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| Elder Bulus Dareng |
THE recent clampdown on members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) by the military in the South-East part has been generating controversy. While some see the military action as a necessity to douse secessionist agitation of the group, others see it as an incursion which lacks constitutional backing. What is your opinion on the issue?
This should have been a civil and not a military matter. The show of force was uncalled for. I support the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, who said due process was not followed in the operation. If Nnamdi Kanu erred, the police are there to investigate him. Military incursion in that case was unnecessary. If Kanu has a case, the police have the right to arrest anybody, even if the incursion was in good faith, the level of suspicion was high. If I am suspecting you, every move you make will be interpreted in various ways. The name giving to the operation, Python Dance, is another thing. Nobody can dance with a python and go scot-free. So, automatically the name itself shows that it was not a friendly operation. Nobody wants this country to disintegrate, but at the same time dialogue is key. The government, from the beginning, ought to have engaged all stakeholders in the South-East on the issue instead of allowing the whole thing to get to this level. I can confidently tell you that no Igbo man wants this country disintegrated. The investment they have outside the South- East is much higher than what they have done back home. The land space they have outside is almost more than what they have in Igboland; the volume of the business they have outside is so high that it cannot be quantified. They want to make a point, but the way they are making it is unfortunate. But the government too should be blamed. The way and manner the government is handling the matter is not good enough. Two wrongs cannot make a right. Therefore, there is the need to revisit the issue. It is an unfortunate situation.
The government, in conjunction with the military, has labeled IPOB as a terrorist group, in view of the posture of the group and its mode of operation. Do you think it is justified to so label the IPOB?
If that is the case, there are many groups in this country that should be labeled terrorist groups and not IPOB only. Agitation for self-determination cannot be classified as terrorism, unless the government has ample evidence that IPOB has a plan to kill people and destroy the country. Otherwise, it would be wrong to label IPOB a terrorist group. If that is the case, how will the government describe the herdsmen? These herdsmen are causing more havoc all over the country than the IPOB. They are deadly and lawless to the point that they are grazing cows in school premises and classrooms. They are destroying farmlands, burning villages and killing people. Since they have been on the prowl, no single person has been arrested. I am not aware that any Boko Haram person is jailed. Some group of youths in the North gave ultimatum that Igbo should leave the North on or before October. Nobody was arrested.
Some eminent Nigerians are canvassing for re-negotiation of the terms of togetherness of the various ethnic nationalities in the country instead of restructuring. Do you think it is better to re-negotiate than restructure?
The only way out of the present logjam we find ourselves in this country today is to implement the 2014 confab report. The report takes care of the restructuring that people are clamouring for today. To me, there is nothing to negotiate about. What the country needs now is restructuring as outlined in the confab report. We are not saying states should be cancelled, but those who have common interests can flow together. The South-South has common interest, likewise the South-West and the South-East including the North. The Middle Belt that people don’t want to hear has common interest too. If we restructure, people will have the right to choose wherever they want to belong to, like the Southern Kaduna, if there is a referendum they may decide to join the North-Central, if the people from Taraba want to join Middle Belt referendum will bring them. With restructuring, there will be resource control. In the First Republic, people had direct access to their resources, the west and other parts of the country used their God-given resources to develop their regions; most of what they did are still there today for everybody to see. After then, there was nothing to show again. Corruption has taken over; there is no accountability again.
There is no clear-cut demarcation in terms of landmass and this is seen as one of the problems militating against the movement for Middle Belt. Some people in the North-East like people in Gwoza in Borno State, Tafawa Balewa in Bauchi State, Taraba State, among others, still claim to be part of Middle Belt. As one of the prominent Middle Belt leaders, what are the states that make up Middle Belt?
When restructuring is done in line with the confab report, people will have the right to self-determination. If the people you mentioned want to be in Middle Belt, referendum will take care of that. For example, if Kwara State decides to join the South-West and the people agreed, can anybody stop them? If Taraba, Adamawa and the rest want to join Middle Belt, nobody can stop them. Basically, when you talk of the Middle Belt, it is made up of the six states in the North-Central, but other states that want to join Middle Belt after restructuring are welcome.
There are some people within the dominant Middle Belt areas who are saying the Muslims are not carried along when it comes to Middle Belt activities, that is, it is a conglomeration of the Christians in the areas called Middle Belt (cuts in)
There is no segregation in the movement. We have Muslims in Igalaland, even on the Plateau we have Berom Muslims. Forget about all what some people are saying. They use religion to confuse people. When a Yoruba man becomes a Muslim, does he become Hausa/Fulani? Religion has nothing to do with this. Anybody can be a Muslim or a Christian. As far as I am concerned, the Middle Belt does not exclude anybody. That is the blackmail that is being carried to cause confusion in the Middle Belt. I also want to tell you that if you throw away religion and sectional issues, this nation will become a great country.
There is the belief that if Nigeria could de-emphasis issues like religion, sectionalism, placement of project, among others, this nation will become a great country without carrying out restructuring. Do you subscribe to this?
Look at the structure the NNPC and other government agencies and parastatal. What do you call that? If you have 10 children, you decided to buy bicycles for some and left others out, it means there is no equity in your sharing formula to your children and with that you can never have peace in your home. For you to gain confidence in your home, there must be equity, justice and fair play. If there is equity, there will be confidence building, most of these teething problems of religion, ethnicity will be a thing of the past. For example, what will you say about the number of local governments in Kano and Jigawa states compared to Lagos State which is more populated than these two states? The difference is about forty councils. Kastina State that was carved out of Kaduna State has more local government areas than many states in the country. When issues are taken to the National Assembly, there can be gang up to frustrate it from a particular section of the country. What is the basis of 74 local governments within two states? Is there any justice and equity in that? The entire local governments in Middle Belt are not up to the ones in Katsina, Kano and Jigawa states.
As an economist, is Nigeria out of recession?
I don’t see the country out of recession, probably on its way out of recession. If you look at the prices of things, nothing has changed; we have taken more loans and at the same time the exchange rate has gone high. There is no stability. I don’t know the basis for such pronouncement that Nigeria is out of recession, the cost food is skyrocketing, unemployment is there and you said the country is out of recession. I need to be educated. In Nigeria today, people are not earning up to 10 of what they should earned. The country is out of recession? Can you pay your children school fees? Life is becoming unbearable for many Nigerians. I don’t know what they meant by Nigeria is out of recession. Go to most of the big cities in this country, you will see many properties that are up for sale and nobody is buying them.