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Lawyers have link with good governance -Njemanze [Sun, The (Nigeria)](Sun, The (Nigeria) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Imo State, Ken Njemanze is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a Knight of St. John International (KSI), who believes that lawyers make better governors. As one of the few Owerri people who want to take over Douglas House, Owerri as the next governor in Imo State, Njemanze, in this interview, talks about his ambition, why his zone deserves to produce the next governor and what to expect from him, if elected. Excerpts: Most people know you as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Former Attorney General of Imo State. Is that all about you? This is really interesting. I am not just one of many governorship aspirants, rather I believe I'm the most credible and competent candidate. My aspiration is to make Imo State the most peaceful and prosperous state in Nigeria. I studied Law at the University of Lagos and graduated in 1983. I qualified as a solicitor having completed my Law school and since then, I have practiced law in the prestigious Njemanze and Njamanze Chambers. These rigorous years of training and experience as barrister of law and solicitor have provided me with the foundation to properly discern what is good for our people with the wisdom to do the right things at all times. Clearly, these are the differences and qualities that set me apart and confirm my credibility to serve my people, come 2015. As a SAN which is the highest level of law practice in Nigeria, why do you want to put your professional reputation at risk as it were, by getting into the murky waters of politics and running for Imo State governorship? Your question presumes that getting into the so called murky waters of politics would be putting my professional reputation at risk. This is unfortunate, because that appears to be the mindset of some people. Politics of service to the people would not put my professional reputation at risk at all, and that is what I intend to give when I win in 2015.Having said that, I shall address what I understand from your question which is about what is driving me to Douglas House come 2015. I am driven by the need to give good governance to the people of Imo state. Let us not talk in the air. Let us take a hard look at the situation today. A snap-shot of some sectors will suffice. In the education sector, Imo State has the highest educated persons in Nigeria relative to population and highest number of professors, 320, according to the 2010 release of National Universities Commission (NUC). You would expect that we should harness this abundant human resources to create jobs, reduce poverty and migration from the state. But the reality today is different. Unemployment in the state in 2011 was 26.1% today it is 36% much more than the national average of 22.8%. As if this is not bad enough, the highest concentration of Imo population is in the youth, averaging between 28-30years. However, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2012, Imo state created the least jobs for youth amongst the entire south eastern states. Imo created 1.28% of jobs for the youth; Anambra 1.80%, Abia 1.66%, Ebonyi 1.70%, Enugu1.65% and Adamawa 1.65%. We shouldn't talk of states such as Lagos, Ondo or Akwa Ibom where it is 12.94%, 6.16% and 1.88% respectively. We were only better than six states in the country namely Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Niger, Kwara and Ogun. In terms of poverty incidence, in 2009, it was 39.6% today it is 50.1%. With regards to migrant population, on the average 48% of our male and 43.8% of our female migrate out of the state in search of jobs. Don't you see the figures and statistics are really disturbing? Indeed they are. It is just terrible and unfortunate. As a matter of fact, I shuddered when the research unit of my campaign organization churned them out. Let me also point out that one of the critical indicators of poor development is migrant population. Best practices suggest you should keep labour in your state and attract labour to your state. A situation where nearly half of the state potential labor forces are migrating out of the state is not only disturbing but catastrophic. Why do you think you can reverse the situation if you win in 2015? If elected as the governor of Imo State which I am very confident and optimistic will happen, I will swing into action to address and reverse the trend of high rate of poverty which stands at 55%, unemployment rate of 26% and income inequality in the state. Specifically, I will leverage the huge 13% derivation from oil, as an oil producing state to create industries that compliment oil servicing with medium to high talent skills required to support the Oil industry such as deep water welding, seismic data analyst, geophysics, safety consultants and boat house construction. We will also invest a substantial junk of the revenue in information technology and bio technology. Granted that ICT is the tool and fundamental to many developed economies and that Imo state has great potentials to redirect the skills of its quality population in the areas of green technology for state and national transformation, I will give priority attention to information technology. Similarly, I will address issue of lack of transparency and due process in the award of government contracts and engagement of consultants. To achieve this, I will set up a due process unit under the watchful eyes of professionally trained and accountable special adviser to the Governor. I will provide health plans and programs to address issue of high infant mortality and morbidity rate which at the moment is over 35%. These are caused by poverty and low standard of living. Interestingly, the 325 hospitals in Imo State will be equipped with modern beds, diagnostic tools and systems, specialist and personnel. The pharmacies will also have modern drugs and I will encourage exchange programs with Imo State doctors in Diaspora who on numerous occasions have informed me of their willingness to positively contribute to health care initiatives in the state by offering free medical health care, check-ups and specialist treatment of patients with diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure among other ailments. Let me recap. Imo State, given its highly educated population should not be among the states with the highest number of unemployed persons in the country currently at 26% comparable only to Gombe and Bauchi states. What this means is an unproductive population because skills, talent and competencies not utilized. The solution will be to engage the quality population in a meaningful and productive occupation to, thereby contribute to Gross domestic income of the state. Similarly, the main thrust of my government would be to transform Imo State into the hub of ICT diffusion and penetration in Nigeria. It is not by coincidence that a great percentage of indigenous ICT and telecommunications companies in Nigeria are founded or managed by Imo state citizens. Thus, in collaboration with the private sector we shall co create a local software ecosystem in Imo State which will tap into the global 360 billion dollars ICT market. In terms of agriculture, we shall leverage on the 75% arable land in the state to increase for export the production of cocoa yam, cassava, palm produce, rubber and maize. Your competitors for the Douglas house have brandished their experience including accomplishment in business, what experience do you bring to bear? With due respect, I served as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the state in the immediate past administration. During that period, it is on record that Imo state government defended most number of cases in the country. We registered success rate of over 80% including cases from State High Courts all the way to the Supreme Court. So, my score card in that regard is solid. Let us look at some PDP governors adjudged generally to have performed well. Godswill Akpabio is a lawyer. Liyel Imoke is a Lawyer even Babatunde Raji Fashola of APC is also a lawyer. You can push the envelope by looking across our shores, President Barack Obama, Late Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton etc are all lawyers. Maybe there is something about lawyers and good governance. How do you view the current security situation in the country? Security is key. No development can happen under a situation of chronic insecurity. Today the highlight of insecurity in Nigeria is the Boko Haram terrorist attacks. Of course it has completely eclipsed other form of insecurity such as kidnapping, armed robbery, human trafficking etc. The Federal government is working hard and with the acceptance of foreign support, we hope to see a significant improvement in the situation. You don't show signs of stress like somebody running a campaign for governorship. How come? I am indeed well. Good health is a blessing from God and I am grateful for that. I do my bit by eating what I am advised to eat by experts as healthy diet and also follow an exercise regime. Campaign for the office of governorship has not been flagged off according to INEC time table. As a senior member of the Bar and a responsible politician, I respect this. Yet in spite of this fact, I have been under huge pressure in preparation – meetings, strategizing, reading tons of paperwork, attending lots and lots of presentation. In addition, I have to also attend to the law firm because that is my primary constituency so to say where I earn my living. The post Lawyers have link with good governance –Njemanze appeared first on The Sun News. (c) 2014 The Sun Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |