EXCLUSIVE: The best way to restructure Nigeria is to open up Nigeria – Smart Ajaja

Nigerian-born US-based intellectual fire-brand, Smart Madu Ajaja, arrived Nigeria a few weeks ago to kick-start his campaign for the Senate to represent Delta North Senatorial zone in 2019. In this no-holds-bared interview he bares his mind about the leadership challenges confronting Nigeria, Delta State and Anioma. Excerpts:

You arrived Nigeria from the US a couple of weeks ago, can you tell us what your experience has been since you arrived?

The first experience was that of a rude shock as I lost the most important piece of my luggage including my clothes, five iPhones, medicines, shoes and things that I was given by friends to hand over to their family members on arrival, right within the Airport vicinity after I came out of the Arrival lounge to the pick-up area which was populated by all manners of people including touts with no business being within the Airport arena. Lagos, outside the unbefitting and dysfunctional Air gateway into Nigeria, was okay as I saw some semblance of Government’s seriousness especially in road network. I also noticed that the hospitality industry in Lagos has significantly improved with excellent food and great customer service. From Lagos, I proceeded to Abuja where I saw a city that is fast becoming the shadow of itself. Here, I witnessed the sorry state of an Airport that is in the first place too small to be referred to as an international Airport in a country of the size and stature of Nigeria with some of the toilets and lights not working, in addition to observing some poorly finished roads, non-functional streetlights, garbage liters and lack of maintenance of pedestrian paths and medians that were unbefitting of a nation’s capital and the wealth of Nigeria. In my candid opinion and without prejudice, I strongly suggest that the President should immediately fire the current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for dereliction of duty and replace him with a professional with a revolutionary 21^st century city management mindset. The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport with its current Banana Republic size, and in its current state, is a disgrace to Nigeria and its enormous wealth and global stature and therefore, needs to be demolished for a full-service befitting International Airport of the same size, if not bigger than the size of the Dubai Airport in Dubai to be erected. The Aviation industry in Nigeria is a scandalous joke as airlines scheduling and operations are run below the level of organized mediocrity characterized by habitual flight delays and cancellations to the extent of making Air travels worst way of traveling within Nigeria to events where time is of essence. It was a sad and embarrassing day when, for no fault of mine, I missed attending an event that was hosted in my honor on July 7, 2017 at Abavo because of a series of flight delays that started at 8:30am until it officially became a cancellation at 4pm, hours after the event ended and those who traveled from far and near because of me had to return to their various places dejected even as the organizers of the event led by Mr. Fidelis Chimokwu and Victor Kpamiose aka Essem Victorio gave a very good account of their mastery of unforeseen circumstances like that. Delta as expected, did not disappoint as the state in its current form, is an organized disaster with nothing working as expected for a state with enormous amount of oil wealth but in a crushing stranglehold of a lackluster leadership at all levels and a horrendous debt overhang which now, stands well over N600 billion Naira and a commensurate infrastructural decay complicated by annoying level of poverty and alarming youth’s unemployment which is driving up crimes rates. I wept so profusely for my hometown of Abavo which appears to be the worst-hit by the criminal neglect by successive Governments of Delta state since 1999 till date even with one of her own at a time as the speaker of the house of Assembly for nearly four years with nothing to show. I have come to a conclusion therefore, that the much touted prosperity for all Deltans is taking place mostly only on the social media while unconscionable poverty, squalor and the misery associate with them are actually what are on the ground, making the slogan a monumental political fraud just like the 5/5 aka PDP all the way rhetoric with which our people were deceived to elect candidates most of whom are stooges with blind loyalty to whims and caprices of one man who appears to not like men with strong character who can stand up to tell him the truth, and the reason the state is now in tatters .

We know you have been a grassroots man, and have been following Nigerian politics closely even though you are based in the US. Can you tell us what you make of Nigerian politics compared to the US where you have lived for the past two decades?

I am happy to be a hybrid of two countries with sophisticated conglomerates of human, historical, geographical and cultural diversities with variant political infrastructures even though they practice the same presidential system of Government which works very flawlessly in one while it is a disgusting paradox in the other, I mean Nigeria. Nigeria is practicing a very tragic confusion, or call it a chaotic democracy, that cannot be in anyway compared to what it is in the United states where every democratic step leads to a predictable outcome without the need to cut corners in manners that are unconstitutional. I believe that the reason we are having this democratic turmoil is because, we have failed to understand our customs and traditions in order to properly adapt our democracy to accommodate them without losing the core concept of democracy which simply put is nothing but a dynamic judicious apportionment of power, resources and representation by citizens with abilities, competence, excellence and good contents of character anchored on strong democratic institutions namely the executive, the legislature and the Judiciary which must work in a synergistic opposition in respect to the principles of separation of powers enforced via checks and balances as its drivers. Unfortunately, most politicians in Nigeria abusing democracy are touts with no understanding of the definition of Government as a basic not to talk about the principles of separation of powers or checks and balances. For a very long time, we have expected so much from men and women who had nothing and still have nothing to give and I believe we have an opportunity to correct ourselves by starting the process to replace them beginning now.

From your view point, do you see any hope that Nigerian democracy would mature to the level of the US?

You know that I am a diehard optimist for Nigeria and so, yes it will happen, but we must be prepared to do the necessary work starting by looking at ourselves in the face to first unconditionally accept our citizenship of Nigeria in its ugliest state as it is now beyond our tribal and regional lines, and then start the process of asserting it going forward without looking back. We must open Nigeria for equal access to the opportunities that Nigeria has for all Nigerians regardless of tribes, region or religion to promote national integration, cohesion and national unity, and remove all the agitations arising from the denials to access to the Nigerian dream that has put serious strains on our national security. An open Nigeria with the death of the dubious Federal Character will simulate Nigeria in all directions for real progress and prosperity and put her on the path to an all-encompassing greatness in a record time.

Nigeria is practicing a very tragic confusion, or call it a chaotic democracy”

I believe that an open Nigeria with a regulated competitive private sector involvement will finally kill corruption without the need to waste so much money to pursue endless litigations as we are seeing today.

It is all over the news that you are interested in becoming the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial zone (otherwise known as Anioma) in 2019, how do you fancy your chances? Under which party would you be seeking to be elected Senator?

I have respect for my opponents but I have a huge chance to win any of the contenders in a free, fair and transparent election because I am young and able, corrupt-free, competent and a good dose of content of character that gives me the temperament to lead under any circumstance and from any and everywhere I may find myself. I am deeply connected to the youths who have been at the receiving ends of the tragic failure of leadership in the Anioma area and they are the major reason I was prompted to come in to intervene. We have a date with the unfolding history which I am optimistic of making with the Anioma people, especially her teeming youths who are yearning for change and they refer to it as “Correction 2019”.

My primary goal at the moment is to build a strong coalition movement across party lines and the community of independents because, they are the people who will elect me when we get to the voting time and so, I will wait a little bit more before unveiling my political party of choice to run the race

Some people have argued that it is politically naïve of you to expect to be elected Senator given the fact that the Executive Governor of the state and the CBN Governor are from the Ika region of Anioma where you yourself come from. They argue that equity and fairness demand that another region of Anioma be given the opportunity to produce the Senator. What do you have to say to this?

Those who ask this question do so out of ignorance complicated by the static mindset that has been used without benefits to elevate and epitomize mediocrity over ability, competence, excellence and good contents of character on which any sensible, sensitive, responsible and accountable and transparent leadership regardless of its origin as long as it emerges via a constitutionally recognized process should be premised against an unconstitutional, retrogressive and bankrupt rotational regional arrangement that put in power inept and corrupt people without the capacity and temperament to lead. The CBN Governor is not an elective position and so, the person occupying the seat in any country that is desirous of progress is usually appointed by the President purely on merit to help him drive his economic policy due to his or high profile fiscal/monetary policy management capability devoid of political manipulation because he serves the interest of the whole country and not a section of it. With that said, I ask those who ask this redundant question to point to anything in Anioma today that the combination of the incumbent Senator and Governor from the Aniocha/Oshimili and the Ika area respectively has translated beyond the psychological victories of having “our men” there and perhaps the statement made by the incumbent Senator that Ibori made him and the Governor what they are today, overruling the votes of our people, especially the youths who helped them perfect the electoral fraud that put them in power, when he flew first class with taxpayers money to celebrate James Ibori, his boss in treasury looting and such monumentally corrupt generational killer who ought to have been taken to the International criminal court of justice for prosecution for crimes against humanity. No conscious Anioma citizen should buy into that fraudulent regional and rotational lock and key representation arrangement that benefits only members of the corrupt cartel who are inept and intellectually bereft to lead Anioma and misrepresent the Anioma people at the expense of world class Anioma citizens driven by ability, competence, excellence and exceptional contents of character to serve and leave their marks on the sands of time. We are in the 21^st Century and the best way to boost productivity is to get the men and women who can built and utilize capacity for the good of their whole nations and not mediocre leadership which run nations down just as they ran Anioma down for us to live in squalor below poverty line.

”I believe that the reason we are having this democratic turmoil is because, we have failed to understand our customs and traditions in order to properly adapt our democracy to accommodate them without losing the core concept of democracy which simply put is nothing but a dynamic judicious apportionment of power, resources and representation by citizens with abilities, competence, excellence and good contents of character anchored on strong democratic institutions…’

Finally, what gives these people who ask this annoying backward question the confidence to believe that the next Governor of Delta state will remain the Ika man who is occupying the seat in a democracy where unimaginable things can happen? Or are they telling us that the results of the elections have been announced and their candidates declared winner as early as two years before the actual election? I am in the race to run for the Senate and I recognize and respect the rights of others to run for whatever they want regardless of where they come from as long as they are qualified to do so, but my own rights and freedom to aspire to any position I choose must also be respected

If you are elected Senator, what are you going to do differently from those before you?

I am a hands-on man who aspires to bring leadership and representation by collaboration to the people and not as their lord and personal savior who must be applied to for appointments on burning issues affecting the people. I have already started studying the Anioma areas to identify the specific challenges peculiar to them so that I can synthesize a list of the proposed Bills that I will push to become legislations to address those needs with a synergy of efforts between me and other senators whose areas may have needs that would require our barter for support for actions on the floor of the Senate. If given a chance to represent the people, I will run a compact, sensitive and ready-to-go constituency office for dealing with urgent citizens issues and challenges that would require interventions in my official capacity as the Senator representing the Delta North. One thing I will not do, is to leave the business of representing the Anioma people to getting myself involved in being a stooge for personal survival to anybody at the Senate or making laws that would protect me and others against any fraud we may have committed in the past against the state and because I have never been corrupt, I promise to remain corrupt-free before, during and after my tenure. In effect, I will not only not celebrate corruption and corrupt men, I will bring my colleagues together to craft stiffer penalties for high profile corrupt public office holders and their accomplices in Nigeria.

What do you have to say to the spate of separatist agitations in the country – Biafra Republic, Arewa Republic, Niger-Delta Republic, Odua Republic etc?

As an activist, I respect any people’s rights to self-determination if there is evidence to prove that they are indeed victims of oppression or repression and are committed to the pursuit of their agitations without violence that can hurt humanity in masses. All the agitations everywhere today have become a scandal of sort because they appear to be driven by commerce and nothing more. Nigeria is on fire because she was originally programmed to fail for the economic gains of imperial Britain by the exploitative British colonialists who planted a sophisticated series of divisive time-bombs that started exploding soon after they left Nigeria and Nigerians with the Greek gift of political independence without a commensurate economic content and power that could have translated into prosperity arising from the expected equal access to opportunities that never was and still does not exist as a new set of devious, divisive, manipulative, self-serving ignorant bigots and destructive homegrown colonial locusts from all sections of the country united by corruption seized the country to unleash poverty and squalor on the whopping majority of the people who became subjects and victims of hate that is now preached by supposed men of God in both churches and mosques. Hate and its genocidal effects on Nigeria and Nigerians will get worse unless and until Nigeria is unconditionally opened up for equal access to opportunities for all her criminally neglected masses via a competent, focused, transparent, accountable, sensible and sensitive alternative leadership driven by capable men and women of conscience and integrity with the love and zeal to selflessly serve Nigeria beyond the prisms of ethnicity, regions and religion.
What do you think can be done to arrest the agitations?

Open Nigeria. Once that is done and everybody has an equal access to opportunity, the stamina to fight will be channeled into developing the individual and the nation. It is that simple. Nigeria must summon the courage and political will to kill the federal character. It is evil and the main reason the country is at war with herself.

What is your view on the ongoing campaign for the restructuring of the country?

To be very candid, I don’t know what the campaign for restructuring of Nigeria is about and exactly what the campaigners really want to accomplish with it. I am an interventionist and will try to stay away from making statements that will not stand the test of time. The best way to restructure Nigeria is via OPEN NIGERIA as I have explained above. Once Federal character dies, Nigeria will live and live abundantly. We must therefore, first restructure our minds away from the hate, mischief, intolerance and bigotry that are created by our divisive political class fueled by the objectionable poverty they plunged our people in that makes us not see that they are the enemies we must come together to fight in the class war they declared against us but in which we are used as soldiers against ourselves. The war that is raging is a class war between the political elites and the rest of Nigeria in which the elites use the trivial things that differentiate us such as ethnicity, religion and our regions as fuels to inspire us to destroy ourselves and our nation so that only they and their families will continue to live off Nigeria. Our Mumu done do. We need to turn the heat on them to save Nigeria I believe that the states should become more independent and productive as it is in the US where every state is known for at least one thing it produces that makes it unique to drive its economy against the stupidity of sharing allocations from Abuja

Finally, tell us about Austin and Grace Foundation of which you are CEO

The Austin & Grace Ajaja was founded in 2014 in honor and memory of an iconic couple who dedicated their entire lifetime to community leadership and service to humanity. As direct beneficiaries of the good work and positive influence of these two incredible personalities, we the children decided to use the tools of the 21st Century to expand, amplify, drive and share, in their original forms, the legacies they bequeathed to us beyond our frontiers with a view to affecting others, especially those who are endowed with or inclined to using public service to positively impact society at all levels and in effect, create a source for renewable effective, sensible and sensitive, responsive and responsible, accountable and transparent community, state, national and global leadership from generation to generation. We hold this philosophical ideology sacrosanct and very dear to our hearts with the way we approach life issues and how we deal with our fellow human beings. This explains the passion we put into whatever we do in our contributions to making our immediate environment, and by extension, the world a better place. Our vision is to continually advance the cause of our humanity via dismantling ignorance with literacy

Thank you for your time, and here is wishing you success in your political journey

Thank you and God bless

Smart Ajaja is the CEO of Allied Vision Group LLC, Austin & Grace Ajaja Foundation and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Anioma Voice Worldwide Foundation