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From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Chief Chi Nwogu is a prominent businessman in Northern Nigeria. He was the immediate past president -general of the Igbo Delegate Assembly – a socio- cultural organization of all Igbo people resident in the 19 Northern States and Abuja. He is the President of the Non-Indigenes Community Leaders Association in Kano State.
In this interview, Chief Chi lamented the level of insecurity in the country and endorsed on-going efforts to establish the state police. He also spoke on the surging political alliance between the Ndigbo and the North characterised by the bonding between Peter Obi and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. He argued that those currently opposed to their coming together are ignorant of the history of the First Republic where the two regions successfully worked together to lift Nigeria higher.
How you would assess the security situation in the land in the light of the death of the retired military general in Katsina, the recent abductions in Oyo and Borno States and in the face of other forms of daring insecurity in other parts of the country?
I must admit, my brother, that the level of insecurity in Nigeria is quite worrisome and alarming at the moment. Several innocent Nigerians have been abducted, some injured and some have been killed. It is really disturbing, very frightening to say the least. And nobody knows who will be the next victim. My heart goes to the affected persons and families. This must be really trying. May God grant them the fortitude to bear whatever they had lost.
From what we hear in the public space, this problem of insecurity in Nigeria didn’t just start today. The problem has been here right from the administration of President Jonathan. It is most unfortunate that it was allowed to fester and to spread up to the level where we are today- a level where even with the intervention of the military, the situation cannot be controlled. During the time of Jonathan, the problem was largely confined to a particular location , the North – East and some parts of the North West. During Buhari however, it began to spread and today, it is getting out of hand, it is almost everywhere. I, like most Nigerians, am very worried. Why should this people target minors and children and take them into the bush in return for ransom? What kind of human beings are these kidnappers for heaven sake? I want to appreciate our security agencies and I am sure that they are doing their best to tame this monster. But I wish to charge them to do more and get the abducted children out of the bush. They have the support of all Nigerians in this fight. I am not a security expert, but honestly sometimes I wonder, what sort of bush is there in the South-West that cannot be overrun by our forces?
With where we are today, is it right to put the blame on the present administration and their political party, APC as some people are inclined to do?
I will put the blame of insecurity in the land on all past leaders in the present 4th Republic. But I will single the present administration for additional blame in one respect. If the problem had remained the way they met it, there would have been no reason to blame them further than the general, blanket blame. But the truth is that rather than maintain the problem at the level it was when they assumed office, the problem of insecurity has since escalated. I want you to see it this way. You were giving a building that has a crack to cement. If the crack persists and is spreading further after you took over, then you have not performed well enough.
Some people have suggested the solution to all these is the establishment of state police. Do you see the creation of state police as the best way forward?
Honestly, I am not against state police. I have often spoken in favour of the establishment of state police, if you read my previous interviews. State police is a beautiful idea, it will decentralise security arrangements and make each state focus on the sort of crimes that are peculiar to it. It will also provide an enabling environment for intelligence gathering and proactive interventions as the members of the police are part and parcel of the local communities they secure. There are so many other benefits which will improve the nation’s overall security. So, I support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and our legislators at the national level on this project. But I must also say my fears. I sincerely have one or two. I fear that the governors may mismanage and mess up the concept and deploy it to serve their personal ends to the detriment of the society. Look at the local council elections conducted by the state governments. Every party in power at the state level automatically wins all the chairmanship positions in the state. No one is left for their rivals. When elections are conducted by INEC in the same state, there is a semblance of credibility. That should be a red flag about their competence to handle the management of the proposed state police. All the same, I think that we should have the state police, the time is ripe. But let us have a lot of institutional checks that would curtail the excesses and abuses of the state governors and their appointees.
What is your reaction to the suggestion that the administration should seek foreign military help to flush out bandits and clean up our forests?
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That is a fine idea, but again it has a price. Don’t forget that there is always a price for every choice. Are you ready for the present and future consequences of the invitation of foreign military might? Are there lessons from elsewhere? These helpers must certainly ask for something in return. They are never really free. Our natural resources are many and I am sure that they would set their eyes on them- one way or the other. But I must say that our military are great and fine soldiers. Our military has performed creditably well on foreign missions in Africa and around the world. And I think that if given the right firearms and motivation, Nigeria may not need the service of a foreign help to overcome these devilish elements.
But is it now preferable for us to continue to suffer in the hands of insecurity because we are trying to avoid these risks and protect our resources?
Well, I will agree with you on this – that it is better we use what we have to stay alive. In which case, I will now add that even if we must seek foreign help to fight insecurity, we must first exhaust our capacity to dominate the enemy.
Peter Obi and Kwankwaso have announced a joint ticket for the 2027 Presidential elections under the platform of NDC. But some people have been criticising the alliance as unworkable. What is your view?
Let us go back to the history of Nigeria political development. From time past, there have been various workable political alliances between the East and the North, between the Igbo people and the Hausa people which had offered the country a lot of democratic fruition. Just before the war, Zik and Tafewa Balewa had an alliance, resulting in the fact that he was made the ceremonial President while Tafewa was made the Prime Minister. I will take you to a recent development. I mean something that happened not long ago. During the Second Republic, President Shehu Shagari worked with Dr Alex Ekwueme as his Vice President in 1979 and they worked effectively and brotherly well. In fact, Alex Ekwueme was so beloved by the Hausa members of the NPN that were it not for the coup that disrupted the process, he most probably would have succeeded Shagari at the end of the second tenure of the administration. So, those who are shocked or are threatened by the Obi- Kwankwaso ticket are missing the argument or are just being mischievous and intended to raise dust where there should be none. The correct narrative is that the Igbo –Hausa political alliance at the centre of Nigeria politics represents the most fruitful years of Nigeria’s political development. Yes, quote me, the Igbo- Hausa alliance is most likely the solution to Nigeria’s multifaceted catalogue of political challenges.
But what are their chances of dislodging a strong incumbent like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027?
Without prejudice, I think that if Obi and Kwankwaso plan and execute their strategies well enough and if the process is free and fair, they may go far. I base my argument on their individual performances in the 2023 Presidential elections where their summative votes were more than that of President Tinubu. Yes, you may argue that things may have changed in the past three years, that Tinubu is now an incumbent and stood a better chance than when he was outside power. I will not dispute these facts. But I will add that unlike then, when the people have no record of his performance and capacity with which to judge his administration, today they have a three-year record of his administration and are in a better position to endorse or to refuse to endorse him. Also, do not forget President Tinubu was almost as powerful as the incumbent President Buhari in 2023. So he is not new to incumbency. The whole North-West governors, and some of their counterparts in the North-East, were favourably disposed to him. That worked well for him in that election. Also, don’t forget that in the 2023 Presidential elections, Obi truly had no representation in many Northern states – no House of Assembly member, no House of Representatives member, no senator and no governor. Even in Kano here, the guy that was pretending to be his governorship candidate defected to the APC just days to the general elections. All of these developments make me reason that the NDC ticket may go far in the 2027 Presidential race.
We have just marked the three years of Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabiru Yusuf in office. How would you assess his performance especially as it relates to his relationship with the non-native communities in the state?
Politicians, you hardly trust them and therefore, you exercise restraint in assessing them. But from what we are seeing, I think that Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf is trying. He may not have fulfilled the expectations of all, but I think that he is trying. But what I must add on behalf of the non-native communities is that the promises he has made to us, let him fasten them. Look at Zungeru Road for instance, that road is getting up to two years old and it has not been completed. All the road projects which were started at the same time with it has long been completed. Come to Sarkin-Yaki Road, which was recently commissioned by the wife of the President, Senator Remi, the work being done is just between Airport to the Igbo Road Junction. The contractors have not exceeded that short distance. One year is a long time and is a short time. Let him hurry up these projects before the expiration of his tenure. Or does he intend to complete them during his second tenure? We are praying that he should fasten and finish these two road projects.
As a non-native resident in the state, are you saying that Abba’s engagement and interventions in this area is satisfactory?
What we are saying is that he has tried, but he has not made us proud as we had expected -going by his promises to us before his elections. No road has been initiated by him and completed by him in this Sabon Garri area since he assumed office. And that is worrisome.
