Former National Vice Chairman (South-East), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu, is the Chairman, Board Of Trustees of Igbo Town Union, and member of the Eastern Elders Council. He speaks with JOHNKENNEDY Uzma on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent visit to the President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide, among other issues.
FORMER president, Obasanjo, visited the Ohaneze Ndigbo Worldwide president, Chief Iwuanyanwu, recently, how would you describe the meeting?
It is a great gesture, which shows enormous sacrifice, and quintessential leadership. It is not surprising. OBJ is known for consistency, always marching words with action. His love for Ndigbo and wish for peace and harmony in Nigeria are unrivalled. His empathy is in public knowledge.
What are his reasons for such visit, especially now?
Well, I think it is outside his annual routine of visiting friends and hot spots to wish them the best of the new year, diffuse tension and calm nerves. He uses it as an opportunity to build bridges, and make peace. His reasons for coming included all those, as well as the need to carry out environmental scanning and psychic surveys; to receive feedbacks, compare notes, and discuss roadmap on issues of mutual interest.
Does it have anything to do with the planned release of Nnamdi Kanu or the unity of the Igbo land?
I don’t have all the details but both issues are on the front burner in most of the discussions on Ndigbo. You will recall that during his time as Nigeria’s president, there was a tragic incident involving MASSOB, which led to the arrest and detention of their leader, Chief Raph Uwazuruike. I was then the National Vice Chairman and Chairman of the South-East PDP. The Igbo leadership irrespective of political party met in Abuja and appealed to OBJ for Kanu’s release with assurances of good conduct, and the former president granted the request and released him.
What were the issues discussed?
The papers carried them. They were surely things of common interest, equal rights and justice, good citizenship, healthy political participation and inclusiveness among others. The place of Ndigbo in contemporary Nigeria and the critical success factors for a new Nigeria of our collective dream.
Talking about Charter of Equity in Imo State, is it actually a reality or does it mean anything to the entire indigenes of the state politically?
I think it is a very welcome development, even though it is not unique to Imo State. I believe it has come to stay. Whatever sustains our arguments and quests for Nigerian President of Igbo extraction reinforces the foundation of the Imo Charter of Equity.
For many years up till now, the governance of Imo State has remained in the hands of the Orlu zone. Do you think the Charter of Equity will correct that by making power to shift to Owerri zone as claimed?
A journalist must always see himself as a teacher and a healer. Always try to put history in perspective. Good diagnosis leads to fast and permanent healing. You have forgotten that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) ticket that was voluntarily exchanged between Owelle Rochas Okorocha and a very prominent and popular Owerri son is responsible for what we are experiencing today. Or have you forgotten the criminal contra-culture of the false allegation of Governor Ohakim slapping a priest, the attendant declaration of Black Friday and other travesties, abnormalities, ambiguities, absurdities and adversities. Uzodinma’s emergence is a necessary interlude to force Imo into a rethink, and reinvent the storyline through memory lane. At times, it takes bitterness to be sweet in a bitter society. When you blow the piper, you must be prepared to dance the tune. Society is dynamic. Forgiveness and restitution are somehow intertwined.
The second term of Governor Uzodimma will begin tomorrow, what advice would you give him?
Four years is not eternity. He should move on and focus on the future as a way of thanking Ndimo for an unprecedented record of 27/27. In short, I think Governor Hope holds a lot of promise. However, the future will depend mostly on how much the people will hold the government accountable in very mature and responsible manner, not through confrontations and hateful litigation that will generate heat, and occasion harm with avoidable scars. I think the governor may consider as top priorities the conduct of local government elections, unlocking the industrial potentials of the state, breathing life into the creative industries, challenging the spirits of innovation and enterprise, and refocusing the youths by recreating hope, and motivating them to drive their skills with zeal. Every government reflects the quality of its followership and understanding of its responsibility, and of course the content of the opposition and the context under which it operates, the environment notwithstanding. Let him maintain his open door policy, and stop at nothing to make Imo peaceful and safe. The youths are the cornerstone for the future. He should also do everything to revive the Imo Charter of Equity.
But how will you access his performance during this first-term?
I think the outcome of the 11th November, 2023 election answers this question. Again, to rightly do a political performance audit of Governor Hope’s tenure, you must do a review of the political balance sheet, the debts he inherited and the burdens he had to bear. Bear in mind that beyond compliance and performance, environmental safety and systems management audit and the likes of adequacy, process or quality and effectiveness are the questions of continued improvement assessment. You have to excuse my limitations in terms of milestones and insight. But I will rank him excellent on the 4Cs: confidence, commitment, concentration and control levels in his government. Generally, I can say, in politics, he has eyes for details, consistently goes above and beyond producing astonishing results.
On the Charter of Equity, what are the demands?
The elders’ council is on it. Politics is dynamic. Okigwe strategic stakeholders are already expressing deep concerns in subdued tones. They argue that if things continue the way they are being extrapolated, after 25 years, the zone will be forgotten and consigned into oblivion. Negotiations are ongoing on harmony of objectives and convergence of values. In our last meeting, the Imo State CAN Chairman, Reverend Divine Eches, spoke and added some very tasty tonic. In a manner characteristic of the elderly, it was resolved that, “There is no good war and bad peace.” Imo needs to not only beat its chest for the outcome of the gubernatorial election but must also win the peace. For the good people of Orlu, I can only plead with them with a line from John Milton’s Paradise Lost: “Freely we serve, because we freely love, as in our will to love or not; in this we stand or fall.” Franklin D Roosevelt also counselled: “Neither human kindness nor self respect has ever weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of any person or people”. I think it is Peter Marshall who advised: “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please but as the opportunity to do what is right.” I can assure you, Imo State will overcome.
