Hon. Stella Okotete is the Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Import, NEXIM, Bank, Abuja. She is in charge of Business Development Department of the Bank. An APC chieftain in Delta State, she hailed from Agbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. She was a lawmaker in Ughelli North Legislative arm several years ago. An astute politician of no mean repute, her political influence is nationally recognized, hence she got appointed into that exalted position in the federal government-owned strategic financial institution, by President Muhammadu Buhari. Fondly called the Lioness of the Niger Delta, Hon. Okotete has reached out to the women, youths, men and elders in the Niger Delta in various capacities. In this interview with John Oghojafor (South South Bureau Chief), Hon. Okotete spoke on the new face of APC of Delta, her plans to step up her empowerment programme for her constituency, among other national issues.
Excerpts:
The 2019 general election has come and gone and winners have emerged. It is often said that the end of one election is the beginning of another. You are a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Delta State. Going forward, what is the expected new face of your party in Delta State?
There is a saying that the end of every election is the beginning of another election. For us in the APC we believe that after the election, we need to work together because of 2023 that is ahead of us and it is important we are united. Thank God that we have the Deputy President of Senate who is from Delta State. He is the leader of the APC in Delta. I believe that his drive now is to reconcile all factions, all tendencies and bring them all together for us to forge ahead and actually drive the new progressive vision for Delta so that 2023 can come to fruition.
Talking about 2023, what is the vision of the party in the state?
The vision of the party is actually to reposition Delta State for progress and development. If you look at what is happening in the State now, with due respect to those who have led the state and those who are leading currently, there is still a lot to be done, there is a lot undone that need to be done, and I think that is what the APC is coming into Delta to do in 2023. We want to see that we have a state where every child has access to free education for twelve years. When I mean twelve years, I mean primary and secondary education free of charge. We want to see a Delta State where our tertiary institutions are well-equipped, conducive for learning and our children will come back as seasoned engineers from those institutions. We want a Delta State where our internally-generated revenues, IGR, will be ploughed back into reviving moribund industries and attracting investors to invest in sustainable projects and programmes that will lift Delta State to the next height.
I visit Warri regularly and I weep seeing the present state, because it is not the oil city that we can boast of. The city needs a lot of development; we need to attract a lot of businesses back and, like it or leave it, the only government that can actually do that in Delta State is the APC government because we have tried the PDP for this long and we are still behind time in terms of development. There is actually nothing sustainable that we can pin-point that, yes, this will out-live the four years of the present administration in the state. So, we need the APC to come on board to actually correct the wrongs and reposition Delta State for greater height.
Talking about reviving the economy, emphases have been placed on the significance of the development of Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises, MSMEs. What is NEXIM bank doing in this direction?
In Nigeria, we are doing a whole lot. If you look at the export value chain, you have the medium and small businesses that are present along the entire value chain, from picking – you have entrepreneurs whose job is just to pick some of the commodities, some are to dry, salt and packaging. Now, we are advising that we have customers who are adding values to the export because, for every item you export in its raw form, you are exporting employment. So, we are trying to see how we can add value to the items in Nigeria before they export. And that is what we are looking at and we are creating more than 3 million jobs in the next two years. We are also hopeful that we can actually drive export to the South South. It is a region which I hail from but as it is now exportable commodities in the South South is limited and narrowed down to only rubber today. I’m already talking with the state government, to see how we can host the South South and South East enlightenment campaign in Asaba where we will draw in key stakeholders to come on board.
So, we are hopeful that with the enlightenment campaign, we will bring in resource persons, we will identify what to go into and start to develop it. Developing means that as we identify what to go into, we also need to identify land for us to be able to plant, get government to support us with some necessary approvals, Certificates of Occupancy, and all that, because that is what is needed to secure some of these investments. Then we can get other key stakeholders to actually play within the value chain for processing and technical supports, while we will be there to help government manage some funds to develop export.
After the election, what do you have in stock for the women and youths in terms of empowerment in your area as a leader?
Before now, I had run a couple of empowerment programmes. But immediately after the 2019 elections, I told myself I needed to relax and I went back to the drawing board. Before now, I was subletting the trainings, skill acquisition centres and whatever, to facilitators. So, what I’m working on currently is something that I’m sure after this one year break that I have taken, when I put it back in the public domain, it will have the ability to run with or without me. I’m actually looking at developing a rehabilitation and empowerment centre that will be equipped with a library, training facilities and at least, various workshops to build capacity and re-orientate our people to see that they empower themselves. Politics is not a full-time job. So, we need to get our politicians back at home, the women, the youths to have something that will keep them running before every election and after every election. As it is said that the end of every election is the beginning of a new election, so also it is that the end of every business is the beginning of another business. So, they will continue in their businesses back to back when election is ongoing and when election has ended. That is my initiative I think I’m bringing on board. But for the last seven or eight months I have been on holidays. The programme is going to be for both women and youths.
Total ban on import and export through the land borders. You are working in a bank whose primary business has to do with import and export. Has this blanket ban on import and export by the government any effect on the business of NEXIM Bank?
Not really. Don’t forget that for every dream you will have to take a wake-up call. I believe that this is the only thing we need at this time that will reposition our industrial growth, build our industries as well as build our capacity as a nation. Before now the road borders have been used to smuggle manufactured goods, rice and other things into the country. And this has affected the growth of industries owned by Nigerians in Nigeria. The land border closure will only affect a few of our exporters that use the land, but as an institution, we have a sea link project that we are working on. We are hoping that it will commence before the end of the month. It will move goods from the coastal ports or jetties to Ghana and other African countries by sea. So, if we have that in place, we can actually move goods to and from our neighbouring countries in Africa legitimately, using such avenues or channels.
There have been some agitations among women that they are not being given sufficient opportunities in political offices and other positions. Here you are, an executive director of a federal government-owned financial institution. Do you still share that view that women are not given sufficient opportunities in public service and politics?
Power is not served ala carte. You have to work for it, you have to earn it, you have to be favoured by God and you have to make yourself available for God to use you. This is because if you are not available to God, He cannot use you. Yes, I believe that more women should be given opportunities to hold offices but under the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, I think he is doing the right thing. He has supported women and he is still supporting women. In various agencies today, you have women as executives, as managing directors; my friend is the MD of NPA and I have another friend, she is the DG of NAPTIPS. So, we have women playing active role in government, we are no longer backbenchers. We are running government, we are decision-makers, the Minister of Finance is a woman. So, the government under President Muhammadu Buhari has really inspired and recognized women and I believe he will do more as he has promised. What I would advise is that our women should be ready. You need to develop yourself and you need to position yourself for better participation. It is beyond tying of wrappers and going to occasions. That is not politics. Some of us play more actively in social events than in politics. I remember in the last election I was a returning agent for Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. I’m a woman. I remember when he nominated me that Stella is going to be my returning agent, a lot of men said no way. But he said ‘I trust Stella, I know she will deliver on the job’. So, you need to ensure that you are also loyal as a woman, to your leaders that can have the confidence to give you such heavy assignments. I remember when the President was coming, a lot of people needed to know his itinerary and what was happening, through me. This is because the President knows that he has somebody that is active on ground, that can protect his interest and who is loyal to his cause. So, my advice to women politicians is that less of social gathering; develop yourselves and give your hundred percent when it comes to loyalty to your identified leaders.
A quick follow-up on that, education of the girl child. Are you satisfied with the situation in Nigeria?
There is still a lot to be done. Before I came on board I was the President of Girls Right Foundation. We believe that the girl child should be given more opportunities in terms of education, choice of marriage, health care facilities and everything that will support us to give out our best. There is this Chinese proverb that if you train a girl child you have trained a nation. If you train us we can do more because we are your wives, we are the mothers, we are the house mates, we are the helpers; in fact, in God’s own wisdom, He created a man and said He needed to give him a help mate. So, giving the girl child all the opportunities, all the support; quality education, quality health care, ability to survive without being discriminated against or forced into marriage, is what the government and the people need to put in place. It is not just the government alone; the religious leaders have a big role to play in this regard. I remember when I was a Councillor, one thing that got me attracted to working for the girl child was the circumcision of girls back home. And I remember, to a very large extent, I sponsored a bye-law in Ughelli then, to see that it was abolished. I don’t know if it is being implemented now, but it is a barbaric act and I condemned it in all totality. I appealed to our mothers who are strong participants in this so-called girl child assault to please retrace their steps and stop it. Let’s encourage our girls to go to school. And as for the young girls, let’s give in our best, the future depends on us.
We could recall that during the 8th Senate, the Senator representing Delta Central who is now the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, sponsored a bill that sought to protect the female students in our tertiary institutions against sexual abuse by lecturers. Although the Senate then could not pass it into law, the bill has been resuscitated by the Senator in the 9th senate.
Coincidentally, the issue of sexual abuse, now tagged ‘sex for marks’ in our tertiary institutions has come into the front burners in national discourse. In your own opinion what is the level of carnage this has caused to the psyche of the female students?
I think the 8th Senate was not fair to the female students. If they were fair to us and they held us in high esteem, they would have given a speedy attention to the passage of that bill. And I believe that the 9th Senate is much different from what we had in the 8th Senate. And I believe the bill has come to stay and I know that the President is willing and ready to assent to it if the Senate can quickly pass it. I also believed it will support and strengthen our educational system and quality of results we see from our students. And it will also protect our female students. But beyond that, we should also know that it is not only happening to our female students. It is a gender issue that is happening to both sides of the divide. So, I think that we need to look at the bill and ensure that it is applicable to any sexual harassment on campus for marks and for whatever it is. It should be able to address it from the female side as well as the male space. This is because there is still a whole lot of sexual harassments happening to my fellow brothers too, by female lecturers. Yes, it is more rampant with the female students in school, but let’s ensure that we don’t go back again after moving forward. So, it should accommodate both sides of the divide.
There was this boy in Delta who was stabbed severally recently by a neighbor for expressing his support for President Buhari shortly after the Presidential Tribunal judgment in favour of the President. Without wasting time, you intervened, picked up the medical bills and also offered to give his children scholarship as well as provide the victim with a good job. People are asking if the victim were to be member of another party other than the APC, would you have responded the way you did?
I would have done that if it was anybody. Democracy allows us to pitch our tent in wherever we choose to. I condemned what happened and I did what I did because I needed to do something for somebody that was in need, one. Two, Mr. President cannot know everybody. But we are his disciples. So, if somebody has an issue because of his loyalty and support for Mr. President, I think it is not out place that those of us he deemed it fit to have appointed, reach out one way or the other. I was not the only one that reached out to the boy. The Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo SAN, was there also through his representative, to support; the Senator was also there through his representative to support; APC leaders and key stakeholders were also there, party faithfuls and members were there to support. I think this is what the APC stands for. We are not as divided as people think. It is a one for all and all for one. And I’m sure with that you can see that in 2023 we will have a more united front coming together to see that we put a stop to thuggery in politics, we put a stop to underdevelopment of key sectors in Delta and we put a stop to disunity that politics is bringing to our space and to our communities.
