Prof Benard Ifeanyichukwu Odoh, a former Secretary to the Ebonyi State Government (SSG) is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Odoh, who aspired to be governor of the state in the 2019 general elections, but could not get his party’s ticket said that the APC has squandered its enormous goodwill in parts of the country culminating in what happened to the party in states like Zamfara, Rivers and many others.
The renowned Professor of Applied Geophysics said that Nigeria and indeed Africa cannot afford prolonged economic lockdowns as the battle against Coronavirus pandemic rages.
Odoh argued that there was urgent need to open up the economy a little while enforcing compliance with the use of personal protective equipment, among others.
What is your rating of President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance one year into his second term vis-à-vis his campaign promises?
So far, prospects are quite positive especially with respect to security. Boko Haram is getting frontally demolished and the presidency is not unaware of the fact that Nigerians expect a lot more.
APC has been embroiled in leadership crisis at the centre with many stakeholders of the party calling for the removal of the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, don’t you think this will affect the fortunes of the party in future elections?
This is a very important question. Ahead of 2019 general election, the fortunes of the party in many states across the federation seemed very bright. Sadly, bulk of the goodwill we had was mismanaged as a result of leadership crisis that rocked the party. Many party faithful who devoted their life, resources and time towards building the party were not rewarded for their sacrifices. Much of the problems created haven’t been addressed. Of course, every political party has got its own challenges to grapple with, but the need to resolve most of the lingering crises are both urgent and critical and the time to do that is now. I believe the crisis we have is not beyond solution. I’m optimistic about the future of the party. Reward for loyalty, hard work is one sure way to heal past injuries.
You aspired for the APC gubernatorial ticket in Ebonyi ahead of the 2019 elections, but lost to Senator Ogbuoji who later lost to Governor David Umahi of the PDP; do you have any regrets going for the ticket?
I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever going for the party’s ticket. In fact, many of those who didn’t support my bid for the ticket are regretting their actions as most of my predictions have become real and indisputable.
Which zone should produce the next governor of Ebonyi State and why?
I am not an advocate for zoning. Zoning hasn’t improved us that much as a people. Leadership is influence that comes from empathy, preparedness and clarity of vision and purpose. What we should encourage is the emergence of a leader who understands what to do to bring prosperity to our people. A hungry man does not ask where you come from or who your relations are. His interest is how your leadership impacts his or her life. We must be deliberate about the choices we make going forward. COVID-19 has exposed us to ridicule as we now depend on external help to sort ourselves out of predicaments. We are caught in a fix because our state has not saved for the rainy day. We have no assets that give us income. So, when revenue dries up as we may see soon, we will be cap-in-hand for aids. The kind of leadership that prepares citizens for prosperity is never anchored or predicated on mediocrity. Zoning is mediocrity cascaded.
What do you have to say about this novel COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world; some say it is a mistake from advanced science while others contend that it is a disease from nature possibly to herald the end of time?
COVID-19 pandemic to me has no eschatological implication. There is a lot of complex and complicated hypothesis and myths about the origin of the virus. The fact remains that it is a viral infection without a cure or vaccine so far, causing great devastation on the economy of nations and wholesomeness of the entire human race. Africa may ultimately be worse hit because of lack of capacity occasioned by several years of poor leadership. Mankind must battle it to a halt otherwise; it may further compound the existing challenges of human race. I am concerned about lack of coordinated strategic global leadership in response to the pandemic. Approach so far seems to be ‘to your tents oh nations’; WHO, UN, EU, AU etc need to think beyond emergency mind-set to evolve a more robust and sustainable approach to the pandemic. Madagascar and Senegal have brought a lot of native creativity to bear in their handling of the COVID-19 scourge with a lot of positive dividends. Other African countries should emulate them.
What is your assessment of the various measures put in place by different levels of government to contain the spread of the virus in the country?
At various levels, government efforts seem fair, but African nations ought to have been more proactive in their approach to handling the COVID-19 pandemic. I would’ve loved to see actions that are home grown targeted to addressing our peculiar situation instead of the copy and paste situation we have here. We have unique situation here in Nigeria and Africa at large. The Western approach of locking down the economy for testing, quarantining patients, social distancing etc are all good. But, I don’t think we should have swallowed it hook, line and sinker. We ought to look at those approaches, determine the ones that are workable in our clime, adopt them with modifications where necessary. For example, Nigeria’s economy cannot afford the luxury of lockdown with its concomitant responsibility. I expected us to thinker around it and find a way more suitable for our ultimate survival. We should reopen our economy while enforcing compliance with the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and maintaining maximum personal hygiene.
When is the nation likely to be free from the virus judging from the level of spread so far?
This requires empirical numbers from rate of spread of the virus, hospitalization, discharge and deaths. It’s not likely the nation shall be free from the virus soon given the rate of spread, more so without a cure or preventive solutions available. My take is that we should all embrace the use of PPE. The economy should gradually be reopened to mitigate the compounding potential crisis of eight weeks lockdown. The scientific research community needs to be given needed support in this regard. No pharmaceutical products have yet been shown to be safe and effective for the treatment of COVID-19. However, several medicines have been suggested as potential investigational therapies, many of which are now being or will soon be studied in clinical trials, including the solidarity trial co-sponsored by the WHO and participating countries. In many countries, doctors are giving COVID-19 patients medicines that have not been approved for this disease. The use of unlicensed medicines for medications that have not been approved by a national medicines regulatory authority may be considered “off-label” use, however, these should be neglected. The prescription of medicines for off-label use by doctors may be subject to national laws and regulations. There is every need to strike a balance between adherence to regulations and saving lives of those in danger of the pandemic in the absence of certified medication (s).
What are your projections of the post COVID-19 world order?
COVID-19 has put the entire world in a default or reset mode. The way we live, work, travel, school, do business etc will ultimately be altered. Individuals and nations who cannot adapt to the new world of Internet of things, big data manipulations and machine learning will become extinct as most human endeavours and interaction will be done without human interface. I see a new world where massive jobs will be further lost to robots and machines. The digital divide/gap between the developed world and third world will become more unprecedented. Nigeria and the rest of Africa have a lot of catch-up to do in this regard. The scenario will not be all bleak. Disagreements and trade disputes between the West, Russia, China and Saudi Arabia will open massive windows of opportunity for new trade deals and partnership to nations who are ready to embrace or leverage such opportunities. Nigeria has great opportunity to play in the emerging post COVID-19 world order.
What should the nation do to revive the economy quickly after COVID-19?
Firstly, we must do everything within our capacity as government and a people to ensure that we increase our capacity to provide food and prosperity for citizens. The much talked about economic diversification needs action now. This is the time to work the talk. The Federal Government must do everything within its powers to help local SMEs and start-ups to produce goods and services for both local and international markets. Countries don’t earn revenue when their economic complexities are weak. Our export capabilities must be supported maximally at this daunting time. Panic demand for forex must be moderated by CBN otherwise; we will head for a very unhealthy monetary devaluation. I am optimistic that if we approach our recovery from best economic principle, we will gradually step-back. We also need workable Public Private Partnership collaborative efforts in the post COVID-19 economy to quickly improve our economy. We may also need to pursue new trade deals and the opportunities offered by the pandemic outburst. Every challenge comes with opportunity and only those who are smart benefit from it. Nigeria must identify new partnerships that work well for Nigeria’s interest.
