IF Anambra State Governor Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju had his way, he would soon proceed on a three-month leave preparatory to resuming duties in ambassadorial capacity in Germany.

The governor in an interview with The Guardian, said he was prepared to make the sacrifice if that would stop the crisis that is currently tearing his state apart.

That may, however, not be possible immediately as President Olusegun Obasanjo has indicated the unlikehood of foreign countries receiving new representatives from the country during and immediately after such crucial elections as will take place in Nigeria in April.

In the interview held at Awka, the state capital, last Sunday, the embattled governor, who was recently persuaded to stand down from the party's governorship primaries for the coming polls, for a diplomatic job expressed the hope that the agreement reached with the party hierarchy and the president in that regard would be kept by all parties concerned.

Still believing that the last has not been heard of the party's gubernatorial ticket in the state, Mbadinuju decried a situation where money bags from the state have become kingmakers in a political game plan, the script of which, he said, is written in Abuja.

While admitting that he felt betrayed by some of his erstwhile political associates, Odera, as he is popularly called, however, said: "There is no need to weep over spilt milk or when the head is off."

"I feel happy that I have been governor of Anambra State. Nobody had ever been governor of the state for up to two years before. So, I should thank God that I lasted for four years. I had no contract with God to be governor of Anambra State," he philosophised.

The outgoing governor urged the people of the state to eschew recrimination and infighting. "We should see one another as brothers and sisters. Even if anybody made a mistake, let him be corrected. We should speak the truth in love, so that those who would take over from us would improve upon our records."

Explaining the reason for the dissolution of the state executive council a fortnight ago, Mbadinuju said it was to enable the politicians among them go to the "field of campaign".

"This is not the time for a good politician to be in the office, campaign for election is for tested politicians. We probably would choose less politicians to man the office," he said.

He indicated that by the end of his tenure, the state government would have repaid virtually all the loans taken by the past and present administrations.

"Any government coming into power in Anambra State after me would have little or no loans to repay and life would be better for the people of the state," he stressed.

Mbadinuju decried the present state of insecurity in the state following the dislodgment of the Anambra State Vigilante Services (AVS) otherwise known as Bakassi Boys late last year, saying it was a clear evidence of the effectiveness of the arrangement his administration had put in place.

"Who would not remember my administration for security," he asked rhetorically.

Lamenting that he had been treated unfairly, Mbadinuju wondered: "If they could do what they did to a governor like me, then I don't know the fate of the lesser mortals."