LET’S briefly meet you Sir.
I am EnaOfugara. I am from Effurun-Urhobo, Delta State and grew up in Sapele. I attended the University of Benin where I studied law and was very involved in faculty and school politics. I then branched off into entertainment where I worked with some of the biggest comedians in the nation including Ali Baba, Basketmouth, Gordons, Gandoki and so on. I also managed and worked on a few artistes including Rymzo, Kefee, Fragrance, Adaz and many others.
Right now, I am working and schooling at Maryland, USA. You can also call me a writer and director. My blog theenaofugarablog..com is garnering hits daily.
As a fervent supporter of President Jonathan’s administration, what is your assessment of the present administration?
President GoodluckEbele Jonathan is on track. This is a direct reference to the rails and trains which are slowly coming back. How our previous leaders neglected this vital aspect of modernization beats me hollow. They have travelled abroad. How do they see the citizens commute? What civilization relies on roads alone? Do you know how much it adds to prices of goods especially foodstuff using haulage trucks many of which the makers no longer believe are still on the road like the 9/11 Lorry?
Then farming, how did past leaders lose the groundnut pyramids? Sapele where I grew up is in the dictionary as a wood just as Obeche and Iroko that have their etymology in Esan dialect. My cousin Smart Ofugara and I opened a chair in the US and saw the wood was from Sapele and that chair is about 15 years old. How did we lose this? The minister of agriculture is a genius from what he is doing in that sector. We are growing rice again. Do you know how much of our money we lose to countries we import rice from? How could previous government allow the Esan rice farmlands to become hostels for Ambrose Ali University?  How about power? Does the seamless privatization and remuneration given to the former staff of NDPA/PHCN not impress you? Is this not a milestone?
How about Nigeria being top destination for FDIs? How about our upgrading from poor to middle-earning by IMF? Do these things not count for success?  Need I also mention the airports...from the International Airport in Enugu to the repairs and upgrading of virtually all the airports? And the Warri and Onitsha ports are being fixed. Onitsha people can soon ferry goods to and from that market that serves the east and the Niger Delta. Do you know the sea is the best form of ferrying goods? How did previous administrations miss this?
Yes, it is not yet Uhuru. The job is just starting. But people should get off this administration’s back as they grasp the shovel and dig out debris from all the past mal-administrations we have experienced.
Is the present administration doing enough in tackling the under-development of the Niger Delta?
Goodluck Jonathan is not President of the Niger-Delta but of Nigeria, Niger Delta inclusive. He is to look out for all the regions. That said, indeed a lot of work need be done in the Niger Delta. The issues of environmental degradation, poor employment opportunities and lopsided opportunities in favour of the majority tribes in companies situated in the Niger Delta or even elsewhere yet based on the oil are yet unaddressed.
We continue, like other regions, to politick and ask the President and his administration to look into these problems. That said the trains are coming to the Niger Delta. The flooding and its effect which ravaged our lands were well ameliorated by this administration and there was no food shortage...at least not the famine that was predicted. The roads that lead to Lagos like the Ore axis affects the Niger Delta and a lot of work has been done. Also the youths have been seconded to help secure pipelines and this puts a few monies in their pockets. Now more importantly, the companies coming into Nigeria for instance the GE that is investing four billion dollars, the company will be situated in the Niger Delta, Cross Rivers to be precise. This is the singular most funded foreign investment by a leading global brand.
Now a lot of people believe because he is from the Niger Delta, he should just take all federal money and pump into Bayelsa and Delta etc. That is selfish and I would never subscribe to such partiality.
Just recently the Federal Government awarded Africa’s largest Gas City worth N26billion, which is to be built in Delta state. Do people have any idea what that will mean for Niger Deltans? Making these possible and having policies that facilitate this is what true growth is.
You seem to be defending the actions and in-actions of the present administration on social media, is this not borne out of parochial or regional sentiment?
Well, I have to be careful yet upfront. It is a thing of joy that finally a minority is President. I feel the same pride that blacks in the US feel over Obama’s presidency. It tells children from all nooks and crannies of the country that your tribe will not encumber you from being all you can be. The Ijaw President does that for Itsekiris and Kanuris and Efiks nationwide.
That said, I may have voted him based on that and the fact Buhari will not get my vote in a million years for obvious reasons. I have stuck my neck out for the President because I look at him and see sincerity. I also look at his cabinet. Look at NgoziOkonjo-Iweala who could stand up against Obasanjo. See what Forbes said of the fiscal discipline and policies that support growth. Look at Dr. AkinwunmiAdesina the minister of agriculture, how about Yuguda in works? How about what is going on in the Ministry of sports and our successes from track where after 14 years we are back on the IAAF medals podium and also the eaglets and super eagles. This isn’t about where I am from. The fierce...even ferocious support is from what I see as one who has now seen a society that works. The very path America trod...from independence in food production to good transportation system, to privatized power companies to solid economic partnerships with global brands and governments, these are the things I see GEJ pursuing vigorously which brought him to the New York Stock Exchange and elsewhere. These are the building blocks; the foundation to true growth which no previous administration had the good sense or knowledge to do
What is your take on the current PDP crisis?
I have tried to make sense of a few governors coming together to tell an incumbent not to re-contest and then that he should unilaterally fire a duly elected party chairman as their demands for peace and like we would say in Warri “who do them jazz?” which means “what voodoo powers do they have that would make a president do that to himself? What is in it for him in that negotiation?
I have listened as each has abandoned their posts to take up politicking full time and successfully heat up the polity. Why it took them this long to leave the party beats me hollow.
Now Amaechi at the governors’ forum said the finance minister refused to sign loans for giving Rivers people water while he drinks table water. He said he had made all necessary arrangements to get 600 million...that is 200 million dollars each from three international agencies. Now Amaechi himself said at same conference, many governors refuse to complete projects started by their predecessors. He has just two years left of his tenure and we all know 2014 and 2015 will be used mainly for politicking; in fact he has used the whole of 2013 for that purpose. So why does he want to plunge the people of Rivers state into more debt on a project he will not complete? And if water was so primal, why hasn’t he addressed it before now? What did he do with the N56 billion Rivers has earned in 10 months, January to September to give his people water?
More disturbingly, the Goodluck Jonathan whom people denigrate and call “clueless” just made money for Nigeria privatizing NEPA/PHCN. Why cannot the super-brilliant Amaechi do same for water and earn money for Rivers instead of taking loans for children yet unborn to pay? What did the children do to deserve that punishment?
For those who believe the rumours that Ibori took N6 billion of our money to sponsor YarAdua’s election, they may be disposed to believe Amaechi was only going to use that fund for election purposes and not to give water to Rivers people who have a low water table and have sunk their boreholes. So Rivers mothers should be thanking Ngozi for not signing for such a loan.  
So to your question, they are seven power-hungry governors who have abandoned their mandate of serving and instead using their state funds to politick, sometimes in faraway Sokoto.
On national conference, what is your take?
Ahmed Tinubu, Buhari and the seven rebel governors have ruined it or at least made it nigh impossible. These people especially Tinubu called for it, today he and his party members are against it. The dialogue will only succeed with everyone coming to the table. Tinubu as a leader of sort of the Yorubas and Buhari being so popular with the Talakawas, for them to not be a part of it, what can I say? It was already contentious enough. Now major players are dodging.
National Dialogue and Sovereign National Conference, which do you think the country actually need?
I would definitely say Sovereign National Conference. However, I hear after the dialogue, a referendum will be taken. But first, major players must endorse it for it to have the weight and gravitas it deserves. Goodluck Jonathan’s good intentions are here again being sabotaged.
 Your advice for Nigerian youths…
‘Believe e go better’. We are on the right course as a nation. Get on government sites online and follow people on twitter and Facebook that share opportunities you can access and better yourself. Naysayers can criticise but you gain nothing. But if you join pages for instance agriculture ministry, you will know if and when loans are available to farmers, seeds and crops etc. You will also know what the NDDC is doing and if there are scholarships or small loans or employment. You gain nothing from pessimists or career critics. And kidnapping and armed robbery...you will be caught some day. Again, join Facebook groups of government agencies and people close to government and latch on to opportunities.’ Na wetin u look troway face your mate take dey better pass you’.





Culled from champion: http://championonlinenews.com