Makurdi — Abu King Shuluwa is a founding member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) from Benue State who once served as PDP caretaker chairman in Plateau State during the crisis period. In this interview with a group of journalists, Shuluwa spoke on the need for negotiation to end the 'Boko Haram' crisis and the implication of secession threats by some parts of the country. Excerpts:

How would you react to the suggestion that the Federal Government should negotiate with Boko Haram?

The issue of negotiation did not start with Boko Haram because some of us had called for dialogue with Boko Haram long ago. We don't want the killings. We want the Federal Government to negotiate with the sect.

If at this point, Boko Haram has decided to negotiate with the Federal Government, then the Federal Government should open up the door for negotiation except if the Federal Government wants the killings to continue. If the Federal Government doesn't want the killings to continue just like some of us don't want the killings to continue, yes, there should be a negotiation.

We want to know why they are doing what they are doing. We want to know if they have decided that they too are tired of the killings and they want negotiation. With this negotiation, they can come out to speak and we will know why they're doing what they're doing.

What will happen if government says it will not negotiate with the sect under any condition?

Who is the Federal Government? You are not saying President Goodluck Jonathan said he will not negotiate. Tell me that Jonathan said he will not negotiate. Yes, if Jonathan says he will not negotiate with the sect under such condition, under what condition does he want to negotiate? Let him tell us his own condition.

Telling us that he won't negotiate under such condition is rubbish. He must tell us the condition that he wants. When you want to negotiate with somebody, he brings his own conditions and you bring your own and we balance them up.

My belief about Boko Haram is totally different. Some people take it as a religious sect. No, they only happen to be Muslims. So, there is more to it than meet the eye.

What does secession threat by the Bakassi people in the Niger Delta and MASSOB in the South-East portend for this country?

I'm not a prophet but I have talked about the amalgamation which brought this country into being in 1914. And I said that by 2014, if we are not careful, Nigeria will not be the same. From the statements coming from the south-south particularly the Niger Delta region, one can deduce that this country will no longer be the same again as from 2014.

For instance, there was a time that Edwin Clarke said Jonathan will be president but not the president of Nigeria. Sadly, people don't understand some of these statements. There is a clause in the amalgamation of 1914 which says that after 100 years of existence, any part may go. Therefore, because of the oil that we have in the south-south, the Niger Delta people believe that they can go on their own.

All the arrangements they are making is to make sure that by 2014, they will write a memorandum to the United Nations saying they want to become a nation separate from what is today known as Nigeria and they will draw a map, they will compose their national anthem.

It's just like what happened in Sudan. That is the reason they insisted on Jonathan being president this time. If you allow a northerner to be president, it will not be as easy to break away as when Jonathan is president. That was the reason Jonathan had to run for this position he is holding today. Otherwise, there was an agreement which Jonathan signed that the presidency after Obasanjo should come to the North. Why should he then contest? He should have completed Yar'adua's tenure and then quit the stage. He should have allowed another northerner to contest and complete the eight years like Obasanjo did.

But they knew that if a northerner becomes president between now and 2014 it will not be easy for them to break away. There is a hidden agenda and Nigeria has to be very careful.

All what you see is not only MASSOB who declared independence, Bayelsans had done that before with national anthem and a flag, and what did the president do about it? No comments from the presidency. No action. Then, the Ogoni people also did, yet no action from the presidency. We are watching.

If Nigeria is not careful, it will never be the same by 2015. Already, the US had predicted that before and it is working towards that. That is why you can now see that what is happening in the Niger Delta is totally different from what is happening in other parts of this country. Every young person who pretended to have dropped his arms takes N65,000 in Niger Delta while the massive youths who have graduated from Ibadan, Oyo, Akure, Borno, Yobe, Benue, Ekiti, Ife, Abuja and so on are roaming the streets without any job.

The uneducated youths from the Niger Delta are being trained as pilots in different countries of the world. Why is that so? Why are we having a trade agreement between Niger Delta and South Africa? What is happening to the youths in Ekiti, Kogi, Kwara, Yobe, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kano, Taraba, Borno, Benue and so on?

Some people in the Niger Delta region think we are fools, we are not. We have shed our blood for the unity of this country when Biafra wanted to secede.

But do you think the North can sustain itself if the South pulls out?

We can. Before we discovered oil, what were we doing? We will now go back to agriculture. We will lock up ourselves. We can discover oil in the North also. If you can discover oil in Niger or even Chad, why can't we discover oil in the North? Mind you, there is now oil in Kogi State which Anambra and Enugu are now fighting to take. Who says we cannot discover oil on River Benue? It is a matter of exploring and discovering. If you can discover oil in the far desert, why can't we discover oil here? Even if we don't discover oil, tell me, there are a lot of countries that don't have oil and yet they exist. Who ever knew that there would be oil in Ghana?