Hon. Nelson Alapa represents Otukpo/Ohimini Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. In this interview with OSBY ISIBOR, he speaks on some international and national issues.

Recently, the Federal Government re-emphasized its commitment to deregulation, are you sure we are ready for it yet?Deregulation in my own opinion will make us well, in the sense that every developed country that has improved was able to do that due to the private driven sectors.When the private sector is given the ability to exercise leverage and expatiate, it helps to put that country on track, face the reality on ground, and I think the result will be desirable.What I am trying to say is that, we have how many refineries in this country, we have crude oil, there is subsidy on the product, as well as regulation in practice and yet we are crying, that shows a lot of fundamental issues needed to be addressed before we completely deregulate the down stream sector.What is your take in the crisis in Niger Republic, having advised against actions that could elicit the crisis earlier?As a moralist and parliamentarian, it is possible for me to perceive what is happening in the politics in our nation or in our sub-region since it is an aspect I represent.Recently, I spoke on the impasse in Niger Republic, as if I was pre-empting what has actually happened. I was not actually pre-empting this, because in my wildest imagination I wouldn’t expect a military coup. As far as I concerned, a military coup is out of fashion, undemocratic and I condemn it in totality. But while saying this, it is the situation in Niger Republic that created room for the military junta to come in. The military would have relied and remained on their constitutional responsibility of defending a nation. When a democratically-elected government chose to deviate from the concept of democracy in trying to truncate the constitution to achieve tenure elongation, you find out that this situation calls for anything that may have happened now. But while I condemned it in totality, I think this should serve as an eye opener to other nations, to see that nascent democracy in the sub-region should be nurtured.You see, I advocated that Nigeria should take decisive step, because I foresaw the situation in that country, that has actually had history of military junta taking over and of course the incumbent president is a military man, he took over by military coup as I was made to understand and transmuted into a political leader and in the same way, he wanted to selfishly truncate the constitution of the country in order to achieve his aim.In a very strong term, I condemn that act of military take over in totality and condemn the act that actually preceded it. Nigeria needs to take more steps too to forestall what would happen in the future, like I predicted earlier on my return from Guinea Bisau. So I equally want to use this opportunity to demand that Nigeria should take her position as the leader in the sub-region and see that peace and tranquility return to Niger.Recently, you traveled to Borno State, what can you say about the achievements of Governor Ali Modu Sheriff?I want to tell you as an advocate of truth, progress and people, my impression of Borno State is wonderful and laudable, the government should be commended. These are the kind of people we need in this country, people who give what they have to satisfy the people. I am impressed with the infrastructural development of Borno State, I may not know the level of development in the state before now, but what I saw for myself is commendable. Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has shown financial discipline as Borno State is not indebted to any financial institution. You can recall that during his inaugural speech, just like I was told by a colleague, the governor promised the people of the state that his administration would not collect any loan from any institution. True to his words, the governor has not received loans from anywhere, yet, the state has enjoyed unprecedented development in all sectors.One of the major challenges facing people today is the issue of poverty. How has the Sheriff administration fared?What I gathered is that, Ali’s administration has taken the fight against poverty to another level. The governor wisely created the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Youth Empowerment and saddled it with the responsibility of formulating and executing policies and programmes to tackle poverty among the people of the state. I can assure you that much has been done in the area of youths, who now enjoy certain privileges through a micro-credit loans scheme to enable them embark on business ventures. In addition, other youths have been trained in skills after which they are given some financial assistance to enable them buy tools.Borno is renown for cattle rearing and agriculture, has the administration done anything in this regard?To the best of my knowledge, the sate has the largest number of livestock in the country. The governor has established veterinary clinic to help cattle rearers.One of the fundamental duties of government everywhere is to ensure that people have access to education. Has the administration accomplished anything in this sector?The education sector in Borno has been revamped. As a result of the efforts of the administration, enrollment in schools has increased considerably well. I am also aware that almost all the schools in the state have been renovated and new ones built. The administration must also be commended for introducing computer education to the young ones.Another notable achievement of this administration in the educational sector is the construction of a boarding primary school in each of the 27 local government areas.What is your advice to Nigerians on 2011 elections?The issue of seeing election as a do-or-die should be avoided. We should be more democratic in our approach to election. In recent time I’m happy with the present rule of law playing in this country that is why I said we are in a developing country.Gradually, we are setting out of teething problems and embracing some developmental approaches to the growth of the nation.We need to be democratic in our attitude. It does not matter, whether one is in the PDP, AC, APGA, my party (ANPP), or any other party, there must be internal democracy, which is the bedrock of peace or crisis in a party.Violence would never in any way help us in this country, we are actually moving towards a goal of having Nigeria in the forefront of countries that have come out of problems.

Mrs Elizabeth Tokunbo Akpabio is the Executive Director Human Resources at Nanet Suites, located at the Central Area of Abuja. In this interview with Solomon Nda-Isaiah, she talks about  the challenges of managing the hotel, the innovations she intends to bring to her hotel and why Nollywood stars have made the hotel another stop-over joint in the Federal Capital Territory

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am Elizabeth Tokunbo Akpabio.  I am married and have three children. I am the Executive Director,  Human Resources, Nanet Suites, Abuja.

Lets know a little about Nanet Hotels Limited?

Nanet Hotels Limited, started its business in 1970. We started with a restaurant, then went into fast food mostly in the northern parts of Nigeria.  Now we are into hotels; we manage hotels for people and government organisations, state governments as well. Call us to manage your hotel, we are ready to. But we plan going back to fast food business in the nearest future. In the next six months, we will be back in full force to our fast food business again.

When did you start the hotel here in Abuja?

We started Nanet Suites, Abuja precisely March 8, 2008.

Why the focus on Nollywood stars ?

It is an idea that my MD nurtured for some time and we discovered that Hollywood stars in the US are well  celebrated and we said okay,  let us use what we have to celebrate our own Nollywood stars, because we really appreciate how they have brought the country into limelight through our Nigerian films. We never knew that Nigerians can act so well and become real good great stars. I believe Nigerian Nollywood stars are next to Hollywood stars in terms of rating. So, we really want to use what we have to really showcase our own Nollywood stars. We want them to come into this hotel and stay, where we will give them real discount so that people can appreciate and see them anytime they want to take autographs from them, just like they do with the Hollywood stars in America and the UK.

Of what benefit is the Nollywood stars to the hotel?

Well, the benefit is mutual.  We have their pictures (portraits) hanged on  walls,  to be seen by people when they come in.  We use that to let people know who they are because many Nigerians don't know that most of our Nollywood stars are graduates; they think they are just drop-outs or something like that. I am happy that through  Nanet Suites, they now know that most of our Nollywood stars are graduates and the benefit is that a lot of people come into Nanet Suites wanting or hoping  to see one or two stars. This is one of the benefits we get from them at least they come in and people come in to see If they can find a star here and it adds to the number of people  who come in here in way of sales of drinks and other things. So, it translates to money too and the benefit they get from us is the very huge discount we give them, and at least they have a hotel they stay, in fact they call Nanet Suites their home.

Since you began the Nollywood parley, how successful is it?

You mean the celebrity night we hold? Yeah! there is none that has never been successful, a lot of people come in just because they want to know and see who they are, they want to touch the star and we provide all that through our celebrity night and its been very successful.  I even heard  N.T.A do air it every now and then. We are having our next celebrity night in April.  This one is going to be a very special one because we are having two stars to be honoured that day.

Which stars are you honouring in April ?

Well, I can let the Cat out of the bag because its already known.  They are  Segun Arinze and Francis Duru.

When you started the celebrity night usually it was every month, why did you stop doing it monthly ?

First of all, it is very expensive, to tell you the truth, we couldn't continue because we expected sponsors to take some of the cost from us but its been quite slow getting sponsors to help us out. A lot of people  have shown interest and we hope they will continue to show interest by way of giving us some support. We decided to change to a quarterly event because packaging it is very hectic, getting the stars, bringing them down. You know they have their own schedules too, its very difficult getting them within every month because by the time we finish with one we will be on another one, so we decided making it a quarterly affair.

In how many states in Nigeria is Nanet Hotels?

We are in about 7 states. We are in Enugu, Benue, Kaduna, Abuja, Ebonyi and Bayelsa.

So what are your greatest challenges in the business?

To be honest, our greatest challenges is the cost that we encounter. Nanet Hotels, being a hotel management group, always want to be known as a company that keeps hotels clean. We are good at standard keeping, we always want to maintain a very good standard and keep our hotels in the way it was given in the first place, and the cost of running the hotels is very very high and we don't want to compromise with the services we give out to our guests. Take for example the uniforms of our staff, they wear 7 different uniforms each day for the 7days of the week; the diesel cost is one of the biggest challenges we get because even though it is just one or 50 guests, we must have to run diesel because of  PHCN, always do not give us what we really want.

So what are the new things we should expect in Nanet Suites in the coming years?

Well, we are still upgrading. Actually, this is not what we want the hotel to be, this is not the standard we wanted the hotel. We wanted the standard to reach a level where people will say yes, if they cannot stay at Transcorp Hilton, Nicon Luxury, Protea, Sheraton,they know that they can stay in any of our hotels.  We want to reach that level, we want to bring in a gym; swimming pool and we want to also upgrade the facilities in all the rooms; change the doors too. These are the things we want to look in the nearest future.

With the influx of many hotels in Abuja, what are you doing to fully remain in business?

To remain different, that is why we said we should start something different in the celebrity night.  So, there are many things we still want to use and do to remain in business notwithstanding to remain in business as hoteliers in  a  city like Abuja does not mean that you must bring new idea. The most important thing people look for in a hotel is how clean the hotel is, if your hotel is not clean and you have 1,000 and one ideas, people will not like to stay in your hotel.

How do you cope with your work here at the hotel and your family?

Well, I am so use to this business that I don't see it affecting my family life, instead I try my best to see that both don't suffer in anyway. I go home when I am suppose to. Come weekends, I stay with my family, so that none of the two suffers at all.

Did you study hotel management?

I never studied hotel management. I studied geography.

How do you relax, spend your leisure hours?

I spend my leisure hours doing sports. I ride motor bikes and bicycles, I go doing some casual sports like badminton, tennis.

Aside hotel management, do you do any other business?

No, hotel business has always been our business.

When is most memorable moment(s)?

Mmh, I don't know if I have one, I never thought of one and I never kept one as one, but then I would say I don't really know If I have a very very memorable one but to be honest, the only memorable thing that keeps kicking in my mind for now is when I had my first child.

Hon. Albert Tanimu Sam-Tsokwa  represents Ussa/Takum Federal Constituency of Taraba State. In this interview with Ruth Choji, he speaks on some burning national issues, saying those  quoting sections 144 and 145 of the Nigerian constitution are ignorant of the law.

The House is still working on the 2010 budget, but most Nigerians believe things will go the same way they always do,  or is there something different about this year’s budget?

There has been nothing wrong with our past budgets except the problem of implementation, which has been the case over the years. It would be recalled that the first four years of former President Obasanjo’s government saw a repeated performance, while the second term had a little improvement. The first year of President Yar’Adua was an improvement of what happened during Obasanjo’s administration. For me, the 2009 budget saw a huge improvement because of the activities of the National Assembly. We hope the 2010 budget will be implemented, if not to the later, but to at least fifty per cent

Who is to blame for the failure of previous budgets?

The bulk of the blame  falls at the president’s table, because he is the one that appoints the ministers, and if they fail to implement the budget faithfully, it then falls on the president,  reason being that he has the power to hire and fire.

Now that we are in the process of constitution amendment, don’t you think we should include a clause that will take care of the position of acting president to avoid future political lacuna?

There is no lacuna in the constitution. As it is today, the constitution cannot provide for everything. For instance, take a look  at the American constitution and compare  it  with our constitution. You need a wheelbarrow to carry our own while even a child of three  years can carry that of America, yet  their constitution is able to take care of every situation. We have a bulky constitution. While people decided to be mischievous to cite certain sections  that were not applicable to certain purposes, serious Nigerians went to court and  sought interpretation of the constitution. So  there is no lacuna in the constitution, therefore, there is no need for any amendment.

A vice president is like a spare tyre. When you have a flat tyre, you remove your spare and put it. Whenever the president is not there, the vice president steps in the seat of the president and carries out the work the president is supposed to be doing. So you see, the vice president and deputy governors are like spare tyres. People were just being mischievous by making a mountain out of molehill.

So what you are saying is that our constitution is okay, it should not be tampered with?

Well, the constitution can be tempered with because there is no human endeavour that is foolproof, it is only how you operate it. Like I said, the American constitution is small, yet it has worked for 200 years. Britain has no written constitution at all, yet,  they have operated very well.  We have a bulky constitution and we have not been able to operate it, and we  are thinking that our problem is the constitution.

There is need to amend the constitution for certain things we want.  For example, if we say that INEC officials should be completely independent, then we have to amend the section of the constitution that has to do with that. To be a commissioner, you must have been qualified to contest for an election, in which case you must be a card carrying member of a political party. So there is need for such amendment. What we should be trying to do is amend Nigerians, not the constitution itself. It has laid the basic framework, and if we are sincere with ourselves and are committed to this country, we should be thinking of how best to improve the lives of our citizens, and not to be talking about amending the constitution. If the Bible were to be our constitution, Nigerians would still be talking about amendment.

The opposition is gradually fading out with the plans to form a mega-party.  What is your take on that?

Democracy is all about choice, and if Nigerians decided that they would have one party system, no one can say no to it except if we are coercing people into it.  If you are in one political party and you find out that it does not encourage your ideology, you are free to change. I think that all the people defecting to the PDP are mature.  If a whole governor will defect to the PDP, it means there is something good there.  If there is any problem in the PDP, it is not the party itself, but its operators.

Now, let’s go back to your state. Your state governor has been facing persecution from within and outside the party, what could have led to that?

I don’t think it is from the opposition camp since it is within the party. It is from another political party. It is still normal because multi-party democracy demands that the party in power should be opposed by the minority. Before now, such a thing does not exist, but elections are around the corner.

In Taraba State, most political party candidates have decided to team up with the governor. All those that contested with the governor have resolved that they are not going to contest, but would allow him to contest without opposition. Within the PDP, what we have is the rift between the governor and Danladi Baido who   was the candidate of the PDP in the 2007 elections. His case was similar to that of Amaechi. They both won the primaries, but the EFCC indicted them and a white paper was issued disqualifying them. Amaechi carried his matter to the court, Danladi went and boxed his disqualification, supported Danbaba Suntai and even campaigned for him. After the election, he was appointed as chief of staff, but when the Supreme Court ruled that Amaechi was the rightful candidate and was sworn in, Danladi went and brought out his case and took it to court too. That is what he is pursuing, and in democracy, he is entitled to pursue it. I don’t consider that as opposition.

Do you think Nigeria really deserves to be on the US terror watch list?

We are hypocrites, we don’t want to call a spade a spade. Muttalab is a Nigerian and he was caught trying to destroy an aircraf. We don’t know how many of them we have in Nigeria.

If America decides to take a precautionary step by saying that Nigeria is one of the countries that should be watched, why are we saying no to it? There was Maitasine in Kano State, Maitasine in Maiduguri, Maitasine in Yola, Boko  Haram in Bauchi, and the recent one in Jos.

What do we call terrorism? Is it when you attack a whiteman, or when you burn an aircraft? If somebody can wake up early in the morning and come to your house and hark you to death and you say it is not terrorism, then we have to go back to the drawing board and redefine that word. Terrorism is terrorism whether you do it to a whiteman, blackman, in the church, mosque, school and anywhere, it is terrorism. We have terrorists in Nigeria and the Nigerian government has not taken any step to address that. Those who blame the American government are not being sincere. Let us stand out and face the reality so that other countries will know that we are serious.

A state governor came out and said that there were Talibans in his state. I think it was Yobe State and nothing has been done about it since then. I think we should improve on our internal security to convince America and the rest of the world that what Mutallab did will not be repeated. Whether we like it or not, there is terrorism in Nigeria. People wake up and destroy churches and mosques and nothing is done about it.

Do you think deregulation would bring an end to the  queues at the nation’s filling stations?

The question I want to ask is: Who are the beneficiaries of subsidy? The Federal Government spends huge sums of money in subsiding petroleum products. The man at the grassroots is not benefitting from this subsidy, but I want to tell you that, apart from Abuja, nowhere in Nigeria would you find petrol sold at N65 per litre. In my state, there are places you find fuel at N100 etc. This money that is given out as subsidy should have been given out for something else. Once  it is deregulated, it will encourage investors to come and invest in our economy. Nobody will invest money  in the sector when government will tell them what price to sell. Labour is only there to call people to strike, but when filling stations are selling fuel at a high price, they said nothing about it. Who is Labour working for? For the common people or the fuel marketers?

On a personal note, do you  plan to seek re-election?

Well, I was elected to represent my people, and if they feel I have represented them well, then they will vote me back. I leave that to my constituency.