Interview segment

Transparency has been my hallmark –Achina PG, Ezechukwu

The hallmark of every leader should be transparency in leadership. Hon. OCJ Ezechukwu, the President General of Achina Town Union (ATU), is one leader who ensures there is marked transparency in his leadership style. In this interview with our Editor-in-Chief, SUCCESS UCHIME, he examines this and many more. Excerpts.

Hon. O.C.J Ezechukwu

Question: May we meet you sir?
Answer: My name is Hon. Obiora Chukwuemeka John Ezechukwu (JP). I am the President General, Achina Town Union (ATU) in Aguata Local Government. I also work as the Supervisor of Education at the Aguata Local Government Area.

Question: For how long have you been the PG?
Answer: Well, I have been the PG of Achina people for three and half years now. We have just four years tenure, so very soon, I will leave office. There is a zoning arrangement in Achina, and after my tenure, which is the tenure of Umueze village, it will go to another zone, which is Umuleke.
Question: How has it been being the PG?
Answer: Really, it has been very challenging in many aspects. You see, as a PG, and as in leadership generally, you need to know what your people want and therefore go for it. We are having financial challenges. You know how things are in the country today, so it is reflecting on my people. The communities are not like the government thing where revenue comes to you at the end of the day. But we have to talk with the people, and convince them why it is proper for them to bring money. So it takes a lot of trust and if they are convinced, they will definitely bring the money to support your projects. To be candid with you, it has not been too easy at all.
Question: Do you have ongoing projects at present?
Yes, for sure. We started off in 2011, and we have so many projects. For instance, our town hall is ongoing now and our people are responding well. By the grace of God, we have got to the roofing level, but we have not commenced the roofing yet. It will definitely start in no distant time. We started the digging of catchment pits here and there because as you know, we have this erosion menace ravaging us. The catchment pits are for gathering water. So what we did was to mobilize our people, and as a matter of fact, we have spent well over N2 million on that.
Question: Did you get any grant for the projects?
No! My people raised the fund by themselves. Some philanthropists in the town contributed. You know we also have a community levy which is N1, 000 yearly per adult, so all that helped in raising the fund.
Question: To give money requires trust from the people. Do your people trust you enough to entrust such money into your hands?
As a leader, all you do is to be transparent. Anyway, prior to my becoming the PG, I have been the Secretary General of the town union for four years, that is from 2003 to 2007, and by 2011, I was elected the PG. All the while, I was operating from the background. So throughout my service to my people, it has been my style to let them know what I am doing, so transparency has been my hallmark. Because you are talking of transparency, what we used to do is to type all the account and distribute to the people. Every quarter, we do this to all the branches, we have 35 branches of the town union scattered all over the places. So we hold what is called the Central Working Committee (CWC) of our town union comprising the Secretary General and all the branch chairmen. We hold this meeting by Easter, August and December, and at the meeting, we summarize all we have done, put them on paper and share them with the people that attended the meeting. So as we did that, the people became surprised because that had not happened before. As a result of that, each time we request for money, the people will give because they saw the transparency in action.
Question: Anyway, let us move to the traditional institution. Some people suggest that the traditional ruler should be responsible for cultural aspects, while the PGs should be responsible for development projects. Do you share that view of separation of responsibility?
Answer: Yes, I do, but it should not be entirely exclusive. At times, there is an overlap. You do not leave the culture to the Igwe alone. For instance, in Achina, we usually organize what we call the Idegwu Day celebration. Idegwu is another name for Achina, it is the war name, and it is celebrated every three years. It comes up every December 31^st, and the aim is to mobilize our people to come back home from anywhere they may be. The town union organizes it, not our Igwe per say. You know people usually leave their towns to different places, so every three years, at least, they will come back home to rejoin with their relatives. We organized the last one and we are also organizing the one of this year. It is incumbent on the town union to organize it not the Igwe. But the pivot of it is that the person behind it is our Igwe because he is the custodian our culture, so we do accord him that respect.
Question: So what are you expecting in this year’s Idegwu Day?
Answer: Oh! It is going to be fantastic. Our people as usual are going to come back massively. It will be colorful, and if you come to Achina, you cannot see where to park your car. People are coming from here and there, because it is not an annual thing. Again, our Igwe will be celebrating his Ofala on the December 29 this year, and after that we start the Idegwu Day on the 31st. So, all roads lead to Achina on that very day.
Question: In some towns we hear of some friction. So what is your relationship with the traditional institution?
Answer: It is for some people who do not understand how things work. Ours is very cordial, in fact roles are spelt out in the constitutions of communities, and as such there is no need for frictions. You see, when there is an overlap of responsibilities, all we do is help the Igwe to achieve his objectives. So there is no rift in Achina between us and our Igwe. We have never seen a situation where the PG quarrels with the Igwe. Remember, if we quarrel with the Igwe, it is the people that will suffer for it.  So all we try to do is to ensure a peaceful co-existence between us.
Question: In Nigeria today, there is this issue of security challenge everywhere. So how has it been in your community security wise?
Answer: I think it is the same thing everywhere. You see, what happens in Anambra State is that the governor, Chief Willy Obiano has invested so much in security to curb crime. In fact, it started from Mr. Peter Obi and then to the present era. So there is minimal challenge, and the vigilante is always standing bye. We have a-20 man vigilant committee, and be reminded that they are being paid N10, 000 monthly by the government. Again, we have this security levy in our community paid by the people which we use to support the government’s efforts. We have a different account for that, different from that of the town union, and it is being managed by our Igwe and the PG who are signatories to the account. So if there is any security challenge, that is where we usually get the funds to intervene.
Question: Do you believe in the autonomy of the local government areas?
Answer: That is the panacea for grassroots government. I am calling for the autonomy of the local governments as that will enable the local government chairmen to optimally discharge their civic responsibilities to the people. The reason for local governments is to better the lots of the common man at the grassroots. So the chairman knows the people more than any other person, and he will be challenged to perform if the fund is given to him directly, and he should be able to know what to do with it. There is a lot for them to do in developing their various communities.  They know where the shoe pinches, so let the funds be left in their hands.
Question: As the PG of your people, what are your remarkable achievements so far?
Answer: They are monumental. You see the catchment pits we dug are helping our people in this erosion that is ravaging our people. Luckily enough, we approached the former local government chairman of our council, we told him of our erosion challenges, and he assisted us in building four culverts. Again, in order to check erosion, what we did was to ensure that no water goes out from any compound. It is a law in Achina, go to any household, you will see well-dogged wells where water is collected. You must dig and cover it properly so nothing falls inside it, and if you fail to comply, you will be fined N20, 000. In Achina, we have 23 quarters, and when the water comes from your house it flows to the one dug by the quarter. Each quarter has an erosion committee with a chairman and secretary to ensure compliance. They are under the PG, and enforce the law. They ensure that all quarters open the pit between January and March every year to evacuate the rubbish in there so water can flow very well.  You do not just see water anyhow and it is all about the incessant flooding and erosion we have in our community, and we need to checkmate it, we need to be proactive. Again, in 2012, we approached the ministry of environment and purchased seedlings up to N10, 000 and we planted them in all the erosion prone areas. That was why Achina was chosen by the state government last year for the tree planting campaign. The governor came to launch it by himself in Achina. I guess he was informed of our earlier effort towards that. Apart from that, we were able to mobilize our people for the town hall we are building. It was built in 1959, and 50 years after, we do not have a befitting place for our meetings and other social activities, it is quite appalling. The former PG did the foundation, but we have taken it to the roofing stage. It is going to cost about N10 million to complete. Our Igwe is also fully involved in it.
Question: What is your call to the entire Achina people?
I want to let them know that there is no other place one can get succor except at home. So I am calling on them to be more patriotic by contributing to the development of our town. Once they do that, they will be assured that the people are saved. So wherever they go, they will be free to enjoy themselves. If their community is not properly in order, they may have problem wherever they go. So let them come back home and help develop our dear town, Achina