Virgy Etiaba’s son set to contest Anambra guber election
Written by Dapo Akinrefon
Saturday, 14 February 2009


Emeka Etiaba is the son of the Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dame Virgy Etiaba.
As the run up of gubernatorial polls in the state gathers momentum, Etiaba has indicated interest in the plum


Emeka Etiabajob. His aspiration, he believes, will be actualised on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

In an interaction with select journalists, Etiaba says he understands the problem of the state and has idea of how it will be solved.
He also talks about his relationship with the incumbent governor and other burning issues. Excerpts:

What do you think is the problem with Anambra State?

The problem with Anambra is the problem of the elites, a problem you find in a state where you have quite a lot of educated and wealthy people. In Anambra, there are a lot of educated and wealthy people and everybody will want to assert his/her present.

That is the problem in Anambra. On the other hand, the strength that you find in Anambra is greater than the weakness, but the people always focus on the weakness. Judging Anambra from its weakness is the greatest mistake anybody will make.

What is the strength of Anambra?

The strength is that we have a lot of intelligent people. Intelligence in terms of academics, intelligent in terms of utilization of what is available to create what is needed, intelligent in terms of hard work and commercial ability.

The strength is that we have a lot of people who have made money, and they are helping in the development of the state not minding whether there is a good. In Anambra, we are known to care and show love to one another.

For example, my father was a lawyer, but he was trained by a distant uncle. That is predominantly what you find in Anambra. We are our brother keepers; we are ready to work selflessly for others. So, the people in Anambra get disenchanted when they see that government or the leadership of the state is not as serious as it should be, and when they are not getting the dividend of the democracy.

So, if all these strength of Anambra is harness, it is the power of development, it overrides any weakness that anybody may hold on to against the state.

How will you reconcile the strength of Anambra as you enumerated to the political upheavals it has been experiencing since 1999. Why has it been very difficult for the elites and wealthy people of Anambra to give democracy a chance?

I am not one of those that believe that democracy has not been given a chance in Anambra. The problem you find in Anambra in terms of whether democracy is given a chance or not, is actually the problem of the entire Nigeria. It is not particular to the state and it cannot be localized in Anambra State.

The truth is that, the problem of Anambra is just a microcosm of the problem with Nigeria. Nigeria has a problem where the citizen’s right of electing her leaders has been muzzled. The way the country is structured, we don’t have the right to elect our leaders. In this situation, you find out that a group of people conspire and give the impression that the votes have spoken, but we know that it is not true in most cases. But that does not mean that democracy is not working.

What is your assessment of the government in Anambra from 1999 till date?

My assessment is that things are getting better. In Anambra, we used to say that there is no government presence in the state, but that is not the same today. I also do not believe that our past leaders or governors have failed us, but I believe that each governor has come and play his role in the state and gone.

It behooves on whoever finds himself on the seat to do the best he can in the circumstances he finds himself. But rating the governors since 1999 is a difficult thing for me, but the rating of the people of Anambra will be best and accurate.

My rating now will be very subjective because I am in the governorship race for 2010, and many of the past governors you are asking me to rate their performances are in the race with me, it will be unfair for me to rate or judge them.

The people of Anambra are the greatest judge in the instance, and I assure you that if you come to Anambra, you feel the pulse of the people and you will know the governor that has done well and the one that failed. But I am convinced that things are getting better in Anambra State.

How much of the Anambra problems do you know and how do you hope to address them if you become governor?

I know quite a lot of the problems of Ndi Anambra. The major problem we have is the problem of everybody wanting to be noticed and you find out that the difference between the governor of the state and any other person is that when the governor comes in a function, you hear the national anthem and as everybody is goes, you discover that the convoy of every other person is longer than that of the governor.

We have people who want to assert their present in the state. anambra’s problem is the elites and I can handle them. That is Anambra for you.

On the other hand, what you call problems, I will not say they problems, rather I will say they are general needs of the people. The people of Anambra have quite a lot of needs. The first of those needs, as I know is the need of road network. Anambra State needs more roads. Roads, roads, and roads!

Apart from roads, we also need to look into our education system. We need to take that sector more seriously we don’t need to continue in the paying of lips service to education because you find out now that in Anambra, most of our younger ones are not in school they are out there trying to make money. So you find out that we are degenerating into a society where money determines success.

Beyond education, we will look into the health sector. That sector needs to be revamped, the system is down and we need seasoned medical personal for the hospital to thrive. These things are not things that we will play politics with they are things that one has to face head-on.

Outside the health, agriculture is another important area that we must also face head-on. We are one of the most favored states in the country in terms of agriculture, we have greenbelt in the Orumba Aguata area, we have a lot fertile land in the Adani and Anyamelum area. I will revamp agriculture into the mechanized system in the state if I become the governor.

In the issue of unemployment, I have noticed that there are no companies that can employ graduates are shying away from doing that properly because their resource is not enough for them to pay graduates.

So I will create an economic environment that will, on its own, attract local and foreign investors to the state once that is done, there will be work for our graduates and the unemployed in the state. Another important thing I will do is to work on the psyche of our people. We will let them know that doing good is very good and that everybody must do good to himself, his community and his state.

Another major problem that I call embarrassment is the issue of security. Something must be done here. We can’t continue to allow our people suffer in an insecure state as it is now. The issue of kidnap, the issue of broad day robbery and the general protection of lives and property must be confronted. I have an idea of how I hope to tackle the problem of security. It is not something I will say in the newspaper but if I am elected, Anambra will see that plans I have for their security.

You speak with a lot of confidence, what gives you the assurance that you can be governor of Anambra in the face of the intellectuals and wealthy people that you said wants recognition?

Have you ever wondered, when you get to a junction, you see one man controlling the traffic and motorists queue so, waiting for them to be asked to go some of the motorists are more educated, richer and influential than the traffic officer? That explains the issue we have in Anambra.

The issue in Anambra is an issue of leadership. Once the people see that you are on the right part, everybody will fall in line for you. I want to tell you that Anambra is the easiest state to run and I believe that by God’s grace I will make it.

What makes you think you can make it?

Because I have looked at the indices and discovered that the indices are right, and I will also tell you that I know what to do if I become the governor of Anambra State.

You have carefully refused to mention the issue of godfatherism in Anambra. How do you get down with them?

I don’t believe in godfatherism. And if anybody wants one, the person will definitely get it and when you get a godfather, you do everything that goes with godfatherism. I don’t need a godfather to win election in Anambra, what I need is the people. Today in Nigeria, I can mention governors who did win election through the help of any godfather and they are doing very well in their states and nobody is on their neck.

Above that, I like to tell you that the issue of godfatherism is becoming a thing of the past in Anambra State and I do not intent to get into that mucky waters because if I do, coming out will be very difficult.

On what platform will you be contesting the race?

Everybody knows that I am a member of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and I intend to run for the election on APGA platform.

Which of the factions, because APGA has the Chief Chekwas Okorie and Chief Victor Umeh factions?

I sincerely believe that the faction you are talking about is the creation of the press because APGA is one and has one national chairman and Chief Victor Umeh is the chairman I know. Meanwhile, there has been a problem in the leadership of the party and that has been settled long ago. Umeh is the chairman of the party.

The present Governor, Mr. Peter Obi is a member of APGA and your mother is his deputy and there is the insinuation that they want to contest for a second term. Why have you decided to contest against your mum and her boss? How do hope to wrestle the party ticket from them?

For your information, Her Excellency, Dame Virgy Etiaba is not going back with Mr. Peter Obi as deputy governor and she is not contesting the governorship. And it was recently that I got to know that Obi wants to go for a second term. I have said it to whoever cares to listen, that when we were in contact with each other, he told me in the presence of many people that he is not interested in a second term.

But that does not remove his right to come out for second term. So if he is really coming for second term, the party will determine who will get the ticket for governorship.

You said when both of you were in contact, what happened to the contact?

You see, when someone is in power, a lot of pressure must come and when that happens, it is possible for the person in power to be in contact with everybody. I have been in contact with him but once in a while I see him in public functions and we greet ourselves. I am the type that don’t like going to the government house.

Now, you have lost contact with the governor, and the governor is controlling the party structure in the state and Umeh, the chairman you know, is always with the governor. How do you think you will get the ticket now that you have lost contact with him?

I have not said that I have lost contact. I have not lost contact of the governor, when you say that someone has lost something, it means that person is missing that. I have not lost contact with Obi, but I am not in contact with him. Being in contact with the governor will not make my desire to become governor easier.

Yes, Umeh is always with the governor, they are good friends and belong to the same party, so I don’t see anything in their being together. Their being together will not prevent me from getting a level playing field in the election. They are good friends but when it comes to party matter neutrality will be the language.