INTERVIEW: Tinubu Has Not Been Fair To South-East With Political Appointments – Anike, EU President

In this interview with Chinedu Aroh, the National President of the Eastern Union, Hon Charles Anike, talks about ending sit-at-home in Southeast, expectations from the judiciary ahead of tribunal verdicts, best ways to tackle Niger imbroglio, and how fair President Bola Tinubu has been to the South-East in terms of appointments.

How best can sit-at-home be ended in South-East?

What we have is a situation where a well-intended advocacy protest of the group, targeted towards securing the release of its leader, who has been unlawfully incarcerated by the Nigerian government, has derailed. The IPOB members could not coordinate themselves after the arrest and subsequent detention of their leader. That warranted some criminal elements to hijack the programme, and turned it into means for terrorism. The terrorists disguise themselves as freedom fighters, and succeeded in crippling the economy of South East.

The major blame goes to the IPOB who claimed to have trained and armed a security network known as Eastern Security Network, but couldn’t confront a splinter group that is not only misrepresenting them but killing and inflicting pains on the same people they claim to be fighting for.

The insensitive APC government at the centre is also to be blamed for the continued sit-at-home in South East. If the Buhari government had complied with the Appeal Court order by releasing the IPOB leader, sit-at-home would have naturally died.

Also, various governments and political bandits in South East are not left out in the blame. Most of them in the desperation to remain relevant equip miscreants and jobless youths with dangerous weapons. Some import mercenaries to undo their opponents. They weaponized poverty and unemployment so they can exploit the poor.

What is the way out?

The federal government should obey the court order by releasing the IPOB leader and seek political solutions to IPOB agitations. Also, South East governments should seek to dialogue with the agitators and other non-state actors within their jurisdictions. Other security measures should be put in place to complement government efforts. If possible, formidable vigilante groups like the Bakasi Boys should be encouraged. Traditional rulers and presidents general of communities should be encouraged to establish local vigilantes in their communities.

South East governments should unite and rise up to the occasion and work for the extradition of Mr Simon Ekpa, who obviously had sabotaged the IPOB and had been proven to be responsible for the terrorists’ activities and unlawful enforcement of the sit-at-home in the region. The IPOB leadership should be reorganized to enable them to exercise control over their members and also review their methods with new ideas.

Do you have confidence in the judiciary ahead of presidential election verdict?

We urge the judiciary to be courageous to dispense sacred justice without fear or favour. The judiciary must see this as an opportunity to reinvent itself and reassure Nigerians that the judiciary is indeed the last hope of the common man. It is true that the Nigerian judiciary under Buhari became a ‘lost hope’ of the common man. But the judiciary must use this opportunity to reassure the citizenry of its readiness to uphold and live up to their sacred duty of dispensing justice to all without prejudice.

There must not be any sacred cow in the eye of the law. The judiciary must not allow Nigeria to remain a jungle. They must take a cue from the courageous judgment in a similar situation by the Kenyan judiciary. The Nigerian judiciary must by their verdicts show that Nigerians are not cursed or doomed to fail.

The judiciary must not take for granted the calmness of the people to mean acceptance of the wrong deeds of Prof Mahmood Yakubu’s INEC. Nigerians chose to be lawful and patiently waiting for not only for justice to be done, but be seen to have been done in the presidential election especially.

With the obvious rape on the will of the masses of Nigeria, backed with overwhelming evidences on ground against the INEC declaration of the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as the winner, the judiciary is expected to do the needful, to save Nigeria from drifting into anarchy.

How best can ECOWAS approach Niger crisis?

I will definitely defer from many views, regarding the military intervention in Niger Republic. The military coup in Niger is a child of necessity. And you can notice the outpouring of support the coupists are enjoying from Nigeriens. We can’t keep condemning military coups in Africa while the madness and recklessness of our political leaders are increasingly unabated.

The political actors in Africa are basically the same. Before the coup in Niger, what efforts did ECOWAS make to alleviate the sufferings of Nigeriens? How has ECOWAS assisted Niger and other former French colonies in the Sahel region to overcome the hardships and overbearing influences and continued exploitations of the poor country? The coup is both a revolution against the insensitive and corrupt civilian government and also a revolution to end continued colonial masters’ exploitations, even after ‘independence’.

The best way to approach the Niger crisis is to continue to deploy diplomatic engagements rather than military action. ECOWAS should encourage the military government to immediately develop plans to quickly organize elections that will return power to a civilian government.

Has Tinubu been fair to South East in terms of appointments?

I am not even expecting any fair treatment from Tinubu to the South East. Tinubu did not win the presidential election and he sees the Igbos of the South East as the reason behind his colossal failure and therefore would not for any reason compensate them with appointments. Tinubu lost gallantly to Obi in Lagos, which hitherto was his stronghold for years and also could not secure the constitutionally required and mandatory 25 per cent votes in the FCT, because of bloc votes of the Igbos in the FCT. So, the ill-feelings must always be there and will reflect in his appointments until the court shows him the way out.

You can notice how he has shunned and ignored those Igbo political chaffs that are hypocritically licking boots and lying to themselves. I am sure most of them are surely weeping like one of our brother-senators from Abia State.