statements they issue, claiming that they are doing well. What is on the ground? Press hype. It looks like the local government areas are not existing. They are there in name. These are the things we find out. When we convene, within the realm of IPAC, maybe we will find time to go to the governor and let him know that we observed that nothing is happening at the local government level. Nothing is happening there. You are in Anambra State and if you know anything that is happening at the local government level, you can tell us.
From the way you just spoke, are you suggesting that the governor hijacks the local government funds?
I never used that word. What I’m saying is that the local government does not seem to be having any governance at all happening. It’s not sending out talks to go on the road and harassing people, talking about, what do they call it, vehicle permits and all that. It’s not what they are supposed to be doing. They are supposed to be effectively working for the people. How? Making the roads passable. I must tell you the truth. There is a level of difference between the current governor and the former governor. Driving from Agulu to Nnewi is now something to talk about. He has been able to dualise it. From here to Nnewi would take less than 30 minutes. Kudos to him. He dualised it up to my own area, Ihiala. It’s ongoing. But from here to Nnewi to Ozubulu has been tarred. It’s very good. I mark him 100 per cent. But here in Awka, what is happening? Is it that the local government chairmen ‘eat’ the money that comes from the federation account? Or that the money does not get to them? But we always read every month, each time allocations are distributed, they are published, we know that those things are not fluke. They are real. What goes to Anambra State within the local government area, the same thing goes to other local government areas in Nigeria, depending on the way the distribution was done, the carrying capacity of the population of the area. But each local government gets enough that it will take care of its people, including internally generated revenue. But the thing is that what they do with the money, I have not seen. I’m speaking as the chairman of a party, not as IPAC chairman. During the time of IPAC, when we sit down, we talk about how to go about and say what is going to happen collectively. It’s not a one-man thing.
Your local government, Ihiala, is just a stone’s throw from Ogbaru local government area which is one of the LGAs in Anambra where oil exploration is going on. Are your people feeling the impact of the oil money?
Let the people first feel the impact of the oil money. Didn’t you see the people of Ogbaru protest the other day? I read it. They protested saying that they are like fish in the water but still do not drink water. I’m using their words. Ogbaru is a place that is blessed. Leave oil out of it. Talk about agriculture. Ogbaru deserves a farm settlement. And that will create more jobs than we think. We were arguing about it the other day and somebody was saying, because of the terrain, because of flooding that comes. I had wished that the Europeans were given that place to manage. You would have seen the benefit to Anambra people. I’m not from Ogbaru. Yes, Ihiala is very close. But the road that connects the Ihiala man to that Ogbaru, the bridge is still not put in place. There is a bridge that links us at Ulasi River where the Europeans were trading. Let them go and dredge that place. Though I know it’s within the exclusive legislative list of the federal government. I am aware of that. But the issue is that it’s the job of our governor to point to the federal government that this place needs to be looked into. That’s the link between Ihiala and Ogbaru. But that notwithstanding, Ogbaru people, from what I read, are not feeling the impact of the oil; though the oil is that of the federal government because of the constitutional provisions. So, Ogbaru is very strategic as far as Anambra State is concerned. Because if we’re taken care of, let’s leave the oil out of it. Because oil, one day will go. It has a timeline. But the agricultural assets that Anambra derives from Ogbaru will still be there. The issue is to make use of it so that it will be beneficial to Anambra. We don’t need to be going to Benue to bring food here. We can do it right here. In fact, the whole of Anam because they are linked. From Ogbaru you are going to Anam, Aguleri, and all these other places through the same water. And then a very big expanse of land that is neglected. Maybe because our governors, not just this current governor, have not been able to go to those places and see the wonders God gave us as a state.
