Honorable (Mrs) Angela Nwaka Okei: A Solution Within
"As healthcare personnel, I will make legislations to benefit my constituency. As an entrepreneur, I will champion bills that will generate jobs for my people. As an educator I will make sure that no child will be left behind in the quest for quality and affordable education," (Nwaka Okei)
Anthony Obi Ogbo | Guardian News Network | Hou., TX
The generational change that transformed the United States electioneering and political history two years ago is sweeping the globe at unimaginable velocity. From Tunisia and Syria to Yemen and Egypt, the new face of the masses are demanding a change to spotless democratic governance. In Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the story is no different. Indigenes from different parts of the world have gone back to reside in their cities and states of origin and acquainted themselves with the socio-political terrain in order to be able to democratically join the leadership confraternity.
The Honorable Mrs. Angela Nwaka Okei did just that. Born to Gabriel and Helen Nwaka from Azungwu in Ogwashi-Uku, she relocated to her home state after a lengthy residency in Houston, Texas, USA as a successful entrepreneur to make a long awaited change in the political and economic system. Today, she stands tall and confident, asking for her people's mandate to represent them at the state level. Hon. Nwaka Okei is running for DELTA HOUSE of ASSEMBLY, ANIOCHA SOUTH.
A mother of two children - a 20 year old son in college and a 12 year old daughter in 7th grade - she married a native son of the soil, Mr. Festus P. Okei (AKA, Papa). Her education background started at home: she completed her elementary and high school education in Nigeria before moving to the United States of America in 1985. According to Hon. Nwaka Okei,"As a young girl from Africa and the first daughter of my parents, the good life in the United States did not distract me into forgetting my native home. I struggled hard having to do a full time job while putting myself through school and having to take care of my younger ones back in Africa. This also does not stop me from making the Dean's List during my college times." Yet Hon. Nwaka Okei remained focused on the day-to-day happenings in her home town. She made it her point of duty to visit her town at least once a year or close to that since 1989.
Hon. Nwaka Okei successfully graduated from Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. She also obtained a registered Nurse license that same year. She has worked as coordinator of a program and also as manager for the Arc of Union in New Jersey. Since this period, she has focused on the health field and held positions ranging from supervisor and staff nurse to charge nurse. She further advanced to become a nursing director and administrator of a well managed home and community health care agency with parent office in Sugar Land, Texas and a branch office in El-Paso Texas.
COMMUNITY
Today, Hon. Nwaka Okei is the owner and administrator of Gablink, Inc. a well known home and community health care agency whose profound services have touched so many lives. She has a reason for going into healthcare, wanting to make a change in the lives of others, and serving the community is a great avenue. At a leadership forum recently in Houston, Texas, where she was being honored in her bold move to dedicate her endeavors to Nigerian politics, she said, "As healthcare personnel, I will make legislations to benefit my constituency. As an entrepreneur, I will champion bills that will generate jobs for my people. As an educator I will make sure that no child will be left behind in the quest for quality and affordable education."
Hon. Nwaka Okei derives her pride in helping others achieve their goals. She is a no-nonsense family-oriented wife and mother who dwells on traditional values while championing the progress of her people in the Diaspora. A founding member of the Ogwashi-Uku Association USA in 1997, she has been a strong part to everything that concerns her homeland. She said, "When I relocated to Houston in 2000, I embraced my people and have remained very active and involved with members of the Ogwashi-Uku Association Houston." Hon. Nwaka Okei also has chaired other charitable associations, including physical support to breast-cancer awareness, disabled vets, motherless babies, Salvation Army, and Goodwill organizations. To appease her passion for healthcare affordability, she specifically chaired a fundraising event in May of 2008 to help equip the Ogwashi-Uku general hospital.
FAMILY
A unique aspect of Hon. Nwaka Okei's candidacy is her advocacy for family values, survival, and spiritual uplifting in a society where the masses and tax payers are neglected, disenfranchised, and scorned in the local government process. She told hundreds of local residents who gathered to support her candidacy that, "As a mother who knows the impact of being a mother in today's world, it is apparent that we must commend and encourage our fathers for their roles in our society. The youth of our society have been denied their recognition as the key to any successful nation, and this is not acceptable. I strongly believe that the youth are key to making our nation a better place, and therefore we must give them that opportunity to take part in the administrative process."
Hon. Nwaka Okei believes that the government must be able to incorporate what the youth need in order to effectively run the country. "Our nation has lost its grip on our fundamental responsibility when our graduates have no jobs by the time they leave school. Educating the child is not supposed to be a political issue. It is a non-negotiable priority, and I must not compromise that fact. We as a nation must go back to and adopt the right culture towards our governance. We as a nation must realize that the government is for the people, and elected officials are servants of the people, not the other way round.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Hon. Nwaka Okei believes that the people must be able to hold their representatives accountable for underdevelopment, unfulfilled promises, and other critical issues deliberately left out of consideration.
"My fellow Deltans," she said, "We must also realize that Rome was not built in a day, but when given the necessary tools, we know we can make our nation a better place for our children. We can do it like the Ghana's or the China's if not better, but we must also realize that our vote is the safest and easiest tool for this transformation. I pray that the Lord of our land will give us the strength to carry this nation forward, and we must not relent."
Nwaka Okei appears so corporate for a rugged electioneering tussle coming up in April, but her look may de deceiving. Aggressive, and very true to her course, she has embraced politics as a significant other, shuttling between rural areas in her district and pointing out destructive shortfalls and feasible solutions. She told Guardian News in an exclusive interview in Houston, Texas: "Some might ask who is she to come telling us how to live, or what does she know about our land to think she could governor any better than her predecessors? My people - I come to you as a daughter of the land, who was fortunate to travel overseas to see how others do things, but I must tell you that humans are all the same, irrespective of where they are. I am very proud of who I am, where I have been, and most of all, I am proud to be of this great land. Having said this, I am also worried and saddened that my people have not been well represented. I feel bad and devastated in spirit, but I cannot take a back seat because of the comfort I find myself in. I am not going to let my people remain underrepresented. As a true daughter of the land, I know that the quality in a leader is not just what the person has or wants to achieve, but also her leadership potential, mission, values, proficiency in organizational governance, passion for people and their issues, and undivided loyalty to their lives and aspiration as citizens."
FALIURE
She continued, "There is also a well know saying that "A good name is worth more than any amount of money". In the 70's and the early 80's, our land had it all. We had lights in our homes and street, we had running tap water; our community was a safe place to live in, and our schools were up to standards. We have people out of the country who would send their kids to this country to further their education. Other countries would send their kids for exchange programs in this country; Our health care facilities were among the best in the third world countries - No wonder our doctor and nurses were very marketable all over the world. It was no coincidence that the youth and the young men from Azugwu fought in the battle in 1909 with the British - that the capital was moved to Ogwashi-Uku from Asaba as a compensation for the humiliation the British suffered from the Azugwu Army. That was the land we know, the land our parents, grandparents, and forefathers worked so hard for us to have. My brothers and sisters, what do we have today to show our future generations other than broken schools and roads, homelessness and joblessness, crime and poverty, and hospitals with no equipments? Yet we expect our health and medical personnel to perform miracles?"
COLECTIVE SOLUTION-PROCESS
"This time will be different," Hon. Nwaka Okei said. "Our people realize that they can do better than those bags of rice, cans of tomatoes, and the money (500 to 5000 naira) given to them during elections which are part of their money that was supposed to be used to develop their communities. As individuals, it is our fundamental right to reject this prevailing corruption and make sure we all join in a collective process in my movement for a total change. We owe it to our children, our brothers and sisters, and the founding fathers of this great land that we reject those that have used our wealth for their personal gains and left us in this horrible plight. Our future is at stake now and our children's future is being gambled away. We must put a stop to this. The solution to our problem is here now, and we must not let that go by us. Our time is now. We must use our votes to vote for our children's future. Let us all reject the rice and our money they use to suppress us during elections. Let us vote for a person who will agree to disagree with the superior for the good of her people. Let's vote Mrs. Angela Nwaka Okei to Delta State House of Assembly Aniocha South." THE
MANDATE
Hon. Nwaka Okei says that a woman with her experience and passion will bring value, respect, and integrity to the State House. "I am a woman who knows that the power is in the hands of the people, not in the hands of the public officials. A woman who knows the importance of kids' education and realizes that the future of a country lies with dedicated investment in the youth and their future. A woman who will give the best care to the elderly for the services they have rendered to our country. Let's vote Hon. Nwaka Okei, a caring daughter and the pride of the land and, according to her kids, the best mother in the land. We must understand that our leaders are not always bad, but a leader when surrounded by the same kind of people who are not able to tell their superiors when they go wrong because of their selfish interests, such a leader would be considered a failed leader. This is what our society has suffered in the past years."
Hon. Nwaka Okei says, "This is the time, the people's time, the youth's time, the women's time, the elderly and the father's time: the time for our children's education to pick up again; the time to rebuild our hospitals and roads; the time to make our health care system accessible to all; the time to increase resources to support doctors and nurses and other health care auxiliaries." Hon. Nwaka Okei insists that her representation will usher in a new era - a time to develop resources to protect the environment for future generation. This time, "Our teachers, the most valued and appreciated discipline to educate our future generation, will be well compensated for their services. Most especially, we will find a way to create jobs and encourage individuals who can create jobs in communities," she said.
In setting up the adequate machinery to achieve her proposed solutions, Hon. Nwaka Okei says the governments must all work hard in providing the basic need for the people because a society that is not socially and economically stable cannot be sustainable. Only when they are relieved from their immediate poverty can individuals be expected to take responsibility for other issues.
" If elected, I will thrive at ensuring that all the issues talked about earlier will be prioritized. I will also maintain my relationship with the community by making myself accessible to my constituency at all times. As servant of the people, I will ensure that my people's interest will be conveyed at both the state and federal levels at all times. I will work to improve the representation and participation of the community and youth union in the development process."
Hon. Nwaka Okei proclaimed: "My presentation will be for all persons in my constituency. No person will be excluded. We are all one and should be treated equally.
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