Mr Godwin Ezeemo is a serial entrepreneur with interest in critical and diverse sectors of the nation’s economy. He is among the 14 governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party jostling for the party’s governorship ticket in Anambra State. He spoke to David-Chyddy Eleke on his aspiration
How will you contend with other aspirants with intimidating profile in your party, who are also running for the governorship ticket, or you are relying on zoning?
I think I have the capacity to contend with all the aspirants. All of them are good, but none of them is experienced. Most of them are not familiar with the political terrain in the state. Just very few, and those few, have some issues holding them. The other ones, we’ll match them for anything they have. But there’s something going for me, and that is, I’ve been in this state since 2012. I live here and I have traversed the nooks and crannies of the state. I started with Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which metamorphosed to APC. You can recall I contested with Ngige and because things were not done the way it was supposed to be done, I lost out. As a team player, I don’t have anyone to fear. No doubt, they all have their strength, but if it is the evidence of what people have done, none of them can match me. But our situation here is different. People are voted for based on how much they are able to dispense. It’s really very sad for our society.
On your second question, like I earlier said, I’ve traversed the entire state since 2013, 2016 till date, if you go to the far north, for example, Nzam area or Inoma and mention Godwin Ezeemo, they’ll tell you that I’m a grassroots person. I met them not just because of politics, but purely because of my social entrepreneurial and philanthropic work. So who should I be afraid of? Nobody! So whether they zone it or not, I’ll will still run and run good. So it’s not zoning that brought me into the picture. For us to be fair to ourselves, each political party has got their constitution and what they want to do. Some say we’re not part of the zoning, some say we’re part of it. They are left to do what they want to do.
I heard when you addressed your supporters, and you sounded so optimistic about your clinching the ticket and winning the election eventually, what gives you this assurance and what are you going to do differently?
I sounded optimistic going to Agu Awka (Anambra Government House) and I’m still sounding optimistic until we get there. The reason is simply because of the structure we have in place. The structure I have now is stronger than the one I had before. The structure I had in PPA in 2013 was the one that came out of ACN and they weren’t much. You can’t compare it with that of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which is a known party. Anambra is a three party state, if not two party state. If I’m running on PDP platform and everything is done very well, there’s no reason why I won’t clinch the ticket towards getting to Agu Awka. Nothing at all, unless God doesn’t want it. I had in the past confessed that not making it (to Government House) was God’s decision. Of course everything we do is in God’s hands. If he doesn’t want you to be here, you can’t. So you must factor God into everything you do in life.
I’ve followed your political journey since last year, I discovered that your setbacks lies in the system, not that you’re not popular. The system has not favoured your type of politics. You’ve always relied on playing the game according to the rules. Do you think the system has improved to the extent that the forthcoming elections will be played according to rules?
My type of politics is the politics I’ll always play, a decent politics. If you emerge as a governor from an indecent politics, you owe nobody anything. It’s like a soldier that got it from the barrels of the gun. But if it was done the way it’s supposed to be done, people reposed confidence in you and gave you power, you know you owe them and you must do the job and do it correctly. I’m not coming to do a shoddy job, I’m not coming to do a job that someone will frown at. I’m coming to do a job that will ensure a strong foundation from where the state will grow. We want Anambra to be a first world state. Just know that if you’re thrown up by a bad system, you’re not going to do anything different from the bad system that brought you in. But this time around, PDP has confirmed that there won’t be impunity, which has been the bane of the party in the state. At the moment, they are trying. I see an improvement and I pray it continues like that, and nobody will quarrel.
With the number of aspirants in PDP, do you foresee a situation where the party leadership may request some of the aspirants to step down for others to manage the primary election properly?
I don’t see anything wrong in many people coming out to vie for election. It’s an indication that Anambra State has got a lot of people that have what it takes to manage the state. Everyone has got his vision and ambition on how to go about his own. Now, if the leadership of the party decides to do that, then you won’t call it democracy anymore. Aspirants need to start meeting with each other. We network. That’s where the understanding and maturity comes. We’re meeting. But there must be that mutual understanding between the aspirants. If the party says someone should step down, then there’s a problem. While I was away, I was talking with other aspirants. Others are also doing the same thing because nobody will want to spend his money when he’s sure of not making it. For the people to accept you, you must have been apprentice to somebody. The professional politicians want to see that in every aspirant. Except one who’s a green horn is being sponsored by an incumbent, the way Obiano came on board. That’s exactly the way I look at it.
Do you think your contributions to the growth and development of the state has received a commensurate appreciation?
My coming back to Anambra is purely a desire of my heart. I didn’t do anything to please anybody. I thought within me for many years that I’m not going to spend the whole life time outside the country. At a certain age I must go home. I must be part of those who contributed to the growth and development of the state. That was the major reason for my return, not even for politics. Anambra State doesn’t need to appreciate me. I do my roads and other things myself. Anambra doesn’t support their stakeholders who have their businesses domiciled in the state. The only thing they’re interested in is your taxes. How you cope is none of their business. So I’m not expecting any appreciation from anybody. What I’m interested in is what I can give to better the state. I want Anambra that’s working. My strength is in God.
Have you for calculated how much you’ve expended since over nine years pushing this ambition and is it worth the results you’re getting?
If you have a passion and burden and you want to achieve it, it will cost you money. A classical example is Mandela. He had passion for the liberation of his people who were being maltreated in their own land. He wanted freedom and he insisted on freedom for his people. For 27 years he persisted until he got it. When he was dying, he died a happy man because he succeeded. For me, I’m like someone living in a country flowing with milk and honey. But I decided to leave it on my own volition to invest in my state. It was when I came here that I saw other mess in the state which propelled me to join politics. Unfortunately, most politicians are not sincere. And that’s one of my problems. When I’m saying something serious, people are dismissing me as one of those political talks and I said I’m not a politician. If politics stops now, I go back to my businesses. For, now I won’t quit because I’ve not gotten what I want, unless God says otherwise.
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I don’t see anything wrong in many people coming out to vie for election. It’s an indication that Anambra State has got a lot of people that have what it takes to manage the state. Everyone has got his vision and ambition on how to go about his own. Now, if the leadership of the party decides to do that, then you won’t call it democracy anymore. Aspirants need to start meeting with each other. We network. That’s where the understanding and maturity comes. We’re meeting. But there must be that mutual understanding between the aspirants. If the party says someone should step down, then there’s a problem
