I went into politics when I got tired of complaining – Nnenna Ukeje

I went into politics when I got tired of complaining – Nnenna Ukeje

By Our Reporter  on October 31, 2015   Politics

Honorable Nnenna Elendu- Ukeje is in the House of Representatives for the third time and the lower House is better for it. This is because the lawmaker that speaks for the people of Bende Federal Constituency brings plenty of élan to House not just in her appearance, but her elegantly presented positions on issues on the floor. In this interview with KEMI YESUFU the chairperson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs speaks on what drew her into politics; why politics is not a dirty game; the legislative agenda of the 8th House and her advice to President Muhammadu Buhari on foreign policy. She also opened up on what led to her signature look and why she remains a daddy’s girl.
Why did you go into politics? Was it for the fame, the recognition or for money?
I got into politics because I got tired of complaining. Lots of people are armchair critics and of course, politics has one of the worst reputations. Now, a lot people want the glamour. A lot of people want a changed world. But not many people are really ready to roll up their sleeves to bring about the change they seek. So, for me, going into politics was about becoming one of those that bring change. I got tired of sitting with a bunch of friends, complaining about what should be done, what could be done and what is not being done. I found out that it was important to look beyond the bad reputation of politics and politicians and try out, contesting for office. I have since discovered that, politics is actually one of the best-kept secrets. Politics is not as dirty as people make out. I think it’s us politicians who keep saying it is dirty to keep out other people. I’ve since gotten into politics and realised that indeed, I wasn’t wrong that the best way to make a difference is from the inside and I believe that I have made my own contributions to bringing about the progress many seek in Nigeria.
What are the things you have done to bring about this difference you described?
I do believe that as a lawmaker, you would like to know the bills and motions that I have come up with that hopefully have changed the Nigerian landscape. I can speak to some of my bills. I can speak to the Public Officers’ Protection Act. Unfortunately, it’s a law that hasn’t been signed into law. I discovered that there are people in the public service, that after three months, by the present statutes, have a problem with going to court to seek legal re­dress in the event that they feel that something wrong has been done to them or it is believed that some wrong has been committed by them. I came up with an amendment to the current law to give people a bit more time to seek redress in the court of law. Again, my favorite piece of legislation, which I’m very passionate about is the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons Commission Bill. Nigeria has been racked by so much violence in the past couple of years. From the stats available to us, Nigeria has become a dumping ground for small arms and light weapons. Small arms and light weapons are the root of just about every crime, from kidnappings, armed robbery and even rape. So, I was and still am passionate about Nigeria establishing a commission that effectively tracks the inflow of arms and light weapons into the country, a commission that demilitarises zones-this would flow into the arms trade treaty, which Nigeria can domesticate and come up with its own set of rules. I will continue to work on them until they are signed. So, yes rather than sit and complain about high-level insecurity, I have contributed my own quota to dealing with the root cause of the problem.
Did your making a dif­ference also have to do with changing the situa­tion of your constituents back home?
Of course, aside from making laws for the good governance of the country, carrying out over­sight, appropriations and policies, representative democracy is what it is. I am here representing my people. And with all sense of modesty, I can say that at the root of my success is the fact that I have been able to attract projects to my constituency. I stand to be corrected, I have attracted federal government representation to all the wards in my constituency. I believe that in rural areas our people see representation in terms of being able to feed themselves and their families. I represent a constituency that is largely rural and for them, though it’s important that I present bills and motions, they also want to see roads, other infrastructure and interventions that lead to their having food on the table. And I think I have been able to attract these things that is popularly termed the dividends of democracy to my people. Yet again, we are at the place where we are trying to change mindsets. This is because for our democracy to thrive and our institution to be strong and independent, the legislature must do that for which it is set up to do, which is making laws for the good governance of the country and making the executive arm execute the laws and appropriations in the budget that has been passed. The judiciary will carry out its responsibilities of upholding and interpreting our laws. Ultimately, my hope is that with time, the legislature will be left to concentrate on the arduous task of lawmak­ing.
You said earlier, that you like many other lawmakers represent a largely rural con­stituency. How did someone like you from a privileged background convince them to choose you as their rep three times in a row?
When you say I come from a privileged background, I say that it doesn’t stop me from understanding people’s problems and what they need. My people, and I can say, majority of Nigerians aren’t that difficult to deal with. My people don’t make unrealistic demands. They are highly realistic people. You see, like other Nigerians, my people just want someone to treat them like the decent people they are. People want someone they can trust. They just want a person who will tell them, ‘this is what I am able to do and these are my limitations’. You know, it doesn’t matter if you are rural or urbane, the people are discerning. I represent a rural but very proud and discerning people. So, when I am on the campaign trail and I tell a man or woman the truth, they can discern that I am speaking the truth. So like you said, I come from a privileged background but that shouldn’t be a disincentive.
Have you had political highs and lows?
In the words of the Dalai Lama there is no high or low. There is no bad and good. He said that it is the good and bad, the high and the low, that has made him what he is. Let me borrow his words as my answer to your question.
What is your political ideology? Do you have a political mantra that you stick by?
Well, I just believe that the most important thing is for me to do what I came here to do. I shouldn’t be distracted. I believe in put­ting the people first and speaking the truth, despite personal consequences. Yes, in politics there is the lure to go with the Jones. There is lure to create impressions that you don’t even believe in. But if you as much possible, speak the truth and speak up despite personal consequences especially when it ultimately affects the generality of the people positively, if you carry the aggregate opinion of the criti­cal mass, the people will trust you and you would have made a difference.
Can Nigerians really believe that a truthful politician exists?
I mean, there is enough good in us (politi­cians) as there is bad. It’s like the jokes about lawyers being bad. Yet, there are good lawyers, as there are bad lawyers. Who is a truthful politician? Like I said earlier, for politicians, it is important we try as much as possible to be on the path of truth.
You served as the chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the 7th House. You have been re-appointed to head the committee a second time. How do rate Nigeria’s foreign policy in the years you car­ried out oversight and what is your advice for the new government?
I would say that Nigeria was in the place that it was coming out of afrocentricism, we were coming of place where we realised that beyond people buying into our pol­icy, we also needed them to buy our goods and services. We realised that we were confronted with dwindling influence on the continent, falling oil prices and so we had to quickly re-jig our ideas. Our friends had become competitors, the landscape was not as comfortable as it once was. We are the largest black nation and we were supposed to be this wealthy country. Therefore our foreign policy was largely about trying to maintain our influ­ence, but at the same time we had to become competitive. For a long time, Nigeria was the generous big brother, but we started working with friends who see us as trade partners, not just the generous ally. We also had to grapple with the problem of Boko Haram. So you can say the last few years have been a difficult pe­riod for Nigeria in terms of executing foreign policy. We did manage to maintain some of our friendships. Though in the twilight of the last administration some of our friendships weren’t as we wanted them to be. But I think that after the elections, our strategic part­ners began to re-affirm their friendship with Nigeria. Here we are with a new government which could mean transiting to a new foreign policy. Consequently, the challenge lies with having some form of consistency even when there is a new foreign policy. I see that we have come to a place where the world is more open to being friendly with Nigeria. You find that Mr. President’s speech kind of, set the tone for the direction of the foreign policy under him. Mr. President didn’t mince words when he said that Nigeria is willing to serve in any leadership capacity it finds itself. The message from the president is that we have an understanding that we are clear leaders, demo­graphically. Our rebased economy shows that we are number one in Africa. Having set the tone, as the president got sworn-in, he went around our neighbors. He met with the coun­tries whom we unfortunately share the burden of Boko Haram. He went to the US with his bucket list and there was much enthusiasm from the rest of the world, not only to turn the tide against Boko Haram but to build Nigeria’s economy. Overall, I think that we have started off on a good footing. You can now see that Boko Haram is on the run with the Nigerian armed forces tearing down their flags and hoisting the Nigerian flag. Moving forward, we have to look at other countries buying our goods. We have to look at opening other vistas through areas like agriculture, mining and an ICT driven economy. We also can turn our military partners who we are collaborating with to uproot Boko Haram to trade partners. Then we equally have to look at ECOWAS critically, the same thing with our role in the AU. We should also be looking at budgeting for policy. We should again look at how to secure our embassies as the world is increas­ingly becoming an unsafe place. Another thing I hope the new government should look at is how we evacuate our people. We need to review our response time.
What is your take on reports of President Buhari’s planned reduc­tion of the number of Nigerian embassies in order to be able to adequately fund those that will be retained?
Is that the official policy? Yes, I heard it unofficially. I hear that a committee has been set up to look at this idea. What I think the committee will do, is that it will conduct a needs assessment and advice the president based on the results they get. They will look at the important issues, like the fallout of shutting any mission. How it would affect our foreign policy. What the country’s targets are in important places such as the UN etc. And you never know what the result of the needs assessment could be.
On my way here, I read that RMFAC is ready with and will soon officially present the new trimmed down salary scale for the president and the National Assembly. What is your opinion of the much talked about salary cut for public officers and are you one of the lawmakers who are said to be willing to take a pay cut?
Well, anyone who has dealt with the budget, anyone who is watching understands that the world is going through a recession. We all know what a barrel of oil sells for and what is accruable to the country. This certainly is a pe­riod of belt tightening and we have to tighten our belts across board and since RMFAC is the agency saddled with the responsibility, it will advice accordingly on how things can be properly done.
So Hon Nnenna Ukeje is willing to take a pay cut?
Evidently so. Am I not a Nigerian? Like I just said, this is the time for us to tighten our belts across board.
Your party, the Peoples Demo­cratic Party was in power for 16 years and now you are in the op­position. People wondered if the PDP would be able to do a good job of being in the opposition. But PDP reps are showing signs that they are prepared to play the role of op­position. As one of the arrowhead of the PDP in the House, do you think you can keep up?
What is the role of the opposition? It is to hold the ruling party to account on policies, laws and appropriations. Now, if there are polices which we think are inimical to the growth and development of the country, we will not support it. But if people expect us to oppose the ruling party when it is not over laws or policies and our stance doesn’t tally with the general interests of the people, then, I do not think we have an agreed definition on the role of the opposition. The opposition will only disagree in the best interest of the country.
You must have been through the Legislative Agenda of the current House. It is far-reaching and quite ambitious. Do you think the House can cover the areas identified un­der this agenda?
Well, like they say, reach for the stars and you could, at least touch the clouds. At the risk of sounding clichéd, they say that if you fail to plan, you have planned to fail. You say the agenda is ambitious but for me, it is quite achievable. There are certain aspects of the agenda that are novel. I love the fact that we are going to have sectoral debates because that way, we can look at the laws sector by sector. Then there is the case for e-parliament. For us e-parliament is very important because of the high attrition rate. A lot of people are trained and four years later, they leave. Now, we need proper documentation so that when you get to a committee, the people that left wouldn’t have gone with everything. It is desirable that with a punch of button, you can get all the information you need. There is also the issue of having more committees. Some people would say, it could lead to the duplication of responsibilities and make things more cumbersome. But I think with more committees, more people will be involved in the nitty-gritty of things. The gender agenda for me is very important. To me, now it goes beyond numbers. Yes 35 percent representa­tion is desirable, but for me, it’s now about what the Japanese Prime Minister tagged ‘womanomics’, that is, budgeting for women. The legislative agenda speaks to economic diversification. If we want to take another look at the issue of the laws that deal with our anti-corruption drive, I don’t think that’s ambitious. We are looking at education with regard to the UN advised 26 percent minimum allocation of the budget to the sector. We are looking at creating a framework for health. The issue of the environment with regard to climate change is also important because almost on daily basis there are motions on flooding, erosion and others issues. In Bende, where I come from, most of my community has been taken over by erosion. So the creation of a road map on managing climate change is desirable.
How did you come about your signature look?
Well, it actually started by accident. It was at my father’s funeral, we had the fabric for the funeral. My dad’s death was quite a devas­tating experience for me. So the last thing on my mind was fashion. I just wanted something to throw-on to attend the funeral. But when I went back to work, this style came back to me and I decided to stick with it. The style is cool, it’s African, it’s easy to wear. I wake up in the morning and I can just go. I dress for comfort.
You just spoke about your dad and you sounded like a daddy’s girl. Your mum is a legal luminary and our late father was a decorat­ed Nigerian Air Force pilot. Which of your parents influenced you more?
I am a daddy’s girl. Every time I do something, the first thing that comes to mind is what my father would think of it. But with regard to being a successful woman in a male dominated environment, I would say my strong influence comes from my mother.