Q. You are one of the voices the authorities listen to and attach much weight to your reactions. How do you feel about the insecurity in the country now?
Ans: I feel much concerned and worried about the insecurity in this country because there is no sincerity in the aspect of the government being active with the promise they made that they would grant us security and lives would be safe. It is a shame to say that this is the worst government we have ever had in this country. A lot of blood had been shed in Buhari’s government and he seems not to be m uch sensitive and also some of the people in government and that makes me so sad. And the worst is this present way of trying to negotiate with the bandits, people causing insecurity, the Fulani herdsmen, that should be declared terrorists. There are worst things they are doing than the IPOB. You can see there is no sincerity in it. Added to that again is the question of nominating Ambassadors from the Ex service Chiefs who we thought that they were going to be probed. Other than that, the National Assembly had gone ahead to confirm them as Ambassadors. It is a disgrace. The security of this country is very much bad and it is very unfortunate that nothing is being done by the Buhari government to bring it to an end. Since Buhari came to government, more and more blood had been shed in this country. People have died more than ever before. Lives have been lost, properties lost everywhere. Both in the North and the South, there is insecurity and no one is safe, even on the road and one wonders if all our security agencies are really equipped enough or have the wherewithal to tackle this insecurity, because we hear about abductions everywhere and the Nigeria Air Force is not going through the air to make surveillance. If the ground is unsafe, the Air Force should go through the air to counter the situation. But they seem not to have the strategy to work and that have affected the nation. And even those people that have been doing these things, none of them had been arrested, none of them had been prosecuted rather it is negotiation which gives them more encouragement. And the insecurity continues.
Q. Could reason why you said that the government was not sincere about the whole situation it be the?
A; Yes because if he said he was caring about our security and that it was one of the cardinal principles of his government, then why should there be killings everyday. Nobody is caring about the dead or the lives that are being lost. Buhari is insincere as far as security is concerned because he has not handled security at all the way, he is supposed to handle it with absolute dispatch and that is affecting the governors in the States and some of them are vulnerable to this situation because the Commander-in-chief is not really commanding anything. So that is the issue. I see a lot of insincerity in his government and I see no reason why there should not be serious declaration of emergency.
Q. Few days ago, some governors under the aegis of Nigerian Governors Forum NGF came up with the advocacy for dialogue with the bandits. Do you think there should be dialogue with them?
A: That’s why I said that there is a lot of insincerity and compromise, which is unfortunate. A criminal is a criminal. Why should you ask Gumi to go and be negotiating? Why should some governors in the North be saying ok: go to the south and operate there as the people you are killing here are muslims? Where is the unity of Nigeria? If you discover that these people are bandits and are dangerous, they should be eliminated. But rather than doing that, what we are doing is to encourage these people and when they are equipped financially through ransoms, they equip themselves with more ammunitions and deal with Nigerians. We don’t know whether they are Nigerians or foreigners but immediately you start negotiating with them, it is like saying to them, go ahead. There is no need for negotiation. It is so unfortunate that we have come to that point of negotiation and I think we have to stop it with immediate effect if we want our security to be effective. We should deal with these bandits, let them know that what they are doing is evil and the Commander-in-chief should give order to that effect. The new Service chiefs should not go the way of negotiation, they should deal with these people with absolute dispatch and once you start dealing with them, they will now know that there is really war. It is a shame. Nigeria Civil war took only three years to end and we are going over 11 years now fighting Boko Haram and all these insurgents and it is not ended. It is a shame and it means that our security is very much weak and all of them: the Army, Air Force and others, are incapable of defending the lives of Nigerians.
Q. A lot of people are asking this question: is it that they don’t know where the bandits are or that they are turning blind eye to them…
A. If they don’t know where they are, from where are they negotiating with them? They are negotiating with them because they have found where they are. And unfortunately, when these people were being taken along, what happened to our roads? where is security, where are the road blocks? Where are the security agents? We spend a lot of money for defence, a lot of money is being pumped into these areas and nothing efficient and that is why I am annoyed that these people who carted a lot money in defence are now being asked to go and spend this money abroad as Ambassadors in one country or the other. It is a shame. That is the highest way of corruption and I totally condemn it because these people have made a lot of money and they should be probed. The outgone Service Chiefs should be seriously probed.
Q. So in other words you are never in support of their new appointments as Ambassadors..
A. It is absolutely unfortunate and criminal for them to be given ambassadorial positions. They do not have any credibility to be so appointed as far as I am concerned. If they had ended Boko Haram and insecurity then you can say they did well. But now they did not end anything and you are giving them more opportunity to go and eat the money they have taken when they should be probed. Go and find out the budget, if a lot of money had been pumped in, where did the money go to? Ammunition upon ammunition, did they acquire those ammunitions? And now when they have become ambassadors they will go and spend these monies they have stolen. They will go and spend them as Ambassadors outside so that nobody will know and they become very much free, and you say we are fighting corruption. This is the worst government I have ever seen that is pretending to be fighting corruption but is really collaborating with those who are corrupt.
Q. But a lot of Nigerians could place the blame on the doorsteps of the National Assembly…. Why were they confirmed?
A. That is what I am saying. The National Assembly members themselves are not sincere. They are just rubber stamp and they should be ashamed of themselves. These are the people they said that they should be removed and you are now confirming them. Where do they stand? I think we have a vote of no confidence on the Assembly. We have lost confidence in the present National Assembly led by the President of the Senate. They are all betrayers, they are not sincere and those who want to speak the truth there they want to stifle them. It is not going to work and by the grace of God in 2023 we are going to flush all of them out.
Q. So the new service chiefs, what should be their roadmap?
A. They should now be able to plan out strategies and know that this is not a matter of ground fighting. The Air Force must come in now, identify these people from the air, and be able to be sincere, not afraid of any forest because if they shield these people, they will fail. They should not shield anybody. They should be able to go out and destroy the points of habitation of these bandits and Boko Haram. They should be sincere in their duties and they should let Nigerians know that the changing of the service chiefs is worthwhile and they should prove themselves as very worthy of leadership in the Army, Air Force of Navy. Unfortunately, we don’t know where they are going right now. What strategies have they? What new ideas do they have? Or, are they going to continue as people before them? We are watching.
Q. Is there any timeline Nigerians can give them to judge their performance?
A. There is no timeline because all of them have been participating in the fight. They know what to do and where to face. They are not new in this job. So it is left for them to make sure that as soon as possible we should be seeing some results which we had seen at all. All we see is film show. They go to Northeast and make more noise, wear camouflage uniforms, no result. What is the result of being there? Action is what we want. Let all these banditry and killing of Nigerians end. That what all Nigerians want. Let them be totally eradicated out of our way and our nation, it is then that we know that they are serious. But when you pretend that you are shooting so so area, wear camouflage etc. We have not seen any of them captured and shown on television. Most of the things are just television show.
Q. And even some said to have been captured are being said to have been rehabilitated and released back to the society..
A. That’s what am saying there is no sincerity at all. They are not sincere. Untill they are sincere and do what is right, this country is in a serious trouble. We are in serious trouble and we don’t know when it will end. So let the Commander-in-chief, Buhari know that Nigerians are not happy at all with his administration as far as security is concerned. It is very much weak and insincere and failure to do that, we are heading towards a second civil war in Nigeria because it will come to everybody defend yourself. We cannot present ourselves for anybody to kill and that is why they have to be very careful because if they move down to the East here, we mobilize our boys. We have fought the war before and we know the strategy. These boys will bring out Ogbunigwe and other arsenal and we will fight again and that will be another Nigeria civil war. And Buhari should be held responsible for that as well as the service chiefs if they allow these things to deteriorate to the point of defending ourselves. They should do something right now to curb this insurgency as soon as possible so that it doesn’t escalate.
Q. What is your reaction about what is happening in Orlu Imo State. Even the Governor, Hope Uzodinma said that he was the person that invited the military to the area?
A. Well, as he explained, it was to curb the violence quickly. Because most of the times, in a civilian government it is rare to deploy the Army. But when the police have failed and other security areas have failed, you invite the Army to quell the situation in a quick manner. And I think that’s what he did. He said he invited the Army to avert much violence and killings. If his intention was right he should not be blamed. But if the negative has come out of that his intention, he is not to be blamed, we should blame those people that have done things wrong, if there was anything wrong. I don’t have the details of what happened at Orlu.
Q. Just yesterday a new helmsman was confirmed by the Senate for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. What have you to say about his nomination and confirmation? What should be his roadmap.
A. First of all, I think that it is good that somebody as young as that has been identified and appointed; It is a plus for the youth. From what I have heard from him, he seems to have some intelligence and has had experience. He has been with the commission for over 15 years as one of the pioneer trainees in the EFCC camp. So we are looking on him and praying that he will not be later corrupt like his colleagues in the EFCC. So I think that his roadmap is to be sincere, by fighting corruption let him do his duties without selective negligence. Because if he sets his searchlight on only southerners and nobody in the North is being indicted, or he indicts only people from the West and nobody from the North, then it becomes selective. He should know that whatever position he has found himself now is to rescue Nigeria from corruption. So he should be sincere about it.
Q. Do you forsee a situation where a sitting chairman of EFCC can probe someone in government as we see in other climes?
- Why not? If a sitting person in government is not doing very well, nobody is above. And you can see that the former chairman of the Commission was probed. And people in the Senate can now be probed, sent to court and later prison, just like Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. So anybody in government and in the civil service that have been found wanting in his duties should be dealt with immediately and asked to explain the wealth he has. So I think there should be no scapegoat this time around. So that’s why everyone should be on his toes and people should work hard and make sure they do things with absolute honesty.
Q. Religious leaders in this country have been fingered as not contributing to good governance in the country because they are not speaking truth to power. Do you hold such opinion, what is your reaction to this assertion?
Ans. It is not true. The thing is that we speak truth to power. None of us should be intimidated because what happened to Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, it is like they were trying to intimidate him not to talk and most of us are watching to see what will happen. I don’t believe in intimidation. The apostles of old even went to prison for speaking out. For me, I am ready to speak out and pay the price. But the truth must be there. If anybody who is a man of God is not talking, he will perish with the people. We must begin to tell government this is wrong as the prophets of old, “thus says the Lord”. Any government that is reasonable should listen to the men of God that speak the truth and shift from their evils ways and if they don’t the country will be in trouble. So, anybody who says we are not speaking, we are speaking but sometimes you find out that when you speak to the press and complain of certain things, they will only publish what is good for the government and don’t publish what you said. Or people interviewing you in radio or television, you say a lot of things but they will only publish what they like because they are afraid of the government. Why should you be afraid of the government? I always tell them that I am responsible for whatever ii have said. If anything I said is implicating, let them come and meet me and I will explain. And let them know if what I have said is right or wrong. I have spoken before against President Buhari that he was corrupt and when they asked I explained because many things he did up till now are corrupt. And so why should I hide it from him? And it is this deceit in government and men of God prophesying lies that is destroying this nation. They have to be careful about that.
Q. Lets come down now to the Igbo nation, you are one of the leading voices, how do you assess the politics in Igboland, are you satisfied with what is happening right now?
A. First of all, Ndigbo are hardworking people. They are people who are very enterprising. Ndigbo, right from the beginning God has made them to know that nwanne di na mba. But something is going wrong now and that is self-centeredness, selfishness, materialistic tendencies have eaten into the fabrique of our Igbo nation. Leadership madness, because people now feel that if you don’t put me there nothing will succeed. And that is very dangerous The Igbos have come to a point of disunity. Because of self-centeredness and selfishness, and arrogance and pomposity it has affected the Igbo land now. And it will be difficult the way we are going if do not unite with one voice and humble ourselves for 2023 to come and it will affect our quest for Igbo presidency. Example is one of the Ohaneze Ndigbo, what is happening now is a shame and I feel that people must come down and allow peace to reign.
Q. But you said it is a shame , but there was an election.. what happened?
A. It is a shame that some people went to court. Some people did not even accept that election. That’s the shame there. Thank God the election took place, I was there to pray for them. And I told them that if unity did not come, you people should forget about 2023. They went to court at Abuja, and it is a shame. Every case from Igboland goes to Abuja and you go and spend money there. How many Hausas or Yorubas take case to Abuja, to High Court or Court of Appeal? Ndigbo disgracing themselves and then the case was struck out. We should humble ourselves and accept the verdict of the election. I have stayed in three regions of the country and the worst region that has no respect for elders are Ndigbo. And we are so arrogant and pompous. Nobody wants to be a servant. Everybody wants to be a leader. See what is going to happen now in Anambra State, over 60 people are now vying for one position of Governor. Is it not a shame, and you now ask: where is the money people are going to use. You will see a lot of millions coming out now while people are hungry, roads are not built. Yoruba man will come and say, this is our leader, and Hausa will come and say, this is our leader but when it comes to Ndigbo, they are so divided. I will give you an example: If you look at Yoruba land when the Ooni of Ife comes out, yorubas follow him. When the Sultan of Sokoto comes out, Hausas follow him. Who comes out in Igboland that they will follow? Everybody is Eze, every body is Igwe, with Eze Ndigbo Kaduna, Eze Ndigbo Ajegunle, everywhere, you find that it is unfortunate. You don’t find that elsewhere. We bastardise leadership in Igboland because of selfishness.
Q. You are a member of the Ime Obi Ohaneze, at what point are your decisions not followed or taken by the people? Who are the culprits?
A. Well, I don’t have to mention names here but the point is that the Imo State people were to elect or nominate somebody who would be the President General of Ohaneze and as far as I am concerned, if that has happened, you respect the passion of the Imo People. But when you feel that somebody or government is involved in the selection, there is going to be issues. And I tell all those showing interest that they have forgotten that Ohaneze Ndigbo has sold themselves into the hands of politicians. Because Ohaneze Ndigbo is not financially backed up, the politicians control Ohaneze Ndigbo with their money., and so they control its power. As soon as Ohaneze Ndigbo is going to be financially independent and strong and government and politicians don’t have hands in them, then things will work well. But as soon as you continue to depend on government officials, governors, politicians to continue to fund Ohaneze Ndigbo, they will have no say.
Q. How do you think they can achieve financial independence?
A. Then all those people who are making noise now should contribute money to finance Ohaneze Ndigbo. Make Ohaneze Ndigbo to be financially strong and not making noise. When you solidify the body then you will have the mouth to talk. But, everybody wants awoof! It can’t go that way.
Q. The new leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo, what should they be looking out for to avoid mistakes of the past?
A. The new leadership should be backed up. Its tenure has started running, how many years again remain? If we all urinate together it foams. What has happened has happened otherwise it becomes a ridicule that we cannot even elect a President-General for Ohaneze Ndigbo and we are talking about Presidency in 2023, and they are watching us. So what we are looking out for is cooperation and unity among Ohaneze Ndigbo to support whoever is there now to succeed. Give him the backing and see how it goes. The Federal Government has recognized its emergence so they should calm down. So, if we don’t put our house together and give support to the person there now, it will be dangerous. We should be very careful not to destroy ourselves. Ndigbo should be careful of PHD, Pull Him Down syndrome rather we should pull him up. It should be PHU. Let us be very careful and be united and humble ourselves because this arrogance and pomposity will not help Ndigbo to move forward. So we should try and bring ideas and support the person who is there because he has gotten global experience and is highly respected.
Q. 2023 is close by, what are your fears and expectations?
A. well, it has to the point that he youths will decide. With what happened at EndSARS, let me tell you, it is a sign to know that the youths will decide . All these old politicians should begin to pack their loads and find their way out because any of them that comes out will be seriously dealt with. I want to say it. The old politicians should begin to go and rest and retire. You cannot continue to recycle yourselves in politics when the young ones with ideas and integrity are suffering. Over 30 years ago Buhari said that the young ones are the future leaders and for 30 years he is still there with some other people. When will the young ones become leaders of Nigeria? Many of them at 60s and 70s are still in government struggling and the young ones that have intelligence and are seriously computerized literate are around and these analogue people are there. It is a disgrace for Nigeria. Look at France, a young man is leading France, we need a youth a new blood. We cannot continue putting old wine in new wine skin, it will burst. The new ideas must come, we can’t continue recycling these old leaders that are finished and expired.
Q. Could there be an age ceiling?
A. Yes! I said at Alex Ekwueme’s burial. After 65 years, that should be the ceiling. They should be advisers. After 65, I think one should know that he has expired. At most, 70 years. After 70, I think it will not be right for one to hold any position in Nigeria again, because as far as I am concerned, your intelligent quotient(IQ) is already deteriorating. So you don’t have anything to offer anymore, what you offer is chaff. Look at Buhari, he is not in charge of the government and those who are in charge of the government are misleading him. And it is unfortunate, they should all go and rest. 2023 is going to be hot. Youths will have to decide and I will support them.
Q. Your Grace, finally, what is your message to Nigerians?
A. Nigerians should intensify their prayers to God but, they should not remain docile. We should be able to claim our rights and fight for them too. A revolution is coming if this government does not take time. People are ready to lose their lives because they feel they are getting to the end point. The boiling point is high. Whether you make a threat or not, Nigerians are not happy. So I pray to Nigerians to take it easy and let us see what God will do between now and the year to come. But if things don’t change, let the government of Nigeria begin to think and prepare for revolution because Nigeria is boiling and people are getting very much dissatisfied with the governance of Nigeria. Unemployment rate is high, no jobs. The tax rate is high, insecurity is there, corruption is going higher than before. Nothing is happening. When they talked about change Nigerians thought that a change would come but the change we have now is a stupid, bad and useless change. And it is important that we should be praying for the present government of APC to repent and come to their senses to give Nigerians good governance, failure to do that, God’s judgment would be upon them.
Source: Drumnewsonline. Interview by: Uche Maduemesi
