Former member of the House of Representatives, Chief USA Igwesi believes that Enu­gu State has the potentials to be like Dubai if the legacies of Gov­ernor Sullivan Chime are sustained. Igwesi who is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prays that Chime’s successor will be someone who loves Enugu State. In this interview, he speaks on various issues affecting the state.
Excerpts:
What is your assessment of the relationship between Enugu State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Sullivan Chime?
The relationship of course is cordial be­cause of what the governor has been able to do in the state. Members of the PDP in the state and indeed in Nigeria as a whole are proud and ever ready to associate with Governor Sullivan Chime. The good thing about the governor is that in whatever he does, he carries the party along. In Enugu State, Chime makes sure that the party is involved in governance. There is effective relationship between the government and the state party structure even to the ward level. Everybody is happy with Chime and you know that if you have a son that is doing well, you would naturally be proud of him. Chime is a proud son of the PDP and the PDP is also proud of him. Even the national hierarchy of the party allows him to take certain decisions on behalf of the PDP because of the confidence they have in him.
There are reports that he wants to go to the Senate and the im­plication is that he would replace the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu. Do you think it will be possible for Chime considering that Ekweremadu is also a big fish?
I can assure you that Chime will get the Senate seat. Remember that Enugu State has many fishes and Chime is also one of them. The governor has the same background with Ekweremadu; both of them are lawyers. I want you to know that Chime was a good lawyer even before he emerged as the governor of Enugu State. You know he is a quiet man and you may not know what is in his mind but the truth is that he is a focused man. Yes, you may not see much about him in the media but he is a good performer. Given what he has done in Enugu State, he would replicate same in the National Assembly. Lawyers are good in lawmaking because the rudi­ments of lawmaking are in the fingertips of lawyers. Yes, Ekweremadu has done well as a Senator and even rising to the position of Number 2 in the Senate but you know that Enugu is blessed and every family in Enugu State has people who can give us good representation. For Chime going to the Senate, he will do well and I can assure you that he will perform better than Ekweremadu. And in terms of the election, he will beat Ekweremadu to the game because people will queue behind him in view of what he has been able to do as governor of the state. We believe that he will do same when he goes to the National Assembly.
But do you think it is rational for Chime to move from Enugu govern­ment house straight to the Senate? Shouldn’t he leave the Senate seat for other people?
The governor will have completed eight years by next year and Ekweremadu, his own 12 years in the Senate despite the fact that he was Chief of Staff to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani. So, Ekweremadu could be said to have been on government scholarship for a long time. It is almost a tradition that after eight years, all the governors end up in the Senate. Chime is also a governor and if he has done well, we should compensate him with the Senate seat. I think there is noth­ing wrong in it because many governors come up with the ambition of ending up in the Senate. Some of the governors who did not even do well go to the Senate and if so, why should Chime who did well not aspire to go to the Senate? He should be com­pensated with the Senatorial seat. When I was at the House of Assembly, I did well and I got a traditional title as the Ikemba of Enugu and I was compensated with the House of Representatives slot. The then governor, Chimaroke even wanted me to go to the Senate but I rejected it saying my age was not enough to go to the Senate. I did not know that people who are even younger than me go to the Senate. I missed that opportunity but I believe it was the design of God. So in the same vein, I am saying that having done well as governor, Chime should be compensated with a big­ger assignment.
You have been out of political office for seven years, why have you not got another appointment or elective office considering your support to the PDP?
I just believe it is the way God has fashioned it. I think that if you do well as a party man by supporting and sacrificing for your party and remaining loyal, fight­ing people for your party and commenting on national issues to project your party, it is expected that you should be compen­sated for your efforts. So, for me, I do not know the problem but I know there are envy, jealousy and hatred. There was an interview I had on the AIT and I said that members of the PDP are wicked people because for all the things I have done for the party, I have not been given an ap­pointment. I do not know what they are afraid of. Are they afraid of their shadows? I have a political history that shows that if I am with you, I am with you. Those who know the history could recall that by the time I was with Chimaroke, I was with him until he removed me by putting a murder case on me. They wanted to upturn his government, I was the person who fought for him and I led the Group 8 in Enugu. I was the leader of the invisible minority that defeated the majority. But af­ter all my support for him, he compensated me with a murder case. I do not know whether it is my destiny but the important thing is that they should know that politics belongs to nobody. It is not a matter of equal joiners or founders but a matter of opportunity. Some people are enjoying unlimited opportunities and they think it is because they are more intelligent or clever than others. It is not. Based on what I have been able to do for my party, I am overdue for an appointment. They have given out many federal appointments but nobody remembers me. I am not shaken. Some of them who have appointments cannot even come out to say anything or talk about the party. Some of them even talk negatively about the party but some of us who have not been given any appointments talk very positively about the party. I believe that God knows why it is so and when it is time, God will touch their hearts. The heart of leaders is in the hands of God. He can direct leaders to any direction he wants.
Do you think the opposition po­litical parties have the capacity to overthrow the PDP in Enugu State in 2015?
I like the existence of the opposition party because it makes the ruling party to be on its toe. But in the South East, we do not have opposition parties and that is bad. Even in the United States of America, there are traditional opposition parties who may never win any election but they are there to make the ruling party to always sit up. We lack such opposition in the South East. That of Enugu, it is expected because the governor has done well, and we do not need an opposition. He has carried everybody including the opposition along. You can see the conference of the Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), they are work­ing with Chime. Many of the opposition parties support Chime because they know he means well for the state. They know that even though Chime is not of their parties but what he is doing will benefit everybody in the state. Is everybody not enjoying security in Enugu State? The infrastructural boom in Enugu State, is ev­erybody including members of the opposi­tion parties not enjoying it? So, you do not oppose for the sake of opposing because you know that if you take over from the governor, you may not do better than he is doing. One thing that the governor does is that he does not witch-hunt anybody irrespective of parties.
You believe the governor has done well in several sectors but do you think he has lived up to the people’s expectation in tackling unemployment in the state?
I am not the governor’s media officer, neither am I his Chief Press Secretary nor the Commissioner for Information. In that wise, I may not be able to articulate what the governor has been able to do in that area but I know he is passionate about generating employment for the people of Enugu State. Of course, he knows that unemployed youths are vulnerable and can be used for anything negative. I know that Chime does not want anything negative in Enugu State. If there is unemployment in Enugu State, you will be seeing robbery every day. Even though I do not have the statistics of employment opportuni­ties in Enugu State, I know that the state government is engaging them one way or the other.
If the youths in Enugu State are not being engaged, you would have been noticing all kinds of negative activities by the youths. Nobody is being harassed in Enugu. I recall that under Chimaroke, I was harassed terribly and so it was with so many other law abiding citizens of the state. But with the foundation that Gover­nor Chime has laid, I see Enugu in future becoming like a city like Dubai. With the right leaders succeeding Chime and sustaining his legacies, Enugu will become like Dubai.
The city of Dubai used to be a wilder­ness but has become a tourist destination today because their leaders got it right. Dubai is the cynosure of every business man in the world today. I can assure you that with the right leadership, Enugu State has the potentials to be like Dubai. My advice to the people of Enugu State ahead of next year’s governorship election is that they should pray hard so that the man who is coming from Enugu North should be a good leader who loves Enugu State. We should pray that he should be such a man that is focused and will be committed to sustaining Chime’s legacies.
 

Enugu people should compensate Chime for hard work–USA Igwesi