.

Chief Fidel Chidi Anujuo, Chairman, Imo State Water Corporation, Industrialist, PDP chieftain and a member of the Obasanjo / Atiku Campaign Organization spoke with THISDAY on Igbo Politics, the operation of Water Corporation in Imo State and the investment climate in Nigeria. , Owerri

The water supply in Imo State was in a terrible situation especially in the state capital before your appointment as Chairman of Imo Water Corporation. Why was this so?

I feel highly pleased to hear that at least water has started flowing more in Imo from my assumption of office as Chairman of Imo Water Corporation. What contributed to the improvement of water supply in the State today is that I worked on the morale of the staff which was low at the point I took off, due to backlog of unpaid salaries up to four months.

As a professional manager, I realized the place of the human resource element in the making of an organization. You neglect the workforce at your peril. We realized this early enough and quickly tackled the problem. This was the clincher if you like call it magic and it worked for us.

The first thing we did was to source money with the active co-operation of Governor Achike Udenwa who compelled some of the parastatals and agencies owing the corporation to pay their bills. This assisted us in offsetting the salary arrears.

With that done, the workers resolved to be more responsive to their obligation, repairing machines that broke down and supply lines that were burst. It was not long therefore for the people in Owerri Town to heave a sigh of relief. We are looking beyond Owerri and the urban areas. Before long, by the time the Achike Udenwa's Government policy on Water is matured, the whole of Imo State would have access to potable water powered from the Water Corporation's service lines. This dream is realizable and we are working round the clock to ensure that it comes into effect within the life of this administration.

What other problem areas did you identify that needed to be addressed to give Imo people potable water?

Apart from the human resource element, the corporation has had to contend with the effect of vandalization of NEPA lines which we depend on to power our water schemes.

Another problem is the issue of burst pipes which occur almost on daily basis because some of the supply lines are old and need replacement. That, we are working on.

The Owerri/Otammiri water scheme was built to cater for a limited area but now, it is highly overstretched, so to assist, we are working on building a second phase.

From this you can see that both the State and Federal Government is not resting on their oars in addressing the water problem.

My appeal to the consumers is to assist the corporation by paying their rates as at when due to enable us continue to give them quality and reliable services. Whenever there are burst pipes reports should be made to the corporation to avoid waste.

The Corporation is going into a pre-metering scheme. This would operate on Pay-As-You Drink basis to avoid wastage. We are talking with some bodies to evolve this on the Build, Operate and Transfer basis (BOT) at no cost to the State. We equally appeal to the residents on supply areas to report to the Corporation whenever they notice burst pipes or other major problems instead of engaging the services of quack plumbers some of whom have done more damage than repairs.

East of the Niger, Owerri has the purest water and we do not intend to compromise standard. Before long, we would adopt new technologies to enhance service delivery and volume of the water scheme to lessen the pressure on existing ones. While linking up all other areas, we intend to back up with motorized booster stations. These when completed will ease problem of access to potable water not only in the urban areas but also within communities close to the urban areas that are already linked to our supply scheme.

I must commend the Government of Chief Achike Udenwa for mapping out elaborate strategies to solve water problems in the state by sinking boreholes and linking new pipelines. The State government in conjunction with the Federal Government is rehabilitating the Okigwe Water Scheme which for financial constraints would have been completed. Also on stream is the Orlu Regional Water Scheme. This scheme which is going to be located between Orlu and Ideato - at the point of Urashi River, is expected to supply water to all the twelve LGAS in Orlu Zone.

The Orlu Peoples Assembly (OPA), which you lead, was at the forefront of the re-election campaign of Chief Achike Udenwa. It looks like the group fizzled out soon after that objective was realised.

OPA was formed to champion the interest of Orlu region. At that point in time, the re-election of our son was considered an Orlu agenda and we made it our first assignment .We are grateful to other stakeholders in Imo who saw wisdom in supporting us to achieve this objective. But beyond parochial interest, Chief Achike Udenwa impressed us with his programs we could as well have rejected him if we saw him as a bad ambassador of Orlu zone. So primarily, he earned our support.

OPA is very much alive and we are still meeting. As long as there is an Orlu interest to be projected or protected, OPA would continue to be active. Before long, OPA would make public its next agenda which must include a political content on who takes over from Achike Udenwa in 2007. Orlu agenda must be pursued vigorously by OPA and we would never rest on our oars. If we have been found wanting, the active Orlu people known for their outspokenness would have wrestled us down.

You were in the national campaign team of PDP, people have accused PDP of rigging.

In a simple sentence PDP had a lot of advantages which could be itemised as the largest party

_Having sitting government within the advantages incumbency offers.

_Campaigned more than other political parties in Nigeria and finally had programs that were effectively marketed to the real voters not people that do politics on the pages of newspapers, airwaves and urban areas.

PDP has the reach and the largest campaign organization. These features we turned into an advantage.

I can make bold to say that having been part of the Obasanjo/Atiku campaign train that toured the country to solicit the peoples' votes I couldn't have expected a lesser result than what we got.

What is your opinion of political funding in the light of the godfather syndrome?

Godfathers are products of poor political education and lack of economic empowerment of the people. Godfatherism would only thrive in the midst of poverty of the mind and of the pocket. I believe that when the program of the Federal Government which is hinged on growing the economy and empowering the people is put in place, poverty which leads to accepting cash and carry politics would disappear. People can now judge candidates on merit and not ability to pay. It is only then that godfathers would be put out of business. Added to the above, the godfatherism would be over but the mercantile type is unacceptable. There should be legislation on how much one can raise or deploy in funding politics.

Security agencies and INEC must be truly independent and headed by men of integrity that can resist external influences by interested groups.

The people of South East must come together and chart a new political direction. What this translates into is that the Government, the Nwabuezes, the Anyaokus, and many others must in the interest of Igbo nation close ranks with the Ojukwu's, Nzeribes, Orji Kalus and some other radically minded people Igbos in order for our people to have an all embracing agenda and group goal irrespective of political leaning. Until that is done, we must miss the mark. Other ethnic nationalities have already passed this stage.

We must learn how to engage in long-term political plans. The true leaders should drop the Sidon-look-attitude and pick up the gauntlet to give Igbos direction and leadership. We need all the quiet Igbo leaders and radicals. The synergy would provide the bullet point for Igbo leadership. Igbos should be mindful of the emergency of overnight moneymen propped up from outside to destabilize us, this could be seen as another variant of marginalization. An Igbo leader must be seen not to have compromised his Igboness for financial rewards for him to be trusted and accepted.

As an Investor would you say the climate is friendly and what do you think can be done to cultivate the private sector investors?

The climate is friendlier today than yesterday. There is an improvement in power supply in the last few months that is a good index. Electricity has its own multiplier effect which touches on the operations of the investor on all fronts. There is likely to be cut-down in buying generators, maintenance and running cost of power generation.

There would be enough capital for raw materials and more production time which might optimize capacity utilization. But I must observe that the banks have not been fair to the industrialists, though this could be blamed on their deposit streak? The industries need long term loans since the productive activities have long gestation period before the returns on investment.

One hopes that with the establishment of bank of industries and good funding, more literal and supportive loans would be availed industrialists. But honestly, I have more hope in the system now than before.

What's your view on the Nigerian project and the Local Government Reforms?

I believe in the Nigerian Project. The reforms of the Local Govt. is not a bad idea.

It is not only the Local Government, the structures of Nigeria must be reformed via convocation of a conference of regions. It is expected that Nigerians should use such platform to address the issues of relationships, interests developments, co-operation, issues of state police, equitable and fair distribution of resources and power. The nation needs to be restructured to the extent that the Army, Central Bank, Postal Services, Defence etc. should be in the hands of the Feral Government.

The States should operate like a true federation that would remove the attraction the center offers.

Such reforms would be such that any money meant for Local Government administration is not diverted or cut by any tier of government ACHIKE UDENWA COMMISSIONS NAL MERCHANT BANK BRANCH IN OWERRI:
By Chidi Nkwopara in Owerri: August 31 2003