My worries about Buhari, Rochas - Onyirimba

Chief Stanford Onyirimba, a foundation member of PDP, one time majority leader, Imo State House of Assembly and an aspirant into IMO PDP chairmanship position speaks with EVEREST EZIHE in Owerri on number of issues concerning PDP, APC, Governor Rochas Okorocha’s administration and the Muhammadu Buhari administration. Excerpts:

Despite being a multimil­lionaire businessman what motivated you into politics?

about 1999, probably due to my philanthropy and pa­triotism, my people in Ehime Mbano persuaded me into serving them as the executive chairman of the council but due to my passion for quality and effective representations, I opted to run for the state as­sembly which I won and till date my constituents uses me as a case study for quality and effective representations . I revolutionized the state con­stituency through attraction of infrastructural developments. I really gave them my best and Imolites were proud of me, people looked upon me in the House of any critical issue, my solace is that I gave good ac­count of my stewardship

How do you access the pres­ent House of Assembly with what happened during your days as a legislature?

honestly, I shed tears because today’s House of Assembly is a rubber stamp of the state gov­ernment, I feel so depressed seeing the robust House I built snowballing into an execu­tive arm of the government. in those days, we were highly re­spected by other arms of the government. Besides, other Houses of Assemblies use to come to Imo state House of As­sembly to learn what they con­sidered as people oriented leg­islature. As the Floor Manager between 1999 – 2005 we where the best in the East of Niger. The House today is a shadow of itself in terms of quality rep­resentations and obligation to the populace, I am truly ashamed because they have lost focus of the foundation, vision and mission, they have been pocketed by the executive arm of the government at the de­teriments of the masses.

As a chieftain of PDP, are you not worried by the legion of crisis your party has been neck deep into, both at the state and national levels and as a foundation member of the po­litical party, what is your take on the way forward?

Honestly, what we have now in terms of the tenets of PDP is quite distinct from what the party used to be between 1999 – 2007, there was no impunity, there was respect for internal democracy, that time what we have is a political party in which power belongs to the people but today what we have is PDP! power, the power no longer belongs to the people. the power now belongs to the self acclaimed political lead­ers, chieftains and money bags. This is the bane of PDP.

The Gospel truth is that the power has been removed from the People both at the state and at the national level. I am please that the party is now be­ing repositioned, being re-en­gineered and being re-invigo­rated. The party has realized its mistakes and they are trying to bring the party back to the peo­ple who are the real owners and not to political money bags. Respect for internal democracy and returning the party back to the original owners, that is, the people is the only way forward. The party was overwhelmed by her victory for 16 years and they mismanaged and abused the success, privilege and hon­our through impunity.

It is a historical fact that APC, APGA, and every other party making wave in Nigeria today is an offshoot of PDP. Once bit­ten twice shy, the party is un­dergoing transformation, infact the shortcoming of the present APC government should be a strength for PDP to be com­mitted in people oriented poli­cies and programmes.

If you have the privileged of meeting Nigerian President, Alhaji Muhammed Buhari, to­day what fundamental issues are you most likely to address with him?

I will commend him for his war against corruption, I will ask him to make it a holistic af­fair rather than the perceived lopsided approach. I will be courageous enough to tell him that most of his policies are anti-masses. He must do some­thing to salvage the economy. Nigerians are suffering. His dividends of democracy to fel­low Nigerians are illusion. It is time he addressed the petro­leum sector. Nigerians wants positive transformation in the power sector. The change Nige­rians voted for is not what they are getting. The educational sector is comatose and needs revival. The health sector is an apology and deserves military attention. Nigerian youths are roaming the streets, unemploy­ment rate is frightening, gov­ernment should create enabling environment for improvement in socio-economic activities. The President should stop jack­eting, the time to think out of the box is now. Yes, we are win­ning the war against the Boko Haram Islamic sect but the over 270 innocent Chibok Sec­ondary School Girls abducted by the sect for about two years now are seem to have been for­gotten. We voted for positive changes and we deserve noth­ing less.

You are also an elder states­man in Imo State can you give a candid analysis of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s Rescue Mission Administration for the past five years?

Sincerely speaking, Governor Okorocha re-defines gover­nance in terms of infrastruc­tural developments, nobody can take that away from him but his administration lacks tact. The qualities of his works are poor and lack proper co-ordinations and organizations. He has no respect for political leaders. I am aggrieved with his free education policy be­cause the educational rating of the state has nosedived into a pitiable situation. The civil ser­vants are complaining of delay in payment of their salaries as well as pay cuts. Pensioners are aggrieved over backlog of un­paid pension. The State econ­omy is in shamble. People are suffering and crying. The gov­ernment concession policy is anti-masses. You cannot run an efficient and effective admin­istration without due process. The administration lacks vision and purposeful governance, the state is being run like a private enterprise. It is not yet uhuru, we deserve God’s mercy and intervention.

Finally, what message do you have for members of PDP, Imo­lites and Nigerians at large?

For members of PDP, it is important to remind them that no political party thrives without discipline. This is the dawn of a new era and things must be done right, respect for internal democracy and zoning arrangement are the keys for rebuilding the party. PDP has optimal chances to regain pow­er in 2019 but they must put their house in order, they must shun bickering, wrangling, rift and rancor. They must be pa­triotic enough to accept their mistakes and their willingness to make sacrifices in the overall interest of the party.

For the Imolites, if there is no pains there will be no gain. We can now make comparative analysis and say which one is better with a visionary leader the state will regain its lost glory. We need patience and prayers.

Nigerians are too docile, they should compel the President to work in tandem with their high expectations. Yes, there is global economic glut but the government and the masses must be on the same page in terms of diversification. The power sector deserves practi­cal military attention than lips services approach. We must look inwards to salvage the economy.