By Wilfred Eya

Second Republic member of the House of Representatives and a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Chief Ralph Obioha in this interview, speaks on the rising insecurity in the South-East and President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

 

As a South Easterner, what is your position on rising insecurity in your geopolitical zone?

It is most unfortunate. All the opinion moulders in Nigeria and South-East in particular have expressed their views, and a vast majority, not just the elite of the South-East are not happy with what is evolving in the region. Even many of the so-called none elite are also not happy with it but they are afraid of what will befall them. I have not seen the efficacy of the sit-at-home order. It was good to register to the authority that they are not happy with the incarceration of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, especially when a court of the level of Court of Appeal has said that the government has no reason to continue to detain him. The method that is being brought into the country is against the law.

The primary responsibility of the government is to obey the law. Two years or three years is enough time to reconsider and seek alternative measures. The purpose of government is to secure lives and property. Everybody agrees to that. It is also the responsibility of the government not to abuse the freedom of its citizens. Since this issue about Nnamdi Kanu is affecting five state governments, the Federal Government can call the governments of the five states of the South-East and say, we have noted that the incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu is causing you people more harm than good, are you ready to take him on personally or as state governments with the guarantee that whenever we want him, you will bring him to court.   

Do you think that Kanu’s release will douse the tension in the South-East?

Definitely, there’s no doubt about that. It would be a big celebration. And don’t be mistaken that many people from the South-East; men, women and even children, will be in a position to ask him to calm things down. There are always many alternatives to achieve things. I believe what they are asking for is because of the marginalisation that is obvious in Nigeria. Nobody can pretend that there is no marginalisation.

The Federal Government has two options.  Number one is to address the marginalization and it is very simple to do so. If President Bola Tinubu makes a national broadcast and recognises that South-East people are being marginalised by other Nigerians. I will give you a firm assurance that that the statement alone will earn him the admiration of a vast majority of South Easterners.

If you now turn around and go a step further, it is in the best interest of the Western Region to decongest Lagos ports. They have nothing to lose but a better smooth running of the ports if the government takes affirmative emergency action to make the ports in the East, Port-Harcourt and Calabar ports to be good and safe places. When the British came, they did two lines of railway, one running from Lagos on the Western flank to Kano, and one running on the Eastern flank, Port Harcourt to Maiduguri. It was not an accidental calculation; it was a planned calculation.

They also situated ports in those angles. The railway has been modernised in the Western flank of Nigeria, and the one on the Eastern flank was left untouched and the entire railway on the Eastern flank had been rendered useless. I believe that fixing the Port Harcourt port and Calabar Port for the use of people in the East will immediately like magic, alienate the congestion that is in Lagos ports.

Why is it difficult for the elders to curb the youths in the South-East, particularly members of IPOB?

This question has been asked by a lot of people and I am glad you have raised it. The idea that elders in any of the sub-regions of Nigeria still have a grip on their youths is a fallacy. The advent of smartphones and the new innovations in communication, have made our educational system produce a lot of people who are more interested in watching visuals than reading or even writing. At times, you might call it a joke that a kid that is in a university doesn’t know the meaning of the degree he or she is trying to obtain.

So, to say, why are the elders not doing anything is not the issue. The elders are doing something. I am a member of the Elders Council and it is the topic that we raise in every meeting but these kids have been exposed to modern technology and you must make sense of what you are talking. If not, you are talking to yourself.

South-East governors, Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership and Igbo leaders, recently had a meeting in Abuja, where they discussed and resolved to meet President Bola Tinubu on rising insecurity in the South-East and sought his assistance. What is your view on that?

I was not at the meeting but I believe their plan is a very good one. The urgency to hold this meeting cannot be underestimated in any way whatsoever. I will urge that the President listens and acts on it. I have seen the entire policies of the last government, and I know that President Bola Tinubu will not toe that same line. A leader does not emphasise personal anger or injury in administering a nation. He should put all those things as a sacrifice before him.

Why are you advising President Tinubu not to toe the line of the previous administration?

It is obvious that President Buhari made it known that the votes he secured in the election of 2015 and 2019 followed the focus of his attitude to the South-East. A true and gracious man will put all those things behind him the moment he is declared winner of the election. As a matter of fact, a smart person will study why such thing happened and take remedial steps to see whether he can correct it. That is what I have been praying for President Bola Tinubu to see and adopt.

There has been demand for Ndigbo to leave; they won’t leave if you create an opportunity for them. If you were to develop Port Harcourt port within the next three years, 25 per cent of the Igbo will leave Lagos because what brings them here is the port advantages; goods and services and nothing more. Most of the fruits they consume in Lagos are not produced in Lagos. The yams still come from the Middle Belt. Even the South-East is suffering a scarcity of certain foodstuffs because they have moved to Lagos, where most of their people are residing.

You are one of those people who fought for Nigeria’s democracy during the June 12, 1993 annulment struggle.  Are you satisfied with the present state of the country?

Thank you for asking this question. I and the few of us, who fought that battle on the basis of justice, knew how MKO Abiola would perform. But we knew that MKO Abiola clearly won the election and the excuses that were advanced to annul the election were illogical. We were committed to fighting it and I believe Nigerians should give us kudos for that. If anybody tells you that things are good and normal in Nigeria, you know the person is not telling the truth. All our institutions are in shambles; the judiciary, education, health, transportation are in shambles. At times in my own private reflection, I sincerely feel sorry for Bola Tinubu.

Why do you feel sorry for the president?

Because of the path that is in front of him. The eight years of Buhari were eight years of idleness and absolutely no breakthrough of any of the ills of the problems confronting Nigerians. One can never explain what happened to the monetary policy of the Naira exchange; the Naira change and the suffering people went through and still going through up till tomorrow. Nobody can ever explain how a lot of poor people were able to promote the Ponzi scheme all over Nigeria, collected a lot of Nigerians’ savings and melted them in the air. They ruined people. Nobody can say that he is going to enter any hospital in Nigeria and get proper treatment.

Considering some of the policies and steps the President has taken in his first 50 days in office, how would you assess him?

It is too early to make an assessment. We should not rush to anything because it is too early. If we even talk about the traditional 100 days, people will buy into that. What I expect now is for the President to tell Nigeria, this is my direction, so that people who don’t accept it can start criticizing it. Those criticising are not enemies of the government. To criticise is not declaring enmity because after some of the criticisms, he can call his experts to rejig some policies based on comments from the people. It will also help him to make some of the policies to have more human face. This is not necessarily declaring war against the government.

Looking at some of President Tinubu’s decisions so far, like the removal of subsidy, appointments of special advisers and policies on monetary and taxation, among others, do you think he is on the right track?

I will say emphatically yes but I believe he should not have lifted the subsidy with such speed. You don’t cure an ailment with a fission of overdose. You have to go through the process of doing it gradually, so that you can get the desired result. To cut it just overnight, you have seen what it has done to the prices of everything; from foodstuff to building of homes. For example, filling of you’re the tank of your car that used to be N15,000 is now over N35,000.

But there is no action the government takes that is popular whenever it affects increasing prices. Because it is not those who can afford it that you will consider. You will always balance it with the poorest of the poor. How do they cope because their number is so much and the number of those who can afford it is little, you must balance it, so that it doesn’t affect that larger segment of the society.

There has been the issue of marginalisation of the South-East over appointments at the federal level. What is your advice to President Tinubu on how to address that? And, given some of the appointments made so far, do you think the President is on the right track in addressing the issue of marginalisation?

Well, the list has come out. Go through it and see whether it is balanced. If I were the President, since we belong to the same Nigeria, I will reserve every position the Northerners have held as if it is their birthright. I would reverse all of them and give it to those who have been screaming marginalisation. That is how a progressive nation works. I can say that politically, I know the thinking of MKO Abiola, and these are some of the things he had in mind, and may be, that was the reason why they sabotaged him.

So, President Tinubu must be very careful for him not to inherit something that he may not have been part of. He has a golden opportunity to go the way of the man we all fought for and try to adopt what he was preaching. It is up to him; he has the option of whether to do the right thing or to do the wrong thing.

Will you recommend a reduction in the cost of governance?

Definitely! As a matter of fact, the President should call for an emergency meeting of his cabinet and say, I want you all to go and produce to me, how in the first quarter, you can cut at least 25 per cent of the running costs of the ministries and by the end of the year, I want to see that double to 50 per cent. Why would a governor travel with a motorcade of 15 cars and in that convoy is an ambulance and the hospitals don’t have an ambulance, but one man is dedicated to one ambulance? Is he suffering from epilepsy or something that can happen immediately?

Now multiply those vehicles by the people in them. You have just engaged 30 people doing nothing but just accompanying you. That should not be in this situation that we are, and tomorrow, we will seek help from a Nordic country, where the minister uses public transport to go to work. A lot of presidents of some African countries don’t enjoy the privileges that our governors enjoy. So, if it is going to be business as usual with President Tinubu, it makes no sense.