Face to face with Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan; how many questions can you ask him in about 20 minutes? Well, that was the dilemma of YES INTERNATIONAL! Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, on Thursday, November 27, 2014 when he met with the technocrat in politics who has been a Commissioner (for Health), Secretary to the State Government, Governor and if God permits, a Senator, in 2015. As frank as ever, the ever-smiling medical doctor who is married to Roli and blessed with two children (Orode and Toju) talked about his next political move, greatest achievement as a governor and more…
You are one person who people abuse and insult, yet you are quick to forgive. Why do you forgive so easily?
It’s because God forgives me always. Really, there have been a lot of things I have done, which I know He does not like. But He still forgives me; still promotes me. Really, that’s the foundation of that philosophy. But on a serious note, I don’t believe that someone should be in need of help and you deny the person because you have not forgiven him. For me too, it has been a source of blessing. If you have been able to help those who have one time been against you, I believe that God will bless you. It’s something that I grew up with and I picked it up also from my grandmother. My grandmother was a very strict woman, but she never kept anything in mind. She will talk and shout, but it ends there. So, that’s where I got that.
In a few months, you will be leaving your seat as the governor, what will you miss most about governance and as a governor?
I will miss the rumours, blackmail. I will miss them…
Of all the obnoxious and unpleasant things written about you in the press, which one really touched you the most?
I don’t feel pain for any obnoxious thing that is written. I don’t feel pain. Each time any obnoxious thing is written about me, I feel pity for the society. Really, I do. I feel bad for anybody who is in public office; people try to pull them down. I often take solace in the fact that it is not just specific to me. No matter how good you are, there are people on the sidelines waiting to write bad things about you. Few days ago, I was just looking at certain things that have been written about Obama. Some cartoons too. These were really very bad attacks; terrible! Whenever I see those things, I really say ah, no bi only me sef dey for this matter. But the one, really, that I am not happy about is when people go to the extent of writing things that are not correct about my children. I take exception to those.
What would you say you really wanted to do, but were not able to do for your people?
That’s a difficult one to answer, because there are so many things one would have loved to do. But at the same time, you cannot do everything. I cannot put my finger on one particular thing. But for me, I will say I have done my best and the rest is left for posterity to judge.
What would you point to as the most thrilling of all your achievements in the last eight years?
Oh, the most thrilling is the pregnant woman, who can have all the care and deliver free of charge at the government hospitals. Really, that’s the most thrilling. I go on the streets and I see a woman come to me with a child shouting, “your pikin, your pikin”. I will ask myself, “where I from get this one?” She’ll go like, “I born am for your hospital free”. Really, for the whole day, that woman has made my day. That’s one policy I am proud of. Women delivering free, including Caesarian sections.
What is your plan after office?
I really have two; the short term one and long term one. The long term one is to see how I can develop the leadership qualities in the young ones. I intend to establish an institute on leadership training. I think that if you start grooming leaders with the right patriotic zeal, you will ultimately grow a better Nigeria. On the short term, I’m in the senate race (for Delta South Senatorial district). Whether it will work is another matter entirely (Laughter).
You seem to have made Asaba the hub of Nollywood, film industry. How did you achieve that?
Yes, Asaba has become the hub for film making in Nigeria. You know I said it sometime ago that we planned to make Delta State the hub of the entertainment industry. It’s paying off as the industry has fallen in love with the state and Asaba in particular. Asaba is okay for their locations. Secondly, what we tried to do is negotiate with the hotels so they can get better rates from the hotels. I also hear Asaba people are more ready to give up their homes as locations. Unlike when you go to other towns, they’re not ready. But people here are ready to let them use their homes.
One would have thought that you will go home to rest after so many years in the public service as a Commissioner, SSG and Governor. Why are you going to the senate?
It’s still in line of service to my people. Really, if I had my way, what is most fundamental to me is to develop young leaders. But having spent all these years in government with all the contacts, both in the country and internationally, I believe one should use the contacts in the senate to work with other people to see how we can make laws that will ensure democracy dividends to our people. First, I want to go for a legislation that will give equity shares to oil producing communities in those companies that are coming to drill oil. Take for instance, if Shell was drilling oil in a particular community and the community has 5 or 10 percent equity, it means that they will get 10 percent of the profit that Shell has made. In five years, such a community will be heavily developed. Then, two, from the Delta Beyond Oil, which we are developing, we are going to push to attract companies to our state. Many of these companies abroad do not want to come and invest because there is hardly any solid legislation to protect their investments. Israel is a country that has security challenges, South Africa has security challenges, Iraq has. Many investors are still going to those places. Why? Because there is legal protection for their investments which is almost non existent in Nigeria. As a state, we tried to put up this legislation, but Nigeria as a whole, the Federal Government has a lot to do in this regard. It can only be done through the National Assembly and that is what I intend to push and thirdly and very critical and dear to my heart is environmental issue. We do not have adequate laws to protect our environment, to protect our people from very serious environmental damage that is being done to our people.
Are you satisfied with the current security arrangement in the state? We learnt that several oil companies have left Warri, any hope for their return?
On the issue of security, we have done a lot. We have deployed a lot of resources into that area. But once in a while we still have flashes in some areas. You know security issues take quite some time to build. In the case of oil majors that left Warri, what has happened is that their oil wells are being bought by others. On a long term basis, these companies are better run by smaller companies. They carry the communities along better than the big ones who throw their weight around. But the truth is that the oil is still there for someone to drill. It’s just left for the NNPC to sort out the issues because when they were leaving, NNPC, through their NPDC, thought that they could operate like the others. But so far, it has not been easy. But it will soon be sorted out.