Sen. Nkechi Nwagu represented Abia central senatorial district in the 6th and 7th senate. In this interview with RUTH CHOJI, she said that if the country is restructured, every state will have the right over its resources and it will be harnessed to generate income for the state. Are you worried with the crises Magu confirmation generated in the senate'I am very concerned because this is not the senate we were in. It is also a sign of progression. It shows that, the senate is asserting its powers. The three arms of government are all independent but they need to have a synergy for the nation to move forward. On the part of the executive, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. The executive is the piper, that does not means they should muzzle other arms. Still there must be mutual cooperation between the two of them.But is Sen. Saraki leading the senate well'That is a tough question. Sen. Saraki is the head of the national assembly and I am sure he is not happy with what is happening in the senate today. He should review his leadership style. Having said that, I will also want to say that, there shouldnt be a deliberate provocation against the senate leadership. For me, I think that, his case at the code of conduct bureau is distractive because truly if we want to dig well in Nigeria, then there will be anarchy. In that case, every former governor from 1999 should be investigated. If we decide to investigate every former president, every senator, House of Representatives member, local government chairman and the rest, then it means that there wont be a nation called Nigeria. There is a saying in my place that, there is nobodys teeth they will remove to the jaw that you wont find a brown tooth.The senate has rejected Magu for the second time, yet the president still allowed him to head the EFCC, what is your view to this'I am worried that he has been presented twice and he was rejected. This shows that there is no mutual relationship and understanding between the executive and legislature. I was there for eight years. We saw so many confirmations and screenings. You confirm some because you are part of the system. Sometimes you may refuse to confirm because you want to show that you have the power to confirm. But the issue of Magu has personal connotation. His person as Magu, his position as EFCC chairman against some people in the senate, some individuals who make up the senate. Another reason could be that, because there is no cordial relationship between the senate and the executive that is why some things that could be ignored were highlighted and brought to the fore front to create a controversy. Except for the frosty relationship, otherwise Magu can be screened and confirmed in the third presentation. There is no limit to how many times his name can be sent. Borishade was presented three or four times before he was confirmed during our time. The same thing happened to a former head of NDDC then. In this case, there seems to be no love lost between the executive and current senate. The president can bring his name 10 times and they will reject him 10 times. But no human being is a saint. The executive should also realise that they need to work with the legislature, not treat them like kindergarten. The problem in the senate is that the ruling party is having problem with itself, the minority is also having problem with itself, so there is tumult in the senate. We never had that. I am worried for Sen Saraki, but I am more worried for the overall impact of the frosty relationship between the senate and executive. If I were the executive, I would sheath my sword for the benefit of Nigerians.You were a one-time chairman, senate committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions. Are you worried with the state of the naira'I was the chairman of the committee from 2007 -2011. The state of currency of Nigeria has to do with the managers of the economy. The management of the economy has gone haywire not because of the managers but from the current practices of those who have been bestowed with the leadership of various agencies. This administration inherited the mess. The decay has been from 1999. I dont want to go through the era of the military because they had no accountability. From 1999, the nation has been beseeched with the outburst of corrupt practices. It permeated every facet of our endeavour and it has been building up from one administration to the other until now that we are in this administration. Buharis government inherited the canker worm of the bad corruption whereby people bury monies, both Nigerian and foreign currency in their homes. In banking, if monies are not kept in the bank to be recycled, the economy will suffer. No nation in the world can have a striving economy under these conditions. For reasons best known to those bestowed with the leadership of managing our agencies, instead of them doing the things they were asked to do, they turned them upside down.What will it take for us to stabilise the naira'The CBN is the manager of our foreign currency and the nations funds. For me, I think the initial banning of the 41 items by the FG was wrong. It was wrong because I know that they wanted to encourage local production. But you dont run before you walk. How can we ban what we are not in the stage of producing in Nigeria' You are banning importation of second hand clothes when there are no striving textile industries in Nigeria. Look at the tie and die in the south west, what is government doing to encourage the industry' We used to have Aba textile mill in Aba that used to employ about 10,000 people. It has been closed for the past seven years or more. Today, we have banned the importation of second hand vehicles, but we used to have Steyr in Bauchi, Peugeot in Kaduna. We also had the Innoson Christ in the east but their cars are even more expensive than imported ones. I think government shouldnt have banned those products immediately but given Nigerians a grace period while setting things in motion.Some of the policies of the CBN have been sort of retrogressive instead of progressive. The result of some of their policies is that, they end up being anti- people. Another mistake they made was the prohibition of domiciliary account. Although they have changed it now, people are still skeptical because they feel maybe they have opened it now to lure people to open the account before they start investigating them. I call some of the policies, voodoo policies. So people will rather stash their monies in their swimming pool than take it to the bank where the EFCC will be sent to investigate them. We need to have policies that will ensure that people are not afraid. There is a lull in the real estate of the economy now. Nobody is buying buildings anymore because people are afraid that, the moment they write an authority, the EFCC will come after them. There is so much fear now in the system. Look at what is happening now, it is only the CBN that is able to pump foreign currency into the system, and nobody wants to put his money because the next thing is that they will sent the EFCC after you. People dont want to go into export business again because the government determines the price of the dollars. How can the businessman make profit' We should allow exporters to import with their funds and nobody should prosecute them. They should be allowed to repatriate their monies whenever they want.Going back to the south-east, now the zone has complained of being marginalised by this administration, do you share such views'Yes, I do. I am not saying that there is a deliberate attempt to undermine our political or marginalise our economic development and growth. At the end of it, when you do a roll call of who is who in terms of appointment, establishment of federal infrastructure, then you will see the omission of these establishments within the south-east zone. That is why you see these agitations now.Are you in support of the agitation for Biafra State'No, I am not in support of agitation for the creation of Biafra as a nation, but I am in support of recognition. I am in support of equal participation in the governance of our nation from all nooks and crannies with the south-east participating duly and rightfully. We have only five states, forty three constituencies, fifteen senatorial district, and one river basin. When you compare us with northwest, where they have seven states, twenty one senators, two river basins and so many federal institution littered in the north/west, then you will be surprised. But doesnt that begin to make you feel that we need to be on our own' But why I wont support us to be on our own is that, we will become landlocked. Geographically we are not positioned well. Although I have seen some nations that are landlocked but were able to turn the small rivers they had in to gold mines. But I dont think we have reached that stage yet. Right now, I think we can agitate for equal opportunity. If we are given equitable number of states, federal institutions where our sons and daughters will have opportunities to develop, then we wouldnt complain. Personally, I am not in support of tribe classification. We must first be Nigerians before our tribe. I am of the opinion that, every Nigerian should be free in every part of the country after staying there for a number of years. I dont mind staying in a place like Kaduna for example and even be buried there.Does it mean you are in support of calls for restructuring Nigeria'Definitely. It doesnt mean we must divide this nation into nations. We know that things are wrong right now. Life is dynamic. So we should change with the dynamics of life, we can get a lot more out of this nation if we restructure. This nation is so blessed that there is no section of Nigeria that cannot sustain itself. Oil has made us lazy. Have you seen any transformation that has taken place in the Niger delta in spite of the heavy funding that goes there' There is nothing to show for it. But if the country is restructured, every state will have the right over its resources and it will be harness to generate income for the state. We used to buy dry fish from Maiduguri before the crises of boko haram, if there are good policies, we would be exporting these dry fish. I see the restructuring as opportunity to tap into what God has blessed us with. Now, there is gas everywhere apart from the places where they are exploring it. All the states need is right to explore the resources.Coming back to you, have you abandoned your gubernatorial ambition'No, ambition is one thing, actualisation is another thing. Ambition goes with time and other factors that make the ambition realisable. It is my dream for Nigeria to give a level playing ground to a woman. We have had male governors from 1960 till date. It may not necessarily be me, but it could be my daughter, my granddaughter, my niece or a colleagues daughter. Why cant they be given opportunities to manage the state if they can go to school and acquire degrees and the rest' We have female soldiers and pilots now, why cant a woman be a governor of a state' That ambition that is alive in me can make me help somebody else. It mustnt be only me.
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