Nyerere Chinenye Anyim is a member of Merger Committee of APC and Zonal Chairman of the party in the South-east; the South-east Zonal Coordinator of Buhari Campaign Organisation and member of its BoT.
He is also the executive commissioner representing the South-east at PenCom.
Anyim, in this interview with CHIDIEBERE IWUOHA, talks about the peaceful and successful Ward, LGA and state congresses of the party in Abia.
About the just concluded APC congresses in Abia The congresses went on well due to the kind of system we run in Abia APC, which brings about unity and mutual respect to one another.
The uniqueness of our collegiate system in Abia sees every leader or leaders of each particular area or ward having control of their ward.
You know that politics is localized, so every leader has his ward or local government area.
We started from the ward, down to the local government and to the state level.
The leaders came up with the best from the wards and local government areas and all the successes recorded in them manifested at the state congress which was well organized and attended and rancor free.
It saw people in the 17 local government areas leaving the Umuahia Township Stadium tremendously happy.
With this development, do you think this could be replicated by the party during 2019 general elections? What happened at the Umuahia Township Stadium during the congress is a pointer that the Government House in Abia state is for the party to grab.
With sincerity of heart and unity of purpose which were eminently displayed at the congresses and the activities that preceded the various congresses in all the nooks and crannies of the state, it is an ample quit notice that the government in power now should start preparing for its exit from the Government House of Abia state.
You may wish to recall that we had our Mega Rally in Abia state in January and its dust was yet to settle down before we conducted the successful congresses in Abia state.
Across the country, there are reactions to the congress results.
Don’t you think it is a bad omen for the APC? The way reactions of congresses are witnessed now were different during the time of PDP.
They would have swept it under the carpet.
Nigerians must equally know that in all these states that party members are disagreeing, it is a pointer that we believe in internal democracy.
All these problems will be settled before the elections as we don’t condone impunity.
Some of your members are considering leaving the party as a result: Any real member of the party that thinks of leaving APC to possibly PDP is like one eating his vomit.
And can equally be likened to somebody that is so used to doing something the wrong way.
You come to a place that there is sanity and you find it difficult to adjust.
My appeal is that they don’t go back to their vomit.
Some feel that the present government is worse than the immediate past government: In what areas do they think that the government is worse than PDP? Is it because they don’t do the right things? Importation of foods has stopped and we depend on locally made foods.
Our foreign reserve has increased .That is why a few of them are complaining like those few who are used to eating our commonwealth.
On nPDP Let us look at it from this perspective.
When they personalize expectations away from people or at the expense of overall or the generality of Nigerians, that does not give a sincere view on what change ought to be.
The issue now has gone beyond personal interest but the overall interest of Nigerians.
Once the expected benefits become egocentric, it runs counter to our collective belief and resolve to have a new Nigeria.
I still appeal to them to be patient and put in their best for us to build a new Nigeria of our dreams and expectations and bequeath positive legacies for generations yet unborn.
And that is when and only when their labour as heroes and heroines of this nation will not be in vain, when we have a Nigeria that we can now be proud of.
You missed Abia Government House in 2015,do you think the stage is set for the actualization of your ambition in 2019? When you put your hand on a plank, you don’t look back.
One of the greatest singers in the country by name, Bongos Ikwue once sang, “I am still searching till I find”.
So, I will still be searching till my governorship ambition is actualized.
I appreciate that it is not easy.
But I will keep on searching till I find it.
You remember that it is not about Nyerere Anyim but about people, masses, monumental infrastructural decay embellished with performance that does not exist, deceitful performance that is unrealistic.
Again, what we had in 2015 was not an election.
We had a government that never believed in credible election in power.
That credible election has eluded Abia state since the nascent democracy in 1999.
It has been the ploy and pattern of writing results which make the masses’ votes not to count.
But this pattern has expired with the enthronement of an APC led federal government that believes in bringing positive change to all spheres of the society and committed to fighting all manners of corruption, electoral frauds and obnoxious impunity.
What happened in the recent elections conducted in Ondo, Edo and Anambra states is a pointer to all of us that it is no longer business as usual as people’s voices must count.
How do you assess the present governor of Abia state? In as much as I will not condemn every effort the present governor in the state has made in certain areas, the fact remains that they fall far below my expectation, taking cognizance the resources at his disposal.
We must also appreciate that some visible progress in terms of infrastructure and other social developments in the state were done by the APC -led government in the country, example NDDC projects, electricity projects in Ariara International Market that would produce the power that would aid in the production of goods and services to people, N-Power and school feeding projects, just to mention but a few.
On President Buhari’s relationship with Ndigbo The president has been fair to Igbo people compared to what they have gotten in the past, especially since 1999.
What they have gotten in three years of Buhari’s administration is greater than what they have gotten in other administrations.
In terms of statutory appointments, it did not elude the Igbos.
In terms of infrastructural development, the Igbos have not had it so good.
Recall that after the civil war one of the three Rs of Reconstruction never existed in Igboland but today key projects, visible projects like the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road, Enugu-Onitsha-Owerri Expressway, Second Niger Bridge and a host of other projects that cut across the five South East states, including the rail projects are manifesting in the Igbo nation.
The South east are also benefiting from the agricultural development programmes and policies of the federal government eg.
Anchor Borrowing.
In as much as owing to the disadvantaged position of the South East occasioned by the inglorious 16 years rule of PDP as it negatively impacted on the zone, we expect more to be done to us.
That does not mean we are not expecting more.
We expect more, while appreciating the ones done.
We need federal presence in the South east because we are disadvantaged by the PDP government.
