The gubernatorial election scheduled for November 6 in Anambra State is throwing up interesting debates. Up till this moment, the major parties in the contest have yet to settle their internal feuds. They appear to have determined to allow the courts settle their wrangling for them. They have, by so doing, boxed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) into a difficult corner to the point that the electoral umpire has continued to add and drop names on the ballot. What that means is that INEC spends more money on printing of ballots based on courts’ judgments/pronouncement.
Internal wrangling is a known phenomenon in politics. What makes the difference is the readiness of stakeholders to amicably settle their differences and work as a team.
Speaking with BusinessDay recently on how he was able to emerge as the candidate of Accord Party despite not being the original flag bearer that earlier emerged, Godwin Maduka said it took the understanding of the leadership of the party and those who had declared interest on the platform to achieve that.
“I joined Accord because they accepted me. You may ask, why accord? First, that’s the number one party on the ballot paper. Two, I went to check the personalities in Accord. I checked their chairman, their national working committee, and they are reputable persons. I also went and check one of the candidates in Action Alliance, right now I’m being supported by Action Alliance and Accord Party. “Accord is a clean party, and I have the reputation. There is nobody in Anambra State that can say they have done up to what I have done for humanity in Anambra State which is my Motto “Humanity First”. You can carry out a survey, on who is the most popular candidate, I am. Right now for Accord, it is the man that makes a party, not the party that makes a man. The people of Anambra State are in favour of the Accord Party,” he said.
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According to him, “I checked the party closely. I read through their constitutions. But by the way, all the political parties involved in this upcoming election approached me, including Zenith Labour Party, but I saw total difference in Accord Party. Their chairman is good and humble, just like me; so, I found him relatable. We had a lot of conversations so many times. For me, you have to look at what the party represents. They might end up being a major in the future.”
Maduka, who until recently has never been a politician in the real sense of the world, said his work and the exposures have really equipped him for the job of a chief executive officer of any state.
Although he said that Anambra politics was not new to him, he just decided to jump into the murky waters in the interest of the state.
The medical expert said that he has been an active participant in the state’s politics by way of financially assisting some of those who had contested elections at one point or the other.
Asked if he had any godfather that could help him secure electoral victory, he said he believed in the power of the people and the support of all stakeholders.
“The unique qualities about me are rare to come by in the history of Nigerian politics. I never knew that I would go into politics. Until things started going wrong and instead of sitting down there in the U.S and criticising people, I decided to come in here to do better. Simple. That is what drove me into this. I don’t have anything against godfathers, but I put it to the godfathers that they should, please, do the right thing. If you attain the ‘godfather’ level, you’re supposed to be a caretaker of the people. You have to be people-conscious. If there are godfathers, they should line behind me because I am the best candidate. They should support me,” he said.
On whether he has a timeline to record major achievements in the event that he wins the election, he said “I can’t say that I would not try. I would do my best. History can testify to what I can do. Right from my first day in the office, it is going to be straight to work. I’m going to be an industrious and very hard-working governor. So, I would do my best to do the best. I might surpass my expectation. Who knows, something might make it difficult for me to reach my goal at one point, but I would do the best I can, being aware of the timeline that I have. I have done it in my city, where we built day and night. All the projects that are there were accomplished by assiduously working day and night. I intend to replicate the development you see in Umuchukwu if I become the governor.”
Concerning medical tourism which is one of his agendas, Maduka, who has six pain hospitals, Las Vegas Pain Institute and Medical Centre, said he would enthrone the culture of good healthcare in the country.
“I plan to build medical tourism. No more cases of people going to India and dying over there or going to the UK and dying on the plane or in America. The problem is that most of the people that leave Nigeria to America to seek specialist care, I’m one of those that attend to them. I have many Nigerians that come to my hospitals. So, that’s why I intend to increase this. From improving trade to making healthcare accessible, and improving medical tourism to Nigeria. In addition, I, Dr. Godwin Maduka, have vowed that as long as I continue to live in the country, I’m going to have 24hours light,” he said.
