Hon. Dekeri Anamero, businessman, philanthropist, is a member representing Etsako constituency at the Federal House of Representatives in the 10th National Assembly. In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, the Okpella-born lawyer speaks on the prospects and challenges of governance in Edo State vis-a-vis the task of legislation in a country where citizens are impoverished and therefore need interventions in all spheres of life. Excerpts:
What prepared you for the onerous task of legislation in the Federal House of Representatives?
I believe public office is a position which you hold in trust for the people. Before my assumption of public office, I go around the length and breathe of Etsako communities using my foundation, the Anamero Idofe Foundation as a vehicle to deliver some forms of interventions here and there. I’m fully aware of the challenges and needs of our people. I know the staggering unemployment situation of our youths who need empowerment. We have ecological challenge. Our soil is loose, as such we suffer from the devastating effects of erosion. Our roads are bad and all. So, I’m fully aware of these challenges. I’m just two months into office and already hit the ground running. Of course, as a first-timer in the Green Chamber, I took time to understudy the place in order to know how things work. So far so good, I have gotten a hang of it. I wrote to the Ecological Office under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief George Akume on the need for the Office to come down to Etsako to observe things for themselves and see the sufferings and anguish of our people. To God be the glory, just last week, I got a call that the application has been approved and the team will be visiting in the coming week.
We’re also carrying out audit of what our predecessors have done with a view to know what’s pending and all. Thankfully, with the privilege conferred on me by my office I hope to do more as we go along to ensure that Etsako is removed from the present state of near hopelessness to where we desire to be.
As a first-timer did you ever feel intimidated given the enormity of the task ahead and the fact that this is a terrain you’re not familiar with?
Nobody can intimidate me. We’re about 316 members, we lost one of us. I think we owe ourselves mutual respect. Nigerians are looking up to us to make those enabling laws that would help us take Nigeria to the next level of development. Of course, it’s a learning curve for me like you rightly said. But like I said earlier on, I took my time to understudy the process. Looking at my own background as a private sector person, it’s about building trust. For instance, if you’re entering into a contract with a firm or any individual, let your words be your bond. I think this is the virtue that guides me and I’m also applying that rule now in my new role as a lawmaker. If your people come to you with a complaint or desire you to do something for them, if you cannot do it for them at that minute say so rather than make false promises. A situation where I’ll be duplicitous in character is not something that I’ll learn at this stage of my life now. By the grace of God, I’ll be 54 this year and what has sustained me up till this particular moment is that people know that my word is my bond.
Some legislators in the past have been accused of profiteering at the expense of their constituents maybe by misappropriating funds meant for constituency projects and all. What’s the assurance that you will not join the band of lawmakers who compromise their office for their own selfish aggrandizement?
At the beginning of our conversation I did let you know that going into public office doesn’t necessarily mean you’re the best at the time. It’s simply a position of trust you’re holding for the people. Don’t forget that the people that voted for you some of them can barely complete their three square meals in a day. There are some who may not even be able to afford a square meal. But they desired that you should be the one to represent them. If you now come and profit over those people to enrich yourself, along with your family to the detriment of those people, too bad. I feel that public funds come with blessings and curses. If you use it well, you’ll be blessed for it but if you feed on what ordinarily belongs to the poor people that God entrusted in your care, it comes with a curse. Look at history, there are countless people who followed that crooked path but they never ended well. So, to answer your question again, I won’t be a part of such enterprise. I’m here to make sacrifice of service and by the grace of God this is what I want to do.
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At the risk of preempting you, do you have a template of the number of bills you hope to pass in the next four years?
Of course, there are bills that I have but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet. However, I’ll just share a few insights. First of, I know we have talented youths and individuals in our federal constituency; they just need a sense of direction and a bit of not just empowerment but government needs to buy into their vision. There’s a bill that I’m proposing where the government will look at how to create a hub so that our talented youths can harness their potentials. We will also look at what we’re lacking in the health sector. There’s need for federal government presence in the health sector of Etsako communities. Again, if the opportunity beckons and where scholarships are being awarded to students, we should be able to key into it so that our people can also benefit from it. Then you also look at the level of illiteracy. I have passion for education right from time. My foundation has been involved in this over the years. This edition is probably going to be the 13th edition in the distribution of writing materials. I’m planning to distribute writing materials across the whole of Edo State. Before now, the maximum I used to do is 200, 000. But this year, by the grace of God, I’ll distribute 500, 000 exercise books across schools in the state. That’s a huge project on its own. There’s also the scholarship and enrolment support that I do. This time too, I want to do this beyond Etsako constituency.
There are some government policies that didn’t get the backing of the public. Take for instance, the cashless policy. People were generally opposed to it. It’s not as if the policy was bad in itself. But because of the poor literacy level of the people, majority kicked against it. I believe very strongly that if we step up the literacy level of of our constituency, when the government comes up with policies like this, we will no longer be afraid. The farmers need some level of support. Food security should not be compromised at all. In my private life, I have been supporting farmers. I assemble them in my community where we get experts to train them on best farming practices specifically on how to improve their yields and businesses generally and later support them as best as possible. I’m not going to rule that out now that I’m in public office.
In the area of security, we’re going to work with the government including the police along with the local vigilantes to ensure that our people will feel safe in their homes and be able to go to their farms without fear or threat to their personal safety as it were.
Edo State is one of the oil-producing states and also boast of mineral deposits in virtually every part of the state. But there are claims that the state may not have benefitted from its natural endowment as to be expected. What can be done in terms of legislation to address this?
Like you acknowledged, before now it has just been a case of exploitation, and this definitely does not consider the interest of the host communities, who by the way pay the ultimate prize. I keep telling our people that anything you mine from the soil or ocean does not return back to the same position. If you keep taking it without necessarily replenishing it, then it’s a problem. The question I continue to ask is what has these people got to show for it? I’m aware that the state government has done quite a few things. I’m also aware that there are many bills to that effect and these are some of the things we’re going to look out for to ensure that the God-given natural endowment is not used against them. Of course, if you want to invest in such communities, you must ensure that the people themselves are a major stakeholder in the business so that they can also get the benefit or the output of such investments. Certainly, the investment potential of Edo State is yet to be fully harnessed. I believe if we step up our efforts, the parlous state of affairs in the state in terms of economic wellbeing can improve significantly. All we need to do is to open the state up for investments.