Engineer Markus Gundiri is the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) gubernatorial candidate in? the election holding in Adamawa State next week. In this interview with newsmen, he spoke to a select journalists on his ambition and the form of government he intends to run in the state if elected. Chibuzo Ukaibe was there.
WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR OF ADAMAWA STATE?
It is not for lack of what to do in retirement. As a matter of fact, I am into international consultancy. So, in terms of what to do in retirement, I have much to do; but I want to be governor of this state, if it is God’s will, because I know I have vision and agenda on how leadership should be able to solve problems from questions to answers and not from answers to questions as we are now experiencing in Adamawa state. I want to be governor because there is urgent need to rescue our state from the present leadership that has very poor understanding of what justice means.
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT LACK OF JUSTICE??
Justice is the principle and practice of doing what is right, as key to peace, progress and equity. It is the virtue that brings people together to form communities and societies. Without justice there will be no society. Without it, society will make no sense. So, a leadership that has poor understanding of justice is a leadership that will only succeed in disintegrating society.
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WHAT IS YOUR POSITION ON THE ECONOMY OF THE STATE?
Right now, we have a dangerous pattern of economy. Our economy is an economy built on earnings of civil servants and what government can dish out. We have virtually no industries in this state compared to places like Kano, Rivers, Lagos and others that can afford to forget about the monthly subvention from the federation account. About six years ago, the Federal Government refused to give allocation to Lagos State for some local governments for over a year. The then governor, Asiwaju Tinubu did not cry. Nobody in his local government areas missed anything. If such a thing is tried in Adamawa State for just three months, the state will collapse and general breakdown in security and order cannot be avoided. So the unfortunate thing with Adamawa State is that we have had leaders who are ambitious to govern this state for the honor in it, instead of for service. Only a few of them had the knowledge that a state is never secured when it cannot be financially independent.
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WHAT APPROACH WILL YOU ADOPT IN TACKLING THIS PROBLEM?
In Adamawa State, our most reliable means for economic self sustenance is agriculture. Based on the manifesto of my party – ACN, I have my blue print on how and what to do about practically improving the ugly situation. However in my opinion, the most reasonable way to go about it is to call for an economic conference of the state, where indigenes that are known experts in various fields will be invited on local government basis. It is at this conference that I will present my blue print. The outcome of our agreement will spell out the economic policy for the state towards self sustenance. Whatever is finally agreed upon by the people shall be passed into law by the state House of Assembly
As an individual, just because you are a governor does not mean that you should unilaterally impose your dreams on the people. If as governor, I say okay the state should invest in Kolanut because there is much money in it in the international market and I invest so much in it and tomorrow another governor comes to take over from me and says, cashew nuts are better and forgets about the kola nuts on which I have already invested billions of naira, we will end up never forging ahead. But if the people say no we want mango as the economic main stay of Adamawa State and that is passed into law and every governor that comes will follow that until that law is abrogated.
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UNEMPLOYMENT IS A MAJOR PROBLEM HOW DO YOU INTEND TO HANDLE IT IN THE STATE?
The best solution lies in self employment because government cannot employ everybody. There are some youths that have dropped out from schools because they don’t like schooling and there are others that have completed school; either primary or secondary and are not interested in furthering their education even if it is free. There are others that have not had the opportunity to go to schools and have grown beyond primary school or secondary school age. So, we are going to establish in each local government area, an entrepreneurial centre where the youths can go to for guidance on what to do with their lives. For youths that have gone through tertiary institutions and have graduated and are interested in self employment, we shall float an advanced form of entrepreneurial centre with two in each senatorial district to take care of them. We shall try and have more of the skill acquisition centres introduced by Nyako. We shall have one more in each of the senatorial districts. The agricultural skills acquisition centre built by Nyako will be upgraded to something that will constructively eliminate unemployment especially among our youths that have gone through tertiary institutions. You may ask, why I want to encourage educated youths to go into farming. It is simply because there is true wealth in agriculture when handled in an enlightened manner and is reasonably backed by government. In each local government area, we intend to establish 1,000 hectares for irrigation farming. This means we shall have a total of 21,000 hectares for this. With two hectares to each youth, cultivated at least twice in a year, one will be making a good earning even more than what his colleagues in the state or federal civil service. We have plans to go into partnership with the Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority to manage the over 20,000 hectares of their irrigation across Adamawa state. Much of these had been developed long ago and all they now need is minor rehabilitation. The UBRBDA irrigation project in Adamawa State is capable of employing another 10,000 youths, with 2 hectares to each. In each of the local governments, we shall have a Labour and Productivity Department or Agency. We shall submit a bill to the House of Assembly for approval for the deduction of 2 to 5percent of the state earning for a sort of Employment Trust Fund, so that, money to help youths to take off in their self employed venture will readily is available. I also want to create or strengthen an Agency for Social Welfare with offices in all the local government areas. We have so many people at the grass root level that are truly hopeless, especially the widows, the disabled and older people. Government and the society must be responsible enough to stand by them. On routine basis government will have to assist in a lot of ways.
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YOU RAN AN ELABORATE CAMPAIGN, THAT SAW YOU IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE STATE, WAS THAT ACTUALLY NECESSARY WHEN YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED AT THE LOCAL COUNCIL LEVEL?
By my judgment, it was necessary to cover all the wards because this is the first time I am campaigning to be elected. It is reasonable to see for myself what the situation was truly on the ground with the people I want to govern. It is important for me to present myself as closely as possible to every electorate so that they will see me in person and directly hear from me. Power comes from God but I can tell you with one heart that, even if I don’t get elected by the majority of the people, I thank God for the experience and I pray that among those of us contesting, God will give them the best.
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GOING INTO THE ELECTION WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO THE ADAMAWA PEOPLE?
I want the good people of this state to know that, there is voting for stomach and there is voting based on moral principles. Voting for stomach always end up in regret. The regret may be immediate or it may take a long time before showing up. This time around the election ahead is not a contest that should be guided by hunger or money but by standing by the truth, in-spite of all forms of monetary inducement. To the educated people of Adamawa State, I say now is the moment for decision. The people depend on your enlightenment for guidance on the right thing to do, so don’t fail them.
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