Gov Charles Soludo was recently at a Town Hall meeting in the United Kingdom which generated issues bordering on actions of some people who claim to be Biafran members. A former Chief Of Staff to Soludo who was Mayor of Kent in UK, Chief Earnest Ezeajughi, spoke to OKEY MADUFORO on the event and about the Governor’s new cabinet.
What was the essence of the Governor’s Town Hall meeting abroad?
Essentially, Mr Governor went to speak and interact with our brothers and sisters on the journey so far from his first term to the new term in office.
It was indeed instructive that Mr Governor had to do this and it afforded our people there the opportunity to interact and exchange ideas about the rising Anambra State which has indeed positively improved social security in our dear state. Areas such as infrastructural de- velopment were highlights at the Town Hall meeting and our people also made meaningful contributions towards the sustainable development and good governance of Anambra State.
The Governor moved a step further to give insight into what is being expected of his administration in the coming four years which is key to actualising the Dubai- Taiwan mantra of his administration. During the Governor’s first term in office, a solid foundation was laid, and what Mr Governor is doing now is to sustain the tempo and also bring into sharp focus the reality of these policies.
But an incident occurred during the Town Hall meeting when some people started agitating about the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB?
It is really a sad commentary that a Town Hall meeting by Anambra people at the instance of Mr Gover- nor which was a well- thought out plan was planned to be messed up by some group of people who have been totally disconnected from what is happening at home.
To God be the glory, we were able to contain them and the Town Hall meeting moved on successfully. It is on record that at the inception of Soludo’s administration he paid a visit to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu at the DSS facility and their meeting was fruitful. We are all in the know that Soludo had constantly pleaded for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
He said, ‘release him to me and when you want him, I will make him available.’ But these people who have turned blind eyes to all these efforts chose not to appreciate what Mr Governor has done and is still doing. We have this strong feeling that they were sponsored to do that; however their plans failed like a pack of cards. They accused Soludo of master minding the killing of innocent youths in the state through the Agunechemba Security Squad…
That is yet another lie from the pit of hell because at inception Soludo had appealed to our youths to come out from the bushes and get rehabilitated and there was a time frame for that. Some of them obeyed and they were reintegrated into the society through the amnesty programne of Mr Governor and those who were in police or prison custody were granted bail. But some chose to remain in the bush and had continued to cause trouble and cause breakdown of law and order with the eight local government areas of Anambra State remaining ghost towns.
At the end of the amnesty period, government moved in to restore peace, law and order in the affected communities. Today most of these areas had been liberated, and people had returned to their homes and normal daily activities had resumed. So those masquerading as Biafran faithful lost sight of the peace that had been restored in Anambra State and in their respective homes.
Most of them have not come home in the past 10 to 15 years due to the bloody menace of these miscreants for fear of being kidnapped or killed. Today, their homes are free and they are free to come home to meet their kith and kin. Instead of being grateful to Mr Governor, they chose to be unappreciative of what the Governor has done. We ask them to come home and see for themselves what is happening in Anambra and the new face of our state. It is not by staying there in far away United Kingdom chanting war songs when our people have moved on.
From what they are doing, one is compelled to believe that they may have a hand, though remotely, in the siege that lasted for about five years. When they protest about the alleged killing of so called in nocent youths, they are not looking at the many people that were gruesomely killed by these miscreants.
They forget that we now have too many widows, widowers and orphans that are in our state brought about by the activities of these so called innocent youths, and they have not come home to visit them. They do not seem to understand humongous socioeconomic loses on the account of the Sit-At-Home Order by those so-called innocent youths across the five states of the South East geopolitical zone.
Mr Governor cannot be cowed by such fellows and cannot be distracted by them because Anambra is bigger than any single person. What the Governor is doing is for Anambra people and not to satisfy the parochial interests or agenda of one or a few elements.
A lot of people have continued to commend the way and manner that you managed the office of the Chief Of Staff, what is the magic?
Well I cannot score myself at this point and it is left for the people to make that appraisal. Similarly it is up to the Governor himself to do so because anyone who chooses to appraise himself would score himself so high. But don’t forget that I came from a background of where things are done properly, having been a Mayor abroad and was also reelected into several offices.
The Governor saw me as someone that should be part of his government and I’d remain thankful to the Governor for giving me that opportunity to serve my dear state in that capacity. Political or elective positions are for service to the people and not for self adulation or angradisement.
You are not there to flex muscles or to lord it over people and see your subordinates or those under you as second class people. That cleaner or clerk in your office has very important and symbolic roles to play which go to shape your duties as a public office holder.
It was a replication of what I did abroad and that is what I came with, and Mr Governor is known for going for the best, with the crop of people in his cabinet during his first term in office, Anambra people can attest to the fact that the last four years was a huge success and like Mr Governor would always say “You aren’t seen nothing yet” .
There has been anxiety in Anambra State since Soludo’s Inauguration and it has to do with the delay in setting up his cabinet or team…
If you know Governor Charles Soludo, you would appreciate the fact that he is taking his time and he has hit the ground running.
Those appointments that he has so far made form part of his cabinet and he is deliberate about it. I know people want to see the lists of Commissioners, Advisers or Assistants but I can assure you that very soon he would make it public so there is no need or room for anxiety or apprehension as you said.
Recently APGA as a party made public the Code Of Conduct for the primary elections and some people are not comfortable with that?
Well I am not aware of people getting uncomfortable about the Code Of Conduct because it is in the interest of the party and its members.
The old order of people wasting huge sums of money in the name of contesting primary elections and at the end they are disqualified or rigged out has gone, and the party and Mr Governor would not take kindly to that. Today you only pay for the Expression of Interest and if you become the candidate you now pay for the nomination forms.
Again the old order of money bags hijacking the electoral process is also gone because we have loyal and foundation members since the registration of APGA that have never had the chance to test their popularity in the party.
But some people, because they have deep and fat pockets come into the party, highjack the election and become candidates and when they win the main election, they would dump the party to rejoin their former political parties.
The Code Of Conduct is for us to know the real party members and with this amended Electoral Act it would be difficult for one to practice the old style of jumping from party to party; also the issue of placeholder can no longer work.
This is one good and new thing that Governor Charles Soludo has introduced in party politics in Nigeria and this has also instilled confidence and credibility in the electoral process of the party. I bet you more people would like to identify with APGA as a party because the daylight robbery that takes place during party primary elections would not happen again and prospective hopefuls in the subsequent primary elections would want to come to APGA to contest as against what has continued to persists in most political parties.
Even the aspirants now have confidence in the leadership of Mr Governor and the National Chairman of the party Barr Sylvester Ezeokenwa.
Ordinarily the National leadership of the party and those at the state, local government and ward levels would have been having a fields day by now, so they are the people that are more affected than the political jobbers who would nev- er contest elections but rather wait for an aspirant whom they would work for as coordinators and then rip them off of millions of naira. We must applaud Mr Governor for injecting sanity and transperency in our polity and especially the way we play party politics in the part
