I did my best at the Senate – Udoma

At  a recent seminar on ‘Partnering for Nation Building’ in honour of Dick Kramer, an American who has lived over 35 years in Nigeria and has contributed immensely to the country’s development, Udoma Udo Udoma, one of the panelists, spoke exclusively with ZEBULON AGOMUO, Deputy Editor, BDSUNDAY, saying that he did his best while at the Senate. He said there cannot be good leadership without credible institution. In his presentation on the role of ‘institution’ in nation building, Udoma observed that effectiveness of a leader depended on the institution on ground. According to him, institution comprises “processes, structures, enforcement mechanisms and organisations” that are on ground for successful leadership. He quoted Barrack Obama’s advice to African leaders that they should build institutions. “Africa does not need strong men, it needs strong institutions.”

He expressed regret that institutions such as the police, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) had not been strengthened enough beyond the personalities running them. He observed that rather than focus on the institutions, attention was being focused on the individuals that run them, which, according to him has hampered the growth of such institutions, and by extension, that of the country.

Speaking on the failure of politicians to build their parties as institutions, he said: “PDP has not built an institution as a political party, but the party appears to be built around individuals; same as the APC. Positions are available to the highest bidders; we are not practising the right kind of democracy we copied from America. Party primaries have to improve because without that you can’t attract the right kind of candidates.”

 The senator, who spent two terms at the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, said the country’s economy had a lot of potential; pointing out, however, that certain problems needed to be addressed to enable Nigeria realise the full benefits inherent in the great potential.

 Dick Kramer is not naturally born a Nigerian, but he has contributed to the growth of the country in many ways. What lessons do you think that has for every citizen of this country?

 He is somebody who has committed himself to Nigeria, he is always very positive, very optimistic, even when some us Nigerians feel a little down, he tells us these are just teething problems, but he believes in the robustness of Nigeria and Nigerians. So, he continues to inspire so many of us. He has touched the lives of a whole generation of Nigerians who learned through him, who worked with him in certain areas, who he encouraged through his motivation. His celebration is wonderful because he has committed himself to the development of other people and the development of Nigeria.

 How do you rate the economy of Nigeria at the moment?

I think the economy has a lot of potential, but there are still some things we need to do to make it work perfectly. It has potential for a number of reasons- the population, the number of young people with strength of enterprise, the resources that we have (the material and human resources) and the fact that the economy is now the largest in Africa. So, all these suggest a robust economy and a very bright future.

But we need to address a number of problems to make things work better in our society. We have to address the problem of insecurity, infrastructure deficit and infringing on the rule of law. I believe if we get these things right, the sky is the limit.

 You were in the Senate for eight years; could you please assess your contributions to the nation building using your position?

 Well, I was in the Senate for eight years and during that time, I focused on a number of things. One, we tried to get a little more revenue to the people of the Niger Delta where I come from. I succeeded in that, because I chaired the committee on Onshore/Offshore. Two, I also committed myself to helping in terms of debt servicing, dealing with debt issues in Nigeria, working with Okonjo-Iweala. We also looked at judges’ remuneration. Judges were not being paid well. So, when we got into the Senate, we looked at their remunerations, increased their remunerations and also we looked at the funding of the judiciary and made sure that the judiciary was well and adequately funded to support and enhance their independence. Those are the few I remember immediately. Am sure there are a few others. Within the eight years, I made my contributions and left for others to make theirs too.