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Tag: Emecheta

  • Why governorship should move to Anambra South -Emecheta

    Sir Jude Emecheta, is the Chairman, Obiano Support Group (OSG) in Anambra State. In this Interview with Nwanosike Onu, he talks about the preparation of his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, towards 2021 governorship election in the state, and why governorship position should move to the South Senatorial zone, among others. Excepts

    ANAMBRA governorship election is close and no serious thing yet from your party; what preparations are in the offing?

    You can’t say there is no preparation from APGA. APGA is in government, APGA is preparing every day. The governor is working on a daily basis, inspecting projects, commissioning new ones. So, Anambra State Government is working; APGA is preparing, the opposition does not have anything doing. We know that we are working; APGA is working.

    APC and PDP chairmen are tackling your party…

    APGA will still take over. APGA is the spirit of the Igbo man; APGA is the heart of Anambra

    But the zoning formula proposed by your party is not selling the other parties in Anambra .

    You see, Anambra did not sit down one day and took a decision; it is like in Nigeria; there is a burden on everybody.  The president should go north and south. When it comes to south, southwest will go, south-south will go, south-east will go. When it comes to north, they will share it the same way, three zones. It’s a moral thing; it’s the only peaceful way to bring the country together.

    In Anambra, fair enough, it started with the south; Mbadinuju, he ran a four (4) year term and it was chopped off the south and they did not protest. That’s why they want to return it to the south so that the south can complete their term. It went to Anambra Central, Anambra Central fondly enough, Dr. Chris Ngige took three years from APGA; when it was recovered from him, Peter Obi stayed eight years that makes it 11years from central and while Peter Obi an APGA man then, pleaded with   Ndi Anambra, let us go to the north so that there would be equity; there would be justice and Anambra was like, yes you are right.

    Those who came from the south; came from the central to contest, but they knew that the spirit of that equity was completely permissive in Anambra State and they allowed the north to go.

    Now as it stands today, if you say everybody has gone, let’s start all over, south will start because it all started from the south. But south was shortchanged. Somebody was telling me about Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, so how many months, how many years? We are talking about this current dispensation that the south for only four years and they should be allowed to do their own full tenure now for eight years, no matter how good, no matter how bad. Let them do their own eight years and then pass it on to another section, another zone of Anambra State. People are saying, when the south finishes, it will be thrown open.

    Many people in the state believe that  APGA administration has not done well to dictate to them, how true is this ascertain?

    When you combine PDP and APC opposition, that’s the kind of thing they are used to. I want to ask them what the man has not done well? Are the roads in Anambra bad? They forget that these roads were constructed about seven years back and they could not stand the test of time. But see the ones done by Chief Willie Obiano, you will see the difference.

    So what you are saying now is that your party is not afraid of the APC at the center and PDP with former Governor Peter Obi on the prowl?

    We are not afraid of APC because we know that the President, Muhammadu Buhari has shown character in conducting elections before now, otherwise, he wouldn’t have lost some states like Bauchi, Adamawa. He would have taken Adamawa from Atiku; he would have taken Bauchi by force; he would have taken Rivers State by force. But, he allowed the correct process to go; that’s why you hear APC lost in Adamawa, APC lost in Bauchi and contesting Kano which is his house, kind of a home for him. They are contesting it. Ordinarily, they shouldn’t be contesting Kaduna with Buhari but, he is a kind of upright person that left the electoral process to go in a right way.

    So we don’t see him coming to Anambra State to say “kill everybody; give it to APC” and we know he will not do it but, APC will have to present the candidate who will run the election here and be acceptable to the people.

    I do not believe that APC has an eye here.  But all I would say is that they should first agree to build a structure for the next eight years not for this one because, for now, they do not have a structure . Our friend and brother, Dr. Chris Ngige and the new woman, I don’t even know her name, I don’t know how they are going to do the magic here to win anything.

    So how many people are interested in the governorship of APGA now in Anambra?

    Let us not open the leaves, but we know a lot of people will be interested. We even have people who are out of the party, the party can even go and bring them in to come and contest this election. APGA has nice and qualified persons as good as Obiano .  I can’t begin to mention names. I will mention names when the time is ripe. But you should know that our party has people like Prof Chukwuma Soludo, Sir Vin Okolo, the MD of one of the new generation Banks, among others.

     

  • Obiano ‘ll be re-elected, says Emecheta

    Obiano ‘ll be re-elected, says Emecheta

    Sir Jude Emecheta is the Chairman of ‘Governor Willie Obiano support group’ in Anambra state. In this interview with NWANOSIKE ONU, he speaks on the governor’s second term ambition.

    The governor, Chief Willie Obiano, is facing many hurdles as the November 18 election draws near, especially the crisis in APGA. Why is it so?

    You are seeing hurdles, I’m not seeing any. I don’t see any APGA member against each other in this coming election in the state. I have always known that every election season, people who don’t want to contest election, but want money will always talk of frivolous black mail. If you don’t understand the system, you panic and try to give them money in order not to disrupt the system.

    Why has the national chairmanship of APGA suddenly become a hot cake?

    They want to be in a position to blackmail Obiano for money. If you don’t give me billions, I won’t give you the ticket. That is the slogan now. It has always been the Nigeria political system, that most aspirants would want to bribe the chairman for tickets.

    In the case of Obiano, APGA has concluded that he has no contestant and it happened in USA. If you are doing a good job, nobody will challenge you. Every member of APGA loves what Obiano is doing in Anambra State and will voluntarily vote for him without asking for a dime. But, they see that Dr. Victor Oye, is their stumbling block of not getting money from Obiano and that is the blackmail point.

    Even, if INEC comes to supervise the primary, the court will always tell you that the party chose who they want, but thank God, all their machinations will come to naught and I believe that the judicial system will not allow itself to be soiled.

    But, are you convinced that he has done well to deserve a second term?   Look at the issues as they are. It is not about being sycophantic. What was his vision for Anambra? Has it been tasted? I say yes and that is what the Federal government is trying to replicate at the federal level. Is he pursuing those visions? Yes.

    Agriculture remains the key to turning the economy around; it is not only exports. It is about having the raw materials available to produce those things that we import. Is he doing it? He is. He is supporting agriculture, disbursing the loans from the Federal government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the farmers with the help of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in training our youths at Mgbakwu for it. It is not about pumping money in agriculture, but building capacity for our young people.

    Those who live outside the state are clamouring to come back to join the agriculture revolution. That brings both employment and food to our people. Let me take the issue of MoU. Some people say he said he brought five billion dollar investment to Anambra. did he not?

    What I want to tackle on that issue is that I spoke with one of the technical people involved in the signing of the MoU, he told me that, when they wrote the proposal, dollar was hovering between N150 and N200 to a dollar and even in their proposal, they mapped out N250, thinking about the depreciation. The naira could not get as bad as 250. And the time they signed the MoU with Anambra government in investment, 250 million dollars, the naira depreciated between 350 to 400 everything with a gap of a hundred naira to a dollar.

    They had to go back to the drawing board. the technical partners had gone back to their banks abroad that the naira had changed, and they had to draw another plan, and this led to giving a year gap by the foreign banks to ascertain if the naira would stabilise at a particular point. So that has held the MoU for being actualised though they had brought in the machinery into the country. He said those criticising the MoU do not know what business is about.

    Is that the only reason you think the people of Anambra should return him on November 18?

    Before the end of the year, the economy will stabilise, based on the forecasts of the World Bank, federal economic team and the CBN. So Willie Obiano, has done well in Anambra. The most important is that no place can develop without security and that is the biggest achievement of Obiano by chasing away criminals from Anambra.

    Another four years, Obiano will achieve the turnaround in Anambra state economically, so that generations to come will not need to go to Abuja capital in hand begging for money. Anambra state would have had a solid economic base from Agriculture, natural minerals, including mining.

    Is APGA not  afraid of the APC or the PDP or even the PPA during the election?

    We have seen them over the years. They always come with this storm. We respect APC, PDP because they have formidable forces in Anambra state, they also have the wherewithal to share as usual, but if they had done it over these years and Ndi Anambra still voted for APGA, this one will not be an exception because Obiano has improved so much on what Peter Obi left. So, APGA is not afraid or scared of anybody because they do not have anything to tell Anambra people.

    The Federal Government is groping because of the mess left by the PDP and we have seen APC groping with numerous problems in their hands without knowing how to handle it. Also, our own brother in Imo state has not shown us any good example in governance. Therefore, if the people want to vote for good governance, APGA still stands the chance of nipping it on November 18.

  • Obiano ‘ll be re-elected, says Emecheta

    Obiano ‘ll be re-elected, says Emecheta

    Sir Jude Emecheta is the Chairman of ‘Governor Willie Obiano support group’ in Anambra state. In this interview with NWANOSIKE ONU, he speaks on the governor’s second term ambition.

    The governor, Chief Willie Obiano, is facing many hurdles as the November 18 election draws near, especially the crisis in APGA. Why is it so?

    You are seeing hurdles, I’m not seeing any. I don’t see any APGA member against each other in this coming election in the state. I have always known that every election season, people who don’t want to contest election, but want money will always talk of frivolous black mail. If you don’t understand the system, you panic and try to give them money in order not to disrupt the system.

    Why has the national chairmanship of APGA suddenly become a hot cake?

    They want to be in a position to blackmail Obiano for money. If you don’t give me billions, I won’t give you the ticket. That is the slogan now. It has always been the Nigeria political system, that most aspirants would want to bribe the chairman for tickets.

    In the case of Obiano, APGA has concluded that he has no contestant and it happened in USA. If you are doing a good job, nobody will challenge you. Every member of APGA loves what Obiano is doing in Anambra State and will voluntarily vote for him without asking for a dime. But, they see that Dr. Victor Oye, is their stumbling block of not getting money from Obiano and that is the blackmail point.

    Even, if INEC comes to supervise the primary, the court will always tell you that the party chose who they want, but thank God, all their machinations will come to naught and I believe that the judicial system will not allow itself to be soiled.

    But, are you convinced that he has done well to deserve a second term?   Look at the issues as they are. It is not about being sycophantic. What was his vision for Anambra? Has it been tasted? I say yes and that is what the Federal government is trying to replicate at the federal level. Is he pursuing those visions? Yes.

    Agriculture remains the key to turning the economy around; it is not only exports. It is about having the raw materials available to produce those things that we import. Is he doing it? He is. He is supporting agriculture, disbursing the loans from the Federal government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the farmers with the help of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in training our youths at Mgbakwu for it. It is not about pumping money in agriculture, but building capacity for our young people.

    Those who live outside the state are clamouring to come back to join the agriculture revolution. That brings both employment and food to our people. Let me take the issue of MoU. Some people say he said he brought five billion dollar investment to Anambra. did he not?

    What I want to tackle on that issue is that I spoke with one of the technical people involved in the signing of the MoU, he told me that, when they wrote the proposal, dollar was hovering between 150 to 200 naira to a dollar and even in their proposal, they mapped out 250 naira, thinking about the depreciation. The naira could not get as bad as 250. And the time they signed the MoU with Anambra government in investment, 250 million dollars, the naira depreciated between 350 to 400 everything with a gap of a hundred naira to a dollar.

    They had to go back to the drawing board. the technical partners had gone back to their banks abroad that the naira had changed, and they had to draw another plan, and this led to giving a year gap by the foreign banks to ascertain if the naira would stabilize at a particular point. So that has held the MoU for being actualized though they had brought in the machinery into the country. He said those criticizing the MoU do not know what business is about.

    Is that the only reason why you think the people of Anambra should return him on November 18?

    Before the end of the year, the economy will stabilise, based on the forecasts of the World Bank, federal economic team and the CBN. So Willie Obiano, has done well in Anambra. The most important is that no place can develop without security and that is the biggest achievement of Obiano by chasing away criminals from Anambra.

    Another four years, Obiano will achieve the turnaround in Anambra state economically, so that generations to come will not need to go to Abuja capital in hand begging for money. Anambra state would have had a solid economic base from Agriculture, natural minerals, including mining.

    Is APGA not  afraid of the APC or the PDP or even the PPA during the election?

    We have seen them over the years. They always come with this storm. We respect APC, PDP because they have formidable forces in Anambra state, they also have the wherewithal to share as usual, but if they had done it over these years and Ndi Anambra still voted for APGA, this one will not be an exception because Obiano has improved so much on what Peter Obi left. So, APGA is not afraid or scared of anybody because they do not have anything to tell Anambra people.

    Federal government is groping today because of the mess left by the PDP and we have seen APC groping with numerous problems in their hands without knowing how to handle it. Also, our own brother in Imo state has not shown us any good example in governance. Therefore, if the people want to vote for good governance, APGA still stands the chance of nipping it on November 18.

  • Nwapa, Emecheta were pioneers, says publisher

    Nwapa, Emecheta were pioneers, says publisher

    The late Buchi Emecheta’s literary voice was given expression through the support of Margaret Busby, who is reputed for being Britain’s youngest and first black woman book publisher. She co-founded Allison and Busby (1944 to 2011) with Clive Allison.
    Besides being her publisher, Busby also became the late Emecheta’s friend, even as she followed the writing career of Nwapa, though from a far. In an online interview with The Nation, after Emecheta’s death, Busby spoke on both writers.
    “It was an honour to be able to include both Flora Nwapa and Buchi in my 1992 compilation Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent. Hard to believe it is 25 years since that was first published.
    She added: “As I noted in that volume, Flora was the first African woman novelist to gain international recognition, with her 1966 novel being published in Britain in Heinemann’s African Writers Series. She was indeed a pioneer, as were the other African women also starting out in the 1960s and additionally exploring the genres of playwriting and poetry – with Ghana’s Efua Sutherland and Ama Ata Aidoo leading the way, alongside Southern Africa’s Bessie Head.
    “Little wonder that when Buchi Emecheta too began to write, in the early ’70s, she would be influenced not only by “the father of modern African writing”, Chinua Achebe, but by her trailblazing countrywoman, to the extent that the title of Emecheta’s The Joys of Motherhood directly alludes to Nwapa’s words at the end of Efuru. Just as Efua Sutherland in the early 1970s co-founded a publishing company, so in the 1970s did Nwapa, giving as one of her objectives “to inform and educate women all over the world…about the role of women in Nigeria, their economic independence, their relationship with their husbands and children, their traditional beliefs and their status in the community as a whole. “Emecheta, too, for a while became her own publisher. In such initiatives it recognised the need for African women to continue to make interventions in the literary world, and the likes of Bibi Bakare-Yusuf of Cassava Republic Press must be accorded every respect for building on that brave tradition.”

  • Renowned author Emecheta dies at 72

    United Kingdom-based renowned Nigerian author, Buchi Emecheta, is dead.

    She was 72.

    The author of The Joys of Motherhood, Second-Class Citizen and The Bride Price, was said to have died at her home in London.

    Emecheta’s books were on the national curricula of several African countries. She was known for championing women’s and girls’ rights in her writing, though she rejected the tag of a feminist.

    The award-winning writer is respected for her creativity and Afrocentric novels.

    Born in Lagos to Igbo parents, Emecheta got married at 16 and immigrated with her husband to London in 1962.

    Her works focus largely on child slavery, motherhood, female independence through education and are also based on her experiences as a single parent and a black woman living in Britain.

    “I work toward the liberation of women but I’m not a feminist. I’m just a woman,” she said.

    The topics she covered in her writing included child marriage, life as a single mother, abuse of women and racism in the UK and elsewhere.

    Emecheta said: “Black women all over the world should reunite and re-examine the way history has portrayed us.”

    %Reacting to the author’s death, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) President Denja Abdullahi said: “We have lost a rare gem in this field. Her works will forever live to speak for her. It is a sad loss to our circle. She was known for championing the female gender and we will forever miss her.”

    Emecheta had moved to the UK in 1960; she worked as a librarian and became a student at the London University, where she read Sociology. She later worked as a community worker in London for several years.

    She left her husband when he refused to read her first novel and burnt the manuscript, a World Service series on women writers reported.

    The book, in the Ditch, was eventually published in 1972. That and Second-Class Citizen, which followed in 1974, were fictionalised portraits of a young Nigerian woman struggling to bring up children in London.

    Later, she wrote about civil conflict in Nigeria and the experience of motherhood in a changing Ibo society.

    An assessment of her writing, published by the British Council, says: “The female protagonists of Emecheta’s fiction challenge the masculinist assumption that they should be defined as domestic properties whose value resides in their ability to bear children and in their willingness to remain confined at home.