By: Barr. Jude Eze Esq.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu
Right around Nigeria’s democracy, the quality of political leadership is as low as one can ever remember, with only a handful of exceptions, from the underwhelming to the desolate to the appalling.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 quickly exposed and enlarged the malaise in Nigeria's leadership, critical sectors and infrastructures. In addition to the deadly human toll and the disruption to millions of people’s lives, the economic damage is already significant and far-reaching.
Today’s realities are quite different than they were few years ago. The reality of life post-COVID-19 and its consequences for the economy and society will play out over the rest of 2020 and beyond.
In Enugu state, citizens are rightly concerned, in the face of these challenges, about how the state will be affected and the changes that needs to happen next. It is true that nobody has a crystal ball, but a rough projections on the macroeconomic implications for Enugu State underscores the need to show flexibility and willingness in making difficult choices for the growth of the state.
How do we move forward in such uniquely uncertain circumstances?
Do we allow the best of us to exit the stage now that the ship is sinking?
It is no longer secret that Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a fifth-term Senator representing Enugu West constituency will be bowing out of the upper chamber upon the completion of this term. Ekweremadu achieved this level of success and stability through a combination of vision, passion, courage, intellect, humility, sagacity, perseverance, godliness and character. Thus, while his peers at a very early age floundered, Ekweremadu flourished with a clear vision of his life mission. He pursued the vision with incandescent passion, valour, candour and honour.
Ike's political foray began at the age of 10 when he became the chairman of his age grade and this spanned a period of 30 years. He became the president of Mpu town union at 30. At 35, he became the Chairman of Aninri Local Government Area, he had an exceptional performance that earned him the Best Local Government Chairman Award in Enugu State at the time. At 37, he was appointed Chief of Staff by the Chimaroke Nnamani administration. In 2002 at the age of 39, Ike became Secretary to the Enugu State Government. He ennobled the two offices with remarkable skill, exceptional diligence, elegance and panache.
In 2003, Ike got the mandate of the people of Enugu West Senatorial zone - comprising of five local government areas: Udi, Ezeagu, Oji-River, Awgu and Aninri - to represent them in the Nigerian Senate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That same year, he was elected from the Senate of Nigeria as their representative at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament. In 2007, he was reelected into the Senate. His capacity and pan-Nigerian attitude earned him the Deputy President of the Senate position unopposed in 2007; in 2011 his colleagues voted him to continue in that position. In 2015, even when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in the minority, he ran against a Senator from the mainstream party and gained huge support from Senators across all divides.
In September 2009, he was appointed to lead the ECOWAS adhoc committee to work for the return of constitutional order in the Niger Republic. He was elected First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament. Ike became the first Nigerian to hold the position of the Speaker of ECOWAS Parliament in August 2011 (the speakership of the regional parliament is rotational in alphabetical order, the next Nigerian Speaker of the Parliament will emerge in nearly 60-year time).
At the ECOWAS Parliament, Ike Ekweremadu embodied the aspirations of the members to create an unprecedented unity of purpose in the Parliament. He presided over the Parliament with finesse, statesmanlike verve, diplomatic élan and consummate consensus. Under his dispensation in the parliament, Ike pursued the Enhancement of the Powers of the Community Parliament; Rehabilitation of the Parliament building; provision of office accommodation to all members of the Parliament; institution of Award for Good Governance; Protocol for punishment of coup plotters in the sub-region even after office; capacity building for both the Parliamentarians and staff, amongst others.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, as one of Nigeria’s foremost lawmakers in the hallowed chambers of the Senate, has delivered an impassioned and credible leadership. A prodigy in Parliamentary practice, Ekweremadu has several motions and bills to his credit. Furthermore, he undertook the responsibilities of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the 1999 Constitution Review as Chairman. The widely acknowledged free and fair election of 2011 owes its credibility to the Electoral Reform facilitated by the Constitution Review Committees of the National Assembly.
Ike is a firm believer in equity, justice and rule of law. When he became the Deputy President of the Senate in 2007, one of the first major road projects he attracted was the Oji River-Awgu road. The second was the Awgu-Ndeaboh-Mpu-Okpanku-Akaeze road. One day, he came back home and saw right in his village, the contractor had put asphalt on the road in front of his house. He called the Minister of Works and complained that the contractor had left the stretch from Awgu-Ndeaboh and started in front of his house. He insisted that tge contractor must remove the asphalt, leave the road as bad as it was and start where they should. This is the hallmark of integrity.
Ike Ekweremadu’s quality representation resonates resoundingly with his constituency. He has parlayed his cognate experience into monumental achievements in Enugu West Senatorial District and beyond. He has transformed his constituency beyond the rust and tarnish of even the least charitable. He has converted his Senatorial District into a huge construction site with road rehabilitation and construction, rural electrification, solar lights, water supply schemes, health care service delivery, libraries, computer centres, youth development centres etc.
In human resource and capacity building, the Ikeoha Foundation which he founded in 1997 as a council chairman, complements his constituency outreach through scholarships to indigent students, micro-credit and widowhood support schemes, adult literacy centres, quiz and Ikeoha Football Cup competitions among others.
Ike Ekweremadu understands the importance of education in human emancipation. The Professor of the Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, America constructed and equipped classrooms in several local governments in Enugu state. He instituted the Ikeoha Scholarship Scheme designed to subsidize the cost of quality education for talented students. Through the Ikeoha Adult Literacy Programme, he has helped adults gain literacy skills in 30 centers spread across 5 LGAs in the state. This programme has an annual enrollment figure of 1,620 and has nurtured over 12,000 beneficiaries.
As we gradually march into the fourth industrial revolution, there is a need to bring on board an effective leader who will do more than build roads and pay salaries (that much is expected). Enugu state needs a leadership with proven critical experiences to revamp the economy, develop human capital and infrastructures in line with the sustainable development goals, deliver clarity of thought, along with the ability to embrace differences and broaden observations to see beyond the obvious.
Strategic leadership is learned—it does not come naturally. Former Deputy Senate President is one experienced politician in history who has climbed every rung of the ladder to attain his current enviable height. A patriot, in every sense of the word, whose love, dedication, sacrifice and passion for the development of Nigeria and Enugu state is legendary. A man who canvasses the centrality of morals in the dynamics of power. A classic public speaker whose incisive contributions in the Senate engender responsibility, nation building and hope. For a man with this pedigree of experience in leadership, it is only right that he yields to the yearnings and aspirations of the people of Enugu state to bring his wealth of experience to bear in the state.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu is so far the best candidate to replace Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, he has built a solid political structure, with unmatched political clout and leverage as well as core competencies to lead the state to unattainable heights.
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