In an interview with Adedayo Adejobi, former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, speaks on his stewardship in Abia, the upcoming general elections, his truncated senatorial ambition, his relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan.
Excerpts:
How is your relationship with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, President Jonathan and what are the issues with the Peoples Democratic Party?
Let me be frank with you, Obasanjo destroyed the system. I am afraid Nigerian people are welcoming, wining, dining and/or celebrating Obasanjo. He re-echoed corruption in the political system. When I wrote to him, he did not address the issues raised. He auctioned a lot of government properties.
I support Jonathan, whether he wins or loses. After all, we are all Nigerians. The issue is not who wins, it’s an issue of the country being stable and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should tell us whether they are ready or not. I know Attahiru Jega is being careful. I know President Jonathan will win with a slight margin although he might not control the National Assembly. No one party will control the National Assembly.
I urge Nigerians to vote President Jonathan. Even if there is a paper we failed, let them allow us repeat it. We will do well in exam. I am sure this time, he will work with men of strong character in his cabinet. I want every Nigerian to come out and fight corruption. We should ban governors from making donations to churches and mosques. The state money should not be given out freely without being appropriated. Nigerians should leave religion alone, and face good governance.
I know there are problem in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), but it will be resolved in the next two weeks. The president, followers and party are working hard to correct this challenge. We the followers are also working to correct the mistake.
Being the founder of Slok Holding, a $2.5 billion (annual revenues) West African conglomerate with interests in shipping, banking, oil trading, manufacturing and the media and only last year, you hit the Forbes list of Africa’s richest. How does this feel?
It doesn’t reflect in my person. It reflects in Forbes papers. But, I am still the same man since I was born. I have not done anything different. I am still the same person. If they have done anything, I think they have cracked some headache for me because nobody knows me and I find solace in keeping up with new and old friends. Forbes is a credible institution with good people but I don’t feel different.
You got a head start in business at age 19 after being expelled from a Nigerian university for spearheading a series of student riots. You then took a $35 loan from your mother and started trading in commodities, like palm oil, rice, sugar, salt and flour. You diversified into furniture, manufacturing and transportation and became a millionaire by 20. Please, share your experience?
I wasn’t expelled. I was completely exonerated by the reports and recalled at my fourth year when I had only three weeks to be in school with only a paper to write – Political Science 466. I didn’t take the paper and I left. I was recalled by the panel headed by Prof Noel Alkali. I refused to go back because they didn’t recall every other person that participated.
Could we say that set a tone for your national political career?
Not really. My activism had always been there. I had always been an agent of change. I have always been consistent. I am not the average politician, whose word is not his bond. I stand by what I believe in. I respect elders and I’m not afraid of telling them the truth.
At what point did you decide to go into politics?
To be honest with you, I’ve always been a mini-politician from my secondary school to university. At the Government College, Umuahia, I was a labour captain. I was student representative of my hall and then deputy speaker and later president of Student Union. What spurred me into entering politics full time was when I was coming from Lagos in 1998. I was travelling in an Infinity Q45 car between Abangwa High School and Aba; I couldn’t enter into our house in Aba, which is less than 3km. I was there for seven hours in traffic due to the bad road. I decided that the road would be done and it became a reality.
When I was doing roads in Aba, they called it Dubai roads, which mean, it’s not the right one, but the roads were done. Any road done after eight or 15 years, if not maintained considering the level of traffic, the roads will go bad. And you know Aba is a tableland, where there is no flow of water. Aba is under water level. It is a problem also; many people don’t know. At that time, 4, 000 houses gave way, to be able to get Aba right, in my first tenure. We were getting paltry sums of between N200 million and N600 million a month. The first time Abia State got N1 billion was in November 2004 and I left office in 2007. And we never got more than N1.5 billion. The salary scale was just N1 billion and I was just managing to do anything with it. That is why the staff and the people were happy during my governance. So, that is what spurred me, and I treated it.
I was able to get to the hinterland where the poor people lived. We developed areas like Nwagu road, Igbere Street, Ibadan Street, Ngwa road, and Aba second bridge. People never knew what I contributed when I left, and in all these projects I never borrowed a penny from the bank, except an overdraft we took from Guaranty Trust Bank to the tune of N2billion and we paid back before I left. I worked with what the state had. No managing director, executive of any bank or the Central Bank of Nigeria can say I borrowed money as Chief Executive of Abia State while in government. I challenge them to bring the papers.
Could you please share the highs and lows of your tenure in office as governor?
My tenure in office as governor couldn’t have been rosy with so much fight by people because the money was not meant for the elite, but for the people of Abia State. The present governor, who was my chief of staff, would attest to the fact that I would always say that “the commonwealth of Abia is for the public’’ and if he is a common man he would say it in public. I never dealt with money. I left him to deal with monies. I based my job on policy formulation and execution.
The high end of it is that we lowered the rate of corruption. The civil servants can say this. We were almost going corruption-free in Abia. Corruption-free mean an Abia State government worker could not beg you to give him money before he did his duty. We were able to bring open governance. But our greatest mistake in office was to challenge some policies of the Federal Government at the Supreme Court and Obasanjo took it personal. We filed about 32 cases in the Supreme Court against the Federal Government. We were doing these things to defend our rights as a free state and a federating unit. Obasanjo didn’t appoint me. I was trying to test some of those laws to tell him there was little independence between the state and the Federal Government. And I still strongly feel it is killing the state. There was a difference between the local government and the state. This is what our people in governance are not realising; that the difference is there. All these are the issues.
I came as a businessman. My conscience is clear, I am not a thief and I can never steal public funds because it’s not the right thing to do. I have never done it, because I am blessed by the little I have and I have been a hardworking man all my life. I work for every penny. That is why when I was governor, politicians and elders wanted me to give them monies every month. I told them it’s not obtainable.
They blackmailed me saying, I was giving my mother the money. None of my brother had contracts. Let the present governor bring the contracts given to any of my brothers by me. It’s not true because I know the consequences of not being upright. I have been in corporate institutions holding positions as chairman of Commerce Bank, on the board of First Bank, Hallmark Bank, Unipetrol and Bauchi Polytechnic, among others. I have been at every facets of corporate Nigeria; so I understand corporate culture and governance, so anyone coming to blackmail me is a joker. I am answerable to everything I did as a governor.
During your administration, there was this phrase “Mamacracy” traced to your mother. Everyone thinks and says your mother had huge weight, influence and practically ran your government. Is that true?
It is not true. Even the present governor knows. I have discussions between Theodore Orji and my mother on tape. He used to bring my mother and beg me to do things for my mother. Tony Okasanya, the late Dr. Sam Eke and the governor used to come as delegation and say when you are building roads you have to also remember the people – stomach infrastructure… I said no. I have these discussions on tape.
You have journalist friends living in Umuahia. Please ask them. My mother never slept in Government House for a day, and they will say she was living in the Government House. We have a very comfortable house in G.R.A of Aba, where we’ve lived. Our house had been built since 1994. My mother, to my knowledge, never slept at the Government House. Possibly, she might be crossing somewhere and visiting one of the guest houses to see people. I am a man governed by my conscience. Can any of those saying these things say them to my face? It’s not true because they have no substance.
I can recount those I contested the governorship elections with that didn’t win; those I denied going to the Senate, those I denied traditional titles and those who contested against T.A Orji when he was in jail. They feel they can’t forgive me for even contesting elections and I managed to get support for a man who came out of jail. So, they all have these grudges against me and I can call them by names. This is the reality on ground and everybody knows. I always forgive anybody who offends me. I have never bore grudges against anybody. I am a student of yesterday, today and tomorrow. I know Nigerian politics better than most elders because I am an Igbo man born in Aba, studied in the North and lived in Lagos.
The problem of the country is that people do not understand the country. This is why at the present time; I will do anything to protect the unity of the country. Nobody can break the country; it’s not possible. We have passed that stage. They can do their politics, but no one can break this country, as the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable.
Nigeria is at crossroads at the mo- ment, and it’s evident that there are issues in terms of governance, wan- ton corruption and terrorism. With the elections around the corner, what is your viewpoint on these issues and what would be the way out?
For me, the timeframe INEC had given to contestants to campaign is not enough. It should give six months or more to sell their manifesto to Nigerians. We are no longer fools that people will come a few days to the elections to campaign and hoodwink the populace. In the United States, the presiden- tial candidates will comes two years ahead of the elections and explain to people his/her manifesto.
On the dilemma of insecurity, it’s new in our eyes. Remember when it started I shout- ed. It started in a Catholic Church and now it’s gone beyond Anglican, Pentecostal. The bombs and bullets are killing everybody. They don’t care about colour or religion. I think we are not prepared as a country for terrorism. Let me also say that the country is refusing to bring strong characters to govern, give leadership to the country.
A leader must like the people he wants to lead. He must be committed at heart to the people, understand the common economy, justice, rule of law, thinks about the people and have substance. A leader must see and forecast the economy of tomorrow. The Ni- gerian problem is not a problem. Nigeria has economic problems. It’s only when we solve economic problems, we’ll now have political stability.
You couldn’t clinch a ticket to en- able your senatorial ambition come to fruition. What is happening to you now?
I filed paper in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and I withdrew the paper when I found out they had given T.A Orji all the delegates. There is no need to waste my time. I give thanks to God because I don’t know what God saved me for withdrawing from the race. I am not desperate, although I would love to give service to the people of Abia State and Nigeria. My work as governor reflected my heart for Nigeria through the Enyimba Football Club, comprising Mus- lims and Christians, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Same holds sway for the businesses I own; they reflect the true frame of mind. My face knows no Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. I consider competence in all I do, and this is the prob- lem of Nigeria. Nigeria has to be able to arise from being partial to being competent. Our leaders should focus on what the people need.
A leader should have conviction before having advisers. Nigeria doesn’t need a strong man to lead but someone who will be as humane as President Jonathan, although with strong advisers. If he wins again, all of us will get involved to re-direct the level of government and participation because gov- ernance is about making business decisions, investment, economy, expansion, amenities, roads, rails and infrastructure. There is noth- ing wrong in owing. Brazil borrowed, but they used theirs to develop infrastructure and do great things. So it’s not a waste. But Nige- ria borrowed and squandered the money. It’s not the right way to go.
– Culled from This Day.
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