From David Onwuchekwa
Following the demise of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who represented the Anambra South Senatorial district, the party in its primary election to fill the vacancy elected Hon Sir Azuka Okwuosa who they trust to continue from where late Senator Ubah stopped. With a firm promise to deliver, Sir Okwuosa has articulated the areas his legislative agenda will cover to include adequate security in the zone, job opportunities, resuscitation of moribund factories, mechanized agriculture and lots more.
Excerpts:
If elected in the coming August 16 by-election in Anambra South Senatorial zone, what will be the focus of your legislative agenda?
If by the grace of God I become the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial district, the position being vacated by our late brother, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, a man who struggled very hard, a man who left an indelible mark in his legislative agenda, I will offer quality representation.
I see myself coming to fill that gap as someone who has prepared himself for a sound legislative agenda to ensure that the people of Anambra South Senatorial district continue to enjoy democracy dividends.
One of the most cardinal things I will focus on in my legislative agenda and even beyond that is to see how we can restore security in the zone and possibly in this State. And the highest point of insecurity today is from Anambra South notably Ihiala area, Nnewi South, Orumba North and South.
We have a lot of flash points in those areas. Insecurity has been a recurring decimal with no viable solution coming. The basic job of government is to secure lives and property first and foremost. It is a known fact that only people who are secure can enjoy the dividends of democracy.
So, to that extent, security is paramount and should be prioritized in my legislative agenda. There are negative indices of what have been lost both human and material resources as a result of insecurity.
These security challenges have caused capital flight both in the zone and the entire State currently. This issue of Monday sit-at-home order is still very much obeyed in spite of government interventions. That has been responsible for this capital flight to places like Asaba in Delta State and other nearby States. That has to be well addressed.
Business and economic environment has been reduced to a deplorable state with its attendant negative result in developmental efforts. Anambra people that are known for commerce and industry are now afraid to come home and investors are scared to come to the State.
Anambra indigenes are now afraid to come home for their social events like weddings and burials which most of them now perform outside the State. This is very pathetic. So, the issue of insecurity would be the first thing I would like to address. And I believe that once that is done, other things will fall in place.
Anambra people are not really looking for those to build factories for them or even houses. What they need are basic infrastructure developments. People resort to self-help with boreholes installed everywhere, left, right and center which in the long-run will produce adverse effects.
What do you observe about infrastructure development before and now?
You know in the Ist Republic, for instance, we had water scheme virtually in the whole of the Eastern Region of Nigeria during the time of M.I. Okpara, the then Premier of the Eastern Region. But today such things are no longer in existence. You only see relics of taps everywhere. I will introduce that old ideology Dr Okpara applied in the former Eastern Region to have public potable water supply to the people of Anambra South. This is among the basic amenities you should not deny the people.
Look at the area of transportation. It is not only road, we have water and we have rail. In the Ist Republic we had rail lines everywhere. But today those things are virtually non-existent. And that has put a lot of pressure on our existing roads leading to development of potholes everywhere.
So, my legislative agenda will include advocacy, interface and lobby to see that those basic amenities return to my State and my Senatorial district will benefit immensely from that.
Again we need a legislative framework in which we can attract investment in the area of rail and water transportation. That will help us a lot and many other things will follow.
But the most important thing is security, security and security.
You are in the APC and Anambra is an APGA State. Are you going to work in synergy with Governor Soludo?
Well, for me, the issue is not whether I’m going to work with him or not. As far as I’m concerned, the system is not working. The system has never worked out
The other day, we had a serious issue with insecurity in Ekwulobia just barely three weeks after that of Ogbuji. These things happen simultaneously, consistently, continuously and yet we have security network in the present administration. Doesn’t that tell you there’s problem?
In security, we need to have immediate, short-term, intermediate and long-term arrangements. I have a blue print on that and I may not unfold everything here.
But I do know that if you permit me to say one or two things, there are different indices. One of the perennial problems we have in this issue of insecurity is that some parts of it are ideologically based which can be addressed ideologically with interface.
You have the issue of traditional crime like armed robbery. Some of these things need long-term solutions. You need to, for the short-term solution, engage and interface constructively and isolate the ideological aspect from those that are purely crime-oriented.
You can identify a lot of flash points in different parts of the zone and set up CCTV. For crime prevention, in the civilized world they make it unpalatable for the criminals and once they commit crime, they will be apprehended by the law enforcement agents. There are CCTV cameras and forensic lab analysis.
And in the long-term also you need to cause legislative agenda through which security operatives could be properly remunerated added to insurance scheme. That will encourage them to work very hard without compromise.
Then you see a way to bring about job creation as among the long-term solutions to security issues in the zone. When you create jobs and youths are gainfully employed, that will certainly reduce the burden of security challenges.
A situation where young people graduate for more than ten years and no job for them should be avoided. These are hot- headed individuals who have finished their programmes in higher institutions and needed a place to apply their trade. If they cannot get that, they resort to self-help which leads them to crime.
You have the issue of agricultural development which can take more than fifty percent of the unemployed ratio. I should use a legislative instrument to encourage mechanized agriculture to further create employment opportunities for my constituents.
In the area of industrial development, there are so many moribund factories in Anambra South Senatorial district which need urgent resoscitation. I have a legislative agenda to create an enabling environment for those moribund factories to come back to life. I know the basic thing there is steady and quality power supply. That will be fixed.
When you restore these factories, the zone will bounce back to life and you know these factories are the economic life wire of the Senatorial district, and this in effect will create reasonable employment opportunities for our people.
After doing all these things and people still commit crime, then make sure that any criminal arrested must be prosecuted to make crime unattractive in the zone.
I must not unfold all my plans about security of Anambra South Senatorial district here but suffice it to say that I come prepared for quality representation of the zone with new positive innovations in representation for the interest of my constituents.
So, insecurity has not been properly addressed by the present administration in Anambra State and I’m coming to set a good example in Anambra South.
From the look of things, Governor Soludo wants an APGA man to be the Senator representing Anambra South. Can you stop him?
He cannot achieve that because he is not doing well as a Governor. Naturally, he has an ambition to do that. Anybody can aspire. Every political party is free to aspire. But the fact remains that it is not the issue of aspiration, it is the issue of getting the right person.
Anambra South should have someone in the Senate who belongs to the ruling party and be connected to the center to stop this one-man show political ideology which the APGA exhibits. Our people are now wise and they cannot afford to continue to be isolated from the center. APC offers them the opportunity to hook up with the center.
The best idea is to elect an APC man to represent Anambra South Senatorial district so that the constituents will enjoy full democracy dividends.
The APGA mantra “Nkea Bu Nke Anyi” has been demystified and our people now realize that the best bet for them to have maximum benefit from the center is to join, promote and support the ruling party at the center. So, we are going there to bring home what is due for us.
It is the issue of getting the right person who will do the job in order to alleviate the sufferings of our people in this Senatorial district of which our late brother Senator Ifeanyi Ubah started effectively well and Ubah was of APC extraction. That’s why I have offered myself to go.
It only behoves on us to go there and reconnect with the center which can only be done through the APC.
We are going there prepared to satisfy the yearnings of our people who have been out of contact with the center over a period of time.
