Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu, popularly known as Samdaddy is an Ikeduru born politician, a household name in Imo State, Nigeria and beyond. He is a grassroots politician who rose from the ranks and became a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where he represented Imo East (Owerri zone) in the red chambers of the national assembly, from 2015 to 2019. Though seen as lucky in his political career, he is one man that understands politics as a game of give and take. Samdaddy is an accomplished agriculturist who has budding farms, where he has employed hundreds of people. He has plans to take his agro-allied business to a higher dimension.
In this exclusive interview with the News Echo Executive Editor; JENNIFER JOHN he bared his mind on a wide range of issues. Enjoy the read.
Sir may we know what you have been doing since you left the Senate?
Before I was elected as a Senator that represented Imo East, I was in Imo State House of Assembly for two tenures, prior to that, I served two tenures as my Local Government Chairman. Before occupying these political positions, I was a business man with special interest in agriculture, that’s why you hear about Samdaddy’s farms. Right now, we are also into real estate business.
Sir you have been somewhat silent in the PDP. We want to know if Samdddy is still a member of the PDP, ImoState?
First of all, I have not been silent. I am a stakeholder in PDP. In the recent past I have been on national assignments of the party. I was the Secretary of the committee that went for a fact finding and reconciliation in Osun State. I was also the Secretary of Edo delegate election, under the chairmanship of Governor Fintri of Adamawa State. I was the congress chairman for Rivers State congress that took place recently. M you can see, I have been busy with party assignments. Back home in Imo State, my party is also strong, not without skirmishes. As a party man, even when you get angry with some developments in the party, you still let go. The next election is around the corner. We are still mobilizing and looking for members, it is not time for bickering or in-house fighting. It is a time to mobilize and scout for membership and work for total reconciliation of members who felt aggrieved.
Sir were you satisfied with the recent congress of Imo PDP?
Satisfaction is relative and as a matter of fact I don’t have anything against anybody as an elected executive of the party, but the truth of the matter is that the party has procedures. For me as a person, I can let go but I don’t know about others.
On 29 December you held a thanksgiving ceremony where Governor Wike of Rivers State
who was in attendance revealed that you brought Emeka Thedioha to him, can you please expantiate on this and what is your relationship now with Emeka Thedioha?
Well first of all, the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Nyesom Wike is my very good friend, a leader in my party. Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha is my friend and my brother and I assume that we are still friends and brothers. So, if he needed anything that I could help, I will willingly do that. So, introducing him to Governor Wike to help him become the governor of Imo State is one of the things I know I could do and I did it, so it doesn’t really matter. And to talk about the state of our friendship now, I will not say that we are enemies, we are not enemies, we are from the same Owerri zone, we are brothers and in the same political party, but as a matter of fact, it depends on the level and commitment of the friendship. I cannot wake up tomorrow and say that we are enemies. We may have political differences, which off course we do, because we aspired for the same political position to become governor of Imo State. Some people don’t manage defeat, some don’t manage victory. The ability to manage victory and also ability to manage failure is a skill that one must have. One thing about me is that I am a very tolerant and patient person who always believe that God’s time is the best. By the time I aspired, whether I was schemed out of it or not, it wasn’t my time. At the appropriate time when it will be my turn, it must surely come to pass and at that time, whoever that is perceived to be my enemy will be asleep.
PDP lost the governorship and other positions in the state. What is your message for your party faithful? Is there still hope?
Every party is struggling to survive. Even APC, though they are the ruling party, they have to work hard to endear themselves to the hearts of Imo people. You know Imo people are very impatient. And for PDP, we have not lost, we were in governance for about sixteen years, so for whatever reason we lost this time around, the onus is on the party to go back to the drawing board, reflect back and find out where we got it wrong and then seek for true reconciliation. If we try to victimize people, ostracize them for whatever selfish reasons, we, we will go back to square one.
Sir how will you rate the present administration of Imo State?
It is still very early to give a score. This administration is still barely eight months old. We are still expecting the governor to unveil his programmes. It is unfortunate the government came on board during the period the whole world was ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic which put the world economy into shambles. I think that Imo State is a part of the world. It is also a fact that before now, the revenue of the state had not been all that strong, but I believe that a focused administration will make do with what is at its disposal and still put smiles on the faces of the people.
So, I wouldn’t say the governor has done badly and I am not the type that cajoles people because of politics. One of the areas the governor has done very well was continuing the projects started by previous administration of Rt. Hon Ihedioha, including the commissions and panels of enquiry. That is how administration has to be. You don’t just come and decide to destroy what other administrations did in order to impress people. You have to improve on what others have done. I think he has started well. I know there have been complaints about nonpayment of salaries. I think the government has to go back and see a way to handle the situation, in order to ameliorate the sufferings of the people. I know they are trying to fix things and ensure a smooth running over a period of time to ensure that people are not owed, but in the interim, there must be a mechanism on how to ameliorate the sufferings of the people. You know Imo is a government driven economy and the lockdown dealt a great blow on people’s source of income. That is why I want the government to look at it and have plans for Post Covid-19 economic recovery.
It is unfortunate that it happened this time when this government came on board newly, but they should go back to the drawing board and do something about the salaries because every worker deserves his wages. That is the area I think the government should try and work hard. In the area of road and other infrastructures, again they came on board, trying to fix things and the rainy season set in. So, let’s wait and see what they have. That is why I said it is too early to rate the government. There is a very harsh economic situation in the country and the whole world. It has not been easy for the entire state and Imo State is not an exception.
Sir, you have a special gift to speak to the rains and it listens to you, how did you come about this gift/power?
In politics people say many things about you. I have heard people say that I have marine spirit that I operate from the water but you see, if you have Christ, you can do many things. Every power comes from God. There is power in the spoken word. Sometimes you say things without being conscious of them, but they come to pass. I have no special kind of power it is just the special gift from God. The way he gave pastors that performs miracles.
Don’t you think that it is a calling for you to be a servant of God?
To be honest with you, I believe that aside from politics, my next move will be to use all I have to worship
God. I may not mount the pulpit to preach, but I will use whatever God has given me to serve him, which I have started . I have a foundation called “SOME” (So Others May Eat), with its subsidiary known as “Samdaddy Mustard Seed”, where we spend half a million every month to feed children in the orphanages and indigent homes. I have a covenant with God that every day of my life, I must dip hand into my pocket to bless someone and put smiles on people’s faces. It took me a lot to make this covenant and I know that as long as I maintain the covenant, I will never lack what it takes to fulfil it. We are privileged to be where we are, not because we are better than others. So we must always try to offer helping hands. I have no single enemy. Even those who see me as perceived political enemy. I treat everybody equally.
How were you able to attract construction of the road that links Ikeduru and Mbaise during your tenure in the Senate?
That is the reason my name was mentioned by Akpabio as one of the Senators who did NDDC Road contract and I laughed. In this part of the world people measure your performance by how many infrastructural projects you were able to attract, unlike in the developed countries where people measure your performance by how many people-oriented bills you were able to sponsor. As a lawmaker and member of Senate committee on NDDC, I attracted roads, not just the Atta-Inyishi-Mbaise Road but also; Atta-Nworieubi, Amawire-Orji-Awaka and also the ring roads around Area B, New Owerri which thousands of people are benefiting from. I also did street lights and many more. I attracted those projects. M a Senator, my job was to make sure they appear in the budget. If I have any opportunity to go back to the Senate or any such position of responsibility, I will attract more than I attracted then, when I was a first timer in the red chambers. However, as a seating Senator, I was not a contractor and I did not award any contract. During that time, I also brought the Ministry of Niger Delta to work on the Ekemele/ Akabo bad spot and it’s unfortunate that the contractor that did the work is now dead, without being paid for the job he did. I am using this opportunity to call on the Ministry of Nger Delta to pay those who did contracts for them because most of them are dying of frustration and hunger. I made the efforts I made because I saw the sufferings of the people. That is also what motivated me to sponsor the south east development bill which will be like that of the NDDC . It is quite unfortunate that because of some ethnic consideration, my bill which came before that of North East development was side-stepped, while they schemed and passed that of the North East. It is however noteworthy that the bill was eventually passed before I left the Senate and it’s currently on the table of the president waiting for his approval.
