Canice Nkemjika, is the project
Director, Ken Ojiri Foundation based in Owerri, capital of Imo State. The
Foundation is Non-Governmental Organization that deals on humanitarian services,
helping the needy and the poor to pay their hospital bills, start small scale
business and have food on their tables. The foundation has within its four
years of existence won several awards for its mass-oriented projects,
culminating into free education to indigent Imo youths. In this interview with Emeka Ibemere, Nkemjika said the way
insecurity could be resolved is for the poor to be taken care of.
How did you start?
No, we
started as a humanitarian organization, by giving and supporting people to
start small scale business and those that are trapped in hospitals, we help to
pay their hospital bills and the records are there at the Federal Medical
Centre, Owerri and in Akwa-Ibom State, we paid the hospital bills of those that
have nobody to help them.
People that
are out of jobs and they want to do something, we assist them to learn and
acquire skills and trade by giving them funds and we train a lot of people
through our educational scheme and one of them is now a dentist doctor. And we
give free medical services to indigent Nigerians and these are basically what
we are doing at Ken Ojiri Foundation.
Was the organization registered?
Yes, we are
a registered organization, as a Non-Government Organization. We have no link
with any foreign donor and since we started, we have been working with the
funds provided by God to Chief Ojiri.
What actually motivated the man you
are using his name to float the humanitarian organization.
It is
because; the founder of the Foundation has a terrible fight with poverty. He
went through thick and thin of poverty and he never believed that he would
succeed in his battle with poverty. But with God, he was able to go to school
and was able to have five Masters Degrees in his kitty, which enabled him to be
where he is today in the international circle. Ordinarily, he was not born with
the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. Not even with a rusty spoon talk less
of silver spoon.
He was born
with ‘wooden- spoon’ in his mouth but God provided him with golden spoon and he
feels he is owing God, and humanity and the only thing he feels he can do to
thank God, is to help the less privileged Nigerians that comes his way. He is
ardent believer of the Bible’s injunction; “of whatever you do to the least of
my brothers; that you do unto me”.
So to pay
God, he started Ken Ojiri Foundation; to thank God for making him what he is
today. When he started, he never had in mind that one day he would be called
upon to come and serve his people and humanity.
It is on
this gesture of humility, love, caring and charity that made people to say,
this thing you have been doing with your own resources, what if you come to
power as the Governor of Imo State and use the resource to help and serve the
humanity that it would be good, that they knew that if he is assisted by the
government, he would do more than he is doing now.
As a director of his foundation and
the campaign organization, you must have acquired a lot of experience in NGOs’
responsibilities and political campaigns. How are you combining the two?
Well, I
don’t have money on my own. But I have passion for the less privileged people
of this world. I have seen a lot of people suffering. My father spent his life
and 75% of his earning, doing well to people. As his first son, I found out
that he enjoys it and when I started I enjoyed it helping people. I came to
know that when you see people in pains, you offer them a little help, and you
looked at their faces you see smiles, then you would be able to think that if
these people could be able to smile because of the little help you rendered to
them, then you are indebted to God, who has given you much and you asked
yourself, what have I done with it. When I came into partnership with him, and
knowing the type of person, he is I willingly relinquished myself to serve.
Okay, now that the Foundation has
metamorphosed into political campaign organization, have you any political
background to steer the ship
I think that
the most important thing is do I have the administrative capacity to engineer
people coming to support Ken Ojiri, letting them know the qualities of this
gentleman, what he can be able to do with Imo State economy assuming that he
wins the primary of the PDP and goes ahead to win the election. Having gone
through his credentials I found out that he has the capacity within two days,
to put back the State on its track.
When you
talk about small scale industries, it won’t take up to three months to fix it
together, talk of agriculture, there are certain crops you would plant and within
six months, you star harvesting them and making your millions. You don’t need
any other thing to do it. We have the manpower; we have the resources all you
need do is to harness all these things together and you hit the road running.
What are your antecedents in politics
before now?
Yes, I have
been in politics but perhaps why you may not seems to have been hearing my name
is because I have policy and if you are doing something that doesn’t tally with
my policy, I back out of the system.
What is your Political philosophy?
Its doing
what can serve the people right; what would put food on the tables of the poor
Nigerians, infrastructure is important but the ability to make the masses of
this country to smile and assured that they would have something to eat at the
end of the day.
Looking at the insecurity in Imo
State, are you happy with the security arrangement.
I cannot be
happy with the situation because the gap between the rich and the poor have
widened. And what it means is that the poor are angry with the rich, because
they see the rich carting away with the common-wealth. Some of them who may not
have the patience and self control may decide to do otherwise. Some politicians
always use the poor people because they are vulnerable to hit at their perceived
enemies, but if the poor is not venerable, he will call off the bluff of the
politician that wants to use him but because he is hungry, he will look where
he can get his meals and he can at that moment be used and hit at any person
and thereby creating insecurity, fears.
What are the solutions to insecurity?
The solution is for every rich man in his
community must make sure to see that in his community, your brothers,
neighbours, sisters, and friends are
well fed, engaged in one business or the order, gets employed after graduation
and they would even be part of your security. So if the State resources and
allocation are used well to give the people roads, education, industries,
markets, shelters, they will not have problem with you and there will be peace
and hence they have peace among the neighbours, the peace will go round and
there would be no insecurity and there will be no need to harm anybody.
A lot of people have been clapping
for the governor that he has performed in the last three years; they talk about
the free-education benefit, and the social infrastructure on the ground. What
is your take?
I thank him
very well. The man is ‘very cleaver and intelligent’. For him to have
bamboozled the whole of Imo State, he has tried. I start by saying the Late
Chief Mbakwe, started the present secretariat
Udenwa launched build it and work started on it, Ohakim did his own and
Okorocha now came and removed 5.4 gage that was used in roofing it and replaced
it with 2.2 gage and we are clapping for him, its okay. People couldn’t have
clapped for him when he has given the poor material, then he flashed it on
television and people are clapping.
I said it some years ago, that the way he was
scattering the roads here and there that he cannot be able to finish it before
he leaves. On the free-education, Udenwa left office and the school fees of Imo
State University was about N15, 000; Ohakim came in and put it at about N37,
500, now Rochas came in and brought it to N20, 000, fine. Why not tell the
people, that school fees is N20, 000. Instead of saying it’s free.
When you
give somebody a paper, Diamond Cheque cashable and the person will use N20, 000
to pay in into the bursary which means the school fees is N20, 000. And you pay
another N5, 000 and other small things they pay and by the time you finished
paying you are already paying N37, 000. Why not tell the people that school
fess is at where Ohakim left it.
Admission
quota during Udenwa was 85%, Ohakim came and adjusted the acceptance, and the
school fees, the quota for indigene was 75% and for non-indigene 25%. But
Rochas came and reversed it and 70% for non-indigene and 30% for indigene
because the school fees is higher because he generate the money from the
non-indigene to run the institution and disfranchised the indigene who owns the
university, is that the free education.
Do you know
that civil servants salaries are being slashed while the commercial tri-cycle
operators are being overtaxed? All of them are under the free education system
that people are clapping for, who is fooling who. There is nothing like free
education in Imo State.
How ready is the PDP in beating an
incumbent at the poll next year.
In Nigeria
at the moment, incumbent factor is dead. It has gone. And in Imo is no longer
the issue. It started with election loses so far in Nigeria: 2003, Malla Kachala of Borno lost to
Modu Sheriff
Mbadinuju
Chinweoke Anambra lost to Ngige/Obi
All South
west AD governors except Tinubu (Niyi Adebayo Ekiti, Segun Osoba Ogun, Pa
Adefarati Ondo, Lam Adesina
Oyo, Bisi
Akande Osun, Mohammed Lawal Kwara, Abubakar Audu Kogi lost to Idris, Rabiu
Kwankwaso Kano, lost to Shekarau
In 2007,
Agagu Olusegun Ondo lost to Mimiko, Ladoja in Oyo, lost to Akala, Olagunsoye
Oyinlola in Osun lost to Aregbesola Rauf.
In 2011,
Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State lost to Rochas, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi of Zamfara lost
to Yari, Akwe Doma of Nassarawa lost to Almakura. Fayemi lost recently. What is
the important thing there is what the people want; people are desirous of
change and Ken Ojiri with his humble background has come to offer the people of
Imo State that change.
Apart from
Mbakwe and Udenwa, these two people have financial management background;
others are not trained financial leaders. Ojiri has financial background. What
we are saying is that managerial competence is devoid of academic competence
but administrative know-how is a gift from God and comes to you when you’re
honest and humble.
When did your organization come into
being?
The campaign
organization came into being, as a process of lifting the normal political
campaign for election of Ken Ojiri. We have been handling the organization for
Ojiri over past four years.
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