Akpabio should be reminded that we voted him as our governor not as our God – Chief Assam Assam IFREKE NSEOWO hooked up with Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, Chief Assam Assam, SAN in his office at the Nigerian Embassy in Moscow where he spoke on a number of very interesting issues including his intention to run for the 2015 guber position in the state and why Governor Godswill Akpabio will not be able to produce his successor. He also shared his experience in Moscow, how is working on improving the Nigeria/Russia bilateral relations, while also dropping that Governor Akpabio has not zoned the guber seat to Eket Senatorial District but that the topmost position has simply just rotated to the senatorial district. Excerpts: As someone who spent most part of his life in Nigeria, how are you coping with the extreme weather condition in Russia? The extreme weather condition exists, people who are not Russians do come here and they cope with it. All you need to do is to be properly dressed and don’t go where you don’t need to go. That’s all. We are all fine. You can see we are in a room, you are wearing a tropical shirt (referring to the interviewer), the weather outside may be about nine degrees and you won’t have any problem because the room is very warm. In terms of development, how do you compare Nigeria and Russia? You really cannot compare both countries in terms of development. Nigeria is still in a primary state of development. We don’t have power which is a major source of development, our infrastructure is very low and we have largely undeveloped territories. Our educational system is not technologically driven, the social fabric of our society is basically dominated by people who are predominantly poor but here the situation is different. Russia is a country that has a very well developed infrastructure. There is electricity, there is water, it is an energy-driven country, people have cars which are basic infrastructure facilities. The university system is very well moderated and well managed. The social class is very well satisfied and you have many rich people here. This country is investing only 2.5% on employment. There is no comparison between the two countries in terms of development. In how many years will it take Nigeria to reach where Russia is? We will not compete in terms of years because what Russia has now, by the time we reach there they too will be improving. Catching up is a problem but if we get our basic infrastructure right, we have our roads well laid out, a rail system that reduces the complete reliance on roads, we have uninterrupted electricity that enables people to generate jobs and our artisans well employed and people could be thinking in terms of developing their technology, we have our educational system devoid of intervention by government, then there will be improvement in our thoughts, in our psyche, in our understanding of the needs for us to grow, not on the basis of the direction of government but on the basis of individual achievements and that is what is driving every society. I think we can reach this stage not in terms of years but in terms of how much we can put in to our system. What are you doing to improve the bilateral relations between the two countries? Nigeria and Russia have a very good bilateral relationship. The relationship between the two countries is very strong. We have been friends for 53 years, since our independence. It was 50 years ago that we opened our doors here in Moscow. And when you look at it Nigeria has trained about 10,000 of its citizens from Russian institutions by direct sponsorship or supported sponsorship by the Russian government. Very many of our military officers have been trained here, particularly those in the Airforce because as you will recall almost all our primary aircrafts were manufactured from Russia so we need to have the officers trained here. So we have had good relationship with Russia. But our trade relationship has been very poor. We have no economic relationship at all. As part of the 50th anniversary of opening our doors here in Moscow, we had to organize a business forum to put Russian and Nigerian businessmen in one room to discuss and make friends because Nigerians don’t know Russians and Russians don’t know Nigerians. And when you don’t know each other it is difficult for you to do business. So that is what we have started. And from the report of the forum, I think we have done well. It was very well received. What we now need to do is to follow up on the achievements we have had as a result of the forum. So I believe that with that start we have had a great start and if we can sustain it we can surely be having a solid relationship with Russia and Nigerians will be doing business in Moscow. Apart from the first ever Nigeria/Russia Business and Investment Forum, what are the other achievements in your over a year stay here as Nigerian Ambassador? First of all as a diplomat you are not expected to do business, you are expected to encourage people to do business and that is what we have been doing. We have a couple of Russian companies operating right now in Nigeria. Some are seeking to invest in small scale refineries in logistics base for the provision of logistics services to the oil companies. Also they are investing in aviation. We have had enquiries from companies that are interested in setting up shops for the manufacture of trucks. When I came here we had problems of chancery accommodation. Our former chancery was totally dilapidated and I had to persuade the Russian government to change the facilities and they brought us to this beautiful place. I hope that as soon as they complete the renovation of the other structure we will be returning there because that is an iconic structure which was our first chancery. The basic problem which we had when we came here was on issue of consular deliveries and the issue of human trafficking. We had a large number of Nigerian girls being trafficked here every week. I’m working with the Russian authorities and we have reduced that to the barest minimum. We have helped to repatriate a large number of our girls. Right now in various detention camps in Russia we have about 172 of our girls. As soon as we secure the facilities and the cooperation of the Russian government we intend to repatriate them in batches because we do not have the money to do so all at once. We have been able to put some sanity on the provision of facilities for the repatriation of Nigerians. So I believe that we would have solved one of our major problems because our girls were being trafficked here and they were being killed. Our girls were being thrown out of the windows from hotel rooms and we are ensuring now that those people who commit such crimes are prosecuted. We are having good cooperation from the Russian government and we hope that in a short while this will be a matter of the past. Is it possible for you to facilitate a state visit by President Goodluck Jonathan to Russia before you leave office as the ambassador? That will probably be one of your biggest achievements as Nigeria’s ambassador to Russia. State visit is basically not an embassy issue. The mission will do what it needs to do to encourage a state visit. You know presidents are very busy people, and having to secure a window to have one president visit the other is always a very serious issue and it takes a long time to plan. Yes, if you ask me, that is the icing on the cake for every diplomat’s service tenure. We are working on it now and we are hoping that our Minister for Foreign Affairs will be visiting Moscow soon and there after that is the forum where the planning of the visit is. It is the ministers of foreign affairs of the two countries who plan the visit of the president and then yours as ambassador is just to execute it. But I’m hoping that President Jonathan will visit Russia during my tenure as ambassador. There were insinuations in certain quarters that you were shifted out of Akwa Ibom state executive council and sent down here to Moscow because you have an eye on the 2015 guber. Would you have loved to stay back in Akwa Ibom as an Attorney General and be closer to the grassroot ahead of the polls or you love being here in Moscow as ambassador? Well I can tell you something about my training. I am a very well trained person and I can serve in any capacity in the world. There is no turf where I would be a stranger. No! Except if you ask me to play football now. So coming to Moscow is a wonderful experience for me. There are 36 states attorney generals and who you will call the 37th is the Federal Attorney General. But there is only one ambassador to Russia from Nigeria. I have a direct access to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because he appointed me to come here. I am serving on his instructions and mandate. I’m representing him here as his envoy. The responsibility is huge. I was attorney general and I did my job as attorney general. Some other person is doing that job now. He is a very competent person. Having to bring me here was well like a blessing. There were insinuations that I was being asked to come here by the virtue of my profile as the attorney general of the state but my profile has now been increased as ambassador. I do not have any regrets at all. We have been hearing from grapevines that you will be contesting for the governorship position in Akwa Ibom State come 2015. Is it true? Yes. I intend to contest election as governor of Akwa Ibom State in 2015. But when the time for us to declare our intention for that office comes, we will do a formal declaration to that effect. But there is no doubt about the fact that I’m going to contest for that office. I am just hoping that the atmosphere will be good enough for a free and fair contest. After your exit from the state exco what is your relationship with Governor Godswill Akpabio? We have a good relationship. We have warm relationship. I speak to him, he speaks to me. I call him, he calls me. That is how our relationship has always been. We have been friends and that is what we will continue to be. Governor Akpabio has said that the 2015 governorship position in the state has been zoned to Eket Senatorial District and that happens to favour you. What is your stand on the issue of zoning? You must understand what zoning means. The provision in the constitution of the PDP says that for the purpose of equity, justice and fair play, elective and appointive offices in the party or from the party shall be on the basis of zoning and or rotation. Let us take for instance that Governor Akpabio performs very well and towards the end the whole state believes that if he leaves the next person that will come will not be able to follow the path unless it is somebody who was very close to him all through his administration, and they say the only person who was close to him during his administration was his wife. The party can now say we zone the office of governor to Essien Udim in order that Mrs Unoma Akpabio may contest election. That is zoning. It is different from rotation where Uyo Senatorial District had the first governor in the PDP i.e Obong Victor Attah, Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District now had its turn, it will rotate to Eket. So, zoning can be managed, rotation cannot be stopped. Rotation is a natural process, zoning is a controlled process. So it is not true that governor Akpabio has zoned the governorship to Eket. It is not true. He has not zoned it. The office of governor has simply just rotated from Uyo to Ikot Ekpene and it is now going to Eket. It is an irreversible order, you can’t change it; because changing it will create chaos and uncertainty. I want to make that very clear. I am for justice, equity and fair play. Speaking for myself, I can contest election against anybody from anywhere, whether it is a man or a woman. All we have to do is to ask the state to vote for who is most qualified. That’s all. But where the party provides in its constitution that these will be the principles upon which the offices will be filled from the party, then the party has a duty to ensure that the provision of the constitution is complied with. It has nothing to do with me, it has nothing to do with whoever has to contest election from any other part of the state. But what is important is that we should note that the governor has not zoned the governorship seat to Eket, the election has simply just rotated to Eket by the function of the fact that the first one was from Uyo, the next is from Ikot Ekpene and the third will be from Eket. Obong Victor Attah did not succeed in installing his candidate as his successor. According to media reports, Akpabio has someone who he wants to succeed him as governor come 2015. Do you see Akpabio suffering the fate of Obong Attah? I don’t know which media you are talking about but the last media report I have read (it may be because I’m in Moscow) has it that Governor Akpabio says he doesn’t have a candidate. And that means he is denying the fact that he has a candidate in his current SSG. But I can tell you something, when you read Acts of the Apostle 1:20-27 you will see the first act of succession and the conditions for succession. Go and read it, tell others to read they will see it. If Governor Akpabio brings a candidate, he must be ready to accept defeat because his candidate will fail. It doesn’t matter who it is. If you want me to say so again, I’m going to say so. Governor Akpabio will not be able to produce who will succeed him by himself because he cannot impose a candidate on the state. Nobody will sit back and watch one man impose a candidate. Akpabio should be reminded that we voted him as our governor, we did not vote him as our God. Your friend Obong Umana Okon Umana is vying for the same seat you are eyeing. Do you see him as a threat? Well, everybody is a threat. You don’t know where somebody is deriving his powers from when he is contesting election. In my profession you don’t underrate anybody. You cannot say no no no, that is not a serious lawyer. I’m always used to fighting my battle believing that my opponent is as good as I am or even better. That way you’ll put in your best. I cannot single out one candidate and say no he is better or he is not good. I will limit my comment on that matter to that. Anybody who has the courage to say I want to contest election for governor must be taken seriously. There are many 2015 guber aspirants from Eket Senatorial District. Do you see yourself as someone who will be accepted by people your senatorial district? That is for my people to say. The fact that governorship is rotating to Eket to Senatorial District does not mean that the only people who will decide who the governor is going to be will be people from Eket Senatorial District. The whole state will decide who their governor is going to be. Whether I’m acceptable to the people of my senatorial district is a matter for the people of my senatorial district to say, not me. I will be claiming to be God if I say so. Because I don’t know the workings of their mind particularly now that we have not come out in full force to declare to contest for the position. Ahead of the election, what will stand in your favour? What stands in my favour is that I’m the most experienced politician in the entire state. I was a member of the House of Representatives in 1983. There was no person who was in the senate or House of Representatives other than myself who is alive and still practicising politics in Akwa Ibom. I came out of parliament in 1984 in January after the coup and I have participated in every political endeavour in the state. I’ve contested election twice for the House of Representatives and won. I have been the chairman of a political party, APP in my state. Produced chairmen of Local Governments, I had a good chunk of political framework in the state as at the 1999 election. I left to face my law practice and concentrated on my law practice because I wanted to became a SAN. I worked towards it and I became a Senior Advocate. Thereafter, I have reached the pinnacle of my practice. At a quality practice I still have my practice under the name I founded at the beginning of 1984. Thereafter, the president appointed me Chairman of Metrological Agency and what I did in the agency is there for everybody to see. Thereafter, the president again appointed me a member of board of governors governing council of the Nigerian Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies and thereafter I became Attorney General of the state. And now I am an ambassador. Tell me who has this experience. None. We have people who have been in the civil service for all their lives. Maybe people who have been in business for all their lives. I have married all sectors of the body polity and that is the difference between me and others. I have served my country, I have served my state, I have served my clients as a professional. I am well positioned to give back to the society part of the love, part of the training, part of the knowledge I have acquired and I intend to do so. What has Governor Akpabio not done in Akwa Ibom that you want to go and do? Is there one man who has done so much that what ever he has done cannot be improved upon? I don’t think so. If the limit of what the people of Akwa Ibom want is all that Akpabio has provided then we have a long way to go. I want to create a middle class, create employment for our youths. When I was a young lawyer, I lived on the middle class. Our communities are poor. Yea, there are roads, there is airport. There is a 5 star hotel but how many people go to sleep in a 5 star hotel in Akwa Ibom? We have over 4million people. The overhead bridge is beautiful, how many of our people have cars to drive on them? We should be thinking about employment for our people. Look at education for in stance, we have free and compulsory education. The Commissioner for Education recently came out to say that of the number of children who pass First School Leaving Certificate in Distinction class, they selected 10 to take examinations to go to very high quality secondary school sponsored by government outside the state. Government wanted to send children to big privately-owned schools. They gave them a special examination. Out of 10 of them, 9 could not write their names. The commissioner came out and said so and they fired her, just for telling the truth. That is the question I’m asking. Is there any one man who has done so well that what he has done cannot be improved upon? Look at the amount of money we are spending on the maintenance of public property called Inter-Ministeral Direct Labour contracts. It is an aberration, a total waste of money. I don’t want to go in to our internally generated revenue and the allocation of our resources in the state. They do not make sense. Ibibio has had power for 8 years and Annang is about to complete theirs. Now that the guber position is rotating to Eket Senatorial District where we have Oro. People of the Oro nation are clamouring for the position, saying they deserve it as the third largest ethnic group in the state. Is this not going to stand against you ahead of he polls? Our constitution is not based on ethnic nationalities. Political offices are shared based on political inclinations. In the local governments you have the wards, in the state you have the local governments, in the state house constituencies you have the local governments, in the federal constituencies you have the local governments, in the senate you have the local governments, in the state you have the senatorial districts and the federal constituencies. Now, you talk about the Ibibios, who are the Ibibios? Ibibio is a generic name for everybody in the state. At a time, Oron was Ibibio, Annang was Ibibio. We were called Ibibio State. When we were asking for state creation in 1953 we were asking for an Ibibio State. We were not asking for an Annang-Oron-Eket-Ogoja whatever state. We were asking for Ibibio State. Now the Ibibios, Uruan, Itam, Ikono, Ini, Uyo, Ibesikpo, Nsit, Eket, Ikot Abasi, Mkpat Enin, Iman are all Ibibios. What you are saying is that the state is predominantly Ibibio. So when the election go to Eket Senatorial District it should go to Ikot Abasi, when it comes to Uyo it is not a problem because everybody is Ibibio, when it goes to Annang it goes to Ikono and Ini. If that is what it is then it is not a problem because you are talking about ethnic groups. When Oro people say they want the seat, they are qualified. Oro people are entitled to ask for governorship. But the reality of the situation in our own senatorial district is simple. Ikot Abasi had 8 years in the Senate, Eket had 8 years in the senate, Oron is going to have its own turn now. It just happens that when they want to have the 8 years of the senate the governorship also falls due for Eket Senatorial District. The question is, can you give Oron the senate and governorship at the same time? It is not a question for me to answer. It is a question for the whole state to answer. I insist that Oro nation is qualified to present governorship candidates. But whether that will enable them win or lose both is a thing I do not know. There is so much animosity among the people of the major ethnic groups in the state, especially between the Annang and Ibibios. There is a certain report in media that an Ibibio lawmaker was assaulted in Annang land. How would you reduce the hate among the people of the ethnic groups in the state if you become governor? One of my greatest embarrassments is the extent to which our state has been polarized along tribal lines. That is why I don’t want to talk about it when it comes to contesting election. Because what is giving us this problem is Annang people-Oron people, Annang people-Eket people, Ibibio people-Annang people. That is what is causing all these problems. Everybody sees himself not in terms of political divide but in terms of tribal divide. What is the difference between us fighting in religious divides and tribal divides? What is the difference? It is very unfortunate. A leadership that recognizes the constitution as a basis for managing the state can never fall into the kind of problem we have fallen in to. You must not look at a person in terms of where he comes from, otherwise you will achieve nothing. His tribal lineage is not his fault. Where he was born cannot be attributed to him. So you cannot blame him for coming from a particular place. So why fight on that basis? I heard the story; it is unfortunate if it is true. I hope the governor can resolve this issue as fast as possible. But what I intend to do to resolve this issue is to treat everybody with respect and honour where we come from. At this moment that is not what we have. We have somebody who plays god against those who are infidels and subjects. We are not subjects. We are individuals in the republican state. And when you want to play god in that kind of a situation you should not look at the consequences in the state, you also go back and read Daniel. When you read the book of Daniel you will see how Nebuchadnezzar ended up. He was one of the strongest and most powerful kings but see how he ended up because he wanted to play god. Will you go for an Ibibio or Oron deputy? I will not go for an Ibibio, or Oron or Annang deputy. I will go for a deputy from another senatorial district. That is what I’ve always said. We have it in our heads. We are talking about clans, villages, tribes, the constitution does not recognize that. The constitution recognizes political delineations. In the state it is senatorial districts and federal constituencies. If you ask me if I will go for a deputy from Uyo or Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District I will answer you. But if you ask me will you go for an Ibibio or Annang deputy I don’t know what you are talking about. I don’t see that in the constitution. So will you pick a deputy from Uyo Senatorial District or Ikot Ekpene Senatorial? I will tell you right away that I do not know the dynamics of the contest as it will be. Right now, if you look at the justice of the matter, a person from Eket should naturally pick a person from Uyo as the deputy governor. Deputy Governor should come from Uyo Senatorial District where a person from Eket Senatorial District is the governor. Because Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District has had 8 years of deputy governorship and 8 years of governorship. Uyo has had 8 years of governorship and they have never had a deputy governor. The National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur visited you here in Moscow some days ago. What is your relationship with him and will it play a role in your emergence as the governorship flagbearer of the party in Akwa Ibom State? The relationship I have with Alhaji Bamangar Tukur is the relationship you have with him, the relationship all members of the PDP (if you are) have with him. He is the father of the party. I know him just like you do. We invited him as the President of the African Business Roundtable and he honoured our invitation to be the guest speaker at the Nigeria/Russia Business and Investment Forum. This is to douse all speculations that may arise as a result of him being here. Will that relationship play a role in my quest for the governorship? The relationship we have is that of party chairman and member. What will determine who becomes the governor is the primaries that will be held in Akwa Ibom and Bamangar Tukur will not be there. We will have to hold primaries and nominate our governorship candidate and the national chairman will not be there. That arrangement will only be organized by the party like in every other state of the federation that will have its nomination in November 2014. If you don’t get the PDP ticket, will there be war? Why should there be war? I’m a democrat. I believe in the right for every one to fight for his own right. But the process must be transparent. If the process is not transparent that is when the war will come. But if we all go into the hall, and there is voting and I lose, it is a different matter. I’ll walk away. I’ve lost elections before and I walked away because they were transparent. The people went there and expressed their views, that’s all. But if you win and somebody tries to do something they call mago mago, then there will be war. That is where the war is. The war is not in terms of using machine guns or machetes, but we will take on who ever says he has won to determine whether he indeed enjoyed the support of the people. I ask for a transparent process. Just like when the Russian chapter of the party met the national chairman, he assured everybody that the process will be transparent. When are you going to retire from politics? When I went to the House of Reps in 1983 I was 29 years old. I married at 24 and I have 6 grand children now. Most of my age mates don’t even have children, some are not even married. I have enjoyed my life. When I feel tired I will retire because I’m not employed by anybody. But in politics you must continue to feel relevant and make yourself relevant at all ages until you die. Even after you die if you were a good politician people will still use your name to do politics. Look at Awolowo. Has he died? People are still doing election and campaigning with his name. So even when you have died, as far as you were relevant and you served your people well you will continue to be relevant. So in politics, there is no end to this business. . Courtesy: Community Pulse
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 20:38:02 +0000
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