True Vision Interview

Call him a political activist, he will fit in. If you address him as a pacifist, he will qualify. Then, place on him the toga of community leader, it will rest jejunely on him. Think of him as a journalist, you will see his foot prints all over the media space where he addresses pressing national issues with the dignified seriousness and balance that only a patriot can give. What about being a nationalist? He fills the bill. 

Goddy Uwazurike, who has practiced law in Lagos for over three decades evinces such passion for equity, justice and good conscience that you would think he is a monk. You will not be far from it because, this gentle giant is best at home when he is prised to discuss social issues. Chief Goddy Uwazurike was at a time, President of the foremost pan-Igbo think tank, Aka Ikenga. He was also a member of the 2014 Constitutional Conference which recommendation, many believe, could have averted the present political and security quagmire if it had not been allowed to gather dust on the unenviable but predictable graveyard of committee reports in Nigeria.

In this interview, he x-rays the problems bedevilling Nigeria and insists that:

Goddy Uwazurike:

Nigeria Dancing on the Cliff of a Mountain

You have been a prominent player in matters of national interest particularly as it affects the Igbo in Nigeria. Give us your assessment of the present State of affairs.

Nigeria is akin to a rudderless ship in the middle of an ocean.  Today, we have elected and appointed public officials but the impression is that nothing is working and we should not complain. The primary function of government is the security and welfare of the people. This is clearly provided for in section 14(2) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  This section is supposed to give us comfort and reliance on the protective system of Nigeria.  This breakdown is nationwide. The cost of living is galloping up while the security system is comatose. The state of affairs certainly leaves a lot to be desired. 

The much touted Igbo marginalisation: is it self-inflicted on externally induced?

Igbo marginalisation is a reality. It is not self inflicted.  It is what we are being forced to live with.  Let me go back to 1999, when this Republic took off with a Constitution.  Section 13 of the constitution provides that the government of Nigeria and the states must consist of all parts of the country and the state.  In other words, this section states in no uncertain terms that discrimination and marginalisation are anathema in Nigeria.  The government of Olusegun Obasanjo did well to run an all inclusive government.  Umaru Yar’Ardua, Fulani, toed the same line and even promoted Ndigbo to positions which looked beyond the reach of our people since 1970. The government of Goodluck Jonathan improved on this national spread. Igbo people felt at home in government. But today, Ndigbo are back to the pre1999 situation.  We are not asking for favours.  No. We are asking for a level playing ground.  Last week, series of national security meetings were held.  It is remarkable that nobody from South East was qualified to attend, not even as an observer. 

Insecurity in the land has assumed unparalleled nationwide distribution. How can this be contained?

The insecurity in this country requires a heavy dose of intelligence.  Failure of intelligence is the greatest drawback in the security architecture of Nigeria. The investment in the military hardware without a commensurate knowledge or understanding of the problem is a recipe for disaster. There are too many unemployed and unemployable youth in the country. The deliberately damaged economy is not helping matters.  The metaphor for the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is the case of thousands of university graduates applying to drive commercial buses in Lagos. 

The remedy for this quagmire is two pronged 

A. Handle the economy with dexterity. 

B. Rejig the military infrastructure. 

Both sectors require that the best brains be employed to work in them. In a simple language, do not promote a person above his competence.  Hands on approach must be by those who have the competence. 

The peace of the South East has been shattered by attacks targeting security personnel who are supposed to protect the people. Besides, some of the victims are also of the Igbo ethnic stock. We would like to have your view on this anachronistic situation as well as the way out.

The attacks and destruction are reprehensible and must be condemned by any person who has his brain and heart in the right place. What I find unacceptable is the notion that this is a homegrown terrorist activity. I do not believe that there is any person with Igbo DNA in him who will descend so low as to engage in destruction. For record purposes, Igbo people are builders, not destroyers.  An example is the Police building in Orieagu, Nsu, Ehime Mbano LGA, Imo state, destroyed by unknown gunmen.  Such community built public premises dot all over Igbo land.  The only government built police houses were done before the Biafra war. The recent attack on the police and prison buildings in the fortress, Owerri, Imo state, was, without investigation, attributed to the Biafra agitation movement, IPOB. The new police chief, upon appointment, declared that his concentration is South East and South-South.  As he was speaking, Northern Nigeria was in a greater turmoil than the South. Anyone who sees the situation today as a pre military attack one is not wrong.  It is more like a compulsory mission.  Give a dog a bad name and hang it.  The real war areas are the northwest and northeast. Schooling is off. Travelling is off. Kidnapping is the order of the day.  But the might of the security forces is facing Igbo land.

There has been an outcry over on-going military operations in the South East with some people raising an alarm that genocide is imminent. What is your view on this?

Today, it is a crime to be a young man in Igbo land. The reason is that heavily armed security men in mufti have been going around in unidentifiable vehicles and arresting them.  Reason for the arrest is that the young men are IPOB members.  They are also detained with impunity. Even family members and lawyers are denied access to the detainees. After some days, one will see the detainees confessing to every offence from 1900 to 2021.

You were on the delegation of prominent Igbo leaders who visited Lagos State Governor, Sanwu-Olu to address the claim that IPOB and the Igbo were planning to attack Lagos. Are you reassured that the meeting was fruitful?

Yes, I was part of the delegation led by the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo World-wide, Prof. George Obiozor. The setting was a convivial one.  The Police Chief was present. The nature of Ndigbo as builders and not destroyers was emphasized.  I am satisfied that a dangerous inter ethnic acrimony was averted. Those who were emphasising our differences were put to shame. 

Would it be wrong for Ohanaeze NDIGBO and other Igbo leaders to hold similar meetings with leaders from the North and other parts of Nigeria? 

Such interactions are highly desirable. What is required is honesty of intention. 

Is producing a President of South East extraction more important than equitable distribution of resources and restructuring? Or are they mutually interrelated?

A President of Nigeria from the south east is absolutely necessary for it is said that whatever comes around goes around.  There are six zones in this country and power must rotate. Anyone trying to confuse restructuring with presidency has not given the issues a good thought. The ruling APC had restructuring as the number one issue in its manifesto. But it reneged on it as soon as it came to power. Let me put it bluntly. It is only a restructuring minded President that will engage in it.  If one is to wait for such a person to emerge before the agitation for power to go round, then power will never get to South East. 

On this issue, have you noticed that the thought of power rotation towards Igbo land may be the cause of the present insecurity? In 1999, two Yoruba people contested for the presidency.  Two Fulani people did same in 2007. There was no brouhaha as we are seeing in South East Presidency campaign.

What is your take on the contention that if Igbo elite, especially the political leadership, had pursued Igbo interests with vigour, courage and honesty, Nnamdi Kanu would not have formed IPOB?

Biafra exists in the heart of a true Igbo person.  The present political leadership is obviously not adequate but we are praying for our first eleven to hold political offices. 

Please give us your view on the recent comment credited to Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, that he wants Biafra of the heart, a mental Biafra, and not a geo-political entity

Sen Enyinnaya Abaribe has spoken our minds. I agree with him. 

How do you see Nigeria in the next 24 months?

Nigeria is dancing dangerously on the tip of a high mountain.  Those piloting the affairs of the state can either stabilise it and bring it to its rightful place or we shall perish.

One of the security challenges we are having today is the impunity with which herdsmen destroy farms and kill people.

[5/17, 8:09 AM] Goddy Uwazurike: The agitation for the breakup of Nigeria by different tribes is a natural fall out of injustice and lack of transparency in the running of Nigeria.

There has been an outcry over on-going military operations in the South East with some people raising an alarm that genocide is imminent. What is your view on this?

Today, it is a crime to be a young man in Igbo land. The reason is that heavily armed security men in mufti have been going around in unidentifiable vehicles and arresting them.  Reason for the arrest is that the young men are IPOB members.  They are also detained with impunity. Even family members and lawyers are denied access to the detainees. After some days, one will see the detainees confessing to every offence from 1900 to 2021.