Mr Anthony Ishiekwene
Mr Anthony Ishiekwene, a member of the All Progressive congress (APC) in the diaspora, from Obiaruku/Umuebu, Ukwuani LGA of Delta state in this interview done via telephone from United Kingdom, spoke on the current political situation in the country, particularly as it relates to Delta state and the Saturday 11th April, 2015 Governorship and HOA Elections, and see the opportunity presented by the APC victory at the Presidential Elections of 28 March, 2015 as a change that the Ndokwa nation should be part of.
Going memory lane, he recalled that in terms of leadership positions at the top level in Delta State and the old Bendel, the people of Ndokwa extraction had always been short changed; despite the huge natural resources and human capital that abound in Ndokwa. He therefore called on the people to vote massively for the APC, who had offered the Ndokwa people the position of the Deputy Governor, so that the Ndokwa nation will be at the corridor of power and the sharing table of the state goodies.
Mr. Ishiekwene, a UK trained Chartered Accountant is the Head of the Ndokwa Political Action Committee under the Ndokwa Multi-stakeholders Group.
Excerpts:
What are your interest in the All progressive congress (APC) and 2015 Governorship Election in Delta state:
Ishiekwene: First I am a member of Progressive Solidarity Front ( PSF – a group of concerned Nigerian Professionals in UK, US and in Nigeria, who were dissatisfied with the mismanagement of Nigerian resources and the shame our country has become to the world, and wanted a change in the running of our affairs in Nigeria.) Naturally we coalesced into the All Progressive Congress (APC) When it was formed about a year ago, and I am a member of the APC ( UK ) chapter headed by Garba Sanni, our Chairman and Dr Ibrahim Emokpae, the Secretary. I am extremely excited that after 16 years of poor leadership by the PDP at the national level since we started this Democratic rule in Nigeria in 1999, the APC has been able to “sweep out the inept PDP government” and won the presidential election held on 28 March, 2015. This is a big achievement for the opposition in Nigeria as no time in Nigeria’s 54 years history has an opposition party defeated a sitting, incumbent party candidate until now. And I would be a double joy for me, if we can translate the CHANGE mantra to my state, which also had been hopelessly mismanaged in the past 16 years by PDP chokehold on the state. I am giving my full support to the APC governorship ticket in Delta state because I believe the team is competent, integrity and readiness to serve Deltans and also because the APC is the party that has won at Presidency and all the federal Houses of Parliament. We must fight to see that the party also wins at the state level, so that Delta, being a minority state, will not be further jeopardised by being in an opposition party that may attract hostility from the mighty Federal government and the Presidency and ensure that developmental efforts from the Federal government cascades to Delta people and complement those from the state government.
And again, in this state, the people of Ndokwa had never, neither when we were part of the old Bendel state nor since the present Delta state since 1992, occupied any high offices like the Governor or Deputy governor or any key commissioner ship offices in the land, but in this election, the All Progressive Congress had recognized the Ndokwa people by giving the Deputy Governor position to one of her son. The APC party had given our son from Emu Kingdom, the ticket of the Deputy Governor, so my support for the party and interest in 2015 election is because I am a member of APC and I believe we must give maximum support to our own Ogbuefi VOT Abanum who is the deputy to the APC gubernatorial candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor.
But what about the Anioma Agenda which people of Ndokwa is part of it?
Ishiekewne: For me, “Anioma” remains a concept whose time has yet to come. It is not a reality because the other two ethnic groups use the “concept of Anioma” to cheat Ndokwa people. Charity must begin from home! Historically the Aniomas have been more detrimental to Ndokwa interest than even our Urhobo neighbours. An Ika or Aniocha man will not fight our battles for us; instead they will grab and grab unconscionably what is due the area for themselves, ignoring Ndokwa interest– right from the days when Denis Osadebe was Premier of old Midwest. How come Ndokwa land has 3 LGAs when old Asaba division, lesser in size than old Aboh, now has 6 Local Council areas? How come all the colleges of Further and Higher Education are located in Ika and Aniocha areas and not a single one in Ndokwa land ( old Aboh division ) till date? Yes the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has an Ika man as their candidate, but we had been slaving with the same personalities in the PDP government for 16 years and no noticeable improvement or developments has accrued to Ndokwaland and its people. Ndokwa must embrace the the change that APC presents, and fortunately the party presents an Ndokwa man as one of the front drivers of that change in Delta state. We cannot be left behind. 16 years of the PDP had been a disaster to us as Ndokwa people because of poor representation and mismanagement of our affairs in Delta state. No one should cry more than the bereaved. The Ika or Aniocha person won’t do our cries for us in Ndokwa. We must carry our own cross and seize the opportunity presented our son, Ogbuefi VOT Abanum. Ndokwa People have been deceived for too long. While the other parts of the so called Anioma have held higher offices in the state, the Ndokwa man had never. As small as the Ika nation comparatively, their people had been the luckiest in recent times, since the creation of Delta state. They have occupied the office of the Deputy Governor at least two times and even been Governor for a short period before the rerun elections of January, 2011. The People of Ika, which the PDP candidate, senator Ifeanyi Okowa represent, had never supported the Ndokwa man in anything they had always voted against us, has more than two state-owned Colleges of Further Education- a School of Nursing, College of Education, and an Airforce School, but the huge Ndokwa land with 3-downgraded LG ( that itself is marginalisation by our “born to rule” Ika cum Aniocha machinations) has no single operating Further Education institution, whether from state or Federal government in its land.
Again, we as a matter of fact cannot abandon our own. The deputy to the APC flag bearer is our own. We must give him all our support. If our own is in there, we will have more sense of belonging. Ndokwa People will be well represented, so let us the people of Ndokwa give all their votes to the APC, and with this vote one of our own for the first time will be voted into one of the highest offices in the state. This is not issue of Anioma, but the issue of Ndokwa first. Ife Eka onye bu Eze! An Ika man will hustle for his Ika people first; so will an Urhobo, Aniocha or Itsekiri person. Give the Ndokwa Man the chance to be in the “Dinning table” to bring the “Bacons” to our land and her people.
Don’t you think it is good to stick to the Anioma Agenda and give our votes to the PDP candidate?
Ishiekwene: This deception had been going on for a very long time. Chief Denis Osadebey was the first premier of then mid-western division, where we had the Asaba and Aboh division but when the splitting started, the smallest- Asaba division today had been divided into six councils, leaving the largest of Aboh division with only three. Before the current level of division for a very long time this was started during the time of Denis Osadebey, while the Asaba division was divided into the Asaba and Ika division, the Aboh division, which was the largest was not divided and today while the Asaba is now six LGA’s the Aboh division has three LGA’s.
So Ndokwa people must think of their own first, we should stop the Anioma cheating. We must get our share first and the only way we can get our own is voting O’tega and Abanum into office. Let forget the non-existent Anioma agenda. Voting for APC, will open a lot of vista for the Ndokwa people even at the federal level.
Talking of Abanum, it had been said he had no political experience, since he had not been in politics.
Ishiekwene: Yes, but the experience in the corporate world is more than whatever political experience anyone can claim. That they are untainted by political corruption, which the PDP candidate cannot be absorbed from. It means the APC candidates do not carry any baggage of political corruption which the so called political gladiators today are carrying. Otega and Abanum are experienced administrators, Ogbueti VOT Abanum climbed the corporate ladder in Nigeria apex Bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and retired as a Deputy Director in the Bank. Otega Emerho is a first class Chartered Accountant, and experienced Board room guru. He is a financial management and Business turn around expert, and in the board as Chairman or Executive Directorship of many businesses in the Financial Services, Brewery, Shipping, Oil and Gas and creating jobs for hundreds of Nigerians and Deltans, up and down the country. The duo have managed businesses in the private sector, and the APC governorship candidate has resuscitated many business, some Delta state moribund businesses, and injected life and proper management into them thereby creating and saving jobs for Deltans. Delta State will get the best in job creation and prudent management of its scarce resources when these two experienced technocrats are voted in, to manage the affairs of the state for the next four years.
With Great Ogburu who has a maternal leaning to Ndokwa contesting under LP, how do you think that the Ndokwa people will give their support to APC, because of Abanum, and not Ogboru?
Ishiekwene: Well, agreed that Chief Great Ogboru has an Ndokwa maternal background, the Ukwuani tradition is patriarchal, not matriarchal leaning. When Ogboru goes to the Urhobo Progressive Union (UPU) he will not claim or tell them that he is an Ndokwa Man. He is going there as an Urhobo Man, and he cannot come to Ndokwa to claim that he is an Ndokwa. Yes, maternally he is from Umukwate and we welcome his maternal heritage but based on our tradition he is a “half-Ukwuani” man if there is any such phrase. Ogbuefi VOT Abanum is a full Ukwuani man from Emu in Ndokwa land, that is the difference, and that’s the reason Ndokwa should support chief Abanum.
And Abanum will not go to the UPU, but will always go to the Ndokwa Neku Union (NNU) and tell them that he is an Ndokwa Man, and again to show you the love VOT have for the Ndokwa people he was at one time the President General of the Ukwuani Foundation Union (UFU) for a very longtime and retired from the voluntary service for our Ukwuani people fairly recently.
With our experience in the past, with our representative in government, what is the assurance that VOT Abanum will represent the people of Ndokwa Effectively?
Ishiekwene: In the past our representatives were not properly elected. In fact they were really voted into office, even though we were supposed to be practising Democracy. They largely rigged themselves to power and feel they don’t owe Ndokwa electorates any responsibility or accountability. So they really were not representing us but their godfathers and their wallets. All of them, and if you check you find they are all from the despicable PDP. Whether it is Ossai-Ossai or Hon Mercy Almon Isei, or Senator Patrick Osakwe and all the 3 local government chairmen, it is the same story of non-transparent management of Ndokwa affairs and the disrespect of its people. The wrong people have been doing the job in the last 16 years and it’s time for CHANGE! With the APC and our man Abanum, at the helm Ndokwa interests will be well represented.
And why should Delta be APC, must all state belong to the same ruling party with the party at the centre?
Ishiekwene: Yes, the problem the opposition states gets is enormous and could be overwhelming. We can remember the case of Lagos state during the time of Obasanjo and Tinubu, Lagos for five years was deprived of federal allocation. So we want to avoid this scenario. And for change to take place in Delta and Ndokwa let us help voting APC, from federal to the state and we will now experience the change in full. If our state don’t belong to the same party as the federal government you are deprived of a lot of things. And if we support the APC with our votes massively, we are sure of also getting appointment from the federal government, like ministers or Board members of Federal parastatals and again if we support the APC, the people of Ndokwa will secure their place in the party for the future, before many of the members of the PDP will start decamping before 2019. With this we will secure our places in the party and take the glory.
Is this not trying to turn the country into a one party State?
Ishiekwene: It had been like this in 16 years of PDP rule at the centre. Nigeria cannot turn a one party state- we have beaten bug by the resounding victory of General Buhari, beating almighty incumbent candidate of the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan, GCFR. Even if we turn out to be a one party state the Ndokwa people should not stand on the fence and let the many unscrupolous PDP members in other areas, some already joining the APC, to start decamping to the APC being the new party with power to dispense patronage , to get the “goodies bag.” Ndokwa voters should do the voting for APC now and get the glory instead voting for the PDP merchants who will in any twinkle, shamelessly cross carpet to get favours from APC federal government.
And what can you say about the youths participation in Ndokwa politics?
Ishiekwene: This had been sad indeed. The PDP government has over the years made use of the service of the youths for thuggery and ballot box stuffing at the time of every elections because of mass unemployment of the youths. The others are headed to the cults and all manner of criminality to survive after being used at the elections and dumped by our local politicians. The highest they could get is empowerment of Keke Marwa, or motor bike for a tiny few. The youth are deliberately marginalized so that they can be used for ballot stuffing and thump printing. The APC government of Emerhor and Abanum has promised to put the youths in gainful employment and I trust their ability to deliver.
So what is our Experience from the APC Federal Government for Ndokwa?
Ishiekwene: We cannot negotiate on behalf of the Ndokwa people for now. VOT had given out what he will do at the state level. And I know when he get there we will get more recognition. That’s why Ndokwa and Deltans needed to massively turn out on Saturday and vote in Otega/Abanum and the APC for both strategic reasons and pragmatic politics, that is our surest bet to cure the Ndokwa marginalization, not one phaeton “Anioma” bogey man!
