I Grew up as a Local Boy –Imoke
You said at your inauguration (as governor) that you would make Cross Riverians happy. Are you on that path now?
I did not say that I would make every Cross Riverian happy. Every government in the world, not only in Cross River, by the time it comes into office, should do things that would enhance the living standard of the people. That is a standard expectation of the people.
Governor Imoke
Some people felt that you should have stayed on in Abuja, at the national level instead of returning to the state. How would you react to that?
As governor, you’re closer to the people and can affect their lives more meaningfully than as a minister. Also, I’ve always been a grassroots person. I grew up in a village, unlike a lot of my peers who grew up in the urban areas. I had a good fortune to have a father who decided at a point that he would go back to the village. So, I ended up becoming a country boy. That affected my outlook on life. That is why it gives me joy to give attention to the people and the rural communities.
Is your government really serving the people now?
If you want to serve you must do it across board, evenly. You shouldn’t say let me only serve the people that cry the most about bad roads and leave out the person who cannot afford to take her child to the hospital. You should not only serve people who have access to you or the media; so that when you do they make the loudest noise about being served. Rural people must not be ignored. Because of our extended family system, our people are not well served the way others are in more advanced countries. There, they have social welfare programmes and systems that take care of those who need to be served. In our own society, the extended family takes care of that responsibility but as we develop, the extended family gets smaller and smaller; so you find out that there is an elite class that is emerging, that doesn’t necessarily have to send money to the village to take care of cousins and all that. But those cousins are still there who may not have had the opportunity to leave the village. Governments are not doing much to serve those people in the villages. So, you have the poor getting poorer and the rich tend to get richer.
Of course, the definition of success in our society is how you serve those making much noise. I can award contracts and the big boys get the contracts. I can build the biggest hospitals that are just empty, maybe only with beds, and I’m praised for doing well. Anytime you see us promoting ourselves, opening roads, buildings, commissioning water and so on, whether they are functioning or sustainable or not, people may think we are successful. This thing is very difficult to explain to the majority of our people but that’s the reality. So, in government, you have to choose between trying to be loved by everybody and hailed or decide to bury your head and serve the people well. If you have conscience, you consider what I call the human factor. It is something that can’t be measured or quantified. You have to develop the desire to overcome obstacles to be able to get to those who need to be served.
Could you comment on the NIPP (National Integrated Power Project) that you helped to midwife under the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo?
I really don’t want to be dragged back to that because I’m enjoying my current assignment as governor. Anyhow, I can explain one or two things about it to you. When I was in the NEPA Technical Board, there was a target of 4000mw. When we came in (in 1999), there was a week or so of total darkness across the country. I was winding down OMPADEC in Port Harcourt when the President set up the NEPA Board and summoned me to Abuja and gave us the target. At the end of 2001, we had completed our job, and I went back to my work as special adviser on utilities. In 2003, I was made the minister of power. In 2005, it was clear that delivering the target was not sustainable because we had not invested enough in power generation. The first time we went in there, we rehabilitated the old plants to get the 4000 Mega watts (MW). Most of the plants had been built under Obasanjo as military head of state in the 1970s .So, in 2005, there was a big debate about either privatization or the government adding new capacity. From 2003 to 2005, we were trying to pass the electricity reform bill. It was stuck in the National Assembly for two years. During that period, the government could not invest in capacity enhancement because some people were still arguing for privatization. Nobody anticipated that it would take two years for the bill to become law. When it was passed in 2005, it became clear that unless you invested in the capacity, what you had would continue to degenerate because they are machines.
By the time the president made the decision to add new capacity, it became clear that we had lost many years and that something needed to be done quickly. It also became clear that selling NEPA would not happen in six months or even two years. We then had to work on the process – preparing the company, breaking NEPA into 18 different companies, creating the market operator, creating electricity regulatory commission. All those things were not in place, yet we were supposed to sell the facility. We had different groups seeking different things.
We then went about identifying (generation) sites, places close to gas sources. When the locations for the power plants were identified, the question then was how to develop them, get the funding. To develop them fast, we needed to take them completely out of the NEPA system. That was how the NIPP came into being. It was a project where we seconded the best hands in NEPA to the project unit. Because of the nature of the project, there were several stakeholders. We couldn’t build the plants without gas, without experts on properties - public lands, without transmission lines to evacuate the power, without a legal department drafting agreements. So, all of them became part of the project team. It had on board Nigerian Gas Company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), transmission company and everybody sitting in one room to design the project. We thought of standardizing our equipment and developing our capacity to maintain them locally. That was how the NIPP came about.
Initially it was to deliver 2500mw or thereabout in the short term while preparations for the privatization were on-going. The NIPP commenced in that manner but the funding for that kind of (huge) project became an issue. That was how the state and local governments were invited. They also had representation on the project team and the vice-president at the time became the chairman of the steering committee. That was the original design of NIPP. Because of its sheer size, it became the biggest power project in the world at that time.
The project commenced in 2006. Of course, I left (as minister) later that year because of the deadline for resignation for those with political ambition. I left when the project was beginning to gather momentum. So, NIPP is not a company but a project.
You are now 50 years on earth. What kind of impact have you made on people?
I’m setting up a Foundation to mentor young people as my own contribution to humanity on my 50th anniversary. Instead of putting my pictures in newspapers, for those who wish to congratulate me, let them just put the money in the Foundation. It is that important to me. Supporting the Foundation will help to build it.
What’s your motivation for the Foundation?
I grew up as a local boy. I went through my early life in the village. Of course, I went abroad for 10 years. When I returned, I noticed that something had happened in terms of societal value. I had actually started before I left (during the military era). When I was doing my LL.M, I worked on structural adjustment in third world countries and what it had done to them. Based on what I knew at that time, I wished Nigeria had not embarked on SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme). It had a negative impact on our economy and our people. Of course, with military rule, all our societal values changed. People became rich very quickly. The children after us didn’t have the privileges and opportunities that we had. Professionals in those days did not have to cut corners to send their children abroad to school or holiday. There was a respectable middle class in Nigeria. What happened to that class?
By the time I left Nigeria, the middle class was dwindling. By the time I returned, it was virtually non-existent. In trying to understand the phenomen, I saw not only the erosion of the middle class but also our values. I saw that the new elite class that had emerged was selfish and greedy and small compared to the large middle class back then. There was an event I attended and a young man got up and said there were two legitimate forms of government -democratic and military. I knew immediately that the poor chap grew up under the military. So, how could you convince him that military in government is an aberration? This is the kind of value our young men and women now have. I saw a decadent society. Those of us who had the privilege of being members of that middle class should educate the ones coming behind us and try to recreate that middle class by giving them opportunities and hope so that they do not make the mistakes of the past.
In setting up this Foundation, I hope that we can bring in mentors, people of my age-group who have done well, who were beneficiaries of that period, to be able to mentor a new generation of young men and women. That’s one aspect. The second aspect is that I have found that there are lots of vices in the society. Cultism bothers me a lot. You have boys and girls in secondary schools who take blood oaths on the ground that they are joining a particular cult group. They grow up as members of that group and some of them are violent. In fact, to be initiated into some of them, you have to be beaten, injured. I don’t know of other societies with such crude cults. We need to reform them. That’s the reform component of the foundation.
The other aspect is mentoring young people for leadership, no matter your profession. It’s not enough for a doctor to go to work. There’s much more to being a doctor. I want to do it in a manner that the Foundation has the resources to sustain itself. Not that because I’m a governor now people will associate with it and leave it thereafter. I want to set it up professionally. Executives will run it professionally.
Who are your mentors in life?
My father. My father wrote a book about his life when he was in his 70s. He wanted me to read the manuscript and I did. I discovered that 13 years of his life, representing his political career, were missing. I asked him why that was so. He wanted that period to be silent. I pointed it out to him that the book would not sell because his political life was more popular. When I told him that I was going to work on the missing part, he said that was my problem. So, I went to the archives in Enugu and tried to obtain relevant information about his political achievements that not even his children knew about. That effort was in 1992. I had started working on the book in 1990. That experience influenced me greatly. He wanted to be remembered more for his contributions to humanity as a medical doctor.
What would you want to be remembered for? What aspect of your life has contributed more to the society, having also played in the private sector?
As I said, the privilege to serve at different levels has given me joy. But being governor has afforded me real opportunities to affect people’s lives. I feel good making other people happy; people who ordinarily don’t expect anything especially from government. If a person knows that with only a card, she can go to a hospital and be treated for free, that is good indeed. She can use that money for something else. What of water? Some communities had always known streams and nothing else. For others, they had only seen electricity cables pass over their heads. Now, they can turn on the switch and have light. These are things that change their lives. So being in Abuja as a minister was good. But being a governor, able to commune with your people is much better. And they are very appreciative.
The people in the rural areas are much more appreciative. Somebody told me that he went somewhere and people were speaking highly of me. I said yes, that must have been in the village. There, they are appreciative even of little things. Even paying fees for their children to enable them to sit for school certificate makes them very happy. For their children to get jobs means a lot. For me, being able to assist and support others is what life is all about. I always tell people that you can actually go through life thinking that you have enjoyed it but true contentment can only come when you have served.
Should we take that to be the central philosophy of your life?
Even before I went into politics, I was never a rich man. I had money but didn’t think of having savings or investments. I would rather spend it on the people who needed it. I think it was something I picked up from my mother. My mother would spend everything on the household. And there were never less than 30 people at every point to cater for. That was the way I was brought up.
When would you say has been your lowest point in life?
I remember I worked very hard when I was in NEPA. There were many of those days when the cleaners would come to the office and meet me there. During that period, trying to put the project together, I became hypertensive. All the same, there was total lack of appreciation. From a career perspective, not a personal one, that was probably my lowest point. You put in so much and what you got in return was abuse. But now, being a governor is another opportunity to serve. Thankfully, my people understand and appreciate it.
Hopefully, with your foundation things will get better?
I just want that foundation to be well funded. This is a good opportunity. I’m hoping that it can become some sort of institution, so it can have a physical building. Students, young people can come and have a month of mentoring. At the moment, we’re trying to sort out things like the name of the Foundation and so on. On Monday (July 11, 2011), we will have a Career Day for young people. Different speakers will be there. Series of events will follow. We will feature people who were cult members but who are now respected in the society to talk about themselves.
Do you miss the private sector?
I hope to get back to it. My goal in life is actually to be a diplomat. Private sector? It’s good to do things and make money. I could work hard for anything legitimate to make money. It’s a good feeling to close a deal, when you sign a contract. Maybe because I had older brothers when I was growing up, I didn’t have needs that were not met. But when I became an adult, I was able to moderate. I never had any desire to own a story building or a Rolls Royce or a Farrari. What I had was spent on the people around me. Those who knew me 20 years ago would know better.
How do you rate the Nigerian politician?
People need to know why they are going into politics. It can never be a job, a means to earn an income. In this country, we had a generation of politicians who went into public service just to serve the people. Later, many went into it because they knew they could commit blue murder. Some of us today rode on the back of the last group to get to power. It is only now that awareness and exposure are on the increase significantly. People are becoming more enlightened and so the consciousness of accountability is also on the rise. There is nothing like education. Because we are becoming more responsible, we are becoming more accountable in governance. It’s evolving, not something that happens overnight. But we need to sustain it.
Whether you like it or not the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Attahiru Jega is someone who has positively affected governance. He clearly conducted a process that all of us respected and complied with. We now understand that if we do not give creditable account of ourselves, there’s a possibility that we can be thrown out of office. That reality would spur a lot of politicians to do better.
Tell us about Cross River politics
I don’t like to say that we are a lost generation. In Cross River, when I came into politics, it was because I thought that there was need for a new order. I don’t call myself a reformist but where I saw my political leaders in Cross River was not where I was going to be. When PDP was being formed, I was the flag bearer, the founder from Cross River. How was that possible when there were notable political leaders? That was because I carried the few people I had and said, let’s chart a new course. While the other big names were in ANPP as champions and leaders of that party, we got committed to a new order. From the political perspective, when I reflect on it, I’m happy I did much of that when I was in my 30s. We were sufficiently daring when we were much younger. We could see that there was another way of doing things. We wanted that opportunity to make a difference. Politically, we created something that didn’t exist. You can’t say now that this person is Liyel Imoke’s god-father. That has helped us in Cross River.
Also there was a polarization that I didn’t understand. My mother was from Edo State, my father from Cross River and my mother understood my language probably better than my father but I never grew up really speaking my language.
But I grew up to meet a state in which different groups were at each other’s throat. There used to be statements like "An Efik man can never be governor of Cross River". I didn’t understand what they meant. In fact, Efiks rarely ran for governor. That was why Donald Duke was such an important project for me. He was an Efik man, an urbane man, not home-grown. The message that needed to be sent across the state was that being governor was not about where you came from. The point is that we should be able to groom other leaders to take over from us. If we allow irresponsible people to take over, it will be a disaster.
Source: Daily Champion, 9th July 2011.