Buhari Gov’t Should Seek Forgiveness, Then Quit – Nduka Eya

Chief Nduka Eya, former secretary general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, appraises the ongoing protest in the country in this interview with Chinedu Aroh.

What does this escalating protest portend?

The trouble with Nigeria is that we leave the real issues and pursue the present. Ask yourself, why should there be protest the way it is going? Why have the youths of Nigeria suddenly exploded? Can you justify why young people would lose their education because government couldn’t listen to ASUU? Can you imagine Nigerian youths protesting for a common goal? When things boil over, that is revolution. I have been having signs of this. People have been complaining. Nobody was listening to them. Why does it take a strike action before government reacts to realities? In the past years, the mantra has been ‘we are going to, we are going to’, and nothing has been done. In the past six years, we have been hearing about corruption by the former government. Buhari came to correct this, and he has not done anything. It has been blame game here and there.

What practical measure should be taken to ameliorate the situation?

Let SARS operatives, who are suspected, be put on trial. Let them be prosecuted. The boys have come to a point where they want to see what is being done over these brutalities. What is happening now is that the youths have lost faith in government completely. It is a matter of a group that does not know what to do, but want to remain in government. An IPOB man said recently that he likes the president, but in a civilized country, with what has happened, Buhari should have honorably quit the saddle. When you have lost faith in governance, what else do you expect? They should not kill these boys. Falana, not the popular one, has warned the hierarchy that if it does what it wants to do, the next option will be at the Hague. There have been war crimes in this country, senseless killings. And if you ask Mr President, why are Christians being killed, he would start talking about herdsmen. Let me paraphrase a pro-#EndSars youth recently. He said they don’t have a national leader because they don’t want anybody to be brought to a roundtable and the person is shut up. He also said there were about five agenda. And the government says it should be given a time. What time does it need? They want action, and not proposals. Lagos governor said he had placed N200m on the table for the prosecution of SARS atrocities. That is proactive, and not reactive. The FG is reactive, and not reactive. The 8th National Assembly did noble jobs. The current Senate is speaking good grammar. The Senate president and the House speaker met with the president and they returned, calling on the youths to suspend the protest. What have they been doing since the outcries began? The boys want to see results, and not promises. Lai Mohammed should stop telling us lies. These youths are brilliant. They wouldn’t mind facing the guns. If you are strong, go and fight Boko Haram. Now they are back with the Operation Crocodile Smile. This government has an agenda, which is not an agenda for the people of Nigeria. They want to achieve the agenda at all costs. If one option fails, they try next. The last one was the Water Resources Bill. Ruga failed. Something will happen because you can’t twist the people like that and expect no answer. This government should be kind enough and quit. They should resign honourably. Let them not challenge these boys. I did it when I was young. Then the prime minister was a listening type.

What option do you suggest to the government?

The government should be bold and humble enough to say it has failed, and seek forgiveness. The world is after this. The president always says he is doing his best, but nobody in Nigeria could say ‘your best is not good enough’. Your best can produce negative results. There is no doubt that some people are paid to counter the revolution. And it has taken a form like what we saw in the NBA where a splinter group emerged. Let Nigerians watch what is happening. But the hierarchy knows what is going on. If IPOB has no weapon and hasn’t sacked anybody to occupy their place, they simply carry papers and flags, and today they have been declared a terrorist group, has Boko Haram been declared a terrorist group? They are called insurgents. We forget that Boko Haram named Buhari as their negotiator. Buhari told Jonathan that fighting Boko Haram means fighting the government. How then can Buhari defeat Boko Haram? How many of these Boko Haram people have been prosecuted. Every money spent on Boko Haram is palliatives. I lived through pre-colonial and post-colonial. The military is behind what is happening now. Otherwise why was Abiola’s election annulled? It is an unanswered question.