Imansuangbon
Kenneth Imansuangbon, a lawyer, is the proprietor and chairman of the Abuja-based Pacesetters Group of Schools. Now in the race for the governorship of the state on the platform of All Progressives Congress, Imansuangbon says, if he becomes governor, he would deploy his experience in the private sector and links with the international business community to attract serious investors that would help to revolutionise the economy of the state, create jobs, and create wealth.
But Imansuangbon, confident of victory in a fair poll, warns that APC must conduct a credible primary next month to pick a popular candidate that would help to summon the strength the party needs to win the governorship election fixed for July. He speaks with some journalists in Lagos. Vincent Obia was there. Excerpts:
On why he wants to be governor of Edo State.
I want to serve basically because I want to bring hope to the ordinary Edo person. We cannot fold our arms and watch events drift. The governor has done well; he has given his best to the state. But I think in Edo we can do better, especially, by creating jobs. The younger generation needs to be taken care of. Our young school leavers have no jobs. When you create jobs, you address the issue of insecurity, because when people are engaged, you cannot see them loafing on the street. The state of insecurity today is as a result of unemployment.
I want to serve basically because I want to bring hope to the ordinary Edo person. We cannot fold our arms and watch events drift. The governor has done well; he has given his best to the state. But I think in Edo we can do better, especially, by creating jobs. The younger generation needs to be taken care of. Our young school leavers have no jobs. When you create jobs, you address the issue of insecurity, because when people are engaged, you cannot see them loafing on the street. The state of insecurity today is as a result of unemployment.
When I’m governor this year, by God’s grace, my first priority would be how to create jobs for the younger generation. By the time we create jobs, we take the bad boys and girls off the street, and that means less work for the policemen and other security agents.
Our schools will have my focus. I’m from the private sector. In Abuja, of course, we all know Pacesetters. With the support of my wife and others, we have been able to revolutionise the school system in Abuja through the Pacesetters Schools. I will bring my experience in Abuja to bear in Edo State when I’m governor.
Governor Oshiomhole has done his best, but I will improve on what he has done.
Is it possible for us in Edo State to have free education from the primary school to the university? Yes, it is possible. When I’m governor this year, I will give free education from the primary to the secondary, up to the university. You would say, where will I get the money? It is simple: block the leakages. When you block the leakages, you push the money to the benefit of the people. To benefit the people means, give free education.
What about the taxes, the internally generated revenue? We will make sure the IGR does not end up in private pockets. The problem in our country, let’s face it, is corruption. It is sad that our leaders have failed the country. This is why I call on all Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to fight corruption. It is a monster; we must defeat the monster called corruption in our country. There is no country that is focused and has a destination that would fold its arms and see corruption in every nook and cranny of society. It has spoiled the fabric of the Nigerian nation. So when I see people saying Buhari is too hard on corruption, I laugh. When I’m governor in Edo, I assure you, in the name of God, I make the solemn promise that there would be no corruption in my tenure.
On his private sector background and how he intends to bring discipline to the public service.
We have had a chequered past as a people. My experience in the private sector will be of immense benefit to the people of Edo State, if I become governor. Indiscipline and the old past will be confined to the dustbin. When I’m on board as governor, from day one there will be accountability. Things will be done the way they ought to be done. I will live by example. As a true servant of the state, I will make sure there is fiscal discipline.
Principally, we will address the economy of the state, and the way to address it is to diversify our economy. We are tired of this economic monoculture, where we wait until Abuja gives us cheque before we can run the state. When I see people say we have done well as a government because we have been able to pay salaries, I laugh. The duty of government is not to pay salaries, the duty of government is to make sure that every citizen of the state or country is well taken care of, in terms of job creation, medical attention, etc. Good government must take care of its own.
On his agricultural policy.
My experience in the private sector would help to reposition the state. For example, in agriculture, state governments of today do not address the issue. In my first 100 days in office, we would all go back to the farm. Edo is blessed; you don’t need fertiliser to be able to plant anything in the state. I would turn Edo State into a farm plantation, where every young school leaver, rather than being on the street doing nothing, harassing people on the street, would return to the farm.
On his agricultural policy.
My experience in the private sector would help to reposition the state. For example, in agriculture, state governments of today do not address the issue. In my first 100 days in office, we would all go back to the farm. Edo is blessed; you don’t need fertiliser to be able to plant anything in the state. I would turn Edo State into a farm plantation, where every young school leaver, rather than being on the street doing nothing, harassing people on the street, would return to the farm.
Let’s go back to the farm. Even when God created man, the first instruction He gave man was to till the ground. That means our wealth lies in the ground. You can only find the mineral resources in the ground. You find good agricultural produce in the ground. I would open up Edo, and each senatorial zone will have a farm plantation. That takes me to the rice plantation. I have been sharing rice for the past 10 years, using my hard-earn resources to buy rice and share in every nook and cranny of Edo State. If I’m elected governor, we would have three rice plantations, where we would have enough to eat, sell, and export. Edo will export rice when I’m governor. We would engage workers to produce rice.
What about the tomato juice industry? We can plant tomatoes and have cottage factories, where we turn tomato not only to paste, but only to juice. If we decide to export Edo tomato paste and Edo tomato juice to Lagos, and they know that our standard is good and the cost is competitive, we would flood Lagos and the West African sub-region with Edo juice and tomato paste. So agriculture is a big avenue for us to create jobs in my first 100 days in office. But to be able to do that, security is important.
On his security strategy.
We must have a secure state. So when I come on board, God willing, this year, I will give amnesty to all criminals in the state with a proviso that they commit never to return to crime. We would make sure that if you commit crime again, you will bear the consequences. We would have a crime-free state so that we can attract investors, so that we can have our friends from the neighbouring state come to invest in a fertile Edo State. Edo will be a destination point for investors.
We will make sure that taxes are low. I will cut taxes when I am governor of Edo State so that we can attract investors.
My contact with corporate America will be a blessing to Edo State. I’ve already spread out my search to serious countries in the world, and they are all waiting. If the state gets me on board, I will use my contact with the corporate American world to bring serious investors to Edo State. Edo will be open to the world.
The civil servants are products of political leadership. Good government would produce good civil servants. I will reposition the civil service. We would redirect their knowledge, reorient and train them and prepare them for effective 21 century civil service structure.
On how confident he is that there would be a level playing field during the APC governorship primary, especially, in view of the allegation that the two main leaders of the party in Edo State, the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, and Governor Adams Oshiomhole, already have favourites among the aspirants.
A big question! Quite honestly, I’m afraid; I have my fears about the Nigerian factor. But I also have my hope and my faith in the Buhari factor. The Buhari factor would checkmate the Nigerian factor. I don’t think Buhari would watch to see a wrong primary in Edo State. He has got a name. At 73, a onr-time Head of State, back after about 30 years, he suffered what I am suffering now. Thrice he was robbed. By a twist of fate, act of God, and the will of the Nigerian people, he came back. At that level, I think Buhari would allow a free and fair primary. Oyegun is also a man I have tremendous respect for. He has promised us that there is no zoning, the party would organise a credible, free and fair primary. The strength of the party can only be seen in a free and fair primary. Edo would further strengthen the Buhari example. If we have a free and fair primary in Edo, APC will be further strengthened. If we have a free and fair primary in Edo, the Nigerian democracy would benefit, the ordinary people in Edo would benefit. But if allow the tyranny of the few, we will be going back to the ugly past.
I don’t think Edo would like to go backward. I think Edo people are resolved, I think even Governor Oshiomhole is resolved to have a free and fair primary. It is only in a free and fair primary that Governor Oshiomhole can have a good and better successor. My prayer for Governor Oshiomhole is for him to allow and support a free and fair primary. My prayer for Oyegun is for God to help him to have the courage to organise a free and fair primary. We will not negotiate a free and fair primary in APC in Edo. Even at the general election, Edo people cannot have anything less than a free and fair general election.
So I call on INEC to be vigilant, and I also respectfully call on Mr. President to be vigilant. Nigeria cannot be taken back. Buhari means change. The victory of Buhari is not his personal victory, it is the victory of the Nigerian people and Africa as a whole, because what Buhari represents for us is hope for tomorrow. Some of us are back to APC because we know Buhari is a man of righteousness. That is the hope I have. But if we truncate the hope of a free and fair primary, then what will Nigerians do? This year, Edo must survive. Free and fair primary is non-negotiable.
On his fears for the primary?
We’ve had a lot of concerns. It is in the interest of our state to allow a free and fair primary. A free and fair primary will guarantee victory for the APC and Edo people. It will send a message to the world that the Buhari change is real. The country is evolving; we cannot afford to snowball into the ugly past. My fear is about the Nigerian question and the Nigerian factor, the Nigerian inherent problem. My fear is that there are mischief-makers all the time within the system wanting to subvert the will of the people. But with the Buhari victory, every Edo person, every Nigerian person is now vigilant. We are now watchdogs of democracy.
On whether zoning would affect him negatively in the governorship race.
The apostles of zoning are weak-minded people. It is only a weak candidate or politician that would fan the embers of zoning. If you are loved by the people, if you are credible, acceptable, and sellable, you would not be playing the card of zoning. The question we should be asking in Edo now is who is the most qualified person to create jobs for the ordinary Edo people? When a man is hungry, he is not hungry because he is a Benin, Ishan or Afeman. When a man is unemployed, he is not unemployed because he is an Ishan, Afeman, or Benin.
When a man has cancer and he does not have money to treat himself, the cancerous cells do not inflict that injury on the person because he is a Benin, Yoruba, Igbo, Calabar or Hausa. Let’s take away the word, zoning, and let’s emphasise the credentials, the potentials in the candidates. Who is the candidate that can build roads, schools, create jobs for the younger generation, and fight insecurity? I believe, with all humility and respect for other aspirants and our great party, APC, that I have paid my dues.
What the delegates should be looking at is, in the past 10 years, where has other candidates being on issues? What have you done for the people? In terms of education, where were you? How many scholarships have you given out to the indigent students? You have agricultural farm, how many pineapples have you been able to distribute? Your wife is a doctor, how many medical retreats have you been able to organise?
Show me an aspirant who has given so much to the people, I will tell you a candidate who would win the coming election. And with all due respect, I, Kenneth Imansuangbon, have been on the side of the people for the past 13 years in Edo State.
I stepped down for Oshiomhole in 2006. Not only stepping down for him, I gave him three buses.
On why he stepped down?
I was a founding member from ACD to ACN. He came from Labour Party. Oshiomhole is a great guy, he is my in-law. You know, whatever he wants from you, he will get it. Give it to him. Smart guy. We spoke and I said, fine, since you are my in-law, I would dump my ambition. Myself and Chally Tempo, we were set to do a ding-dong primary. But I stepped down, Chally Tempo ran against him. No hard feelings. But what I want from the APC national leadership is a free and fair primary so that our party can defeat PDP. If I win, good, if any other aspirant wins, good. But for us to be able to fight a formidable opposition like PDP, we need to have a free and fair primary so that whosoever wins will know he deserves to win. But if you force a candidate on anybody, that will not be acceptable. The consequence of that will be seen at the general election.
On how zoning favours him.
But still on the issue of zoning, assuming we decide to go zoning, I think for the sake of equity, fairness, and justice, it should now come to Edo Central senatorial district. Edo South has done eight years in Governor Lucky Igbinedion; Governor Oshiomhole (from Edo North) will be completing eight years in November. Where is the Edo Central? We are three children from the same source. We are one people, Edo cannot be divided. No man or group can break the unity in Edo State. We are strong and united. Our love for one another cannot be broken, neither can a few people come together to divide us.
Show me an aspirant who has given so much to the people, I will tell you a candidate who would win the coming election. And with all due respect, I, Kenneth Imansuangbon, have been on the side of the people for the past 13 years in Edo State.
I stepped down for Oshiomhole in 2006. Not only stepping down for him, I gave him three buses.
On why he stepped down?
I was a founding member from ACD to ACN. He came from Labour Party. Oshiomhole is a great guy, he is my in-law. You know, whatever he wants from you, he will get it. Give it to him. Smart guy. We spoke and I said, fine, since you are my in-law, I would dump my ambition. Myself and Chally Tempo, we were set to do a ding-dong primary. But I stepped down, Chally Tempo ran against him. No hard feelings. But what I want from the APC national leadership is a free and fair primary so that our party can defeat PDP. If I win, good, if any other aspirant wins, good. But for us to be able to fight a formidable opposition like PDP, we need to have a free and fair primary so that whosoever wins will know he deserves to win. But if you force a candidate on anybody, that will not be acceptable. The consequence of that will be seen at the general election.
On how zoning favours him.
But still on the issue of zoning, assuming we decide to go zoning, I think for the sake of equity, fairness, and justice, it should now come to Edo Central senatorial district. Edo South has done eight years in Governor Lucky Igbinedion; Governor Oshiomhole (from Edo North) will be completing eight years in November. Where is the Edo Central? We are three children from the same source. We are one people, Edo cannot be divided. No man or group can break the unity in Edo State. We are strong and united. Our love for one another cannot be broken, neither can a few people come together to divide us.
If we are talking on the flip side of zoning, it is the turn of Edo Central, where I come from. But I do not believe in zoning, I believe in merit. But if zoning is to be the issue, I am still the most qualified person because it is the turn of my senatorial district. The Rice Man is for the whole Edo people. When I give rice, I don’t give it to an Ishan man. I don’t do it on zoning; I give my rice to every Edo person, even the neighbouring people passing by. When I give my scholarship, it is not predicated on zoning. It is predicated on love and that we are one people in Edo State.
On whether the fact that most members of the National Assembly from Edo State are of the PDP would hurt APC at the governorship poll.
The only thing that could make the boat to capsize is imposition in APC. If there is no imposition, PDP should forget 2016 election.
On his optimism ahead of the APC primary and what he would do if things go the other way round.
I’m sure I will win. If it’s free and fair, I’m the next governor of Edo State. The people are waiting. Do you know what it means to be with the people for the past 10 years? They want to pay me back. But God forbid otherwise, if tt is free and fair, I will submit to the will of God and the people. Among all the aspirants, who is as Trojan as I am, that has been consistent with the people? Democracy is about the people. The people of Edo know those who are theirs. Whoever defeats me in a free and fair primary will have my support, even financially, and I will campaign for him.
On how he would exploit the tourism potentials of Edo State and his closeness to the traditional institution in the state.
We are very traditional people in Edo State. We take our authority from one source: the Oba of Benin. He owns you from Edo down to the whole world. Wherever any Edo person is, the Oba of Benin owns him. We are one people, nothing can divide us. We are a cultured people. If I become governor this year, traditional rulers would be given emphasis, we will respect them. My administration will cater for them and give them the honour they deserve.
We are a very rich people in culture and tourism, and we must begin to take advantage of it. Successive governments have not really tapped it. Look at the Ughoton seaport, for example, we would open it up. With my links to the international corporate world, I will attract investors to open up the seaport and make it a tourist destination. Tourism is one key area that we have neglected in Edo State and even in Nigeria. But to open up the tourism sector, we need security. To guarantee security, we need to create jobs. To create jobs, you need a man from the private sector. This is why I am the first candidate for the coming election. I am from the private sector. I have been in the business of creation jobs for many years. I don’t chase contracts in Abuja.
The man who would do well in Edo must be a man from the private sector. All of them have served in government and they put us in the mess we are now. I am the only person that has not taken the government’s one kobo; rather I give back to the government. I pay taxes, I pay staff, I train children. It is a 21 century person like me, who is mobile, experienced, from the private sector, who can create jobs that Edo needs. Even by the standard of Governor Oshiomhole, I’m the best. Oshiomhole says he needs somebody, a successor from the private sector that can create wealth. Since I left school in the past 25 years, I have been creating wealth. Only last year, I spent N85 million to buy computers and ipads for university students in Edo. I’ve been doing that for the past 10 years. This is not to talk of the yearly rice distribution, or the Imansuangbon soccer competition in Abuja.
On what is driving his passion for investment in education.
Part of the bane of the Nigerian society is that we are not educated. When I visited the United States over 20 years ago, I saw development there and I asked why America was that developed. The immigration officer there said it was because of education, that if I wanted to change the African, especially, the Nigerian society, I must return to give people education. So my wife, Kate Imansuangbon, God bless her, and I decided to start a small school. We started from nursery to primary, then to secondary school. Today in Abuja, you cannot talk of education without mentioning the Pacesetters Schools.
pix: Imansuagbon 7.jpg
On what is driving his passion for investment in education.
Part of the bane of the Nigerian society is that we are not educated. When I visited the United States over 20 years ago, I saw development there and I asked why America was that developed. The immigration officer there said it was because of education, that if I wanted to change the African, especially, the Nigerian society, I must return to give people education. So my wife, Kate Imansuangbon, God bless her, and I decided to start a small school. We started from nursery to primary, then to secondary school. Today in Abuja, you cannot talk of education without mentioning the Pacesetters Schools.
pix: Imansuagbon 7.jpg
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