Buhari strong enough to tackle agitations — Ogbotobo
Do you support the proscription of the IPOB?
Yes, of course! Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB have proved, clearly, that they are evil and dangerous in their intentions and activities in Nigeria. We cannot repeat the same mistakes that caused much human and material sacrifices at different periods in the past. Agitation will always arise in any human association because we are not created the same and, most significantly we are not in Paradise. Even in paradise there is agitation because nothing is static. But everything must adjust and conform to our extant laws which guarantee the freedoms we enjoy at the moment.
Our democracy is nascent but no matter how imperfect the system seems, we must allow human conscience and logic to guide our actions so as to ensure that we do not violate the elements that safeguard the human space and conditions necessary for the freedoms and privileges we crave.
It was improper for that fellow Nnamdi Kanu to come from nowhere and start that IPOB thing the way he did. People were on ground managing to build the system. Nation building is not a one day affair; it is gradual.
But there is a bandwagon of criticism condemning the proscription. What is your view on that?
They are not serious. They thought we are novices that just arrived from outer space. They can continue with their condemnation for as long as they have breath. Look, no nation of serious minded people will condone what Kanu and his evil organisation planned to unleash on the country. Would you see a mad fellow with a naked flame walking about a leaking tank farm that workmen are laboring to repair and say the fellow shouldn’t be chased out because he has a constitutional right to move about? Or deny the fact that the flame will cause a conflagration at some point of contact?
Not quite long ago we all experienced how Boko Haram metamorphosed into the vampire it is today. Do we now relax and await Kanu and IPOB to transform completely before we act? I think the mistake they are making is having the confidence that they can easily rattle Buhari to drop the anti-corruption war. The proscription Comrade Wilfred Frank is the Convener/Coordinator, South-South Legacy Forum, member, National Renewal Committee of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State. In this interview, he speaks on the proscription of IPOB by the Federal Government, agitations and other issues. Excerpts: our case, we have myriad fundamental issues to discuss and address in order to move this nation forward.
However, the problem with Nigeria is hypocrisy, indolence and corruption. The political class and elite are corrupt, hypocritical and indolent. Rather than grappling with them they politicize and trivialize these issues for the sake of selfish advantages.
Today everyone talks as if Lord Lugard left Nigeria just yesterday, just because President Buhari decided to tackle corruption headlong in the country. Why didn’t they do all these things when they had the opportunities? The truth is that the combination of corruption and the outcome of the last presidential election are fighting back. They organised national conferences but wouldn’t implement the outcomes. Now they are talking; they look at the President as a pushover.
This administration is taking deliberate steps to own these issues by setting up the El-Rufai committee to do an in-depth examination of the structural deficiencies and all other genuine concerns that may have undermined national growth and cohesion. These would then be integrated in an implementable framework and soon Nigerians would see Buhari’s good intentions at the end of the day. stands. If they want to decapitate this democracy let them come out. I don’t think this administration will suffer hypocrites and their stock in trade.
Are you then opposed to calls for the President to dialogue with Nnamdi Kanu and the IPOB?
Since when has it become fashionable for the President of the Federal Republic to engage ruffians and street urchins for dialogue? The mere thought of that idea itself is an insult on the person and office of the President. Who is Nnamdi Kanu? We can as well tell the President to go on the streets to talk to all the kidnapers, ritual killers, pipeline destroyers in the Niger Delta and so on. They all have freedom of association and, are terrorising society.
But considering the preponderance of agitations all over the place, don’t you think there is need for dialogue among Nigerians?
Look, agitation is part of human society on earth. At every turn, you will find one form of agitation or the other in every society. In
What is your view on restructuring?
Like I said earlier, the politicians and elite have successfully muddled this issue of restructuring to the extent that it is now difficult to define and understand it clearly. We need to create conditions that should energise the human and material potentials of every part of the country and discourage indolence, poverty and corruption. And this is very urgent; I believe this is one legacy President Buhari would happily want to bequeath.
I would simply suggest to the El-Rufai committee to do, in addition, a critical review of late Chief Anthony Enahoro’s recommendations on restructuring, followed by a conference of nationalities. We have to adopt a somewhat holistic approach that would avoid possible ‘Abyei’ (an oilrich land on the border between Sudan and South Sudan that was violently contested) scenario. What we have now are just cosmetic agitations; I can see that the real agitations are yet to surface.
There are concerns about the health status of the President with regard to the 2019 elections. In a scenario where the President could not contest, do you think your party has the strength, in terms of candidate and achievements, to win the elections?
The Buhari I watched on NTA deliver an address at the 72nd UNGA was someone that looked fit. However, I am not a medical doctor to give a categorical opinion on his health status but it is our fervent prayer that he gets well and strong enough to anchor our laudable programmes and provide a new template for the rebirth of a fresh and greater Nigeria. Pertaining to achievements, I think we have done much and we are doing a lot. You can see the novel initiatives that are being conceived and physically implemented like the second Niger Bridge in the East; and in the Niger Delta region, you have the recently signed multi-billion road project to link Bonny Island with rest of the country.
On the issue of candidate, I don’t think APC would be challenged in case President Muhammadu Buhari could not do another term. We have galaxy of stars, competent and matured. But if you want me to be categorical I would say, in my reckoning, one particular star outshines others in the northern constellation, in terms of intellect, spirit, knowledge and conviction. And that is Malam Nasir el-Rufai.
In the days of our CPC he was saddled with the responsibility of working out the modalities of the merger and, today he superintends the APC’s most tasking assignment. He is one man who shares the philosophy of the president and has the strength to carry on the reforms.