Mr. Emeka Ugwuoju is the President of the South-South/South East professionals and deputy president of Ndigbo in Lagos. He spoke with LAWRENCENJOKU in Enugu on some issues including Nigeria's continuous existence as one nation, proposed currency restructure and state police. ExcerptsEvents playing out daily have elaborately questioned our continued co-existence as a nation. How does South East/South South Professionals see this development'Given the fact that we have different views and beliefs, it behooves on us to come together and talk on how we will continue to live together as a single indivisible entity. If that is not done, of course, we know what that will lead to. Nigeria is currently rived into two because of the erosion of middle class in the society. The result is what we are witnessing now. We should not pretend and shy away from the fact that there is need for us to come together and discuss our continued stay as a country. Call it national conference or otherwise, we really need to talk.Does the proposed amendment of the constitution have the capacity to solve the present divisions and douse the tension in the country'We do not have a Constitution we could amend. The Constitution we have now is fraudulent because it is not people-oriented. We never contributed to its making. It is a military constitution. The move to amend it will not work. Let the people come together and draft a Constitution that they think they can live with and our differences should be captured in the Constitution. It is not something we should gloss over. The differences should be fashioned in such a way to bind the country together. It is very important that we talk before anybody amends any Constitution because whatever we resolve from the conference would form part of the Constitution that we want for ourselves as Nigerians. So the amendment is wasteful, it is diversionary, it has nothing to impact on the situation of the country and I don't believe in it.Does your organisation view state police as a necessity judging from its domination of national discourse'We should all know what policing is all about so that we can all keep our eye on the ball. The fundamental duty of every government is the protection of lives and property. One could see the enormous security challenges the country is bedeviled with at the moment.The federal system of policing is not working. It should be the business of local government to secure the people at the local level. It should be the business of states to secure the people at the state and at the federal level; the Federal Government should secure the people at that level. With all the various governments owing responsibilities of security, it now becomes how best we go about this. We always look at the template of the United States of America.However, we should be able to evolve a workable template that would work for us. But we should not politicise the issue of state police. What we hear from all quarters is that if the idea of state police is allowed to thrive, governors will use it to hound their perceived political enemies.We should re-direct our minds to the core values of what policing is all about, which is the protection of lives and property. If we are able to do this, every other thing will fall in line. The Constitution could be tinkered with to make the state police commissioners to emerge through elections for one to emerge. This will make the person know that his allegiance is to the people who elected him/her.How well will the currency restructuring serve Nigeria'I think that the issue of new N5, 000 notes is a major distraction. The Central Bank came out wanting to implement a cashless policy for the country and the implementation has been fraught with challenges.The people need to know that the cashless society syndrome the Central Bank is pushing for is realistic before embarking on a major currency restructuring. The average man sees it as confusing. Let them deliver on the cashless economy first before delving into N5, 000 note introduction. We are not ripe for it. The Central Bank should earn the peoples trust first.Is your organisation satisfied with the condition of federal roads in the South East'As President of the South-East/South-South body of professionals, I can say that the federal roads in the area are a huge embarrassment. Whether you are talking about Aba-Ikot-Ekpene-Calabar road, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Nsukka roads, they all are in total shambles.The Works Minister promises are only on papers and no tangible actions have been seen. We as a body frown at this situation and call on the Minister of Works to quickly do something about the deplorable condition of these roads to mitigate the rate of carnage on them.Talks about Igbo Presidency in 2015 are gaining currency everyday. How realistic are the chances of this happening'President Goodluck Jonathan's presidency will terminate by 2015. If his performance meets the expectations of the voting public at the end of his first tenure, he is constitutionally eligible to run for a second term. But a lot has to be done to deliver on the key variables of good governance to the people. As a major stakeholder, Igbo deserve a shot at the Presidency but I am not that kind of person, who is sectional about leadership. So I would not subscribe to an Igbo Presidency that will not perform all in name of sectional interest. The important thing is service delivery to the people and we have some people, who can deliver on the job as Igbo if given the chance. Igbo would have to work hard towards the emergence of an Igbo Presidency. The person has to be capable of doing the job so that we all will support him.What has been the contribution of Ndigbo Lagos to the overall growth of the Igbo nation'Ndigbo Lagos has been the backbone of Ohaneze Ndigbo. When Ohaneze Ndigbo had challenges, Ndigbo Lagos played a stabilising role in fostering the unity of the group. Though Ohaneze is not what we anticipate it to be yet, but with the efforts of Ndigbo Lagos, one would say we are making progress.How are you combining your role deputy president of the Ndigbo Lagos President of South East/South South body of professionals to advance the cause of your followers'Let me start by informing you what comprises of Ndigbo Lagos. Ndigbo Lagos is a melting pot of all Igbo associations in Lagos, both at home and those in other parts of the country. It is structured in such a way that various units, which the Igbo associate with, are captured in the organisation. In order words, the town unions, the Ohaneze are all component units of Ndigbo Lagos. We a have a president and a deputy president while states have presidents of developmental town unions in Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi. The recent election that took place brought in Prof Anya O. Anya as the President and my humble self as his deputy. The new sets of leaders are saddled with the task of steering the ship and advancing the cause of the Igbo nation frontally without blemish.To my role as the president of the South East/South-South body of professionals,I will continue to be loyal and supportive to Ndigbo in Lagos while advancing the cause of body of professionals in tandem with the agenda of Ndigbo in Lagos. The new leadership of Ndigbo Lagos will strive to ensure that the economy of the South East bounces back through massive investment in the private sector partnering with the public sector to establish a virile public-private sector that will create jobs for our teeming unemployed youths so that people from the West will come looking for jobs in the East within the next five to 10 years.Enugu is planning to demolish the existing secretariat and erecting a new one at the cost of N13.6b. Many opine that this is unsettling the state'The poverty level in the state does not warrant the undertaking of such project by the state government. There are critical infrastructures that are begging for attention in the state. Comatose industries in the state like Avop; Sunshine Floor Mill should be revived. But I intend to personally discuss the issue with the governor to know his views.
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