Mbadinuju did well, people messed him up- Udemadu

                                                     
Touched by the blight cast on the people of Ihiala 1 constituency as a result of poor governmental representation , Barr.Chidi Livinus  Udemadu left his flourishing legal profession in the interim and took the bull by the horn to ameliorate the situation in his country home . However with the encouragements and supports from good samaritans , Barr. Udemadu won Ihiala 1 constituency seat in the 2014 general elections to represent his people in the Anambra State House of Assembly . Determined to address perennial problem of infrastructural decay as well as poor political representation , the legal luminary and current Chairman Anambra State House of Assembly Committe on Rules and Business  swung into action eversince he was formally inaugurated into the hallowed chambers of the state assembly .In this interactive session,  the lawmaker says that the  bone of contention now is how to get his political enemies to key into his programme of development for Ihiala 1 constituency . Excerpts .

Question  :  Sir before you ventured into politics ; what has been your pre-occupation ?

Answer :  Well am a lawyer and i have been in private practise for sometime now . I have not been a full-time politician ; even though i follow political events and trends especially when it has to do with Ihiala local government , the state and federal respectively . But at a point in time i discovered that life is worth-living only when it is lived for the service of humanity . I also discovered that though we have so many things left undone which was the primary reason i opted for this type of opportunity to see if they can give me that priviledge to lend my earnest support in infrasyructural and human development in our local government area especially Ihiala 1 constituency .  So this is one of the reasons why i volunteered myself just because i wanted to serve my people . Though my predecessor tried but when it comes to human development , so many things are yet undone . Ihiala constituency 1 has been left behind in the area of infrastructural development . Apart from schools , our roads are the worst in Anambra State .

Question :  Can you be more explicit on the issue of Ihiala 1 having the worst roads in Anambra state ?

Answer : Now let me take it one after the other . Infrastructural decay interms of human development . Ihiala 2 is far betters than Ihiala 1 in the area of infrastructural development . Although our schools have been taken care of by the past government of Mr.Peter Obi and the same line of development has continued in the Obiano administration . But what i am saying is that there are some areas still begging for government attention . For instance in my town there are some schools that have been there for a very long time unattended to but just recently contract was awarded for the reconstruction and renovation of those schools . One of them is community primary school Amorka . Government remembered us just recently . Contracts have also been awarded to take care of other schools in my constituency . Also contract has been awarded to executed three developmental projects in two centres in my town . So it is a plus for the present government and this is one of the things i feel gave me reasons to opt for this position .

Question :  So why do you feel youth empowerment is not encouraging in your constituency ?

Answer : My reasons are not far-fetched . Youths unemployment is on the high side . Unemployment in the sense that it is not all about giving people money . So many youths are just wasting away simply because nobody has taken out time to re-direct them . This is one of the programmes i have ; youths development . If our youths are recovered , the issue of insecurity will be a thing of the past . It is not as if insecurity will be completely wiped out but once our youths are re-ditected to make better use of their time then crime and criminality will be reduced to the bearest minimum . It is not as if they dont have anything doing but it is just that they dont know how to manage it .Another aspect is that it is not as if they are not getting money from it but how to manage it is the problem . The truth is that most of the youths are looking for someone to tell them something that will enable them make better use of their lives and nobody is forthcoming . The era of bore-hole drilling is gone . Infact there is a dire need for re-orientation of the youths so that the society will turn out to be better for us .

Question :  How can the battered image of Ihiala be corrected following what happened during Mbadinuju's administration ?

Answer  : I can not subscribe to the fact that Dr.Chinwoke Mbadinuju the then Governor made a mess of the constituency . The problem then did not emanate from him . Nobody can come out now and confidently say that Dr.Chinwoke Mbadinuju did not do anything then . Its that the general expectation of the people were not met . You discover that Dr.Mbadinuju was elected in 1999 ; so many people jumped into politics then . People around Mbadinuju made a mess of his of government . Now our governor is doing well and everybody is saying Willie is Working ! But there are still so many others saying this governor is not working ! The problem Dr.Chinwoke Mbadinuju had then were the people around him . I want you to know that these people made a complete mess of this man ! And before he could realise it , he was completely finished ! I do not want to go into details of what happened during Mbadinuju's reign because all of them are in the past now .

Question :  So what then should be done so that Obiano will not fall prey to sychophants around him ?

Answer :  I want you to know one thing , I am from Uli-Amorka zone of Ihiala constituency 1 and Ihiala local government as a person ; that time Dr.Chinwoke Mbadinuju was accused of surrounding himself with his people to the detriment of other zones , was not true . You used the word ' sychophants ' but you know once somebody assumes a position of authority like that of a Governor , so many people will come close to you and surround you ; even though they don't mean well for you ! They are not coming there because they like you , they are not coming there because they want to give you sincere support , they are coming there because they think they stand a chance to get one or two things ! And these people once they are there their interest is to get those things . That is why most of them who are bent on doing those things will not allow you to get close to the governor ! They will do everything to put you away ! We have had stories of people who will go and tell those in power lies to get favour ! As a politician , i know Obiano has such people around him . Even when something is going wrong , they would want to paint a picture of everything is right before the governor . And you know the governor can not be everywhere ! The governor can never be omni-science and he can never be omni-present ! Whatever he is fed with is what he will go home with !  And if people go out to shout ' Willie is Working ' and the governor feels he is really and actually people are not portraying the true picture , at the end , there will be problem . As people continue to blow his trumpet , Obiano should be careful not to fall prey to sychophants ! He should not allow himself to be carried away by praise-singing ! Governor Mbadinuju made that mistake because from my own assessment , people blinded him and before he realised what was going on , it was already late ! But in comparing Mbadinuju's era to Obiano's regime , i think the Governor is on the right side . My prayer for him is that he should not derail . Any society that does not learn from history is bound to fail . If you want to succeed as a leader , you must fall back to precedents . Leave the bad things and copy the good things . My own advice is that Governor Willie Obiano should copy the good things for his government to succeed . Although am not campaigning for him but some of us want him to go for a second term in office .For me as a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance and as somebody who understands what the Governor is doing , i will want him to continue in office so that between now and 8 years , Anambra State may also be adjuged as having the best stable communities in Nigeria . You know also that today we are adjuged as one of the best in security , kudos to Governor Willie Obiano . So i want the Governor to continue with the good work he is doing !

Question :  To what extent as the presence of Obiano's government felt in Ihiala 1 constituency ?

Answer :  I must tell you , if you go to Ihiala local government constituency 1 , one particular area the present government has affected so well is in the area of education . Our schools now wear a new look . I give credit to the government . New contracts have been awarded and very soon school structures will be erected and add more beauty to our school environment. Now the government is also doing everything to recruit more teachers to augment wherever teachers are lacking . I must tell you as somebody representing Ihiala 1 constituency that the Governor is also doing well in the area of security in Ihiala local government constituency. Even though we hear from time to time that these criminals entered one or two places and did this or that but you cannot compare that to  what has been happening in the past . It is a continuous process . I must tell you that the last government of Mr.Peter Obi did not favour us in Ihiala 1 constituency ! We had the worst network of roads in Ihiala local government from my own assessment . There is a road that links Okija-Ihiala-Amamputu-Uli-Egbu junction and down to the school gate ; that road is one of the worst road you can ever think of in Anambra State even though it is a federal road but it is has become impassible ! The state can still render some palliatives so that people can use that road . Agriculture is one of the policies of the present government and most people from Amamputu Ihiala and Okija that go to farm use the road ; as i speak with you now even motorcycle can not pass through that place because the road has been completely destroyed . We also have the Nitel road that leads to Total fuel station Ihiala ; a major road in the area but very impassible ! Also Odumegwu Ojukwu University road that connects Amorka community is also in a deplorable condition especially in this wet season . So these are some of the areas we are lacking behind . I can not ascribe the deficiency to the present government ; is as a result of our experience with the government replaced by Chief Willie Obiano .

Question :  Have you moved a motion in the house drawing the attention of government to those problems ?

Answer : Well we just started . As a lawyer and coming from my own personal experience in life , i have always loved to follow things gradually . The first thing i have achieved is settle down in Awka . For me , it is not every motion that comes up in the house that people will see me talking . No . But i will come up with motions that will scale through all the processes in the house and passed eventually . Governor Obiano during our campaign came and awarded Uzoakwa road that leads to Ogbaru ; though work has stopped now on the road due to rain but immediately after the rain work will continue on the road .

Question : What are some of the stumbling blocks hampering your legislative work ?

Answer ::  Well i must tell you that every good thing in life has obstacles . There is no short-cut to success . When you talk about hardwork ; you work hard because there are things you see militating against your progress . Some are not happy that Barr.Udemadu won this election but God has done it and nobody can change it . So many people are also pock-nosing , saying so many things . Some people are also telling lies but mine is to continue to pray that God should give me the srenght to carry on . So many people make promises but i want to tell you , you don't make promises to deceive the people ! Our job in the Anambra State House of Assembly include representative , legislative and over-sight functions . You are going there to legislate for the people and in the process of legislation , you make sure your people are represented and you over-sight so that laws can be implemented to the best interest of the citizens . So what i am saying is that there must be one or two things militating against your mission and vision but i want to tell you to be strong . Now i have realised why the Bible will continue to we should continue to pray for the leaders because the responsibilities are much . If God is not on your side , you may go gome not doing anything for your people .Good name is better than silver and gold ! As far as am concerned , no obstacle will stop me from doing whatever i want to do for my people  . Even the ones coming from people , i will hand-over to God . Only God knows how to handle such people ! If anybody decides to sow the seed of obstruction from development , if that person fails to reap it now , in the near future he will reap it . That's my position . There are obstacles but they can not deter me !

Question :  Where do you see your constituency in the nearest future ?

Answer : I must tell you i see a bright future for Ihiala 1 constituency . I see a politically aware Ihiala local government constituency 1 . I see Ihiala local government consituency 1 where everybody will know the functions of their legislators . I also see a new Ihiala local government where our youths will know exactly what to do with their lives because if we decide today to recover our youths , our tomorrow will be very bright ! If our youths are destroyed today , our future is destroyed ! These youths are the ones that will bear children tomorrow ! If a youth is not recovered and he ends up becoming a miscreant , that youth can not bring up any fruit that will be beneficial to the society .


Question : What are some of those motions and bills still in the pipeline ?


Answer  ::  One is the one that has to do with the state of our roads and other critical infrastructure in the state . Another one is on the issue of moral decadence in the society . That one will come in the form of a bill for moral instruction to be implemented in our respective schools to mention a few of them  . However i would like to use this medium to express my profound gratitude to God for bringing me to this position . Secondly and most importantly , i must not fail to thank Dr.ABC Orjiakor . He is a man i can not forget even in my widest dreams ! He is a man with a heart of gold ! He is a man that has proved to be a very big asset to Anambra State and Ihiala local government area . He is a man with positive influence in every family . So many people have money to do those things but they don't do it . In the area of human development , so many people who graduated through Dr.ABC Orjiakor will begin to have influence in the society . Constructing roads are good ,sending people overseas to do business is good , but the most important aspect of his life is the way he has taken it upon himself to develop human beings . I also want to thank Hon.Barr.V.C.Okafor , my lovely wife , relatives , friends and well-wishers who were there for me untill the storm is over while asking God to continue to bless Dr.ABC Orjiakor and his entire household