Hon. Chinedu Onu is a member representing South-east in Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TET-FUND) and a former commissioner in Enugu state. He spoke to RAPHAEL EDE on the developmental challenges confronting Enugu State and the need for a paradigm shift, especially in 2015
You are in the race for governorship seat; don’t you think that the power of incumbency could truncate your ambition?
Are you new in this country? You know of Kayode the former governor of Ekiti, he was a sitting governor, if governors do fail their elections, governors as it is today can also fail anointing of whoever they to anointed.
How will you surmount the challenges of nomination as governorship candidate of PDP?
I have been a party man for the past 16 years in one party called Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, we are going to follow due processes of selection and by God grace I will emerge as the party’s candidate.
What do you think gives you an edge over other contestants?
Certainly you know that some persons are interested in contesting the election. I have passed through four ministries in this state, and at some point I was the commissioner for public utility. What you see today being implemented as national urban water sector reform; we started it and the then government not this present government, paid complete counterpart fund for the project but today not even a drop of water has been delivered from that project. Recalled also that what is called ESWMA today it was when I was commissioner for environment that old ENSPA was recreated and we brought this new one. Is about ideas and that is how we partner with DFID and began to create a number of things in the state then. I am clear when I said that the present governor is doing his best within his own ability, but he cannot offer what he do not have. So my vision and ideas gives me edge.
What is your plan for Agriculture and job creation?
Agriculture is the fastest way to create job, the fastest way to put food on our table, and is the fastest way to engage our youths. What I intend to do is to get back to the era of using farm settlement. If you go to Adani we have over 4000 plots of land lying fallow, what we intend to do is that those areas we reactivate all those farm settlements. If you go to Amorie today you will pineapples perishing why cannot we setup small fruit processing factory and employ our people. We are going to establish here in Enugu small agric implement manufacturing center. You find out that the tractors we use now are big one. There is one man tractor today existing in China which the size we have now can get between 20 to 30 units of it. Our target is to produce such things and in affordable price so that every household will have it so that they can quickly deliver in our agricultural mandate. We are getting back to the days when we are going to get palm around, palm trees. Our land tenure system mighty give us some difficulty in doing this but what we are going to do is by the time we set agricultural marketing board we makes seeds of the palm trees available to all our people, plant but the marketing company buys up all you produced, crush it and sale, is money.
So in essence you are a proponent of agro-driven economy?
Yes. Fundamentally, soon I need to visit the man I call my mentor M. I. Okpala and say our father that which you did then that gave us prominence; I want to do it now. If he was able to do it then with almost bay-hand we will do better now with the mechanization with better equipment.
How do you intend to fight godfatherism to ensure that these ideas of yours are applied when you become the governor?
God willing we will surmount, that is why I am engaging our people so that if I said I am going to do this when I get there, people will say that which you said you will do you have not done or that you are doing it. Those who are not talking but they want to be governor how do you measure their performance, those who want to be governor of Enugu state and they are not engaging our people, certainly what we are planning to do is a clear contract, social contract with our people, that in agriculture we are going to do this, in education we are going to do this; in first four years we reduce whatever we are going to do in quarter, in month and in weekly. So we continue to tackle, they know clearly what will be clear assessment. What you suppose to achieve in month (a) do we achieve, in month (b) do we achieve it and at the end of the year where you able to achieve it. I want to be held responsible by whatever I said that I intend to do. Part of what is working for us or has worked for us in Enugu recalled that the present governor then as it where was anointed. He wasn’t prepared to be a governor but he is receipted to good ideas that is why few things are happing, but let me ask you doing roads is it only thing that is mentally resourceful?, roads is what has been done years even before we were born and it will continue to be done but, we need those ideas that will drive the economy, those ideas that will help shape our economy and these are in thing, we need to change the curriculum of our education because we need to make sure our education becomes functional and that is what we intend to achieve.
