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Chinedu Onyeizu, a petroleum engineer, who currently works with a multinational energy corporation in Nigeria, is aspiring to contest election in 2019 to represent Abia-South Senatorial District of Abia State in the Senate. In this interview with ZEBULON AGOMUO, he expressed disappointment over the alleged neglect of his people, the poor state of affairs in the country and his determination to contribute a significant quota in order to pull, not only his senatorial district, but his state and the entire country, out of the abyss of hopelessness in which they have wallowed over the years. Excerpts:
May we know what is motivating your political aspiration this time around?
I have a vision to transform this country and I am passionate about contributing immensely to any genuine effort or process of moving Nigeria forward. Every day, events in the country remind me that we are light years behind our counterparts like Singapore for example. However, I am of the firm belief that good leadership can trigger a different leadership pattern in Nigeria – an industrial revolution that will tap into the high energy level of our youths, a boom in the Agro industry that will ensure that the produce of our mothers are valued 20 folds more than they are today, a reformed petroleum sector that will make events like fuel scarcity and lack of access to gas powered electricity history in our land. Yes, we can collectively improve the security situation in our country, revamp social life and turn around the economy and keep our children from the drive to risk their lives for greener pastures in places like Libya and other parts of the world.
However, going forward, I see a leadership void in Nigeria and as a result, I have declared my intentions to represent the good people of Abia South Senatorial District, other Nigerians in different parts of the country and the new generation of Nigerian youth most of who are still struggling with the decision to come out of their shells to lead Nigeria. The Nigerian youth must not only be good for votes, my message to them is that ‘the Time is Now’ for them to be voted into political offices.
I am resolute towards re-writing the Nigerian story for the good of all. Obviously, I recognise that the task ahead will be quite daunting but we must be reminded that our generation has lost it all to years of waste and restlessness. I need their support to rescue some remaining fragments for our children and then we must school them to ensure that their own children save it all for the ones that will follow. This is why I am using this opportunity to appeal to you, members of the fourth estate of the realm to support this worthwhile course by sending out the message that I am giving you today. We must ensure that every young Nigerian is sensitised for this noble course of nation building. We are not asking for a violent resolution; we are demanding for a clear direction to economic development, more employments and wealth creation in our country.
Which party platform do you intend to leverage on to actualise your aspirations?
Thank you very much for that question. I have consulted my creator, family and friends on my desire to go to the Senate and I read manifestoes of different registered political parties before deciding the party platform I will use. After all, I found that the programs of the APC tally with my expectations. Additionally, the All Progressive Congress (APC) manifesto caught my fancy because it’s loaded with issues that touch on the lot of ordinary people. I challenge Nigerians to look deeply into the manifesto of this great party; they would find out that APC designed its programme deliberately for the good of greatest majority of Nigerians.
Abia has been People’s Democratic Party state for a long time now. Why do you think your party will win either the senatorial or governorship election in the state?
As you rightly observed, APC is not the dominant party in Abia State. But that impression has been consigned to the dustbin of history. The correct position of things now is that our party is going to sweep the three senatorial seats in 2019 and crown it all with taking over the government house in Umuahia. If you have been following developments in the party, you will notice that a good number of heavy weights have since joined APC and almost on daily basis influx of decampees from other parties are recorded. However, I think we should not be bothering so much about how long a party has ruled or dominated the political space of a state. It is more important to focus on individuals who are aspiring for positions.
To my earlier point, the APC has a well-articulated manifesto with the potential to transform the socio-political and economic landscape of this country. To beat heavyweights like Dr. Eyinnaya Abaribe is very easy in my view and how I wish we can meet in a televised election debate – well I am almost certain he won’t come. There is nothing to show for 12 years of bad representation in the red chamber – our federal roads are in their worst conditions, including the road passing his country home in Ohuru, we record high mother and child mortality ratios at general hospitals that should benefit from the districts constituency funds.
Apart from the fact that our people are disgruntled and disappointed with his performance over these years, I am better positioned to emerge victorious in that election because I am coming with fresh ideas and unique perspectives on how to alter the living standard of our people for good. I am going to offer innovative ideas that will radically transform Abia, I will work closely with the president and the governor to ensure that Aba is given special status as the entrepreneurial hub of the country. I am passionate about seeing that youths in my senatorial district and Abia as a whole are inspired. I am familiar with issues that border them and the demographics are to my advantage. More than 65 percent of voters are the youth and I am going to leverage on that strength to distort and disrupt Abia PDP’s pre-arranged system of democracy.
So you think that the issue of the youth versus the old brigade will play a major role?
Yes, it will play a role. Let me tell you, ever since I decided to join partisan politics, I have been spending a lot of time with the youth and I will continue to mobilize them because they are key to credible election victory. I want to let them know that the future is theirs and the only way they can connect to that message is when they see their kind take up the challenge. I don’t only espouse youth leadership, I also emphasise that the candidate must be competent and passionate about leading Nigeria out of the woods. In that senatorial district, we have a lot we can do for our young people. We have a lot of young, industrious, smart and energetic minds and because we don’t have leaders that carry them along we record a high level of unemployment in that part of the country.
Your interest and work in petroleum refining is well known. Now that you want to represent Abia South Senatorial Zone in the Red Chamber of the national assembly, what policy or law do you think should be made so that oil producing communities would benefit more?
I plan to deal on policies that will strengthen the oil and gas institutions when I get into the Senate. If they are strengthened we’re going to make recommendations that will capture the plight of oil producing communities in my constituency, the issues PENGASSIN and NUPENG have been pushing for would be attended to. If you look at the other parts of the world where oil and other minerals are extracted, the communities are developed partly by the companies that operate in those communities. If you look at Cote D’Ivoire and Botswana in particular, you have an effective partnership between the indigenous communities and the companies that extract solid minerals from these communities.
For instance, is it not sad to learn that residents of Ukwa East and Ukwa West, where most of the oil in Abia State is deposited lack access to affordable and reliable electricity? As a senator, I will be restless until something is done for the participation of the multinationals in reversing the ugly trend. I will achieve this by ensuring that oil companies operating in these communities come up with a genuine road map that will guarantee 24 hours’ constant electricity supply in less than 2 years. They need to work out a realisable roadmap that will help bring about electricity for these communities – this is a given.
Do you think that this kind of agreement has not existed before?
I believe that efforts have been made in this direction before, but one thing is the approach that stakeholders adopted. There are effective models which I hope to advocate for when I get to the senate. I will make sure that penalties associated with gas flaring within those communities are potent. There are more effective measures that will ensure the oil companies comply unlike what currently exists.
Is Modular Refinery model the solution to PMS importation and regular fuel scarcity?
Your question reminds me of the nation-wide fuel related crisis that occurred in 2012 under former President Goodluck Jonathan administration. In fact, government was almost shutdown because of fuel scarcity across the country then. Airplanes couldn’t fly and cars couldn’t run. In the middle of the crisis, I talked to myself that I should be able to take up this national problem as a research study in a University. Fast-forward, I took a year’s study leave from my work and went to MIT to seek for a solution. I remember that one of my findings was that Modular Refinery could be an option but I realised that it could only offer a temporary solution to the fuel scarcity problem we are having in Nigeria. In my recommendation, modular refineries will provide a quick fix solution but in the long run, it won’t be economic since the benefits of economies of scale and in most cases economies of scope only come with the installation of conventional refineries.
However, the beauty of modular refineries is that if President Buhari decides to end fuel scarcity problem in Nigeria today, in 6 months, 12 sets of 30,000 barrels per day capacity of modular refineries could be flown into the country and they will start operation immediately. On the long term, a conventional refinery installed at source is the way to go. When I graduated, I documented these recommendations and handed it over to the present government for implementation. It is shameful that we have over 38 billion barrels of crude oil in our reserve as a country, it is shameful that we produce 2 million barrels of this crude oil every day, even on a Sunday, it is shameful my fellow Nigerians that we ship our own crude oil out to either Europe or Asia where it gets refined and then the by-product, fuel is returned back for us to consume. We pay subsidy and we are charged 10 dollars per metric ton to import this same product back to Nigeria. It is ridiculous! And that’s the height of the corruption we have in Nigeria.
One analogy I share with people whenever I think of the Nigerian petroleum downstream sector is that as it is those western countries where our crude oil is exported to for refining will be running business plan forecasts based on our inability to refine a God-given product in our backyard. I assume they will be running scenarios were Nigeria continues to be in this mindset for years. In their view, it will constitute a risk to meeting their business plan targets should Nigeria achieve energy independence. In other words, why should we as a people continue on this path? Every government is locked in this vicious circle of not being able to find a permanent solution to our energy situation.
What do you think is responsible for government’s inability to build more refineries despite promises it made and considering that in the foreseeable future, oil may not be as attractive because of innovations in other sources of energy?
It is a fact that in some parts of the world oil is regarded as dirty energy largely because of the externalities that are associated with crude oil and its bye products. The truth is that governments in developed countries don’t build and run refineries – even in the US. Refineries are gigantic projects that are better managed by the private sector. But for you to attract private sector participation or foreign direct investment (FDI) in the crude oil refining sector of your economy, you need to be able to create the enabling environment. Investors look out for key determinants of FDI before they move in. As a country, we should be focused on those determinants. We should be asking what incentives and policies work for investors in the petroleum downstream sector. Some of these determinants are political stability; they look at exchange rate trend, access to affordable labor, access to skilled labor etc.
I urge our government to study public private partnership models that have worked in other countries for best practices. Government role should remain oversight functions. I believe a robust PPP model will proliferate construction of refineries in Nigeria. The market for it exists in Nigeria and immediate neighboring countries in West Africa. We have a population of about 200 million people that consume tons of energy on daily basis. Again, if you allow the private sector to drive the sector, it will no longer be a jinx rather Nigeria will be a global hub for refinery products exportation.
To your second question which borders on whether we should be concerned about new technologies coming to challenge our dependence on oil. It is a valid point. However, I would say that we are not there yet. We should not be overtly bothered about electric cars and what have you coming to replace fuel powered engines. I always tell people, let us first put food on the table of the common man and when we get to that level where food is no longer an issue then we can start looking at these luxuries. So let’s first take care of pressing issues that we have like our mothers not being able to take their farm produce to the market, our young engineers not getting jobs after graduation, our young entrepreneurs with smart ideas not being able to leverage on any loan to grow their businesses and capacities. These are the things I am more concerned about not the threat of electric vehicles.
According to some people, the development of Aba will to a large extent determine the health of the state’s economy. Currently, Aba is regarded as a sore sight. If you get elected as a senator representing Abia South, what do you intend to do for the area?
There are enormous opportunities in Aba that are not yet tapped. I was born and raised in Aba. In fact, my second name among my friends and peers is ‘Aba’ because of how passionate I am about the great city. Aba people are energetic. The resilience and tenacity to survive and to make something out of nothing is the spirit of Aba. If you read my biography, you will see how I started life in Aba. I had my primary and secondary education in Aba and the Aba spirit has taken me to heights I never thought I would climb to in my life. Back to your question, what you consider as ‘sore’ is actually wealth. The waste bin can be transformed into wealth by people that generate the waste. If you bring in private investors that can convert that waste into wealth and pay the individuals that generate the waste, you would have solved the problem of waste in Aba. If you do that, you see mothers, children and virtually everybody living in that town looking for waste to sell. That’s one point.
The other point is the entrepreneurial spirit of Aba man. What will help us harness that opportunity is setting up industrial parks or industrial clusters. Building a gigantic industrial park that will cover over nine thousand hectares of land currently being contemplated by the incumbent administration is a good idea. However, it may take some years before such a project will be commissioned.
My approach to solving entrepreneurial capacity in Aba is to negotiate with foreign and local investors to set up small scale industrial clusters within two acres of land for instance. Just set up a cluster where equipments will be installed in order to commercialise the products of an Ariaria shoe maker that uses his hand to produce one thousand pairs of shoe a day. In fact, I met one Mr. John who produces high quality shoes with his bare hands. If you see him, his fingers are almost incarcerated and he told me that he produces one thousand, two hundred beautifully made shoes every day and he has done that for 23 years. He also told me that he has customers from Cotonou, Cote D’Ivoire, Cameroun and other neighbouring African countries. You can imagine when you avail Mr. John the opportunity of using machines that can enable him produce one million pairs of those same shoes a day, could you imagine what that could mean to his life and life of others around him? Interestingly, there are many of them like that languishing for lack of good leadership and representation. If you set up a system like that and ensure it is sustainable, it will work. With the model of industrial parks, I have in mind for entrepreneurs in Aba, power generation companies will fly into the country to provide the power needed to run the clusters efficiently. If you provide power for a man who produces one million shoes, his capacity is enhanced and he is able to pay for the power. So, it is all about innovativeness and that is what I am bringing to the table. I want to champion issues that touch on the root of the struggling majority and the underdevelopment in the country.
Are you contemplating any law or policies to effect meaningful change in this case?
Yes. My thoughts on this are to espouse a law that makes Aba a national entrepreneurial hub with annual budget allocation from the federal government. The funds will be used to grow local capacity and facilitate counterpart funding for entrepreneurial development projects or investments that will require government participation as a third party. Accessing government counterpart fund is crucial and it could act as an incentive to attract FDI’s. If you have that kind of policy and others like tax regimes or holidays, a lot of investors will be attracted to Aba.
How united and powerful is APC in Abia State to withstand the challenge of major opposition in the state?
APC stands a chance of forming a formidable opposition in Abia State. The party is more united now than ever before. Yes, you don’t rule out disagreements in a major political party like APC but what matters is that after the disagreements the feuding parties reconcile. I think APC in Abia state is one big family poised to win elective positions in the state in 2019.
Are the new comers creating any problem?
I don’t think so. I think it is more appropriate to say that the new comers into the APC fold have strengthened the party to emerge victorious in all elective positions in the state during the forthcoming elections. I said earlier that we are recording influx of decamps from other parties daily into our fold and that is not a sign that problems exist.
Do you see the unpopularity of APC in the South East as a major challenge for your success and that of your party?
What I tell people is that we should focus more on the individuals running on the APC platform. Parties are vehicles and decisions are taken by individuals that contest on the party platform. I think that is the way it should be. Whether the individual follows party manifesto or decides to toe a different line is essentially an individual thing. So, it is important that our people see beyond party affiliations and look at what individuals have for them as their leaders. However, a growing number of Igbo leaders are in APC. People like Jim Nwobodo, Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu, Dr. Ken Nnamani, Dr. Uche Ogar, Dr. Nkechi Nworgu and other notable people are stalwarts in the party. I don’t think it is correct to say that Igbos are lethargic about the party; APC is a national party and above all, I think our country will be better if we look beyond regional politics and focus more on our country as it were; Nigeria and her citizens should come first.
What we have in the Senate are an army of retired and tired politicians, many of who do not make any comment on the floor of the senate on any issue. How do you intend to work with such geriatric?
Well, I am going there to serve and demonstrate that you don’t have to be a retired general in the army or an ex-governor to aspire to any elective position in the country. Good a thing, our president has signed a #NotTooYoungToRun bill into law which I believe will spur youth aspiration to contest elective positions. It also further assures us of his confidence in the capacity of young Nigerians to lead this country to greater heights. If I become a senator, I will employ my negotiation skills to push and persuade for the laws that will enable my vision and good plans I have for my fellow Nigerians to be passed.
Profile
Engr. Chinedu Onyeizu hails from Abayi Ohanze village in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State. He is below 40 years of age.
By way of educational background, he had his tertiary education at the Federal University of Technology, (FUTO) Owerri, Imo state, where he graduated as a petroleum engineer. He is a holder of Masters in Business Administration from the prestigious Machasseuchets Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. He also holds a Post Graduate certificate in Emerging Leadership Programme from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, which is a branch of the Harvard University in the United States of America.
After his programme at MIT, his focus has been on African governments at state, national and regional levels. He uses his start-up company, AfriPERA to discuss issues with representatives of these governments to come up with innovative solutions on how best to solve challenging policy and economic problems on the continent and particularly Nigeria.
