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Anambra's deputy Gov Mrs. Etiaba: "I did not know Gov. Peter Obi until 2003; and why I said Obasanjo is father of the Nigerian nation...."

Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com and CLASS magazine, IgboEvents and The Black Business Journal

Dame Virgy Etiaba is a woman of history as deputy governor of Anambra State and as the woman who on the 3rd of November 2006, became the first female governor in Nigeria -- following the impeachment of his boss Gov. Peter Obi. After 100 days, the courts handed back Obi's mandate back to him; and Etiaba returned to the 2nd position. Many have wondered how she handled the relationship with Obi following her delay in handing back power to Obi. These and many more issues were explored by USAfrica's Founder & Publisher Chido Nwangwu and our editorial board member attorney Ken Okorie in this exclusive interview held in March 2007 in Richmond, Texas. Here are excerpts from our chat:

Chido: What is your relationship, business-wise, with Governor Peter Obi.

Mrs. Etiaba: Very cordial, very cordial and you know that it is very cordial. Because the year that I handed back the power to him, it showed people all over the world that it is cordial.

Chido: Somebody mentioned, I don't know if it is true that you taught him in school.

Mrs. Etiaba: Everybody is entitled to his/her opinion.

Chido: Ma'am, is true or is not true that some claim you taught Peter Obi in school?

Mrs. Etiaba: It's not true, I never even knew him until recently. I came to know Mr. Peter Obi, His Excellency, only within the period of politics 2003. Before then? No.

Chido: You're into the closing months of the first quarter of 2007 in your roles in the government of Anambra State, now as deputy Governor. Part of the history of Nigeria is that you became the first woman who, technically, rose to the position of Governor. What does this mean for the empowerment and advancement of women in politics of the country and in Africa as a whole?

Mrs. Etiaba: Partially, it is an elevation. Yes; it is the first time a woman came into power as first female governor and everyone knows that it is a sort of encouragement for women who look forward; who enter into politics to get to the top, and here is a lady that has arrived. So I must say that it is an encouragement. It is a way the Lord has made possible for women.

Chido: I remember you mentioned that given the nature of how you take politics, you love being referred to as 'Mama Anambra.' How do you see the Politics of rancor and bitterness, political violence, going on in the country, today.

Mrs. Etiaba: After my swearing in, I made an inaugural speech, thereafter I made my media broadcast to Anambarians. I told them that as far as I am concerned my major focus is to bring peace into Anambra because I know that without peace there will be no progress. So I decided with the help of God to make myself available as mother of Anambra state in such a way that everybody irrespective of party affiliation, religion, gender or ideology. A mother will never, no matter how bad a child is, a mother will never cast that child out. And that was and is still my own aim, so that I could treat everybody equally on the same footing.

Ken: Since the current civilian dispensation, we have seen a pattern of every government in Anambra state being besieged by what seems like institutionalized sequence of impediments. How do you see this? By that I mean you go back to the days of former Gov. Mbadinuju (from 1999-2003), from that to the governor after him (Chris Ngige) and to Gov. Peter Obi, that's before you took over, and then he came back and took his mandate. You see that there is a very systematic platform for somebody to counter everything the predecessor had done. How do you see this situation and what does it do to the politics of this state?

Mrs. Etiaba: It doesn't go well for the state and that was why I decided to answer that name of Mother. Mbadinuju was from the PDP party, Dr. Chris Ngige was also of PDP party, Mr. Obi APGA and myself APGA; and that was exactly what I detested. Each and everyone of them had his own program. At a certain point you find that the program was abundant, so when I came into power I felt that all the programs of Dr. Chris Ngige, and that of my predecessor; that I would have to re-visit all of them, and then add to them. And that was to say that I tried to bring all of their plans together, and show them that governance is not a personal affair. It is a humanitarian service whereby the Governor must have to be the chief servant and being the chief servant means that you have to bring everybody together.

Ken: Meaning, otherwise, trying to dispersonalize the business of government. But the way you started by identifying Ngige PDP, Mbadinuju PDP, Obi APGA. Yet you still see what would suggest that this problem, this pattern am talking about may not necessarily be patrician, may not be party driven. Would that be a correct observation and if so; and given the significance; the place of Anambra in the entire politics of the South East zone of Nigeria, what does all this mean and how do we get out of it?

Mrs. Etiaba: I think the step I have taken is a way to get out of it. Forget everything about politics, just see the state, see all the South Eastern states and say they all are Igbo states. So the important thing is for us to work to the progress, see how we can develop our states rather than trying to get things that will tear us apart. Let us look for those things that will unite us ; and move forward.

Ken: How did the PDP-dominated legislative branch receive this change in direction by you?

Mrs. Etiaba: It was well welcomed. You know that my boss (Gov. Obi)... actually both of us were to be impeached. But along the line, probably, after much thought I was dropped. As a result of it, I came in and said well I must have to work with all the legislators, and that word 'Mother' was a miracle and is still a miracle, because each time I talk to them I see them as my children and they call me 'Mommy' and you know what that means for favoring and that was how I got them. Even today they still obey me, call me mummy every-time.

Ken: Is this an indication then that we should strive to have more women in politics?

Mrs. Etiaba: Yes exactly; and I assure that what is happening in Nigeria, that if by the will of God a woman comes at the top, there must be a change because we have been endowed from ages by Almighty God. We have been given that gift on how to handle things.

Chido: On the issue of maternal reference and also paternal reference, one of the best editorial writers in Nigeria's newspaper, today, Okey Ndibe, -- I would believe you would have read his commentary --- wrote that when you referred to President Olusegun Obasanjo as the "Father of the Nation", he said: No, not his father of Nigeria, maybe yours for claiming Obasanjo as such. Ndibe listed the kinds of divisive politics the President had impacted on Anambra state, and other parts of the country. Personally, I note that in the realm of real politik; if I would utilize an Igbo metaphoric expression "akwa na akwa a buro ofu..." I understand the subtlety of being respectful, differential where necessary, but does your paternal appellation of father of the nation for the president Obasanjo get in his way of his being challenged to be fair and proper in handling of governance issues.

Mrs. Etiaba: There is one thing you need to know, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. My own opinion might not be the same as his or yours. And the way you perceive things may not be the way you also perceive. So I am not here to criticize the president.

Chido: No; Your Excellency. I am not asking you to criticize the president. The question is do you see him as deserving of the title of the Father of the Nation given the way he has handled or treated your won state of Anambra?

Mrs. Etiaba: Definitely, if any other person comes on board as president, he is "Father of the Nation." Just like I said, I am the Mother of Anambra. That much is simple. It doesn't matter how the person behaved as far as he or she is at the head; it is a title. You, Chido, can get there and you become "Father of the Nation."

Chido: In terms of the reality of the partisan contention for power in Anambra state, weighing the factor of PDP through their candidate Andy Emmanuel Uba, how do you compare those in relation to your own party, I believe you are still a member of APGA. There has been relative inability of APGA to organize professionally and seriously a few weeks to the April 2007 elections. We've not seen an adequate activation of APGA, that is, to put it politely. If the resources, the structure, the activism, the elements, the catalytic elements of running for political position are relatively weak, how are you going to seriously compete?

Mrs. Etiaba: To clarify, in the first place I am a member of APGA. I wouldn't like to dabble into PDP neither would I like to discuss personalities. But all I know is that according to constitution we are entitled to our four (4) years tenure. We're starting from the day we took the oath of office; that much is certain constitutionally. But we understand that in Nigeria anything can happen. But that not withstanding it doesn't mean that we are not mindful of what is happening. Apart from the governorship of elections, we still have others, House of Assembly, Senate, Federal House.... But all what I know is that we are there. We are running in 2007 and we are also pursuing our four (4) year tenure in court.

Chido: Let's move to non-political matters. The controversial issue of female genital mutilation, others assert this as regular circumcision. As a mother, grandmother and a community leader, national leader; what are your thoughts on that contentious matter..

Mrs. Etiaba: It has been a serious issue that has being taken to the House.

Chido: Which House? Assembly in Awka, Anambra state.

Mrs. Etiaba: Yes; so we are pursuing it , because it adds to the marginilization of women, to health hazards that is involved. So we as women, we are not taking it easily. . It is a serious matter; just like widowhood.

Chido: The other issue that we face is the issue of having voting rights. Nigerians abroad, as you know are predominantly persons from the South Eastern part of Nigeria which is part of your constituency. You've focused on the internal and local dislocations of Anambra politics, South Eastern politics with scant attention to the wider strategic imperatives of politics in Nigeria which will benefit your folks and others in government like you. Why are the governors of South Eastern states not actively agitating for voting rights for Nigerians abroad?

Mrs. Etiaba: Are you sure? Because to the best of my knowledge, in the year 2003, a lot of you came down from abroad for voting in Nigeria. But the problem we now have I think I don't really know if you all came down for revalidation of voters....

Chido: That's part of the game.

Mrs. Etiaba: Sure; because if you did not come to re-validate then you don't have the franchise.

Chido: I covered part of the South African elections, I believe in 1994. Their voting rights and centers were all over key cities in U.S. Only a last year, even Iraqis, were empowered to vote without having to travel back to their villages in Iraq. It is an issue that is important in order to further empower your constituency, the numbers are big. It's an issue of concern for Nigerians and the Igbo abroad.

Mrs. Etiaba: Yes, but don't you think it is now late. This issue, you would have raised it before this time.

Ken: It maybe late for this 2007 election but we have been pushing for this. I know the World Igbo Congress (WIC) raised during the 1999 elections, and the 2003 elections. When you have people (Nigerians) who have lived here for the last thirty (30) years, fully engaged with family, work and everything else, I think it is unrealistic to expect all of them to massively come down to Nigeria to validate voting particulars and details. So, just like Chido explained these countries have made it possible to utilize the services of their embassies here and support of the US state Department and NGOs.

Mrs. Etiaba: Am sure that was an oversight, we should have followed that line of validation because I can't even see how you people could have trooped down. Although there was a short of time frame but even then it couldn't have been possible. So these are some of the things that need to be done.

Ken: Only recently the Minister of Information Nweke made a statement in London suggesting that Nigerians in the Diaspora are not really relevant to the process at home. If that is the mindset of the Obasanjo government, then....

Mrs. Etiaba: It could be a slip of tongue because I know that you people are contributing a lot.

Chido: What do you do to relax other than politics.

Mrs. Etiaba: I am a teacher by profession and I own a school. I am a school proprietress of fame.

Chido: Do you engage in any extra curricular activities.

Mrs. Etiaba: Church activities of which the Lord Almighty according to people is rewarding me.

Chido: And you have been blessed with very successful sons and daughters. What are their names.

Mrs. Etiaba: Exactly, I have been blessed.

Chido: What are their names in order of seniority

Mrs. Etiaba: I have Benneth who is a Chartered Accountant and one time President of Chartered Accountant of London. I have Emeka Etiaba who owns a big firm in Nigeria; Lawyer and practitioner. I have the third one in London, his in charge of Gallery magazine. his my third son; Henry Etiaba. And here you meet Echezona another lawyer, he has a big firm in Portharcourt and my daughter who is also a lawyer in Nigeria and then the last one is a bank manager in Nigeria. I have two daughters, two females and four males. I have nine grandchildren.

Chido: What guides you. What is your motto?

Mrs. Etiaba:

Do unto others as you will wish them do to you.

Ken: I think it is refreshing to hear a politician talking real family terms. It is quite refreshing. What can we do to facilitate or promote the enhancement of women participation in Nigerian politics.

Mrs. Etiaba: Okay, USAfrica as an institution or you as a male or what?

Ken: As an institution.

Mrs. Etiaba: I think the best thing is as much as possible USAfrica and CLASSmagazine should try to project the image of women in such a way that it will encourage others. I have seen that not much publicity is given to women affairs in our country. Such a move will go a long way. Publicize whatever good that is done, publicize the women that have made it like, Prof. Dora Akinyuli, Oby Ezekwesili, Ngozi Iwuala, Joy Emordi, you talk of eh, it appears that I am one sided talking of only the Igbos, and we have the Yorubas as well as others.

Chido: We want you to speak on the very historical significant period, the One hundred days you lead Anambra state; especially, what would you consider the high point of that period?

Mrs. Etiaba: Thank you very much. I think I have to start by at least talking from the time I was sworn in first as the Executive Governor of Anambra state. It happened on the 3rd of November 2006, and you must have known that it was as a result of impeachment of Mr. Peter Obi, my boss. As you know, constitutionally, it then became necessary for me to take up leadership. But before then I hesitated , after a while but within 24 hours due to pressure from stake holders from my party APGA and also constitutional lawyers, I had to step into that shoe and I was there for 100 days during which I must say that I had no breathing space because I had to make my presence felt in and around the country, Africa and the world as a whole, for being the first Female Governor. So while I was in office, we tried as much as possible to tow the line of millennium development in developing all the sectors of the economy, construction of roads, education sector, the health, industry and commerce, agriculture, and whatever would that would be done to keep Anambra forward.

Chido: Thank you, Your Excellency, on behalf of USAfrica and CLASSmagazine.

(©2007.USAfricaonline.com)

Many Nigerians still feel disappointed that a man (Obasanjo) who had gained so much from Nigeria would cling so tightly to power, even against the popular will of the people, moreso with age, energy and fresh ideas for a new era not on his side.

Also, USAfricaonline.com review of Nigeria's recent history show that President Obasanjo seems to be moving rapidly into the zone of ill-repute of his former military colleagues who, like him, refused to leave office when it was time to go. Gen. yakubu Gowon in 1975; Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in 1993; Gen. Sani Abacha in1995, 1996, 1997, 1998. More baffling many Nigerians we interviewed recall is the lessons of the excesses of the late Gen. Abach who jailed Obasanjo while the former schemed to remain in power. For the special report by USAfrica multimedia networks' Publisher Chido Nwangwu, click on 3rd term.

His globalist underpinnings and outlook are truly reflective of the true essence of his Igbo world-view, his Igbo upbringing and disposition. Igbos and Jews share (with a few other other cultures) this pan-global disposition to issues of art, life, commerce, juridical pursuits, and quest to be republicanist in terms of the vitality of the individual/self. In Achebe's works, the centrality of Chi (God) attains an additional clarity in the Igbo cosmology... it is a world which prefers a quasi-capitalistic business attitude while taking due cognizance of the usefulness of the whole, the community. I've studied, lived and tried to better understand, essentially, the rigor and towering moral certainties which Achebe have employed in most of his works and his world. I know, among other reasons, because I share the same ancestry with him. Permit me to attempt a brief sentence, with that Achebean simplicty and clarity. Here, folks, what the world has known since 1958: Achebe is good! Eagle on the Iroko, may your Lineage endure! There has never been one like you!
Ugo n'abo, chukwu gozie gi oo!. Chido Nwangwu, recipient of the Journalism Excellence award (1997), is Founder and Publisher of USAfricaonline.com (first African-owned U.S.-based professional newspaper to be published on the internet), USAfrica The Newspaper, CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal. He has served as an adviser to the Mayor of Houston on international business (Africa) and appears as an analyst on CNN, VOA, NPR, CBS News, NBC and ABC news affiliates.

CLASS is the social events, heritage excellence and style magazine for Africans in north America, described by The New York Times as the magazine for affluent Africans in America. It is published by professional journalists and leading mulitmedia leaders and pioneers.

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DEBATE: How Black intellectuals let Africa down, and western stereoptypes complicate the rest. By Cedrick Ngalande at the USC, Los Angeles Africa suffers the scourge of the virus. This life and pain of Kgomotso Mahlangu, a five-month-old AIDS patient (above) in a hospital in the Kalafong township near Pretoria, South Africa, on October 26, 1999, brings a certain, frightening reality to the sweeping and devastating destruction of human beings who form the core of any definition of a country's future, its national security, actual and potential economic development and internal markets. 22 million Africans HIV-infected, ill with AIDS while African leaders ignore disaster-in-waiting In a special report a few hours after the history-making nomination, USAfricaonline.com Founder and Publisher Chido Nwangwu places Powell within the trajectory of history and into his unfolding clout and relevance in an essay titled 'Why Colin Powell brings gravitas, credibility and star power to Bush presidency.' Powell named Secretary State by G.W. Bush; bipartisan commendations follow. AFRICA AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS Beyond U.S. electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic republic hold lessons for African politics. CONTINENTAL AGENDA Bush's position on Africa is "ill-advised." The position stated by Republican presidential aspirant and Governor of Texas, George Bush where he said that "Africa will not be an area of priority" in his presidency has been questioned by USAfricaonline.com Publisher Chido Nwangwu. He added that Bush's "pre-election position was neither validated by the economic exchanges nor geo-strategic interests of our two continents." These views were stated during an interview CNN's anchor Bernard Shaw and senior analyst Jeff Greenfield had with Mr. Nwangwu on Saturday November 18, 2000 during a special edition of 'Inside Politics 2000.' Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the U.S., and immigrant home to thousands of Africans) argued further that "the issues of the heritage interests of 35 million African-Americans in Africa, the volume and value of oil business between between the U.S and Nigeria and the horrendous AIDS crisis in Africa do not lend any basis for Governor Bush's ill-advised position which removes Africa from fair consideration" were he to be elected president. By Al Johnson Johnnie Cochran will soon learn that defending Abacha's loot is not as simple as his O.J Simpson's case. By Chido Nwangwu Should Africa debates begin and end at The New York Times and The Washington Post? No Cheryl Mills' first class defense of Clinton and her detractors' game  It's wrong to stereotype Nigerians as Drug Dealers Private initiative, free market forces, and more democratization are Keys to prosperity in Africa Apple announces Titanium, "killer apps" and other ground-breaking products for 2001. iTunes makes a record 500,000 downloads. Steve Jobs extends digital magic CLASS is the social events, heritage excellence and style magazine for Africans in north America, described by The New York Times as the magazine for affluent Africans in America. It is published by professional journalists and leading mulitmedia leaders and pioneers.