‘Nigeria’s security architecture must be restructured to create state police’.
Chief Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu CFR, OFR, MFR, and Ahaejigamba Ndigbo, elder statesman and the current chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Coucil of Elders, who clocks 79 September 4, is a three-time presidential aspirant and a former member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Board of Trustees (BoT).He spoke to select journalists in Abuja on the state of the nation recently ahead of his birthday before addressing a world press conference in Owerri, Imo state capital Thursday, where he formally announced his retirement from partisan politics. Abuja Bureau Chief, OBIORA IFOH brings the excerpts:
On September 4th 2021, it pleases the Lord that I mark my 79th birthday in sound health, strength and vitality. It is indeed the amazing grace of God that has kept me alive all these years and has propelled me towards making great achievements in various spheres of human endeavor be it politics, engineering, sports, aviation, shipping, banking, agriculture, philanthropy, industry, and indeed big business. For all these, I remain eternally grateful to God.
The help of God upon my life saw me through school even when I was not privileged to come from a wealthy background. I was able to get several Federal Government and International scholarships which enabled me graduate as a bright civil engineer without having difficulties in paying my school fees.
I was equally kept alive through fervent prayers while at the forefront of the war fighting during the Nigeria civil war that lasted for about three and half years. I commanded many battles during the civil war; I headed the Biafra Combat Engineering Intelligence, worked with other bright engineers from Biafra to develop the dreaded Ogbunigwe missile and other military ammunition.
Upon graduation from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, I ventured into engineering which is my area of primary calling, blazing the trail with my inventions in that field of endeavor which include, production of flexible pavement made of asphaltic concrete based on Asho Standard. This was approved by the Federal Ministry of Works and thereafter was conventionally used. Before that time, most flexible pavements were constructed with Macadam based on BS Standard.
Secondly, I introduced a new bridge design which eliminated pile foundations and hand rail, an example of this is the Azaraegbelu Bridge in Oweri-Umuahia road. Before the present design and construction which was done by me, the Azaraegbelu Bridge was a scene of many fatal accidents where many lives were lost.
In the field of Hydraulic Engineering, I designed an Ocean Berge with composite section of empty oil drums which was able to carry a pile driver used for constructing pile foundation in deep sea. This Berge was able to stand the static load and the dynamic load of the pile driver amongst many other inventions credited to me.
With time, I diversified into many other businesses such as publishing, shipping, shipping, aviation, insurance, agriculture, banking, furniture production, bakery, plastic production, medical equipment industry, properties./real estate, hospitality business, football club, etc, rising to become one of the richest Nigerians at a time; just at the peak of my business career, before venturing into the murky waters of politics where I flew the flag of Ndigbo for several years as a three- time frontline presidential aspirant.
As a philanthropist, I have opened my hands to thousands of people seeking succour, ensuring that many millionaires are made from my entrepreneurial mentoring and financial support.
In sports and hospitality, God has used me as a vessel of honour. For years, the Iwuanyanwu Foundation and the Iwuanyanwu National Ambulance Foundation have been in existence with over N10 billion spent so far in charity in the areas of provision of scholarships to over 10,000 Nigerians, building of schools, hospitals, churches, roads, huge donation towards the building of Imo Airport at Owerri, etc.
I also founded the Iwuanyanwu Nationale Football Club which won several national and international laurels. The achievements of these bodies are well documented in my authorized biography; “Amazing Grace” that will be officially unveiled on my 80th birthday next year. I have been given over one thousand national and international awards and indeed today I am one of the very few Nigerians honoured three times by Nigeria with the honours as; Member of the Federal Republic (MFR), Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) I am also the Grand Chancellor of State of Imo (GCSI) which places me in the Hall of Fame of Imo State.
Today at 79 years, I am an elder statesman and wish to remain so in all truism of the word and currently the Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Coucil of Elders. In all these I say; to God be all the Glory, and as a way of expressing a token of my gratitude to God Almighty who has done all these through me, I built and furnished a One Billion Naira Cathedral of St. Matthew Atta, Anglican Communion, Ikeduru, I remain forever grateful to God for his Amazing Grace upon my life.
At 79 I wish to therefore officially announce my exit from partisan politics to pave way for the younger generation of leaders I have been able to groom and mentor who will now carry on with my legacies and political philosophy. But before I take a bow in politics, I wish to put on record once again my key thoughts on several National questions that are yearning for answers which were the main reasons I ventured into politics and actually aspired for the office of the President of Nigeria thrice with the hope of fixing Nigeria one day.
Unfortunately, providence was not on my side to be President of Nigeria. The younger generation of leaders can through these little views of mine, draw wisdom from my wealth of experience and continue with the struggle for a better Nigeria (in the context of partisan politics) from where I stopped. I will however continue to serve my people as an Elder Statesman and in my capacity as the Chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Elders.
My thoughts on burning national issues are as follow:
Politics:
Restructuring the country to ensure devolution of powers to the federating units is panacea to political stability in Nigeria. We need to have strong federating units and a weak centre so that everybody will leave Abuja and go back to their regions/states and develop the place, people will now pursue opportunities in their respective states and not in Abuja. The local governments will now be made very functional to bring opportunities and development closer to the people. The agitation against injustice, marginalization, tribalism, etc will all seize because every region is developing at its own pace with what proceeds from their soil and based on how they have been able to maximize and manage the proceeds from their respective regions. The centre now gets a portion of the proceeds from every region to manage external affairs like immigration/foreign affairs, defense/military, etc. It is my view that the Presidency should now be rotational and zoning of the presidency should now be enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Implementation of Federal Character in all other political position at the national level and in all appointments and employments would then further give every Nigerian a sense of belonging in the Nigerian project.
Education:
During our days in the university, we had very quality education with very experienced teachers who were practically oriented and very conducive learning environment. It saddens my heart to see the deplorable state of our educational system today.
The curriculum was designed by the colonial masters to meet the needs of their time which were; needs for clerical officers, needs for secretaries, accountants, etc, but today the needs in our society have changed, however the curriculum remained the same. Creating a functional educational system that can match courses read in the tertiary institutions with the existing needs in the society as against the current curriculum that trains students for white collar jobs that are gradually becoming unavailable is the way forward for Nigeria’s educational system.
Ensuring that students right from the cradle are equipped with practical skill acquisition in line with their respective courses of studies that meets the needs of the society should be the focus of our current educational system.
Infrastructure/Engineering
As a young civil engineer, I built the Enugu Airport. During that period, I carried out experiment on flexible pavement and produced a flexible pavement made of asphaltic concrete based on Asho Standard. This was approved by the Federal Ministry of Works and thereafter was conventionally used. Before that time, most flexible pavements were constructed with Macadam based on BS Standard.
But in recent times I noticed a departure from that discovery of mine. I therefore urge the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure full compliance with the various engineering test requirements essential for the contractors to produce high quality and durable pavement.
Health care delivery
The sorry state of our health care system is becoming very worrisome. Even our ruling class today is not confident using the health care services in the country. Rather they embark on numerous exorbitant medical tourism abroad at the expense of tax payers. Nigerians of all classes deserve quality health care delivery that was what moved me to float the Iwuanyanwu National Ambulance Foundation in 1981. I also built an executive ward at Federal Medical Centre Owerri to give my region executive health care services. When I later discovered that many patients who needed blood transfusion could not have access to healthy blood and as such so many accident victims and women under labour were losing their lives on a continuous basis, I built a blood transfusion centre in Imo state and handed it over to the state government on November 11, 1985.
All these I did in my little capacity as a philanthropist. The government must now ensure health care delivery is given national priority. I also recommend a National Ambulance outfit that will readily attend to all health emergencies by just a phone call and that is what we have been trying to achieve over the years with the Iwuanyanwu National Ambulance even within our limited capacities as private entities.
Economy:
There is need for us to commence building an economy beyond crude oil, by restructuring, states will be able to rise to the challenges of generating revenue from the abundant natural and human resources God has deposited in various states in Nigeria and not waiting for monthly handouts from the proceeds of crude oil from Abuja. States like Zamfara state where diamond was recently discovered would be able to explore the natural potentials deposited in their soil without hindrances from the federal government thereby emerging as one of the very rich states in Nigeria. The massive waste and excessive borrowing in government is also becoming very alarming. The debt profile of this country has risen to a shocking level that I always wonder if any future government will be able to pull Nigeria out of this predicament. The government of the day must now cut down on excessive borrowing and rather cut down the cost of governance. For instance politics and legislative duties must be seen as part time job for people who are already successful in their chosen field of endeavours who now desire to make selfless impact in the larger society and not as a means of livelihood.
The Senate for instance can be a part time job, while the Federal House of Representatives members can operate full time. With this we can cut down the cost of governance to some extent while Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government should equally cut down on their overheads. As much as possible government should privatize any of its outfit that is business oriented. The private sector is more structured to run businesses successfully without the unnecessary waste associated most times with government’s style of operation. The duty of government is to provide the enabling environment and support for the private sector to thrive and not to run commercial enterprises. This will equally go a long way in cutting down the wage bill of government and ultimately cutting down the cost of governance.
Youth and job creationI:
The youth generation of any nation remains the strength of that nation. Harnessing the many untapped potentials of Nigerian youths providing them the opportunity/enabling environment to make their marks in their chosen field of endeavour, will see Nigeria rising in the comity of nations with so many technological inventions and discoveries that these same youths exhibit only when they find themselves outside the shores of this country simply because the support system was made available to them abroad transparent system needs to be put in place to immediately identify and support exceptionally bright/gifted youths. Their inventions/innovations should be properly funded to any level. This will see Nigeria becoming a destination for innovation and technological development with a resultant effect of massive job creation; this is how great economies like China emerged. They took advantage of their rising youth population and converted it to national productivity. Nigerian youths are not lazy but are the most hardworking youths across the globe who only lack the enabling environment/opportunities to excel in the areas of their passion.
As a way of advice to the youths, I believe every youth should have a clear cut vision and philosophy of life. Life must never be lived randomly but deliberately. “Whatever is left to chance does not have a chance. So a well articulated philosophy of life should be the motivating force guiding every action and inaction of every Nigerian youth. As a young man, I had clear cut vision for my life and developed a philosophy of life which guided all my actions/decisions in life.
My philosophy of life is well encapsulated in my speech on Monday 11th November, 1985 when I handed over a Blood Transfusion Centre which I built, furnished and donated to the Imo State Government and I quote:
I believe in the Supreme Being. He is Omnipotent, Omnipresent. He is all loving and all wise. He is the Almighty God. I believe that the highest fulfillment, the greatest happiness and the widest usefulness of the individual can only be realized in harmony with the divine will of the Almighty God.
I believe in the supreme worth of the individual, in his right to life and liberty and pursuit of happiness.
I believe in the sacredness of human life and human right.
I believe that every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity an obligation and every possession a duty.
I believe in dignity of labour whether with the head or with the hand.
I believe that the good God in His infinite mercies has bestowed mankind with sundry gifts and whatever gift bestowed on any man is given to him by the good Lord in sacred trust and man should use such gifts to promote love, happiness, and peace among the people of all races and creed.
I believe that the world owes no man a living but owes every man an opportunity to make a living.
I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world and it can over-come hate, greed and rancour.
I believe that the rendering of useful service is the common duty of mankind and the greatest happiness and peace of the human soul can be attained in rendering such services.
I believe that truth, justice and equity are fundamental pre-requisites to an enduring social order and that right can and will always triumph over might.
I believe in the sacredness of promise, that man’s word should be as good as a bond, that character not wealth or power or possession is of supreme worth.
I believe that prudence is essential to well ordered living and that economy is pre-requisite to a sound financial structure whether in government, business or personal affairs.
And finally, I believe that law is made for man and not man for law and that government is the servant of the people and not the master and no individual can be greater than the society in which he lives.
Security:
Insecurity in Nigeria can only be curtailed when the security architecture of the country is restructured to create room for state police. The concept of state policing will ensure that laws are enacted giving the security formations created by the various state governments powers to use sophisticated ammunition to be able to combat sophisticated crimes of today. A governor cannot be the Chief Security Officer of his state but remain helpless at the face of external aggression/ invasion of his state by bandits only to wait for instructions from Abuja before security forces can swing into action to secure his people. Just Like what is happening in most states today. That subtly seems to imply that the Governors are not in actual sense the Chief Security Officers of their respective states and it equally means they are helpless in carrying out their primary responsibility as a government which they are under oath to carry out which is; to protect lives and property. Until the security system is restructured to allow indigenous people power to defend their territories, we might never see Nigeria advancing in Military intelligence. State policing will also help the local people gather local intelligence to be able to fish out criminals from their midst as it will involve indigenous people in its formations.
Industrialization:
Industrialization can only take place when Nigeria fixes the perennial power problem. Power is key to the industrial revolution of the country. Today our industries are shutting down because of lack of political will from the ruling class to fix the power situation. I also don’t believe in the principles that government should withdraw completely from industrialization. The economy is very weak to risk that. However, government should not run industries. There should be robust partnership between the government and the private sector. During the Okpara-led administration of the old Eastern Region, many industries were established by the government in partnership with foreign investors. Government can actually invest in industries, overtime government shares can be sold out to private investors to enable government recoup its investment and through this process government has been able to bring about industrial development without losing any money. We advised Chief Sam Mbakwe and he took to the advice and established the poultry farms, aluminum industries, resin and paint industries, etc. I believe that if the government takes a bold step to establish at least one major industry in every local government in the federation, there will be an industrial revolution. These industries can be established in partnership with foreign companies/investors that have the requisite experience to train local human resources for future full indigenization. Multiple taxation is also very discouraging to many industries. Industries should also be given tax holidays from the time of inception to enable them consolidate before paying taxes.
Agriculture:
Nigeria is blessed with so much agricultural potentials. As a matter of fact, every state in Nigeria has several crops/agricultural produce adaptable to its soil that can be maximally harnessed for food sufficiency and for export by both government and the private sector. I must give credit to the Federal Government of Nigeria for its giant strides in the area of rice production through the CBN/NIRSAL Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. These strides can be extended to other cash crops like cocoa, rubber, palm oil, etc to make Nigeria top chat globally in the area of agriculture. The agricultural potentials of Nigeria if fully harnessed will see Nigeria looking away from crude oil to agriculture which actually should be the main stay of our economy. Massive jobs will be created even amongst our teeming graduates who will now take a career in mechanized farming thereby putting their intelligence in the further development of the agricultural sector. Several millionaires and billionaires will be made, with millions of jobs created through the agricultural potential God has deposited in Nigeria if fully harnessed. We must now put an end to all forms of food importation into the country so we can save our foreign exchange for other meaningful import bills. We should rather earn massive foreign exchange through our agricultural exploits in Nigeria.
Corruption/ national conscience:
Corruption is a hydra-headed dragon that must be dealt with for this country to make meaningful progress. In all facets of our national life today there is high level corruption despite all the rhetorics about fighting corruption. Aside enforcing severe punishment/ long jail terms for corrupt public servants, there is need for a renewed national conscientization right from the cradle bringing to the for the need for Nigerians to embrace integrity as a national virtue. There is nothing also as destructive as ethnicity and tribalism. If Nigeria must remain one, there is need to remove all such prejudices from our national consciousness and this must also start from the cradle. Let us enthrone meritocracy rather than mediocracy. Let us enthrone a country where any Nigerian from any part of the country does not need to know anybody to attain whatever heights he or she desires, a country that provides equal opportunities to all its citizens, a country founded on the bedrock of peace, love, justice, fairness and equity, that is the Nigeria of our dreams and I hope to see it in my lifetime when my people from the South East will now have a sense of belonging and will not feel pushed out of a country we have invested so much to build. I will continue to speak truth to power for the rest of my life even after exiting partisan politics until we have a better country we can bequeath to our children and the generation unborn.
Finally I wish to thank the Igbo Council of Traditional Rulers and indeed the entire Igbos for conferring on me the revered title of Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo. This title was conferred on me by all traditional rulers from the seven Igbo speaking states of Igbo land namely: Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta and Rivers state. This gesture places on me a duty to regard every Igbo sons and daughters as my children with a mandate to assist them attain any heights they desire in life irrespective of class or background that I have faithfully done over the years and will continue to do.
I am aware we have Igbos who are indigenes of Akwa Ibom state, Delta, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River and Kogi state. For the avoidance of doubt I accept the responsibility reposed on me by this honour to all Igbos wherever they reside in the world. I promise never to fail my people for the trust they have reposed on me and will dedicate greater part of the rest of my life in protecting their interest. I must also express my gratitude to the government and people of Nigeria for providing the enabling environment for me to succeed. Substantial part of my education was financed by the federal government of Nigeria. I later got international academic exchange scholarship on the recommendation of the federal government. As already stated earlier, the federal government has honoured me three times with national honours. I want to reaffirm my earlier statement that a restructured Nigeria is amply endowed to be one of the leading countries in the world. I therefore appeal to all Nigerians to love one another irrespective of tribe, ethnicity or creed and work towards a one united Nigeria. Moreover I appeal to our present leaders to embrace the spirit of our founding fathers who painstakingly evolved a Nigerian constitution that respected the dignity and rights of all Nigerians. My sympathy also goes out to many families who have lost their loved ones recently due to reckless and senseless activities of bandits. I pray that God should bring peace to our dear country so that the tears of many Nigerians shall be wiped away. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
