It was an exclusive parley between some select journalists and the
Action Congress of Nigeria Gubernatorial candidate in Benue State, Prof.
Steve Ugbah. He is the foremost opposition to the incumbent Governor,
Gabriel Suswam, who is also contesting in a re-election bid. In a down
to earth way and without looking at any material, Prof. Ugbah laid bare
his mind on several issues including his agenda for the state,
godfatherism, his choice of running mate and the violence in Benue State
among other issues.
Su’eddie Agema who was there presents excerpts:
How do you feel leaving a lecture hall for politics,
especially coming from a democratically established country to a country
where democracy is not the norm.
“First it is an honour and privilege for me to come back and seek to
serve my people. There was no doubt in my mind that one day I would come
back and serve in whatever capacity. But it was not my plan or dream to
come and aspire to hold the highest office in Benue state. Though the
United States of America [where he is coming from] is an exemplar in
terms of democratic processes, the country had its challenges. It is
true that we have an underdeveloped democratic system in Nigeria but it
is also true that we have tremendous opportunities to start to
reposition our democratic processes in Nigeria for the better. And it is
people like us who are looking at the country or who are coming into
the country, through additional lenses. Having grown up here, in
Nigeria, and left and studied in the US and worked there to bring a
slightly different perspective to governance in Nigeria that insulates
one from what you see as deficiencies in the system here. And hopefully,
working with people and educating people and leading by example to be
able to institute the kind of democracy that we are yearning for where
everyone is given an opportunity to serve and everyone’s vote counts.
Where we partner with people, where we strengthen our institutions and
people have confidence in our institutions. Collectively, we can begin
to develop our various communities – be they local, state or even
national. So far I am excited about coming back and participating in
this process.”
Governor Gabriel Suswam has said that there are puppet
masters pulling you here and there and because they have not performed,
there is no way you would perform. How do you look at the insinuation
that the persons who brought you did not perform and there is no way you
can perform even if you emerge victorious?
I find it interesting that the Governor would make that statement but
I don’t know who the Governor was referring to. The people who have
brought me here are the people of Benue. God brought me and if you go to
the streets of Benue, you would see a stark demonstration of the power
of the people. So, if the Governor says that the people of Benue have
not performed, then it is a pity because they are not the ones governing
Benue. He is the one governing Benue. He has not performed and that is
why I am here. If he had performed and people were happy with him, there
would have been absolutely no need for some of us to inject ourselves
into the system. It is because of his lack of performance. I am not
knocking him. It is just that sometimes you don’t have the capacity that
you are confronted with. He has performed to a certain level, based on
his capacity but beyond that he has not demonstrated the capacity to
take us to where Benue state actually needs to go. So it is a pity that
he made that statement: I am an unknown quantity. I have no idea what he
means by unknown quantity. I was born here. I was bred here. I just
happened to go and school elsewhere. I just happened to live and work
elsewhere to acquire the necessary skills and capabilities to come back
here.” He continued that he had people in Gboko and Makurdi who would
tell one that he isn’t ‘unknown quantity.’ “And I don’t know how known
he was before he became a member of the House of Representatives or how
known he was even before he became the Governor of the State. I have a
much more established pedigree in terms of knowledge, in terms of
involvement in politics than the current sitting Governor of Benue State
so I have no clue of what he is referring to. Now, if you mention who
he is referring to specifically as puppets that brought me, then I would
be able to respond to that. But other than that I will say that the
Benue people brought me, the Benue state people are excited about my
entry into politics. The Benue state people have accepted the fact that I
have injected myself into the system and I am very comfortable with the
role I am playing right now and by God’s grace, I will be the next
Governor of the state.”
How do you hope to surmount the pressure of godfatherism and what are your plans for Benue state, if elected?
Now, if you say I have a godfather, I have one godfather
who born me for baptism.
That is my godfather. Other than that, I can tell you that anybody who
is naïve to think that you participate in politics without having people
endorse you is fooling him/herself. Every single well meaning
politician must have backers – small, medium, old, large. And that is
what every of them do so as to actualise their own goal of winning
elective office. Prof. David Iornem, my Campaign Director and one of the
first people to try to appeal to me to come and participate in politics
ten years ago. Iyorchia Ayu, is a well known quantity who I consult;
George Akume a sitting Senator; Senator J. K. N. Waku who I respect very
much. Senator Waku and I have been in politics since the ‘80s and I
respect him very much whose perspectives I seek out. My father is
Wantaregh Paul Unongu who is an icon not just in Benue state but in
Nigeria, whose perspectives I cherish so I talk to him on a regular
basis. There were also little people –classmates, schoolmates, business
partners who I consult. I have been in the United States for
thirty-seven years and not been manipulated, I am not going to be
manipulated now.
On the issue of plans, the issue is whether we have leadership that
would implement anything that we put on the table. Do you have the will
to implement? Do you have the will to resist the temptation to amass
wealth because you have access to it? The resources of the people of
Benue are the resource of the people of Benue. Can you discipline
yourself to take what belongs to the people and use it on the people
rather than taking it and using it on yourself? Now, for those who want
to be romantic about plans, what do you exactly want to do in Benue
state but I want to give Benue state leadership, good governance. Get
people who can do this job and place in positions where they can do the
job, and ensure that they do this job and ensure that they do this job.
Anyone that is wanting will be asked to leave, will be relieved of their
jobs.
Good governance is one of my cardinal
programmes, and good governance will lead to ensuring enduring security
in this state. I would ensure the rule of law and ensure that there is
proper delegation of duties and there would be a clear distinction of
all arms of government. Each would be allowed to function without undue
interference.
Healthcare: people die due to lack of power in
hospitals. The life expectancy of Nigeria is 45-47 years and this should
be elevated by treating diseases that in other countries have been
forgotten. The resources used by the Executive on overseas trips for
health reasons, or vacations would have to channelled into improving
health care system. The economic base would have to be revitalised as
Benue state does not have the capacity to boast with competing with some
local governments in other states of Nigeria. All the factories in
Benue state are dead or moribund. The
economic life of
Benue would have to be revitalised. The agricultural base is still on
subsistence level and “we can’t continue to be subsistence farmers. In
the global economy, we can’t compete. All that people do in Benue is to
see images on the television and marvel at it without being able to see
it physically. For God sake, people have conquered the moon. People have
gone to other planets. In Benue, we are still sitting down, carrying a
hoe and going to farm. How much production can make you to uplift a
people’s life and create a strong economic base to transform the state.
It is not rocket science. It takes focus, it takes will to be able to
make it up. There was a need to revive factories and revitalise the
economy and create an enabling environment as businesses would only come
to such environments where they would get returns.
Education is the fourth one – quality, accessible education…
When
you start talking of education, you are talking access to education,
quality education, where students can pay their fees or what we are
proposing is free education for all students at the primary and
secondary education. At the university level, we will make provisions
for who will go for free. There is a movement worldwide now in education
especially at the higher institutions which we are going to take down
to all levels as well. – Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics
(STEM). This provides a great opportunity for Benue state if we can
institutionalise this. We would give scholarships to students who want
to study these courses. Above all, our emphasis is on women, girl
education. Our girls are floundering. We want to be able to provide them
with incentives and to allow them stay in school and to flourish in
school and not to be on the streets. So what we are also proposing is to
get girls to go to school for free and I believe that we are going to
get tremendous support by getting girls to go to school for free to the
university who are Benue state indigenes.
These are initiatives that if we only think and focus, you would be
able to generate the resources, even the current resources we have to be
able to manipulate them as government to afford these services to our
people because they are essential. Education is the basic foundation for
all economic activities. If you do not have a trained workforce, it is
difficult to bring companies to invest. Where I come from, my system
[the California university system] provides 75% of the workforce in the
economy in California. That is what I want to bring to Benue state. Our
institution should be able to provide the workforce and support so
accessible education in Benue state is my vision and with the help of
the people of Benue state, we would be able to do it.
Last point,
targeted infrastructural development. I
hear the incumbent Governor has a reputation for being ‘Mr.
Infrastructure.’ Great. What does that mean? Is it just roads for the
sake of building roads or are the roads you are building tied
strategically to your economic initiatives? What roads have we built?
Our roads are death traps all over the place. I thought that by now,
people would not die on our roads needlessly. Accidents will happen but
we don’t want needless deaths. My father and my mother died because of
road accidents lots of years ago. Other families are also experiencing
the same thing on the roads of Benue today. Have we being able to
connect our communities, our local governments? What have we done with
our Federal roads? Have we maintained them since they were constructed?
If not, what has been the role of the State government? After all, we
want to belong to the ruling party so that we can have access but if we
have roads constructed by the Federal Government and we cannot get them
to rehabilitate and people continue to die on that road? We used to have
rail services that passed through Makurdi, no more. I don’t know the
last time a Makurdi resident heard the sound of a train but the tracks
are still there. What does it take to open it up, even if it is within
Benue so that we can relieve the pressure by transporting bulky items?
We have an asset called the River Benue. I don’t know how many of you
have gone on boat rides on River Benue or done anything economic. Apart
from fisher men catching fish and coming to sell to you, what else have
we done with River Benue? Can we develop River Benue into an economic
asset? The answer is yes, we can. If you have a vision for it. You don’t
have to be overwhelmed. I come from San Francisco and I am sure all of
you have heard of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. It is one of
the wonders of the world. Who built it? Human beings built it which
means human beings can do something in Benue if we set our mind to it.
Can we have a water transport system with drive ports to Buruku all the
way to Kastina-ala connecting to Ibi and moving all the way to Lokoja?
The answer is yes we can. But you have to have a vision and convince
yourself that it is possible to do it. It also relieves pressure on our
roads.
Lights, we don’t have lights. We have huge coal deposits in Benue. We
have not been able to exploit coal for the use of light and
diversifying energy sources. We have to take advantage of that as well.
The rest of the world is doing it – solar, wind, water, coal. We can do
it. We have solid minerals in Benue that we can also exploit with
appropriate partnering from the Federal Government and partnering with
overseas firms. Water, we are begging for water right now. We have an
uncertain situation in Benue state where we are destitute in our own
state. Now, who in their right senses would come to Benue and want to
set up anything when you can’t even go to the toilets and flush it. You
have to run to the bush and go to the toilet because there is no water
to flush your toilet and then you depend on going to a water board to
buy water. That is how we are going to support our industries, by
tankers going to the water board to buy water, come back and feed your
industries? And the water is as red as this table (
signifies a very brownish red table).
I don’t know, perhaps your differences are different. After all, I am not from here (
general laughter).
Those are the five areas, just in a nutshell that we want to focus on
but those things would not happen if we don’t have the will to do it.
We can give all kinds of excuses. If we don’t have the will to do it, it
would never happen. That is what I bring to the table. That is why I am
running for Governor and that is why I believe the Benue people have
seen and appreciated, and are supporting us totally to transform this
state.
What’s your take on the Christian-Muslim ticket especially in a state that is predominantly Christian? Secondly, considering ya-na-wangbian (eat-I-eat)
system. The Jemgba ate (power i.e. ruled) for eight years. It has gone
to Sankera and he has eaten one part of it. By May 29th hopefully, he would have finished.
(
cuts in) “He would finish by May 29
th. (
general laughter)
Another Sankera man is waiting in the wind to take over, denying…
(
cuts in) No, it is not denying…
The issue is you eat for eight years and you give to another
because our Idoma brothers have been ostracised – that is our own
understanding. So, you have eight years. You are now waiting in the wind
coming. The Minda people want to take over in 2015. Now, the thinking
is that if you give it to Ugbah, Ugbah is going to have eight years, so
automatically it is going to deny us who have been waiting.
Let me get it straight. Are you referring to
ya-na-wan gbian or are you referring to me chopping and giving it over to Minda and also giving it to Idoma? Which one is it?
What I am saying is that Jemgba had it for eight years. It
has been thrown to the Sankera people, who also have a slot for eight
years…
Let me deal with that aspect first, then we would talk about the
Minda and the Idoma. You see, look at governance. When you are playing a
game – I will use this analogy. When you are playing a game, there is
something called substitution, right? You are allowed to substitute
during a football game. If somebody is not playing up to par, right? You
are allowed to substitute. You don’t leave that person there and lose
the game. That is what is happening in Sankera. The person who is there
now playing the game is weak. So, maybe he ran too much. Maybe he did
not eat enough or maybe he ate too much. So, when he came to the field,
he became very sluggish so he has to be substituted. So, what I am doing
is substituting so that I can finish the game. Is there anything wrong
with that?
So, what you are saying in essence is that you are only running for one term.
I didn’t say I am running for one term or two terms or three terms.
You see, the problem with people is that you look too far ahead. That is
what blinds you because as soon as you come into office, they start
plotting for a second term. I am not interested in plotting for a second
term. I am coming here to play a game that lasts for four years and I
want to make my maximum impact in four years or less to show people
there is a difference in what used to be. Whatever happens after that, I
have no control over it. My idea is not to sit here and tell you ‘Oh, I
am going to run for eight years.’ I am running to substitute the
incumbent Governor right now. Now, whether or not, I finish four years
and the thing goes to Minda. That is for you to decide. Whether or not,
it goes to Idoma, that is for you to decide. But what the present
administration is doing is saying ‘Minda, don’t support Steve Ugbah
because if he wins, he would go for eight years and rob you of the
opportunity to field a candidate in 2015. Idoma, don’t support Steve
Ugbah because you will get a shot at 2015 so which one is it? Is it
Minda is it Idoma? That is not something that I want to waste my energy
thinking of. I am focused on wresting power from PDP. If I cannot make
an impression on this state in four years, you are the one who would
decide. So, my idea is not to come here and tell you I am going to run
for eight years. That is not my idea. I want to make a maximum impact in
four years or less in government to show Benue that there is something
that can be done about our situation that is different, much more
progressive and obtainable.
Now, about your first question on the Christian-Muslim ticket. I am a
proud Catholic. My running mate is a proud Muslim who also is a
resident and bona fide citizen of Benue state. I am supposed to enjoy
the rights of every single citizen in this state but I am told that I do
not qualify to run for office. I am told that I don’t deserve to run.
That other people have the God given right to run and rule the state. I
am also told that I am a Catholic and therefore, I am not qualified to
run. So, if you tell me that I am a Catholic and I am not qualified to
run, you must have a preferred candidate or a preferred religion that
you wish to run the state. You also want to tell me that as long as a
Benue state indigene is a Muslim, then that Benue state indigene must
never aspire to the highest office in the state. I am coming from a
country where a black man has just been elected President against all
odds. In my entire life, I never dreamt that Obama or a black person
would emerge an elected President of the United States but it has
happened. What we bring to Benue is to bridge differences. We have a
ticket that happens to be a formidable ticket. Do not forget that my
running mate, Young Alhaji [Usman Abubakar] ran for election twice in
Idoma land and won in spite of the fact that he was a Muslim. Not only
that, this person that people say is a Muslim [and] therefore, if he
comes into power, would convert the whole of Benue state into an Islamic
state. That means that you must also subscribe to the notion that Steve
Ugbah is so weak that the so-called godfathers, the so-called puppets
that you think are pulling the strings would also include my running
mate who is Young Alhaji. So, my puppets would pull over here, Young
Alhaji would pull over here. I don’t know what state we would end up
creating. But this is the same person who has established a bank – it is
not an Islamic bank. This is the same person that has established
foundations across the state where Tiv, Idoma, Igede, Hausa, Yoruba, you
name it, are benefitting from. This is the same person who has given
countless Benue state indigenes scholarships. This is the person who has
chosen his businesses to support what is happening in Benue state as an
individual. Now, because he is a Muslim, I should simply decount him
and say ‘You have done all this for your people, regardless of where
they come from in the state. You are still not qualified to aspire to
anything because somebody would wake up one day and say ‘You would
Islamise Benue state’? Aper Aku had a Muslim as a running mate. Aper Aku
of blessed memory had a Muslim as a running mate and he performed
wonders in this state. The person everyone including the incumbent
Governor, wants us to support has a Muslim as a running mate. If you are
following logic, even before he became President, we had a Muslim
President who Jonathan Goodluck was Vice President to and I can see that
Nigeria became a Muslim state. When President Jonathan came into power
then he converted Nigeria back to [a Christian state]. You see, these
are people’s fears that we want to debunk in this state. We must be able
to, we must embrace diversity. We must embrace tolerance in this state.
If our institutions are not strong enough to withstand wholesale
conversions that may be detrimental to our own lifestyles, then, let the
transformations take place. But I think that we are strong enough to
withstand detrimental transformation of this state. Working together we
will build Benue state. People looking at us as working together for
progress deemphasising religion – people working together coming from
different ethnic groups. The Igedes are not talking to the Idomas. The
Tiv people are suspicious of the Idomas. The Idomas are suspicious of
the Tiv people. Idomas are suspicious of the Igedes and so on and so
forth. We are trying to bridge those differences.
I come from a Catholic-Christian background. He comes from a Muslim
background but do you know what my running mate original name was? John.
And he knows the bible more than most Pastors and can recite those
verses and chapters without referring to the bible. So, I have no
anxieties over my running mate and I urge the Benue people to have no
anxieties whatsoever about my running mate because he is an honourable
man, a very hardworking man. He would work in the best interest of Benue
and not in the best interest of Islam.
How would you raise the standard of politicking without
encroaching on some of the powers and rights of the President because it
is normal to find Governors who don’t stay in their states but sit in
Abuja. How would you operate despite these obstacles?
I don’t look at it as obstacles. We have a constitution. Going to the
issue of religion, some states declared that they would be guided by
Sharia law. I am sure they looked at the provisions of the constitution
and looked at whatever constitution they had in their own state that
they gave them the authority to say that they are going to operate
Sharia in governance. The constitution has roles for all the tiers of
government. Clearly, a Governor cannot function in isolation. Cannot
extricate him/herself from the Federal Government in toto. The problem
in Benue is that we are totally dependent on the Federal Government and
that is why we keep running to Abuja all the time. Hopefully, what we
hope to do is to be able to revitalise our economy to the extent that we
don’t have to make all those frequent trips to Abuja so we can generate
our revenue internally. Now, are we going to refuse help from the
Federal Government? Absolutely not. We must approach the Federal
Government to provide goods and services to the people of Benue as
statutorily stipulated. That is our job. What is statutorily ours, we
must go and get it. Our elected officials that go to Abuja must perform
their jobs because they represent the people of Benue. So they must be
seen as bringing the goods back to Benue as other people do.
One day we would look at our constitution and see how we can best
make this state completely autonomous. But even in the model that we are
using in the United States, states cannot by themselves say we are not
going to deal with the Federal Government. You refuse to deal with the
Federal Government at a cost to you. You see, ours is a weak system
whereby we don’t have adequate facilities in the state to generate our
own revenue so we have to depend completely on the Federal Government.
If you are able to do that, we now start reducing the dependence on the
Federal Government. In the [United] States, let me tell you what
happens: The Federal Government would give you money but the Governor
can say I don’t want to take your money because your stipulations that
come with that money are too much for me and I don’t to implement them.
And the Federal Government would say ‘Okay, since you refuse to
implement our stipulations, we would withhold the money or we give you
money and we told you these are the things we wanted you to do. We came,
we evaluated it and we saw that you didn’t do and therefore we going to
take the money away. They have done that several times. They have done
it consistently. By the same token, you go to the Federal Government and
say ‘This is a highway that leads from Point A to Point B, that is
driving the whole economic drive of that area. You must participate in
the development of that area. But it will take a strong presence. It
will take a strong Governor or a group of Governors to make that happen.
Have we been able in our little zone to do that? The Niger-Delta folks
have done that quite effectively. Have we in the Middle Belt for
instance been able to do it, to say for instance that the road leading
from Ogoja all the way down, all the way up to Jalingo, we need to have
it developed because it drives certain goods and people or coming from
Nsukka, Otukpo all the way up through Makurdi going to Abuja. Have we
been able to do something about that road because it is a very important
road? Makurdi is a gateway, okay? It is a connector between the South,
the North…It occupies a very unique position. The Federal Government has
to realise that so are we in a position to advocate for this area? Are
we in a position to partner with neighbouring states using the
provisions of the constitution to drive Federal presence in this place?
That is the function of the Chief Executive. So, the constitution is
there for us to use. The constitution is there for us to exploit but you
have to remain focused to be able to exploit the constitution or else
you throw your hands in the air [and cry] ‘Oh, it is the constitution.’
Who wrote the constitution? We wrote the constitution. Who is going to
review the constitution? We would review the constitution. Who is going
to interpret the constitution? We are going to use aspects of the
constitution, the stipulation of the constitution to do the things we do
and if we feel that the constitution is not doing the thing for us. If
we feel that people are misinterpreting what the constitution is saying,
we would go to the Supreme Court. Let the Supreme Court then decide the
constitutionality of what it is we are doing. But the due process, you
have to be prepared to follow the due process and question the
provisions of the constitution. It is a living document. So, the
function of a Chief Executive is not something to fold his/her hands and
say: ‘The constitution is so this or so that is why I am prevented from
doing this.’ It is for us to find ways to make the constitution work
for us. I am here to serve the people of Benue. I am here to help find
every single opportunity to help solve our problems on the ground, using
the constitution, using means that are constitutional, but may not be
specifically outlined in the constitution. We have lawyers who would
tell us the constitutionality of what it is we are doing. As long as
everything we are doing is geared towards uplifting our people. If we
have to challenge the constitution, we would challenge the constitution
or the constitutionality of what it is we are doing. So, we are not
afraid of challenging the constitution. We are not afraid of being bold,
with the way that we go about trying to develop this state. We are not
afraid of having a vision that most people cannot relate to – who are
only interested in
chopping money.
So, we are not interested in chopping money. We are interested in
making people have money. We don’t want to build up a Governor who is
the richest man in Benue because that is not the function of the
Governor. That is not why you are there as a Governor. We don’t want you
to be the most influential person in Benue. We want you to be able to
create the enabling environment where ordinary people see hope, uplift
their lives; can put more money in their pocket; can be something; can
aspire to hold the highest office in the land; can be the richest man in
Nigeria; can be the richest woman in Nigeria. That is the function of
government. That is the function of a Governor but when you reduce it to
‘I am going to be Governor because I want to carry all the money and I
don’t want anyone else to write a cheque for one million naira, you’ve
missed the boat completely. So, that is why I left what I was doing in
the United States and came back home to make a difference. I want to
serve my people. I don’t want my people to serve me. I want to serve
them and as long as God gives me any breath, in me, and any ounce of
energy in me. I would use it to serve my people in Benue. That is why I
am here. That is why I am running for office.
How would you tackle the problem of climate change and
environmental degradation that is affecting not just Benue but the
world? Secondly, literature has helped to take several Nigerians to
great heights. In Benue, we have not gotten patronage from our
government and several of our writers – we have great writers here –
have had their talent die [unnoticed]. So, if you are eventually
elected…
Not if, when I’m elected. I know I am going to be elected. (
laughter)
What programmes or what would you do to take the Benue writer not just to the national level but to the world level?
That is a very interesting question. Ours would be a holistic
approach. Even though in education, I was talking about STEM and trying
to get people to move into our schools, revamp our schools, create new
structures that would accommodate our teeming students. We are highly
interested in maintaining and developing our culture. Our culture is
very important. Now, you are talking about writers. Is it writing
institutes? We would have programmes that would enable people to write
if you want to write. You see, you don’t have writing institutes if you
have writers who want to write, they write on their own because they
have not extricated themselves from the day-to-day satisfaction of needs
to be able to think straight and write. If you create that environment
that would enable someone to be able to go to the waterside and write;
if you want to go to school, you want to use that as your own basis to
write – that is where you want to go. But to say that we are going to
create a writing institute, that is something that we are going to have
to think about if those are the kind of things that we need to do. But
if you create an environment that would extricate people from the
day-to-day running [of] looking for food, looking for shelter, that
encourages people to pursue their various dreams but we would promote
culture. We would promote people to use their God-given talent to pursue
whatever it is they want to pursue. We would create a middle class. We
would create entertainment centres or help create entertainment centres
where you don’t have to be roaming the streets all the time. If you want
to watch a good movie, you can go to a movie house and watch a good
movie. If you want to watch a good play – I don’t know how many times
you have watched a [standard] play in Makurdi – I don’t know how many
places you can go to watch a play in Makurdi. I don’t know how many
places you can take your children to go and play in Makurdi. If you
brought a friend from Abuja with the family, where would you take them
to and leave the kids run around while you take a snooze. So, promoting
writers or promoting other types of activities is something that would
have to be holistic in approach. So, the infrastructure that we create
would also create the opportunity for such things to happen.
What are we worried about climate change in Benue? I can tell you
about the aspect that actually peeves me. It is when I am riding on the
streets in Makurdi and the soot that comes out, that I am inhaling that
proves a health hazard. That is of more concern to me than if we are
depleting the O-zone layer because we don’t have any industries that are
contributing to climate change in Benue. Now, the other thing that also
concerns me is the rampant bush burning to pursue rats especially in
Tiv land (
laughter). Now, we have to think creatively in terms
of how to discourage people from doing that. Maybe, there are advantages
but we would have to consult with our scientists to find out the extent
of damage to our environment by bush burning. But to prevent your
people from burning bush, to chase after little rats, we can create rat
farms if you want (
Laughter) as an economic activity. Because
when you burn bush, you burn people’s houses, you burn people’s homes.
When you burn bush, depending on how NEPA laid its cables, you may even
burn some of those cables and when you don’t have electricity, it is
more
wahala. But we have to do something about the soot, the
carbon monoxide, the carbon-di-oxide that is on the streets of Makurdi.
Graduates are riding cheap
okadas as a business in Makurdi.
When you drive to Nasarawa, it is even worse. There are certain spots on
your way to Abuja, in Nasarawa, where you have to wear a mask before
you go. So, I am less worried about climate change in Benue. That is a
more global issue. Perhaps, in the South, yes, because they have lots of
factories that are shooting things in the air and disrupting our
planet. In Benue, what do we have? Is it Benue Cement? So, if or when we
are placed in a position where we have to discuss climate change, I am
sure we would have a adequate response to what Benue state is doing to
contribute to the degradation of the environment. But one more thing,
environmental degradation, apart from polluting the air, we have a
factory that is perhaps the only factory running in this state, the BCC
[Benue Cement Company]. I don’t know if the government of Benue has done
any environmental impact analysis of that factory. I am worried because
that factory is shooting something in the air and it is affecting the
communities there. We will look at the impact of that factory on the
health of the community in that area. I don’t know how many of you have
gone behind the factory itself to see where the limestone is being dug
or being mined. It is a very pleasant sight, right? (
No). So,
those are issues that one has to look at. What is the long term impact
of continuous digging of limestone out of that place? Shall we simply
just sit and watch until something erupts in that place? How will that
affect our community? So, these are burning issues that one has to look
at very carefully.
Now, I have my manifesto which you can pull down [download] on the
web. I have a website, I don’t know many of you have visited it but if
you Google it, the manifesto is there. It is
http://stuforgovernor.org.
We have more specific things in all of these areas except for my
running mate’s issue. It’s all in the manifesto but I just want to state
in very clear terms so that nobody misunderstands me, my running mate
is a man of honour, is a hardworking man and is a man who would help us
put Benue on the map. And that is why we chose him as a running mate and
not because he was Muslim.
On the Ter Kwande’s burial, and violence in general…
As a little kid, my father, Wantaregh Paul Unongu when he came back
from Canada spent a lot of time with the Ter Kwande, James Adzape. Our
houses were very close in Gboko. So, he wasn’t just any other person. He
was like my father but the PDP led by the Governor and his Local
Government Chairman, Kwande, prevented me from going to the burial. Arms
are being shipped into this state by PDP operatives. PDP as a party,
the party hierarchy is planning violence as a way to win elections
because they know they are losing. The sentiments of the people are with
us, ACN, in the state. They know it, we know it. So, the only way PDP,
particularly, the incumbent administration wishes to win is by using
excessive overwhelming violence at each polling booth in the state using
the machinery of government. We want to serve notice to PDP that we
would monitor every single thing they are doing. We would not start or
encourage the fights but we would defend ourselves if the law
enforcement institutions don’t interfere. I abhor violence, I don’t want
violence but we would defend ourselves against violence.
One more thing. We also know that to actualise PDP brand plan to win
elections in Benue at all costs, they are buying voter cards which is
against the electoral laws. They have provided fake uniforms – military
uniforms, military mufti, fake police uniforms to be deployed just
before the election to pose as either military folk, military people or
police men all around the state in addition to the guns so we are
calling on the Inspector General of Police to please investigate. We are
calling on INEC to once again pronounce, stipulate what constitutes a
crime as far as electoral process is concerned and for them to take note
that PDP in Benue state is buying voter registration cards and
destroying them so that people would be disenfranchised on the day of
the election. The Police must investigate and must be alert of fake
uniforms being distributed in Benue state for the purposes of the
election by PDP. We want a free and a fair election. We want people to
express their will through the ballot box. We would not be intimidated.
That is what we want to say to Nigeria, to the people of and Benue
state, protect your vote, don’t sell your vote because it is against the
law. The real power you have is your vote. So, protect your vote. Cast
your vote for ACN.
The Governor said he searched your name on the internet as a Special Adviser to the California Governor and found nothing…
I don’t know if the Governor reads. I know he went to school but I
don’t know if he reads because if I make any statement, I want the
Governor to contravene it. I am not in the business of defending what
everybody says so if you find anything I have said, that is coming from
my mouth, please let me know and I will defend it. Or [anything] that I
have written. But I am not in the business of going to defend anything
and everything that people say about me. You have my CV, look at my CV
and if there is anything, come and tell me…I don’t even want to glorify
because it is a very useless and baseless assertion.
