Dr. George Moghalu the Managing Director National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), In this interview with some journalists, he speaks on the chances of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the forthcoming off-season governorship election in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states, race for 2027 elections and the performances of his Anambra state governor, Chukwuma Soludo, among others. BODE OLAGOKE, was there.
Are you comfortable with the way Nigerians are scratching their heads on a daily basis because of lack of friendly focus in the country?
We are not where we are expected to be, but that is why I described Nigeria as a work in progress that requires everybody’s commitment, involvement, and dedication. The government must be commended for taking a bold though very painful decision. However, if the pain does not come today, certainly, it will come tomorrow. It is better we deal with it today. That is why I am happy that the issue of palliative care has been initiated. My prayer is that the governors who are now responsible for the distribution of these palliatives take it very seriously and reach out to the needy and the people. We must not politicise the sharing of the palliates because they are for all Nigerians irrespective of party and religious affiliations. Otherwise, check the volume of card-carrying members of the political parties, they are a maximum of 50 million to 100 million yet the population of Nigerians is over 200 million. We should then ask what will happen to the ones that are apolitical. We should leave political linings and take the distribution of the palliatives as a national concern. It is good that President Tinubu has announced that Nigerians should hold the governors responsible. This is one thing that must be done with all sincerity of purpose, commitment, and dedication to impact positively on those who need them.
Have you reconciled with APC? What is your impression of the new APC leadership and the governorship elections in the three states of Imo, Bayelsa, and Kogi?
I never quarrelled with the APC, there was a disagreement based on principle. And the moment the issue was resolved by the court, I moved on. I said that it was never in doubt whether I went to court. I was injured, I felt disrespected, I felt humiliated by a party I could boldly claim to be one of the founders. I am not a joiner. So, I had to follow the judiciary route as a Nigerian who believes that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. And fortunate enough, the three stages we went to, the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, all gave judgment in my favour. I made my point and for me, that phase has passed, and then we have continued with our party. As you rightly observed, the new leadership is that of Umar Ganduje. Again, he is not up to one month and on what basis are you assessing him? The point is that he is experienced; you cannot take that away from him.
Somebody who has been a special advisor, Commissioner, deputy governor, and governor, I think if there is any experience required for any public office; Dr. Gunduje has enough of it. But, to whom much is given much is also expected. Everybody is expecting him to lead the party well. As for the staggered off-season election in three states, it provides the current leadership of the party an opportunity to demonstrate capacity. I expect that Ganduje will work very hard to deliver the three state elections in November, unite the party, get everybody on board, and see to it that the party wins the elections in the three states.
The APC has paraded six national chairmen in 10 years of existence and most of them were sacked over crisis that bedevilled the party, what do you think should be done to stop this trend?
It goes to show that it is a human organisation because interests will certainly clash wherever there is a human organization. Whenever there’s a human organisation there are developments that may require change in the way we are. You are not carved, fixated to a particular position, and that might have been what happened on the issue of the turnover of chairmen of APC. Don’t forget that it is only in this last instance that it involved the chairman and secretary, the trend usually involves the chairman alone because the buck stops at his table as the leader of the party. Any failure in leadership or feeling of such will be pointed towards the chairman just as the way he will take all the glory if the party wins any election or scores any positive feat.
The changing of our chairmen doesn’t matter so much. It is about getting the right people at the right time to do the right job. If it requires changing till we get the best or right person, to God be the glory.
Don’t you think that the hardship many Nigerians are going through will count against the APC in the 2027 general election?
For me, 2027 is still very far because we are looking at 2027 without asking ourselves the question of how many people will die before then and how many people will be alive. If you start talking about 2027 in 2023, then you are playing God. However, the administration has taken very critical positions on issues that require courage. I also know that like pregnancy, it comes with pain and labour period, but the moment the child is delivered, celebration takes over.
I pray that we see this as pregnancy labour which precedes the celebration. The good thing is that something positive will soon start happening. The mission is there, the determination is there, and the commitment is there.
My prayer is God helping us; we should be able to deliver on the promises made. I agree that things are not rosy; nobody can boldly come out and say that it is all Eldorado. No, that wouldn’t be fair, even to my conscience, but the point is, the moment we get to where we desire to be, every one of us will certainly forget our past. Just like labour pain, once the baby comes, nobody remembers that the woman, the mother, was crying not long ago. That is my prayer. Let us manage to bear the challenge of this moment, pray for the government, give the government the support it needs, and then see what happens thereafter.
Are you confident and comfortable with the crop of Ministers appointed?
Of course, yes. I have no doubt as to their ability to deliver. I have no doubt because most of them have track records, and have references you can make in terms of experience, in terms of knowledge, and what they are bringing to the table. You can’t take that away from some of them. However, the truth is that we must allow the Ministers to start before we can assess them correctly. These Ministers are less than two weeks in office and we have started assessing whether they are going to perform or whether they are not going to perform.
We must allow them to walk. We must pray for them because that is what my Bible tells me, to remember in prayer, all those holding positions of responsibility and encourage them. We must try to be the best citizens on our own so that the policies they are going to bring out will be to the benefit of our people if properly implemented. I pray for them, I encourage them and I have no doubt in their capacity to deliver.
One of the reasons Abdullahi Adamu left the party was allegedly based on corruption, surprisingly, Ganduje who was brought in as replacement has a corruption case, is that an indication that your party is corruption-friendly?
The question should be whether we are not operating in the realm of speculations. Is there any indictment on Ganduje? To the best of my knowledge, there is none. They are all speculations. We have strong corruption agencies, but none has come out to say that Ganduje is corrupt, nobody has dragged him to court and no judgment has been pronounced. i am confident that our party wouldn’t have allowed him to be chairman if there was a conviction or if there was a pronouncement over him. As far as I am concerned, they are all speculations, including that of Adamu which is still in the realm of speculation since he has not been proven guilty. We are very quick in this country to sentence people to prison without even hearing them out. But meanwhile, the truth still remains that you don’t have evidence to prove that these people committed the offenses they have been accused of because if you have evidence you go to court and the judiciary is there if they find you guilty, they pronounce you such, and it is only at that stage that you can boldly come out and say that the person is corrupt. Otherwise, you are living in the realm of speculation.
Your party fielded a joint Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, after Adamu’s ouster the party still fielded the same Muslim faith ticket for the party’s chairman, national secretary, and Deputy National Chairman North, is APC sensitive enough to the Christian members?
The party is sensitive, but it is not about the sensitivity of the party now. When the party fielded Muslim-Muslim ticket for the presidential election, Nigerians ignored that and chose competence, and capacity to deliver. Yes, a Muslim-Muslim ticket was presented, but it did not override the other benefits.
People felt that it is better to deal with some persons based on their capacity, confidence, the belief they have in them, and in their ability to be able to deliver on their expectations. For me, that did not matter because it had happened. We did not reject it when we had the opportunity to say we won’t accept it.
The party was a case of circumstantial. In the case of the chairman, naturally and for political expediency, when the presidency is from the South, the chairman has to come from the North.
Truth be told, we have more Muslims than Christians, just as we have more Christians in the South than in the North. I wouldn’t be surprised that the person who emerged from the North is a Muslim. The Secretary’s emergence was also circumstantial because, in the area where he came from, there are families that have Christians and Muslims together. In fact, I didn’t even know that the Secretary is a Muslim until recently.
You don’t even need to go too far to find out the mix of religions. Our President is a Muslim; his wife is not just a Christian but also a Pastor. How do you explain that? It goes to show that religion does not matter even in his house. Let the emphasis be on the capacity and the ability of the people to deliver on the responsibilities assigned to them. If they do very well, nobody will remember whether they are Christians or Muslims.
It is when the person now fails that you start looking for other problems he has to bring out but if he does very well, you will not even remember where he comes from. I keep telling people that there is no supermarket in Abuja, for example, or a market in Abuja where only Muslims shop and none where only Christians patronise.
There are no shops those from the North or South buy from. These things are not necessary. The important thing is what we do as a people to better the living conditions of our people so that government can impact them. And I think that is where the emphasis is for now.
Taking you to your state Anambra, what is your assessment of Governor Soludo?
Everybody has their style and vision for Anambra State. His vision for Anambra state is certainly different from mine. Since he has the mandate, my responsibility is to encourage and support him, because we are looking at the Anambra people. It is not about me, about Soludo, or about any other person, but about the people of Anambra state.
What should we do to better their lot? And that is why in my little position, in my little capacity, whatever I can do to support the government of the day, I will be willing to do it. It is not for me, it is about our people, it is about changing the narrative. It is about changing the story. The governor as we have today will do his best within the limits of his ability.
As you coast to the finish line as the MD NIWA, what are those promises fulfilled and unfulfilled dreams?
I find it very difficult to assess myself by cataloguing what I did well or did not do well. I would rather prefer those who walked with me in NIWA from resumption till when I will be leaving, to the glory of God, to be in a position to assess me. Nonetheless, I have a brochure that contains all our projects from 2019 when I took over up to this month.
However, I will say that I feel satisfied. I sincerely appreciate the former president, my former ministers, two of them, who provided me the opportunity and platform to serve. I also appreciate my colleagues in NIWA from the least to the highest person. I am eternally grateful. Most importantly, I thank God Almighty, who literally gave me good health, protected me, guided me, and assisted me through to this point.
On the whole, I am satisfied, very satisfied with the little I have contributed to building the agency. If nothing else you will say that the NIWA we know today was not the same NIWA in 2019. There is still quite a lot that still needs to be done, but don’t forget that this is a relay race where you do your beat, and hand over the baton to someone else to continue. Just as somebody handed over the baton to me, I will certainly one day, even if I do a second term, hand it over the baton to somebody.
There is still quite a lot to do in NIWA. I believe very strongly that the potential in the riverine sector, and the maritime economy is anomalous. And we need to explore and exploit, the government needs to invest further in the sector to be able to reap the benefits that abound in the sector.
As I always say, Nigeria has the advantage of over 10,000 kilometres of inland waterways, though only about 3000 are navigable all year round. We can also access 28 states by water if our channels are all open. So, even if it is this we achieved, we would have recorded a major milestone. If nothing else, by the time we move bulk cargo by water, and remove them from the road, we would save our road infrastructure.
