- Says Gov’s MORE Agenda Amazing
PRINCE Igwe Nzekwe is a grassroots politician; he is the Chairman, Delta State Forum of Presidents-General of Kingdoms, Clans and Communities. He is equally a member, Delta State Advisory Council. In this interview with Andy Akeni, he spoke on recent defection of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and others from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the MORE Agenda of the state government, progress made and other issues. Happy reading
Sir, may we you?
My name is Prince Igwe Nzekwe. I am the Chairman, Delta State Forum of Presidents-General of Communities, Clans and Kingdoms. I represent all the communities Presidents-General.
Are you currently holding any government appointment?
Yes, I’m a member of the Delta State Advisory Council and a grassroots politician. But beyond that, due to my position as the Chairman of the Delta State Forum of Presidents-General of Kingdoms, Clans, and Communities, I speak for the communities. We do not have any quarrel with the government. We support whichever government is in power, just as the Bible says—when Jesus Christ was asked a question, He replied, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
So, we obey the government in power and follow whoever is in authority. Even if tomorrow you become the President of Nigeria, we will obey you. We do not oppose the government of the day but we can advise.
Alright, just this past Monday, Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State and other stakeholders defected from the PDP to APC. What is your view on that?
My view is simple—the governor is the leader of the government. We are loyal to him. We give our full allegiance because he is the head of government, and we obey the authority in power.
Wherever he goes politically, we follow. We don’t concern ourselves with political party names—whether it’s PDP, APC, Labour Party, or whatever. That doesn’t matter to us. What matters is who is in charge of the government of the day. That’s who we align with, because we want peace in our communities and we believe in respecting constituted authority.
From your observation, can you list benefits of this recent political development?
When you talk about the benefits of the movement, here’s how I see it: because we are loyal to the government of the day, and the government sees farther than we do, we don’t question their direction.
If they say they’re heading left today and then decide to go right tomorrow, we’re not in a position to ask why. That’s for the politicians to debate.
Our role is to advise, pray and advocate for peace. As long as there is peace, and we remain obedient to the government, we follow the leader. That is our position.
So, are you saying that the governor’s defection is in the right direction?
Yes, it remains in the right direction because, as I said earlier, we are not questioning the government. They are leading us, we follow and advised when necessary.
Our focus is to ensure that there is peace and development in our communities.
You are not the PG for one political party; you are the PG for the entire community, regardless of political affiliations.
Let the political parties advocate among themselves, we are leaders of the people, not of parties.
Alright, thank you very much for that. Now, let’s talk about the current government of the day and its MORE Agenda. How would you assess its progress?
The MORE Agenda has only just started. But from what I’ve seen over the past two years, the governor is doing well.
Let me give an example. Just last weekend, I went to Warri for a colleague’s daughter’s wedding. What I saw amazed me—Warri is changing. Flyovers are going up. That shows there is a government trying to develop the state.
All the areas cannot be developed at the same time. If one area is being developed now, once that is done, they’ll move to the next. You can’t put all your fingers in your mouth at once, can you? So, we need to be patient.
So far, in this first term, the young man is trying. Let us wait till the latter part of the tenure before we begin to judge.
Are you saying that in terms of spread of development projects, the governor has performed well?
Yes, he has done well. But here’s something many people don’t understand. We, as community leaders, know how governance is structured.
We have local government councils with chairmen. We have councillors representing wards, and these councillors are from our communities. They have their responsibilities.
House of Assembly members have their own constituencies. House of Representatives members and Senators all have defined roles.
But the Governor’s constituency is the entire Delta State. You can’t expect him to come down and do the job of a local government chairman or a councillor. Each of them must play their part.
So, when you evaluate the governor’s performance, you must separate it from the responsibilities of council chairmen or federal representatives.
Let everyone perform their duties—then we can properly assess progress.
From the way you’re speaking, do you have any advice for the governor?
Yes, my only advice is that the governor should carry everyone along.
Before, we were all under one political party—PDP. Then people started leaving for other parties like APC and others. These are just party names—they are not human beings. Some people left PDP to form new parties or join others. Some from other parties also joined PDP. Now, when the governor left PDP for APC, he met others who had already left PDP. They must come together and work as a team. No one should act like the “landlord.”
I’ve heard that according to the APC constitution, the governor is the leader of the party in the state. If that’s so, then everyone else should rally around him so that the government can function effectively.
If you’re a Senator—perform well.
If you’re a House of Reps member—represent us well. If you’re a local government chairman—do your job. If you’re a commissioner—deliver your portfolio effectively.
At the end of the day, if everyone performs, we will be able to give the government a pass mark.
But don’t shift responsibilities. Don’t say the governor should renovate a primary school that falls under the local government council.
Likewise, don’t expect a local government chairman to carry out federal responsibilities. Each level of government must do its own part.
Very well, now finally, with the present situation in Delta State, what message do you have for Deltans?
My message to all Deltans is this: The governor, who is the head of the government we are loyal to, has now joined the ruling party at the federal level. We must support him.
Let us all work with him, regardless of our party affiliations. We, the community leaders, are not party members making noise or fighting over positions.
We represent everyone. We want development, we want peace, and we want unity.
Let’s put politics aside and support the governor and the government of the day to move Delta State forward.
