Northeast Suffering More Psychologically

Northeast Suffering More Psychologically

THEODORE EKECHI

Theodore Okwuruni Ejike Ekechi is the chairman of Alliance Media and Marketing and Media, and member representing the Southeast in the Northeast Development Commission. Having paid his dues in business, with his hands in many pies – advertising, haulage, solar energy system, commodity brokerage as well as consultancy – he told Samuel Ajayi he was also taking his chances in politics. Excerpts:

You went into business at an early stage of your life. Can you say you are fulfilled?
Fulfilled? If that is suggesting whether I have been able to develop myself to the fullest potential or if I have been able to realise all my life ambitions and desires with respect to business, I will unequivocally say “NO”. Perhaps, more appropriately, I should say I am not YET fulfilled.

As they say, where there is life, there is hope. But considering my personal circumstances – the generational and peculiar environmental constraints, I will be committing sin if I don’t praise God for his blessings and grace that have been part of my lot and family.
In the process of getting this far, I have also become a sort of business encyclopedia and it is my hope that young people, who believe in me and hang around me for counsel, will excel with my mentorship.

Can you recall the business that fetched you your first million?
It is a bit difficult to recall but I will give it a try. As you may know, my interests span marketing communications with strong bias for out-of-home advertising, brand building, solar energy, publishing, strategy consulting and commodity brokerage. Although I have made a couple of bucks from each of them, I recall it was an out-of-home brand promotion campaign for Nestle Milo about 1998 that broke the Million-Naira jinx.

I am eternally grateful to the Akin Osewas of Nestle and Ojo Osagie’s of Insight for taking the risk on me. Related to this is the Society for Family Health (SFH), Guinness nationwide out-of-home promotions facilitated by a brother and friend, Obinna Aniche.
But the big one was when the Managing Director of Sterling Bank, Yemi Adeola against all known banking traditions and credit convention, against the advice of his risk advisers and Executive Directors approved a multi-million naira loan request to finance an ambitious digital display platform in Lagos, which was executed by a team of Chinese engineers. To these people who trusted my integrity and capacity, I remain eternally grateful.

As a businessman, you ventured into politics. Can you say it is a decision you haven’t regretted?
No regrets at all for venturing into politics, notwithstanding the familiar refrain of “you would have become much wealthier than you are today”. You see life is not all about making money. It is also about service and self-fulfillment, which can only come when you are at peace with yourself in doing what you love.
I love the “service” perspective of politics. However, if I had to relive it all over again, I would choose a different route and timing of entry. My entry into politics in late 2002 was with a bang and a lot of very wrong assumptions of Nigerian Humans and their characters.

How different are the two worlds: that of politics and business?
There is no doubt that there is so much primordial negativity associated with doing business in Nigeria. However, this is a child’s play compared to the insincerity, lack of transparency, absence of integrity and trust, unpredictability, backstabbing and predatory disposition associated with Nigerian politics. Yet, politics is a necessary evil that must be played.

Truth is if you don’t play politics, politics must play you. So, since we know that directly or indirectly our lives and livelihoods are dependent on the political decisions taken by some people whom we may consider mediocre (and there are many of them) and misfits, there is increasing need therefore for more and more people, who consider themselves fit and quality to subscribe to active political participation – this must not necessarily be in the realm of partisan party politics. You don’t have to be a party card carrying member to serve the country through political participation.

The belief out there is that the “word” politics is treacherous. How true is this?
My response above I think clearly addresses that. Treachery in politics is not a myth; it is real. Almost a dog-eat-dog enterprise! And this is simply, because many a good man has left the arena for social hyenas and jobbers to dominate.
The more professionals (who have established, verifiable source of livelihood) we have in politics the more decent the political turf will become. Only a decent political practice can guarantee sustainable dividends of democracy.

Have you had to cut corner as a politician to achieve your aim even when such was against your personal convictions?
In Christianity, there is this saying that just as fishes in the waters cannot deny of water, man on this earth cannot deny of sin. It is impossible to play politics in this country without cutting corners or at best be part of the system that is consistently cutting corners.
A politician is guilty of cutting corners even when he personally did not but looked the other way when corners are being cut or refuse to testify against any unhealthy, unethical and immoral practice. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
The difference, however, is that there are politicians who equate politics with trickery, treachery, 419, deceit, business in the realm of do-or-die.
By God’s Grace I, T.O.E. Ekechi, I am not in that mold. For me, politics is neither a vocation nor a profession or a career. It is not even a calling. Politics should be a platform for service to the soul for self-fulfillment to the people, to humanity and to God.

Many corporate guys like you see politics as a no-go area; how can this mindset be changed?
Indeed, it is foolhardy to live in that mindset. The general belief is that politics is a dirty game, time-consuming and in fact, distracting. None of these assertions is far from the truth, though. But this is politics of Nigeria, politics of your country, politics of your state and of your community.
This is the politics that decides your present and your future and the future of your generations to come. Why leave it in the hands of desperados, who may not be as endowed as you. Why play the ostrich or the idiot with your present and future? Why attempt to run away from your own shadow?
If you care about our individual and collective socio-economic wellbeing, you must care about the country’s political wellbeing, because it is political power that determines, shapes and controls society’s socio-political equation.
So, corporate Nigeria should desist from being holier than thou and join the political fray. Sanctimonious pontifications from the height of corporate boardrooms will only make opportunistic politicians drink and toast to their own “good health”.

The average mindset about political appointment is about prebendarism. How can this belief be changed?
There is nothing wrong in a political appointee earning sufficient and adequate wage for his labour if that reflects a commensurate payment for the deployment of skill and time. The challenge, however, is that the average politician looks forward to political appointment as a compensatory package for all his political investments as well as that for his constituency. All that should change.
Political appointment should not be a Magna Carta for wealth acquisition, of getting rich. It should be for achieving glory, societal recognition and respect. Those who hold political positions should be called out if they become wealthier after serving out their terms.

At the risk of sounding immodest, I opine that my tenures as Chief of Staff to the Honourable Minister of Interior, Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Imo State or as Director of Planning and Monitoring of the APC Presidential Campaign Council were for me periods of self-sacrifice, self fulfillment and service to humanity. That is probably, because I did not join politics with the objective of enriching myself and family.
This is in turn, because I was not impoverished spiritually – poverty is a spiritual condition. Otherwise, why would people whom you can credit with so much wealth go into government and steal to the last penny? This is poverty of the soul or you call it Spiritual bankruptcy! Those who conquer spiritual bankruptcy don’t steal from government coffers.

Do Nigerians really see politics about service to the people and society?
That is the crux of the matter. First, Nigerians see political participation as a Magna Carta for political appointment while the appointment in itself is simply a compensatory package while the amount of wealth you acquire while serving is measured as a return on investment on political time and resources.
The obvious consequence is that politics is not practiced in this clime based on conviction or belief. No doubt, therefore, there is not practiced in this country politics of ideology. Rather, we are proud to applaud what is now known in our political lexicon as politics of stomach infrastructure.
This attitude is so much entrenched in our political consciousness that it is even your constituents, admirers and supporters that worry more for you and even go as far as blackmail you when you are not “compensated” with appointment after rendering political service. This attitude can only change when we have more and more people, who don’t expect “compensation” coming into political activism.

You were recently appointed Commissioner representing the Southeast in the Northeast Development Commission. After visits to the region, what is your assessment of the situation?
Well, I am not sure if it is appropriate to qualify me as a Commissioner in the Commission. But it suffices to admit that I am a Member (representing Southeast) on the Governing Board. The situation in the North East continues to be precarious. The devastation is enormous and mind-boggling, requiring massive deployment of men and materials to alleviate the sufferings and build a sustainable future for the current population and generations to come.
While we always look at the physical destructions and report the colossal impact in terms of naira and kobo as most intervention orgainisations are wont to do, the real catastrophe of the Boko Haram insurgency is in the unconscionable destruction of the moral and social fabric that knit peoples of society and community together.

Do you think Nigeria has what it takes to restore the region to its old peaceful self?
It is up to Nigerians to so decide. Government alone cannot fix the region particularly with respect to restoring it to its peaceful old self.
As Government delivers on its commitment to deploying military, personnel and other humongous resources to flush out insurgency and rebuild the region, Nigerians, particularly, politicians from the region must passionately demonstrate and display patriotism in both words and deed in their response to the crisis before we can heal wounds, engender forgiveness and therefore achieve self and collective rehabilitation for a peaceful coexistence.
Those who seek to score cheap political advantages should for the sake of humanity seek God’s face and have a change of mind.

You’ve been involved in the promotion of peace in the country even before your appointment. How far have you gone with the project?
I convened the United Nigeria Initiative for Peace and Prosperity in 2016 as an alternate platform for dispute resolutions among groups, particularly restive ethnic nationalities, who for one reason or the other are warring against one another or against the state.
Often, and consistent with our findings, people who foment troubles within ethnic groups are usually a small minority, who attract to themselves a larger proportion of the voice share, which is deployed to dominate the rest of the community.
Our alternative platforms enable “other” voices to be heard thereby providing a fair and equitable basis for problem resolutions. In this wise, we are doing our best within the constraints of our self-funding sources.

You virtually junket round the country and even outside. How do you find time to bond with your family?
It’s really demanding and sometimes, frustrating if you do not make the right mixes at the right times! I deliberately and painstakingly strive to strike the delicate balance of God, family, work, pleasure and politics.
To effectively and efficiently manage my self-inflicted schedules, I am compelled to maintain four homes – Lagos (where my family resides), Abuja (the home of national politics), Owerri (for my home state politics, because ultimately all politics is local) and of course my native home, Imerienwe in Ngor Okpala (where I reign as a true son of the soil).
I must confess that the pressure of politics and work has transformed me into an itinerant worker. Whereas politics at the emerging level I am still operating demands almost physical presence at almost all times, technology on the other hand, has significantly reduced the need for physical presence in attending to my professional work related responsibilities – especially if you have invested in institutionalised structures in your organisations.

So, reality is that I have equipped myself in such a way and manner that I can work and relate with colleagues and staff from any location, seamlessly.
But try as I may, I must confess that this takes a toll on my times with family. To make up for this or ameliorate the effect, it is the tradition to shut down (almost completely) during long vacations, Easter and Christmas holidays, which I spend with family in the village or abroad.

Your life story is that of a triumph over all the odds. Do you plan to write your memoires in the near future?
Sure. Already, I have some proposals under considerations. When it happens, I believe it will be a thriller, suspense and bestseller! It will be a study in arrogant humility, regrets and fulfillments; in the genre of hopelessness and faithfulness; of ambition, fearlessness and hard work, of undulating progression, and of the power of family bonding and cooperation as assurance for generational growth and success.
Pix: Ekechi.jpg

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