Nwosu: Nigeria Needs to Be Properly Restructured for Full Development

African Democratic Congress Governorship candidate in the November 8, 2025 election in Anambra State, Mr John Nwosu, in this interview speaks on salient national issues including the need to politically restructure the country, implementation of local government autonomy as third tier of government and the forthcoming gubernatorial poll in the state. Folalumi Alaran brings excerpts:

Much noise is being made about the socio-political trajectory of the country in the last two years, from your understanding, would you say Nigeria is on the right course or merely moving round a circle in terms of governance and managing the economy?

The past two years have come with real challenges. While the president and his team have shown commitment through certain reforms, gaps in execution have held back the results Nigerians hoped for. With better coordination and a more aligned strategy, there’s still strong potential to move the country forward.

Are you among those who advocate for political restructuring of Nigeria?

Yes, I am. We need to restructure Nigeria to stabilize and develop fully. Our present structure has made the nation dysfunctional and our federalism very weak.  Power and resource sharing remain contentious. If need be, let us formalize the six geo-political zonal structure. Each zone has some comparative advantage that they enjoy and can bring to the table.

The present over-centralized power structure weakens the zones and states; clearly, most feel there is no equity.

Despite the federal government and apex court ruling on fiscal autonomy of Local Government councils, it is apparent that state governors are still fiddling with council funds?

That is correct. By fiddling with Local Government funds, the concerned state governors disobey existing Court orders and provisions of the 1999 Constitution. 

The 1976 Local Government reform made the Local Governments the third tier of government and a federating unit.  I believe certain provisions of the 1999 Constitution also provides the LGs with legislative and statutory powers similar to those of the federal and state governments.

Local government autonomy gives them the discretion to regulate their affairs. The aim is to promote rapid grassroots development.

Nigerians blame state governors for the poor democratic culture in the country, as a governorship hopeful what would be your attitude towards grassroots governance at the LGs?

Governance is simply about expeditious and sustainable service delivery. I am bringing into governance a commitment to best practices and efficient service delivery with our Security, Health, Education, Economy, Environment, Markets and Social Welfare (SHEEEMS) governance platform. We will replicate and improve on Peter Obi’s ANIDS governance model.  Most of our leaders no longer have the fear of God.

So, they make promises they don’t intend to keep and siphon public resources that are not theirs.

I offer, with all humility, a different approach to governance. Our governance performances will always be grassroots friendly, benchmarked and measurable.

Anambra State being a wholly entrepreneurial state the popular notion is that the state needs a wealth creator as governor. How would you relate that notion to the issue of governance in the state?

I’m an entrepreneur, a good creator and manager of wealth and people. I have effectively operated in the organized private sector for over three decades. I understand the business culture and practices and what works; and what does not work. In both business and governance, we must strive for cost-effectiveness. While in business, the bottom line is the profit margin; in governance, frugality and effective management of resources will always be priority. Operating within available resources means not spending frivolously or borrowing carelessly.

What is your understanding of what Anambra State needs at this point of its historical evolution as a state?

Anambra as a state should be first amongst equals. We have the financial and human capital resources. We are an oil producing state. Historically, Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka, the so-called ONA-axis defaults naturally to commerce, industry and enterprise. We need to leverage on these core areas. We are mindful that there are problems which are peculiar to Anambra. Therefore, those governance needs peculiar to Anambra must be accorded the highest priority. There will be less window dressing. We will consult broadly; and listen to advice and superior logic. We shall also walk the talk!

In 2003 a governorship aspirant asked whether Anambra state is cursed or the people are the cause of its value disorientation, after 26 years of democracy, what do you think will be the probable answer to that poser?

A – It was His Excellency Peter Obi that asked that question. Anambra is not cursed. The value disorientation you refer to pervades the entire nation. In response, we will continue to rejig our mindset and our priorities. There are core values that must be respected and upheld at all times. Leadership is by example, and I’m sorry to say that some of our past leaders have not exactly been exemplary

Also in 2017 some other individuals said Anambra is not broken and needs no mending. Is the state truly not broken and needs not be mended?

Those remarks are attributable to the incumbent, Governor Charles Soludo. Interestingly, he is either struggling or working hard now to fix a state he said was not broken. There are inherent contradictions or elements of deceit and mischief at play. Today, he is focusing on infrastructure at the expense of peace, security and quality of life in Anambra.  He promised the people Dubai and Taiwan, and delivered Zilch.

Anambra has 326 wards and 21 LGs, what could be the best strategy to pursue rural development?

Governor Peter Obi developed and bequeathed to his successors an optimal governance model, called ANIDS. The model was aligned to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). That blueprint remains available as the best option and model for developing the 21 local government areas and 179 communities of Anambra State simultaneously. 

Security remains a key challenge in the state, because the current knee-jerk or kick-and-move approach seems ineffective. How do you think the trend can be reversed so that communities will have a hold of their space?

What is being done is not working and it can never work. It has never worked anywhere. Today, we are talking of technology. You must marry technology vis-à-vis the conventional security system. You must train the conventional security men, pay them well, equip them with the right modern paraphernalia.

Then we have to apply the use of technology in areas of command and control centre, putting Artificial Intelligence, power, CCTV, in the key locations of our state, especially Onitsha, Nnewi, Ikolobia, Awka, the state capital.

 And then, our airport, it is unbelievable that our airport, the only airport we have in the state, has no CCTV. So we don’t know who comes in, who goes out. As a matter of fact, the people we are fighting may be coming in through that with ammunitions and going away.

So, talking about security, again light is a major factor. If you light up the state, then 50% of the security problem is solved.

I remember that His Excellency Peter Obi, during his term, was involved in a Public-Private Partnership to build a power plant in Onitsha, which is a major industrial centre for our state. I don’t know what has become of that. We are going to revive that and make sure that there is electricity in the state.

With that, we will light up the cities overnight, and I can bet you 50% of security will be solved.

Without security, you can’t talk of bringing in both foreign and local investors. The state must be secured before anybody can do any meaningful thing in the state.

For transportation, we hear just about road, road, road, road, nothing is done about water transportation when we know that there are water bodies in Anambra State.

States like Kogi and Kebbi have been doing things about inland transportation. What do you think could be done to harness this area?

Anambra State is endowed with natural resources. We have the Niger River, we have the Orashi River, bordering around the Ihiala, those areas. In fact, apart from water transportation, we will look at light rail, linking Onitsha to Nnewi.

Onitsha as the commercial centre of the state, Nnewi is the industrial hub, and Awka is the administrative capital to link them round with these things in the first instance.

And then linking the state down to Port Harcourt, linking Imo, Abia States down to Port Harcourt so that in order to improve the commercial activities of our people, people who import goods can be cleared at Onne Port in Rivers State, and then transport it through the waterways down to Onitsha.

So what can be done with the waterways is enormous so it is part of the agenda, in fact, by the time we release our manifesto in the coming weeks, you will see that it is well captured in part of the things we have to do.

Among health, education, food production, infrastructural expansion and ease of doing business, which should occupy the priority attention for sustainable development?

Each sector is vital and constitutes an integral building block to effective governance and sustainable development. Each sector requires an enabling environment to thrive. Ease of doing business will facilitate investors confidence, be they foreign or domestic investors. Investors bring in capital and create employment opportunities. Each sector working optimally translates to sustainable development.

What is the place of integrity and pedigree in leadership recruitment?

Integrity is like pregnancy. You are either pregnant or not. You either have integrity or you don’t. If you lose your integrity, it’s like a miscarriage. There is hardly any recovery. Pedigree is a given. If you have it and protect it, there will always be benefits. Integrity and pedigree work in tandem in leadership recruitment. But, above all, we must restore faith and trust in our leaders. The distrust gap between our leaders and the led remain quite wide.

With the benefit of hindsight, would you say Nigeria’s Electoral Act or the electoral umpire is to blame for the less than excellent outcome of the 2023 general elections?

INEC manifested fully the weakness of our national institutions. Its handling of the 2023 general elections was suboptimal.

 As an umpire, the blame for the less than stellar performance and the resultant electoral outcome rests squarely with that institution.

There are indications that the November 8, 2025 gubernatorial ballot in Anambra State would be conducted by a new INEC Chairman, what would you advise by way of appointing a competent and unbiased head for the electoral umpire?

We should not be overly concerned about individuals as we should be about weak national institutions. But, given our sad past national electoral experiences, we must put into electoral offices, people who are credible, accountable, show moral probity and respect for the rule of law.

Since the INEC chairman, is a referee, he should not be appointed by a player, in this case the president. There should be a way of communally selecting or electing the INEC chairman so he is not beholden to the person who appointed him, but to the Constitution.