CURB EXCESSES OF PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM, VINCENT FURO ADVISES

Do you believe Sir that the gain from the fuel subsidy removal would be well-utilized?
Furo: It will be well utilized if you and I show interest and we are pro-active and monitor. We should know what is going on. When our resources are being tampered with, nothing stops you from asking your governor, your local government chairman, your councilors, your ministers and the rest of them, to give accounts. Nothing. But now when they come to you, you tell them, the politicians, to go and bring money. When they go, they also take their own, so that is the thing. If we stop this chop, I chop syndrome, things will improve.
Sir, the original price aimed at, was N141, now it is N97. Will this not affect his plan of carrying out the juicy packages we are aiming for?
Furo: Well, you see it showed that he is a listening president and not the pushing which was aggressive and brusque. So like his broadcast said, he has listened to all and he does not want to be a dictator, so he had to come down a bit. You see, we have a very serious disease. That disease is corruption, high level corruption in the oil sector. The so called subsidy does not go round. It is for a specialized group. It is a problem that must be solved. The other thing is that if you follow the way a tsetse fly is biting you in your scrotum and use that force to hit it, you may not kill the tsetse fly, but you may hurt yourself. That is why he has to parley a little bit.
Sir the question is, will his reducing the amount not affect his original intentions?
Furo: No, no, no. we can adjust. We can always adjust. Nothing stops you to say if you cannot afford three square meals, you make it two meals and you can also cut down the ration.
What do you think should be done about Boko Haram?
I don’t think the government is at a loss on what to do. It is just that there is a lot infiltration into the security system, into the government. The Boko Haram, they are people like you and I. People are financing them, sponsoring them. They had a different motive. May be some of the people who failed to get into power or people who have a different agenda altogether is trying to cause confusion. This Boko Haram thing did not start today. You see, why I am angry with government is that as far back as the military era, Alqueba has been operating in Nigeria. Remember the Maitatsine attempt. They train these people outside Nigeria. Sometimes they give them aids in the name of sharia or all sorts of things. A responsible government should have monitored all these and put its foot down. Sometimes too they don’t want to hurt anybody, just to score some cheap political points. Now look at the damage it is causing the whole nation. And they are not only killing Northerns, they kill people from the south and also people from the north. What government needs to do is to be more aggressive, both with the security personnel. You can ask a question, have they assisted the security agencies with adequate and modern training? Have they given them modern equipment? Because in a civilized world, there is a spy system to monitor everywhere to know what the people are doing to catch their sponsors and the rest of them. I thought during the military period, they would have used that as a lesson to ensure that the security arms of this country are adequately trained and given the necessary equipment to do what we call preventive services. You don’t wait until there is trouble somewhere. You prevent it. They are about taking off and you know what to do. This thing is not been done.
What do you think of the escape of Kabiru Sokoto?
Furo: That question shouldn’t even arise. How did he escape? When I told you they have infiltrated into government?
Ok sir, what are your activities as the president of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce?
Furo: As the president, it is my duty to ensure that the interest of the members and the business community is protected. It is our duty to ensure that there is a good relationship between the business community and government and that the government also provides enabling environment for business to strive. It is our responsibility to partner with government to see that development is done. It is our business to ensure that members do not run foul of the law. Throughout my tenure, I have tried to ensure that there is a smooth relationship between the business community and the government, both at the state and the federal level and make sure there is harmony. We will protect our business and to develop chambers from the level I met it to where it is now and we have credibility in the chamber. We try as much as we can to move business information to our members. We try to attract investors to the Niger Delta region, to the state. We try to link our businesses with foreign businesses. We partner, we have one to one business mission and some of them get representation of foreign businesses here.
In terms of business environment, what will you say about Amaechi’s administration now?
Furo: Up to 2006 2007, we were not able to do business. There was curfew and all sorts of things. Since he took over, we started having night life. In terms of security, he has done reasonably well and in terms of infrastructural development, he is trying. See the quality of roads that he is doing. He is showing commitment. He is committed to his father land. So that is what I could think of him. He has also shown that he wants to leave his name in the sands of time. The governor has shown that he has the interest of his people at heart. We are pleased with him. He may have one or two areas of imperfections. Nobody is perfect. We will assess him with his overall performance and input. On the aggregate he is doing very, very well. Not only his vision for the state but also the quality of projects he is doing. Even in terms of capital development, human development, he is equally trying. But he has to do more in terms of capital development, in human development rather and of course, empowerment. Like I kept saying, if he paints the streets of Port Harcourt with gold, if the people are hungry, it will amount to nothing. So he should devise all means of empowering the people so that it will go round. The government is not really going down to the people who really need it. That is the area I will commend him.
Thank you very much. Tell us about sports in Rivers State as a lover of sports
Furo: Well, we are not doing badly. I remember we just had the 17th National Sports Festival and we never had it so good before. We came tops with wide margins with lots of hard work and encouragement. I was a member of the local organizing committee and I know what I am talking about. We really worked hard. It was the first time in the history of the game. Again, the state government is funding two football teams and they are doing well. They are all in the premier division. One is in the international competition. The female team is where we need to do some surgical operations for them to come up, that is, the Rivers Angels. The other thing I told the commissioner for sports is school sports so that we catch them young and train them. That is what we should be doing. On the average we are trying in sports.
Any comment on Sharks and Dolphins?
Furo: My comment is that they should not rest in their oars. It is not over until it is over. Dolphins should be able to get the African cups. We want to receive it and drink with it.
I hear there are small frictions. They should not allow that to distract them. They should go ahead and prepare for the challenges ahead of them. Sharks should maintain their position. They should be team leaders in the premier division.
NFF and NPL: Court says they are illegal. What do you have to say, sir?
Furo: What I think they have done is to vindicate Sam Jaja. Sam Jaja has been a sports administrator of high standing. He worked with me when I was F.A chairman. He was in charge of Sharks and he did a lot of commitment, a lot of contributions. In football in particular, he did every thing. He was president of referee association. I know what he did. He would fast, pray, do everything humanly possible to make sure that he took the Rivers teams. Myself and Sam Sam Jaja, we were the people who negotiated and brought the Dolphins from Eagle Cement for little or nothing. He is a committed person, if he wants to do anything. He campaigned during my time at the NFA for him to go to the NFA Board. He should not have been denied the opportunity to contest the election at that time. So he has been vindicated. It is a question of sitting down at a round table and straightening out things. That’s all.
Will you take government appointment if the need arises?
Furo: In whatever I find myself, I try to do the best of my ability and leave a legacy. That’s all. It’s commitment. My appointments have been government appointments. There are certain appointments I will not take. If you give me commissioner, I will not accept. At my age there are some of things I did before which I do not have the strength to do again. It’s just like going to make me M.D of a board, I would not accept that. I can be there to make sure that there is proper administration, I can advise. I can serve as an adviser but not to go and do the boys’ job. ###