Prince Nixon Okwara is the pioneer chairman of Greenfield Estate, a private estate located in Okota area in Lagos state. An industrialist who has businesses within and outside Oshodi/Isolo local government area, Okwara is a selfless community leader who plays politics without been partisan. ANTHONIA DURU was at his office recently and he opened up on his brand of politics, his involvement in community 
development and on other issues.
You are a politician with no political party affiliation. What brand of politics do you play?
I believe in an egalitarian society; I believe when you become partisan you become a bit comprise as you have to obey the party rules. It becomes difficult for you to speak against the politics of such government. I speak for the masses and you can’t be speaking for the masses and at the same time play party politics.
How effective is this brand of politics in positively affecting the masses?
I have a problem with lots of party ideologies in Nigeria and you know party system is not working in Nigeria. By party affiliation, you would have agreed in principles and ideologies. Our partisan politicians move from Party A to Party B, all because of their selfish interests. For those of us that believe in giving back to the system and believe in an Egalitarian society, we don’t believe in the ideologies of Nigeria’s political parties. Maybe in the nearest future I may be contesting but now I am very pleased with contributing to the development of the society in my little corner. My brand of politics is not about selfish motive, I just feel I have attained certain level of status and my voice can be listened to. I leverage on these to bring dividend of democracy to my immediate environment. Lots of people have beckoned on me to be partisan but my fear is that I can’t claim to be a better saint than all the people I know that have gotten there. My fear is that I know
Why I Am Not Involved In Partisan Politics – Okwara
lots of good people who have joined politics but they were unable to deliver to their people. The first thing I need to ask myself is why these good people are unable to deliver dividends of democracy to the people. Our political parties are not based on ideologies. One fundamental issue in our party politics is
godfathers. Personally, I am indifferent about godfathers but I think it should have positive effects on the grassroot. I don’t see ideological based parties in Nigeria.
So, what do you call your kind of politics?
We are just stakeholders who are passionate about development in the society. I cherish my name and integrity and I guard them jealously. Everybody who has led Nigerians in one way or the other come back with a bad name and those I have met are not bad people. Until I identify what is soiling their name in politics, I can’t become a regular politician because of my name and my integrity which I have painstakingly built for many years. Most of the politicians at different levels are my friends but I have never gone to them to discuss my personal issues maybe that is why they still pick my calls. There are still some certain things I don’t understand in Nigeria’s politics.
At what point in your life did you discover your passion for serving your immediate community?
I have always wanted to serve all my life. I played some politics in School and after that I found myself in the community leadership of Greenfield estate; it was a wet land and through communal efforts we developed it. We won the best CDA in 2014 and it is one of the most expensive estates on the Mainland. I believe in visions. We had to regulate the buildings, we regulate electrification, security and other things. We arrange the whole environment ourselves. The drainage construction, interlocking and electrification were done by the people without government’s support. I championed the cause with other residents when government wasn’t forth coming and today it’s a success story. We insisted on due process in building construction and we are happy we made those decisions. Stability was our focus, though it wasn’t easy but everyone is proud of our achievements.
What is your take on infrastructural developments in Oshodi-Isolo and environs?
Lagos is not doing badly compared with other states in Nigeria. Lagos is prone to flooding so action and inactions of humans has not helped this matter. Lagos is densely populated and it is exploding daily hence it’s difficult for any government to manage but they are trying to contend with that. Lagos has the only viable seaport in Nigeria. It takes a strategic planning of the government to sustain Lagos to this point. Oshodi/Isolo is not in the picture of areas that are really enjoying government’s intervention. Local government authorities are doing their best though the best may not be good enough, I believe they are working according to their purse. Maintenance culture is another issue we have here; drainages are not well constructed by contractors that are handling the jobs. We hope things we get better so people can enjoy dividends of democracy.
As a business owner in this community, how are you giving back to the community?
As I speak, we are interlocking our area, I recently donated a truckfilled of granite. Aside all these we have been doing lots of sensitization and workshops trying to tell people the importance of due diligence in building projects. I don’t fold my hands; I am always involved in one project or the other towards building a better community. Nigerians love Nigeria but our leaders have to be more accountable to get the trust of the people. I don’t do all these things to get accolades from people. I have passion for it and I haven’t done anything yet. I still have more to give back to my community. I believe in a cause; I believe in an Egalitarian society where there is equity and fairness. I want a society that though in tribe and tongue we may differ but we stand in brotherhood. When they want to loot our money, they loot without minding us but they divide us with politics, religion, tribe etc.
