Daily Independent (Lagos)
Daniel Kanu and Olisemeka Obeche
3 November 2008
(Page 2 of 2)
The 1999 Constitution, anyhow we look at it, so long as we keep delaying to go and sit down and quickly build it up; I repeat it, this country may break up. As far as I am concerned, the country is breaking up. The spirit of this country which is Nigeria is dying by the day; patriotism is dying by the day. It is not a matter of sentiment. Anybody, whether you are in governance or not, that is saying that things are going fine don't really love the country.
They don't really love the country, because if they love this country they are going to calm down and draft out basis that we are going to make the country achieve progress. And the basic thing to start with is that grund norm (the Constitution). We sit down and agree, and that is to return ourself to a federal arrangement which is what it used to be before the military struck, which is not what it is now. You have that goodwill to build upon, you also leave that room - for healthy competition and diversity to play their parts. So, we need to sort out how we will still live together, one neighbour after the other.
Are you advocating a Sovereign National Conference?
You see, people keep using that phrase, you can call it whatever you want. But it is a question of having all the peoples in Nigeria from various nationalities coming together and agree on how to live in Nigeria. We, the Igbo, want to live in Nigeria. So also are other ethnic groups, but they got to live there under agreed terms, not under a term you will come and dictate to me. So, whether you want to call it sovereign national conference or not, the fact remains that Nigerians have sovereign rights to be where God put them, without apology to nobody. Therefore, since we want to live with others, the best way to do it is to sit down and talk and agree.
You are sounding as if you are afraid of the future of this country?
I am worried about the present condition of this country, to start with, that is what I am saying, before you think about the future. And if you look at indices, we are going down the hill. Please gentlemen, if you are not worried about your car spinning down hill, I am.
With the lingering crisis situation in the Niger Delta, where do you think the country is gravitating to and what do you think is the solution to the age-long crisis?
The greatest bane and the source of all these problems is Unitarism, and the solution is going back to the federal country. What is going on in the Niger Delta is similar to what the Igbo were passing through in the past; and that is why I tell anybody that cares to listen that the Igbo never fought to break away from Nigeria. We were forced to take arms, and no two ways about it. The Igbo man is still being marginalised, which also means that Nigeria is marginalised. As long as they consider Igbo land as part of Nigeria, those who are consciously or unconsciously marginalising the Igbo are marginalising Nigeria.
Equity and justice have no colour, no taste; they remain constant. So, what would have been equitable for the Igbo would remain for the Igbo, so also for other tribes, otherwise it is not equitable. We are not talking about advantage, but equity. What was fought for then was a matter of equity, and you see where we are today. Empirical studies say that nations come back to a state of status quo, 15 years after confusion. But in this case, Nigeria has not come back because after it, we had so many aberrations coming on, and that is where we have ended up with the Niger Delta. Many talk about the criminal aspect of the Niger Delta struggle, but I wouldn't look at that as a matter of criminal issue. For instance, if armed robbers after robbing a bank and while going were throwing money on the streets and those who picked the money are running after stolen money - so they are criminals. Or there is a fire outbreak in a building and people are finding a way to put off the fire, you start chasing a thief who is trying to make away with something from the house.
The Niger Delta crisis is a big problem on the ground regarding equity in the place, that over the years has been boiling and building. The solution is to address the inequity, and the best way to address a thing like that is not through a master-servant relationship. You have to sit on matter of equality and bringing different peoples involved. So you are going to sit down with those who are from there and tell everybody, man or woman, who comes from different parts of the country to look at the issues and address them squarely. If you are any of these people, what would you do? If you were from there and you start also to maltreat other people or cornering there resources - you will have to ask yourself if you are in their shoe, how would you expect people to react to you?
So we have a problem at hand that requires being addressed by all of us. We need a cementing and fundamental dialogue by different peoples of the country to have a federal Nigeria. The country couldn't start unless it was federal; and it will not survive if it doesn't go back to federal.
What is your position on the condition of Ndigbo in Nigeria today?
I want to know which Yoruba man or Hausa is comfortable with the political situation in Nigeria of today. I don't even know who is comfortable with what is happening in the country today, even the president. The issues have gone beyond blaming somebody or the other; it is a structural issue which has gone beyond whether you are Igbo or Yoruba. But definitely as an Igbo man, I believe that my people will not accept to continue this way. We must solve it by demanding to sit down. Some people will tell you will they agree? This is a wrong thing in the country. The moment you have a country where people discuss 'will they agree'. we have a problem. It should be one in which there should be a collective wish of the majority.
How come there is too much faction among the Igbo?
You know, the Igbo are very much united. Quote me, anyone who is Igbo should not deceive him or herself into thinking that we are not united: we are strongly united. Please, it is a matter of men of understanding. Forget even the fact that we are republicans, every Igbo man and woman is united in one thing: virtues of truth, honesty and belief in God.
What you are seeing don't characterise the Igbo man, they are something created outside Igbo land. There is an Igbo ethos that makes us Ndigbo, just as the other tribes as created by God. God did not create Ndigbo to follow one man. And any day when we want to become like other people, where one man comes and dictates to the people, we will fail. People often cite the past problem of Ohaneze Ndigbo as an example, without actually knowing exactly what happened.
That somebody came from nowhere and went to Ohaneze leadership trying to grab its soul and spirit to go and support third term, and got them not to agree to follow the constitution we agreed to be abided. And in the spirit of Ndigbo, that move was criticised and they fought it to a halt. Please, as an elder statesman in Igbo land I want to tell you that we are solidly united, and the thinking that Igbo people are more money conscious are equally not true. There are other many things an Igbo man is capable of offering the country if given the opportunity. As to those that make this argument: which tribe is united in Nigeria today?
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