What I would do if elected the President General of Ukpor Improvement Union

IG Nwawulu

The Ukpor Improvement Union(UIU) general election is scheduled for October 2017. In this interview, a front line contender for the President General, Chief Ignatius Nwawulu talked about major challenges facing Ukpor and how he is going to tackle them if elected.

May we know you Sir,

My name is IG Nwawulu, Dara Obiekunie from Umu-Ehim, Umunuko Ukpor. I live and do business in Port 'Hacourt.

Are you married?

Yes I'm married with three kids. As a matter of fact, I married at the age of 24.

Wow! that's almost incredible. Well, there are speculations from different quarters that you will participate in the upcoming Ukpor Improvement Union(UIU) general election in October, how credible are those speculations.

Thank you very much. Yes I will definitely participate. I've already informed UIU General Assembly two months ago that I'll contest for the position of the President General Ukpor Improvement Union. There's a need to change baton. The current PG Rtd. Col Ogunna has performed very well but his tenure is coming to an end. Actually by the end of October, he'll be out of office. I believe that UIU as a body needs capable hands to take over from him and I found myself very fit for the position. I'm very much in the race.

You said the current PG has done very good. We all know what is good actually but, can you specifically tell us what you mean by that. Do you think he's done exceedingly great?

Well, exceedingly great is too much for every human being because it's the finite. You can't say that as a human being but comparing what was on ground when he was elected and what he currently has at his disposal, I can say he has done well.

How do you access the performances of the past UIU excos in furtherance of the unity, progress and development of Ukpor town?

I think they've done well too because I've not heard about much problems in Ukpor, not that they solved the existing ones but the point is they tried their best. Ukpor is one indivisible town. We're functioning. They did well but there's room for more improvement.

You are from the renowned Umu-Ehim family, and it is widespread that Umu-Ehim do not accept the authority of the present Igwe of the town. What's your position on the issue. Are you going to continue the rebellion or change the status quo?

Well, thanks so much for this interview, but if you use the word rebellion, I think it's too strong and harsh as well. I don't think we rebelled because Umu-Ehim has never declared they're another town entirely. We're still under Ukpor, and like I told you earlier, Ukpor is one indivisible town but obviously, there are some dissensions. People were not satisfied the way certain things were done and Umu-Ehim particularly felt aggrieved. My position is this, though I understand their grievances but as far a Igwe is concerned, the matter has been settled. Ukpor has an Igwe and we all should support him. Ukpor has to move forward and we need to rally round our Igwe and give him all the necessary support and encouragement to achieve that. Then inside, we begin to do little adjustments. Certainly, reconciliations. Whoever that's bitter, we call them together for a roundtable discussion because we're all brothers. What's left in Ukpor is to reconcile Umu-Ehim to the general Ukpor on whatever they're grieving and I can assure you, as a bona fide son of Ehim, I'll be able to do that within a short period of time if elected. The position I'm contesting for has nothing to do with the Igwe. I'm not contesting to fight the Igwe. He's the Igwe of all Ukpor and I submit my authority under him.

That's brilliant! You are contesting for the position of UIU President General. What do you think you can do better than the previous administrations?

What I'll do is to carry on and even add to what they've done already. The current PG and his team have set a standard but there are more things to do. I can actually identify some but I'm not going to say that on this platform. I already have a good plan for Ukpor even before I made my intention public. I have a program that will attract Ukpor intelligentsias, business gurus, academicians, students and as well as notable men in the town so that we'll put hands together and bring Ukpor to the status it's supposed to be. Ukpor is a very big town, and we need to have things that will attract people to be coming home. I'll stand on the foundation that has already been laid and build a consensus that will attract more people to Ukpor.

UIU is supposed to be a politically neutral body, the umbrella for all Ukpor citizens irrespective of political affiliation. In the past, the UIU has been alleged to be partisan, mostly because of pressure from politicians. How do you hope to address that and do you think you have the capacity to resist such political pressure?

I personally don't belong to any political party, though every individual is a political animal but I decided to stay away from partizan politics. What I'm going to do is to keep UIU as an official arbiter to advise and encourage them in the best way they can. We're not going to dabble into politics at all and the pressure you're talking about is when you're looking for selfish political gains from politicians and UIU is a town union body and has nothing to do with politics. Everything we would do will be in the overall interest of Ukpor town. Like I told you earlier, UIU would be more like an arbitrator as regards the relationship with politicians.

Sir, Ukpor has a longtime electricity challenge which has obviously turned out to be one of the biggest problems facing the town. Is there anything you can do in that aspect?

Electricity challenge is a national issue but why we keep talking about that of Ukpor is because it's becoming chronic. Years of no electricity is driving people away from the town and making the overhead costs of running business very expensive. I know the present leadership of UIU and some dignitaries in Ukpor have been trying to do something but it hasn't worked out yet. What I'm going to do, if elected, is to galvanize the Bigger Boys in the town and head to EEDC to identify the problem and solve it once, because what I heard was the issue of funding. If that's all they demand, we'll dialogue with them and go out there to look for funds and pay. I'll also talk to EEDC about the substation that's currently being built in Ukpor to see how far it could be fastened up so that we will have our own trunk and stop depending on others which is part of the problem.

Ukpor started experiencing some security issues lately. The town used to boast of good security outfit championed by the Police and the local Vigilantes but crime rate has increased dramatically. What do you think you can do to curtail the menace if elected?

I've been involved in Ukpor security issues. Apart from contesting for UIU President General, I'm currently the Chairman of Umudara Olisa Ehim village and Chairman of Nchonu village both in Umunuko Ukpor. I'm also the Chairman of UIU Port 'Hacourt chapter and Chairman of Umunuko Development Association(UDA) Rivers State chapter. So whenever anything happens in Ukpor, the DPO and his counterpart in Area Command usually call me. I've been in various meetings with them and major problems identified are the topography of the town and bad roads. Ukpor is very big to have just one police station and you can't quickly access some villages if there's emergency because of bad road network. The vigilantes we had concentrated in one area because of these problems. I'm even considering bringing down a Police post at a place like Umunuko. For the Vigilante, we'll regroup, redirect and seek the help of already established sons and daughters of our town and find a way to equip them so that they we will have functional vigilante services in the six zones in the town. I'll also embark on what I termed village sensitization. We'll get the identification cards for all the non indigenes in the town, in other to know who is living with us and what they do. We'll centralize the records so that If someone is arrested or rearrested, we'll know from the records and take the necessary action. It's going to be a total profiling.

Finally, the tenure of the present state governor is about to come to an end. How do you rate his performance as regards Ukpor development

Well, I like the way you put it because, like I said earlier, I wouldn't want to drag Ukpor into politics. We have a problem really. You can actually tell if there's any state government presence in Ukpor. Every Tom, Dick and Harry knows that nothing is currently ongoing and I don't know why this is happening. The only visible project which the previous government started has been abandoned and no new one was initiated or awarded, but if elected, I'll liaise with our political leaders and stakeholders. We have the number three citizen who did well during her first tenure before the current impasse. I'm not satisfied with what the present state government has done and I'm very sure that Ukpor people aren't very happy too.

Thanks for having you on this segment sir and we wish you success in your quest. Do you have something else to say?

Yeah! Thanks to the management of cfrmagazine.com too for their continuous efforts in projecting the positive image of our dear town to the world and also for giving me this opportunity because it's important that my people know about my intentions. I have good programs for our town. I'm contesting for the position of the President General of the Ukpor Improvement Union, not to fight the Igwe or anyone. I'm fully aware of separation of powers. The Igwe is the custodian of our culture and symbol of our authority while the PG runs the day to day activities of the town union. If elected, I'll work with him and take our town to the next level. Thank you!