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John Chike Okafor, a member of the House of Representatives, representing Okigwe South federal constituency (Obowo, Ihite-Uboma and Ehime-Mbano LGAs), and the chairman House Committee on Health, in this interview with Nwaodu Lawrence Chukwuemeka, spoke on the alleged marginalisation of South East, the call for Igbo presidency, the need for politicians, elected and appointed, to use the opportunity to serve mankind, among other issues. Excerpts:
May we know where you stand between the calls for Igbo Presidency and actualisation of the state of Biafra?
I don’t align myself with those who are fighting for Biafra, I rather align myself with people who are saying that we are not accommodated. I also don’t use the word marginalised, because if you say we have been marginalised, I will tell you that the government people look at presidency when you are the president or the vice president.
Not too long ago before we had this democracy, an Igbo man was the vice president. In the democracy experience we had before this current experience an Igbo man was the vice president in the person of Alex Ekwueme. Then some time down the line we still had Ebitu Ukiwe as the second in command, and there has been very conscious attempts by the government at the centre to make us feel accommodated by seeding some key positions both in the military and otherwise in the country to the south east. At post civil war no Igbo man was close to being a major general, which the government did by promoting our son in the armed force (Ebitu Ukiwe), that was a conscious deliberate attempt but shortly after then he retired but there was such an attempt by the government, by the powers that be to take us in. Ihejirika was the Chief of Army staff in this democratic dispensation, He is an Igbo man and was retired, he was not fired. He became the chief of army staff and retired as chief of army staff.
Mike Okiro became the next Inspector General of Police, an Igbo man from Imo State; so there have been that conscious effort and then in this democratic dispensation the Igbos have held positions like the Minister for Finance, Trade and Industry; Aviation – Stella Odua, Aviation at some point – Chidoka.
So the agitation and the argument is that in this current government we have not been well accommodated and I agree with that and the president himself has explained it. We played bad politics in the election leading up to the man’s emergence; we play bad politics as a people.
Not too long ago, we had senate president and we still had deputy senate president, but we played bad politics in 2015. We all went with the PDP, then the man got vote from some other regions. Some other geopolitical zones and became president and you wouldn’t know the commitment he made before he was able to extract that level of support and you won’t expect him to turn around, yes in democracy yes, you wouldn’t know some commitments that he had made.
Why would Tinubu wake up and asked the whole of south west to go and support someone from as far as the North West? So, let us give him a little space. That doesn’t mean that we are not feeling hurt or aggrieved that an announcement will be made releasing positions and you will only see one or two Igbos, I don’t think it is right. But for the privilege of information sources, I understand that in the subsequent or next appointments that will come, in positions you see us being a lot more accommodated. But that I think may be a wakeup call also for us in 2019 event, to play some good politics.
And I will say to you again, how I wish the Igbos listened to Owelle Okorocha. He was the only voice shouting, let us go and play politics with the north but nobody listened to him. So, let us hope that in 2019, we will get it right, play good politics so that we can properly position for good positions in the government. Possibly an Igbo man can be vice president. I do not see the possibility of the Igbo presidency for now.
How about restructuring?
They are playing politics with such. It is not possible, the world has grown so big. In my lecture in UK, I told them about the African recession and I told them that we haven’t lost that position, we haven’t lost the market. The market is here, the market is here. We have a massive population that the world can’t joke with and I tell you that Nigeria will continue to play that dominant role even in military within this sub-region within African and in the West African sub region.
If we run to the Gambia and prevail on the president who lost election to handover as a people, as a government as a country, we go and prevail, we didn’t wait for America or France to do that. It took Nigeria to lead the rest of African countries to go and persuade the president who lost election to save the situation in the Gambia, persuading the president who lost election to hand over to the man who rightfully won the election and then provided safe environment and airplane for him to escape, going to asylum; that tells you that any attempts of any kind of restructuring depending on what they say or how they want it, will not go down well.
If you talk about restructuring in terms of resource sharing that can happen. Then it was agitation by us; people from the south east, south-south that led to what we can call 13 percent derivation, to say that 13% of the resources, 13% of the revenue from oil should be given to those communities where the oil comes from. If you talk about Nigeria as an oil producing state, we have just nine states. What we had since 2005 was a situation where all the resources are put in one basket and shared. That agitation and fighting led to establishing that 13% derivation. Which means that if we bring our resources and say that this much came from crude oil that means 13% percent of it should be given to the nine states according to the contribution.
That is why you will always see Rivers and Delta taking the largest chunk of the derivation money. I am talking from the vantage position where I was the commissioner for finance. I was the secretary of the 13% sub-committee. So, this is what has come. Akwa Ibom too, in that order, Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Imo comes before Cross River, Abia and Bayelsa comes fourth, there are nine states.
That is what we call the NDDC states, the NDDC was also created as an intervention agency to also consciously assuage, bring development to these nine stateS. So, I think that if we cry a lot more, we could get some relief. So, I also don’t want us to wake up and kill the agitation forever.
So, I am telling you that I may not join as an elected member of the National Assembly of Nigeria. It will be irresponsible of me to join the agitation but I also do not think that agitation is completely wrong and I say, it could also get us somewhere.
You said your sterling performance when you served as commissioner was responsible for your success when you contested to represent your people at the National Assembly. How did it happen?
Religious leaders, bishops stepped out to say people must vote for me. They said no to any other candidate. They said, if he doesn’t win this election then there is going to be a problem. They wanted to prove a point, at least to tell our young ones that if you find yourself in a political office at some point, help people, help the community. So, Chike had to win the election against all odds because we need to make that statement so that’s how far we have come and here I am.
I went to the National Assembly as a first timer and didn’t have problems in aligning properly. I will tell you, if you go and check that fateful day June 9, 2015, after Yakubu Dogara was nominated by Jubril, I was the one that seconded the nomination of Yakubu Dogara. It is on record that at that time 360 members of the house shut the doors to elect the presiding officers, it had already been agreed at the caucus when we met that Jubril will nominate Dogara and then Chike will second the nomination. So, because I told my people back home, one of the promises I made to them was that I was going to be a strong voice in the National Assembly for the reason that they have complained that those who were there before me with the exception of one or two were not quite visible there and there I was coming in with some private and public sector experience. So I didn’t think I will have any reason not to hit the ground running from the onset because what you see in that chamber in National Assembly is about you bringing your experience there.
Once you are able to let them know that you are coming well prepared, I don’t want to say well read but well prepared, coming schooled, when you speak they want to listen, your education is not half-baked, your exposure is not tilted to rather one side of life. Maybe, you had all your life in organised private sector no stage in public life and then you are coming into the chamber with that imbalance experience. I was with the organised private sector for years, working in different banks and ending up in one of the biggest banks in sub-Saharan Africa, Zenith Bank running on that position of a senior manager, coming into public service working as a commissioner and a member of the executive council and then handling a very sensitive state assignment and also member of FAC (Federation allocation account committee) of the federation and sharing committee at that level handling a couple of committees over the four years and assignments at that level of finance commissioner and coming to run election for national assembly, I was coming prepared. So from contributions and all that happened prior to the inauguration and after the inauguration, I mean, I wasn’t surprised that I got chairmanship position.
As a matter of fact, at some point if was a second term person probably chairman of finance or appropriation, but those committees are exclusive reserves of ranking members. So we have members who are second and third term. Then I got a sensitive committee, health. I have the oversight of such vital agencies like the Ministry of Health, National Health Insurance, NAFDAC, UNICEF, WHO, NCDA, Centre for Disease Control, among others and I interact with these people.
What does your oversight function entail?
I go on oversight functions to these agencies and sit to see things in these agencies. Remember that these agencies are specialised agencies that handle specialised control, handle vital issues that border on the health of the nation so that’s where we are and these two years down the line my people said I have not been able to make some impacts. In this current year, I am making sure that all the primary health sectors in my constituency are revitalised and made functional, that has already been put into the budget and by God’s grace also, I am going to attract investors. There are plans also to upgrade the Federal Medical Centre to a Teaching Hospital.
FUTO wants to start medical studies in September; that has already been concluded it’s just for the minister to make the pronouncement because in the current budget that provision has been made. The Federal Medical Centre to a Teaching Hospital, we are very much interested and keen to also make sure that we do not lose the Federal Medical Centre if and when the Federal Medical Centre is upgraded to a teaching hospital. There are cases of states that have both, the teaching hospital and the federal medical centre. So it wouldn’t be a bad idea if during my time as the chairman of the committee on health, the Federal Medical Centre is upgraded to a teaching Hospital and we also have the federal medical centre somewhere in Imo State and possibly in my federal constituency.
These are things we are looking for to do and what has also given me some support, which is my relationship with the current Governor. So, it is not difficult to get the Governor to also put in words across to the government where he’s the key player being the chairman of APC governors’ forum. He is a voice in this country that you cannot but listen to. So that has helped me a lot. We would want to do more down the line, two years that is left, we want to do more. Remember that I said that the reason for every political office either appointment or selective is to bring development to your constituency. So that is the driver, that is the focus and that is the motivation and we will not stop at anything.
How about your social service?
I started running a foundation, a scholarship scheme when I was in the bank and we have also been able to expand at a period to have a lot more number of students in the universities we are responsible for their academics. Paying their fees and giving them money for their upkeep.
Is huge and I really don’t like talking about it because it is beyond the social contract. It is a spiritual commitment. It is not just a social contract; it is a spiritual commitment and may be, in another forum we will talk about it. These are two different things; to achieve growth and to also make it sustainable. One of the things that helps you to make progress or growth sustainable is when destinies are attached to you and God sees it. You see God won’t come down from heaven to do what he wants to do. Somebody somewhere is praying to God to answer his prayer, I need money to go to school or I need money to take care of my health challenges, God wouldn’t come down from heaven to do it, he will only do that through human beings. I call them God’s outstretched hands. I caught that revelation some ten years ago and I began to make myself available for God to use. I became like God’s outstretched hands. So that’s why some of these other things I do, I do not give details, I don’t want to talk about it because the reason is not for man to hear about it. So we do that and it is huge, I will tell you it is very huge.
I remember one incident during the campaign before the election, I got the information that some people I helped to secure jobs wanted to come and see me and surprising they bought a Toyota Siena 1.6million because, some of them are working in the bank where I just left, from my local government area and then brought 5,000,000 naira as their support. And then I have a situation where the undergraduates paid me a visit in the house. Those were some high points, you know, some things that really happened at the period that excited me.
I have quite a number of them in the law school. I have about six now in the law school. One of them is an indigene but blind. Aside from bringing infrastructure and empowerment, we have been able also to create jobs for our people here and there in teaching hospital and primary medical centres. Some of our sons and daughters are now doctors; quite a number of them. I was talking to some group in my place and I said I suddenly realised that as I speak to you in the last one year I have not less than 20-25 doctors employed either for housemanship or residency in and around hospitals including LUTH. So, this is what we have been able to do. I mean you can only leverage on the opportunities you have to help the people around, so that 2,3,4,5,6,7,10 years down the line you will be able to have developed some human resources around you. There is an adage in our village that says ‘where one person has, there is nothing there’ so, you create chances, opportunities for quite a number of people to leverage on them and earn a living for themselves. Not only that, also to have the opportunity to also help other people, you know. So that’s it. We are two years down the line, two years to go, we want to do much more than we have done and God willing, we will do much more than we have done because I see the opportunities, I see the economy is expanding and I see recession giving way, opportunities are coming up we will do a lot more.
What would you say is your philosophy of life?
Well, I will look at it in two perspectives. I just told you when it has to do with life generally, I will say do as much good as you can, not because you want man to applaud you but realising that the capacity you have didn’t come from you. It comes from God so you do good to people so that you will get your reward from God.
Then I also told you that if it had to do with holding political office that the major reason for holding a political office, be it elective or appointment, it’s to bring development to your immediate community. Development can be in form of infrastructure, it can be in form of human capacity development, either way, that is why you are there, so that’s what drives me. So having been in politics, having ran election, I think it is wrong for, well, it is not wrong, but a regular politician in office will like to think about the next election, but if you want to be a statesman, then you will think about the next generation. There’s a difference here (1) once you find yourself holding political office or a politician, your focus is in the next election so that means that your activities, programmes, projects are tailored towards having a good outing, so it can be short term programmes; it can also be make-belief programmes and projects because all you want to do is to hoodwink the people so that you have a good show, good outing. You may be the one running the election, so you want to hoodwink the people, make them believe that oh you have done well enough and then you win the next election. If you are not running, it is your party you want to position so that you would be able to go to the soapbox and tell them you have to do this and that to win the election. But if you are thinking about the next generation that means you have to be a lot more impactful.
I build an ICT centre in Owerri and I had to name it after Sam Mbakwe. In Obowo where I come from, at our local government headquarters, the play ground pavilion built over the years while I was a commissioner, I had to build five hundred capacity pavilion with toilet facilities and named it after Sam Mbakwe. Yes it was a personal project that cost me 7 million at a time; that was when I was a commissioner.
It was commissioned in 2014 by the governor, that’s when we did Mbakwe’s ten years memorial. So, I started building it in 2013 and finished it, and it was commissioned. The foundation-laying ceremony was done on Mbakwe’s 10 years memorial and then one year down the line I had the governor come and commission the project and it is standing there as a memorial as Dee Sam Mbakwe pavilion. You see, this is even so, although when he became the governor in 1988 I was just five or six years old and when he left in 1983 I was still in the primary school. So, I wasn’t old enough to access and appreciate while he was in office but history documented and posterity was able to impart it in me and made me to know that Mbakwe did that much and he ought to be celebrated, he ought to be idolised and then I had to do those two projects.
And while I was commissioner and up till today I still go to pay homage to his wife. Who is in her 80’s because I appreciate what he did while he was governor. He did so much to affect lives, he did it so much that we are still enjoying till today.
You can never have any hotel like Concord in the whole of the South East for the next 20 years, I stand to be corrected, it is there, it’s a legacy. So, we want to take a cue from there, from him, to also within the limits of the resources available to us and contacts that we have, see how much we can write our name in gold. That is also my philosophy so to say.
When I came into government in 2011, what we used to bring electricity into my community from Umuahia-Owerri road was wooden poles, but under my watch I personally changed them to concrete poles, then increased the capacity of the electricity generation to our community and detached our community from the major transformer, changed that transformer to a 250KVA that now draws the line to my immediate community and dropped 200KVA inside my community. I built a community hall in that community but people are counting what you have done based on what have not come to their pockets? So that’s how they rate you, they rate your performance based on what have not gotten to them.
Community development is important; I have invested nothing less than 100million in my community alone.
