Senator Florence Ita Giwa was Presidential Liasion Officer on National Assembly to President Olusegun Obasanjo. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about her passion for climate change, the Calabar festival, politics and more.
WHAT are the things that occupy your time now? I am still politically active. I have to be, especially when you have followers like I do. I also have a number of special issues that I am passionate about; things like the resettlement of Bakassi people. I still have those issues to address and politics is the only platform I have to use to attend to those issues. So, I cannot retire. I will probably work all through my life, as long as I can walk. I am still very much politically active; it is just that this (the environment) is an interest that I have just developed now. I think it is a major issue that needs to be addressed.
You were in the PDP, now you are in APC, what does this mean to you?
I left PDP a long time ago and I am happy I left. There has not been anything in the past two years because PDP does not have a party anymore. I don’t like getting involved in factions, they were fragmented and as a mother, I don’t know who to take sides with and so I just stayed away. So, what I now did was to decide that I want to just get back on my platform; let me go and start afresh. As a matter of fact, most of my contemporaries in politics are in APC. You remember that when I was in the Senate, I was APP then. So, most of those my colleagues went back and I feel more comfortable that I am with my contemporaries.
Let’s talk about your passion for the environment, how did it all start?
I would say that being in politics has tremendous advantages and also a lot of disadvantages. If you do politics well, it is a platform that allows you dabble into areas that you are not conversant with ordinarily or do not know anything about. Politics allows you to learn on the job. For instance, you can make someone Minister of Health and the person would have to start learning, because if you are heading a ministry, you must know about the ministry. So, that is why they appoint people other than their areas of specialisation. I went to the 2014 conference and it was a conference that I went to reluctantly.
I didn’t think anything would come out of it, but when I was nominated, I just had to accept it. For me, I was just to go, come out and do my business. Just to listen to people ventilate and if I felt like ventilating about Bakassi, I would do that. But two things happened; first the conference was unmanageable at the beginning. It was so rowdy and there was so much tension. The chairman of the conference then was an elderly man, not a politician and had little patience with politicians and so the second day he came to announce that he could not manage the conference from his findings and that the rest would have to go back for about a week and he would be meeting with 50 members. And if he called the names of the 50, if anyone had any objection they could shout. If they did not want the 50, then the conference would stop. Obviously, Nigerians didn’t want the conference to stop. He did that and I heard my name as one of the 50 at that conference of over four- something thousand. I joined and in the end we brought back the conference. For the formation of the committees of the conference, he came again and apologised that the location of the conference did not allow him room to create as many committees as he should have mandatorily, and said he was going to cut down a number of committees. Normally, they would have been like 30 or 40 but he had to cut it down to 20 because he had only 20 meeting rooms. I had deliberated in my mind that if anyone asked me to be in charge of women affairs, I would not take it. I do not have such time. For me, there is nothing to talk about apart from affirmative action and all that, which I do not believe in. So, I would be the wrong person because I believe it is undemocratic for women to look for positions without contesting for it, except in appointments. Surprisingly, in the course of announcing his 20 names, Ita Giwa’s name came up as chairman of the committee on environment and I knew nothing about the environment. Absolutely nothing, apart from the fact that we have seasons and all that. At the conference, most of the major environmental activists were there; Prof Ochefu, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benue, Nimmo Bassey, Prof Nwajuba, who was also recently made a VC. There is also a traditional ruler of Abuja and there was a young lady who just finished her doctoral in environmental studies, a northern girl from Maiduguri. So, they made me chairman and made the girl the vice chairman. I had about 30 people from environmental constituency, activists and about five professors. One thing you learn in politics is confidence. I was quite overwhelmed and worried about how I was going to manage, because these are the people to live and fight environmental issues. But by the time we had the first meeting, I told them I didn’t know much about the environment but I was ready to learn. Along the line, we discovered a lot of shocking things. To cut the long story short, the committee presented the best report of about one hour, forty minutes, of the outcome of our work. At the end of every session, the chairman of the committee must go out and address the press and by the first week, I could talk about the Ozone layer, environmental degradation, deforestation, afforestation. I wasn’t sleeping; I was working day and night. I took time to go and read and I kept them awake. Sometimes, we were working till 3 or 4am.That was how I became emotionally involved with environmental issues.
After that conference, I went back to Calabar for the carnival. When people see us dancing in the streets, it is not just dance. The carnival is a very, very intellectually challenging exercise. When you are given a topic, you have to invite the professors to dig in and do extensive research, depending on the theme. For instance, the year I won before this year, we did what was called the migration of Efik Kingdom. I had to go back everywhere to dig the story and it is very historical, like the Benin Kingdom. I got a brilliant person, Kalu Ikaikor, who acted the role of the Obong of Calabar and Lillian Bach was the queen of the ocean. The Calabar people believe very much in the queen of the ocean, who guided the king until he got to his final place of abode, which is creek town and subsequently Calabar. That was years ago, I came first and played it very well. In 2015, the governor came up with a theme, Climate Change. It was as if he was reading my thoughts. I have my report on climate change, went back to it and got two professors from Akwa Ibom. So, we had to turn the climate change to a story. So we had to interpret climate change through dance and costume. It also would have a message or campaign on the mitigation of climate change. We had to now personalise it. In 2015, there was a world conference on climate change in Paris where MOU was signed on what every country should go and do. Climate change is real; even though Trump came and said it is not true, God has shown him.
What drives you to do the things that you do?
Passion. Whatever I do, I give my all and for me, I am ready to make my contributions to this country in any area; be it the environment, be it women, medical issues or politics. I am also working on a conference on women leaders, entrepreneurs and other professionals. Here, about 80 active women would sit down and talk about Nigeria, so that they would not feel that we do not have a voice. We would talk about things like restructuring, the economy, hate speeches, the environment, climate change and all that. We have to keep talking and I am enjoying my life working. What happens to politicians is that if you are a minister, Senator or House of Rep member, once you finish, then you would just disappear. No, I will remain visible and Nigerians appreciate me, so I have to keep working.
A lot of young women find it difficult penetrating politics. What’s the secret of your success?
I will not deceive them by telling them that it is easy, but it requires a lot of resilience, hard work and determination. Even at my level, they are still fighting me and I am fighting them back. So, it is not easy but it is something that can be conquered. Once a woman conquers fear, then they know that this country belongs to all of us and that is what works for me. I am very happy with my job; I like what I am doing and I intend to continue.
In spite of your busy schedule, you are always looking radiant. How do you manage to do this?
I think style is an inborn thing. It depends on how you came into the world, what you appreciate. For me, it is very, very important that a woman takes care of herself and looks good. It is important that you try to maintain yourself for as long as you are in this world, until you leave. You have to have time for yourself. As crazy as my world is, I always have time for myself.
To unwind, I stay at home, watch TV, listen to music and play with all these children. This is number thirteen of the children that I have adopted. She was adopted under the age of four months. There are a lot of interesting things that I do and I attend to many social events. Just generally, I love to look good, feel good and I do my exercise and watch what I eat. In my spare time, I have a lot of things that engage me.
You have continued to be relevant on the political and socio-economic scene over the years. What is the magic?
It is hard work because you have to make yourself relevant or make yourself irrelevant. If for instance, you finish an assignment as Senator of the Federal Republic or Minister and retire home, then that is what you came out for. I didn’t come out for that, I just came out to join politics and used it as a platform to deal with so many issues. My mum was active as a journalist almost till she passed on. She retired from Daily Sketch and a few years after she passed on. So, I am coming from that background. I had a mother who was a journalist, dressmaker and a trader.
If you have to advise President Buhari, what would you tell him?
I would tell him to address the needs of Nigerians and ensure that Nigerians see that positive change that was promised them. Then all these people that carted away Nigeria’s money, there should be evidence that they have been prosecuted, so that next time it would not happen again.
What advise do you have for young people?
I keep telling women that there is a limit to how far you can go, if you want to use your pretty face. Women just have to be strong. If you are lazy, you wear out. At some stage, nobody would look in your direction. But at any age, people would look in your direction, if you are hardworking. Women need to brace up themselves to work hard.
