Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former governor of Anambra State, in this interview on Arise Television monitored by TheEasterner, speaks on the recent visit of some Igbo leaders to President Muhammadu Buhari over the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, how agitations across the country can be handled and other issues. Temidayo Akinsuyi of Daily Independent brings the excerpts:
What impression did you get from the Igbo leaders visit to the President over Nnamdi Kanu; do you think that he will look into it as promised and that your expectations would be met in this regard?
We talked to people who are familiar with the President after the meeting and they told us that from the body language of the President, he took us very seriously and we should take his promise to look into it very seriously also. We are quite happy and I must use this opportunity to thank Mr. President for the success of the Anambra governorship election because I know what happened behind the scene. I thank him for the integrity and transparency of it because it was actually due to his conversation with the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
What is your expectation from the meeting with the President?
That is why we asked the ministers who work with the President and who were in the meeting we had with the President, we looked at the President’s body language and we asked them what do we go home with and they said we should be hopeful and I think I’m hopeful because our leader, Mbazulike Amaechi made a very powerful presentation. I don’t know how fair God is; Mbazulike Amaechi is about three years older than myself but he remembers things better than I do. I don’t know that some people are very much gifted than others. Anyway, we are hopeful and myself, I have some ideas that I will push on and I told the President I will do so.
The ideas have to do with the fact that it is not just about Nnmadi Kanu, we have Sunday Igboho, we have the Middle Belt, we have the Ijaw, we have the South-South and we have the Oodua people. One way or the other it may be necessary to put all these together because all of them are complaining about not being comfortable with the Nigerian situation. I think it is better to deal with them in a comprehensive way and I mentioned it to the President and he said I should go ahead and submit my proposal. What your group demanded from the president was an unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu; can you confirm that and what do you think the Federal Government will do in response to that? Well release is release.
Mbazulike Amaechi spoke for us, he made guarantees and he made assurances about our ability to control the situation after his release. But we don’t know how the President saw that but the way he treated us, I must say, we were very happy. He was so punctual. He didn’t keep us waiting for one minute. In fact, we kept him waiting and the way he spoke to us, for me that was the first time I will see him in a long time, the first time was in his house in Kaduna. This time I was looking at him and he sounded very genuine.
With all these meetings happening, is it safe to say that peace is coming back to the South-East, and secondly, are you people talking to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) because we still have the case of sit-at-home which IPOB has said people should stop observing but some other groups are still trying to enforce with violence?
We are praying for peace to return and we believe it is returning. Our God answers prayers. Do you know that the success of the Anambra governorship election is proof that our God answers prayers. We called for prayers from various people, even the Sokoto Catholic Bishop, I called him and in fact, he came to Enugu and Anambra and prayed for us. We have some people we are owing because we promised people something after they prayed and we succeed. I think God answers prayers and peace will return to Anambra. And I find some of the boys in IPOB, the big ones very reasonable. It was a difficult thing but eventually they called-off the sit-at-home because some people are making money from this kind of thing situation. Those who are not at the core of this thing are the ones exploiting the fears of the people. I sent my personal assistant to go and get petrol, do you know that he came back and said that the petrol stations are not open because today is Monday and they are still talking about sit-at-home.
I must confess that when the first sit-at-home was announced, I challenged it and the head of IPOB gave instructions that it should be done away with. But you have seen now that it has continued. Some people are gaining from it but we pray God to get to the heart of those who are gaining for it. We are aggressive business people everywhere in the world and some are saying that people in the East should sit at home. It is very wrong. How do you feed your children? It is not in our interest to kill ourselves because some people are attacking us.
That is why we have been begging for some of the people to understand the situation. The leadership of IPOB understands and it is not interested in sit-at-home but some other people. I don’t know who they are but they are imposing difficulties on our people.
Chief Mbazulike Amaechi assured the President that if Nnamdi Kanu is released, he would guarantee that there will be no form of agitation again from IPOB. Can he really guarantee that?
There is a way I think it can be done and it brings peace. But I don’t think Mbazulike Amae chi guaranteed no agitation anymore because I was there. That is withdrawal of people’s freedom. So, I think the President cannot jump at it but there are things the President said that made us very happy. He made reference to how they brought Kanu back home without dealing with him over there in Kenya. So, I think reason is coming to Nigeria and the President may, in fact, launch a new Nigeria with how he handles the protests from across the country. Four zones out of six are protesting and I’m not sure that North-East and North-West are totally happy with the situation. The South-East, South- West, Middle Belt and within South- South, Ijaw even alone apart from the general South- South is protesting. You are right, nobody can guarantee that but efforts will be made and if we take a comprehensive deep look into the various protests, we can launch a new Nigeria before the President leaves office.
There are criticisms from some Nigerians, especially the Arewa Consultative Forum that the demand of the Igbo leaders would contradict the principle of separation of power; how do you address such criticism?
This is a political situation whether we have legal or security concerns, we have separation of powers, the executive, judiciary, legislative but they come together at the head of the president. In politics, people criticize any move you make and I’m not surprised that some people are criticizing the move in one way or the other. But we pray that we get a positive result and have understanding among ourselves. I think those who are criticizing the move are right. But if the President applies pressure on any of the sectors of governance, normally good results do come out. And those who are talking about legality should also tell us how legal it is to proscribe IPOB. Is IPOB a terrorist organization or is it a freedom fighter? I don’t know why we should not think both sides before arriving at our criticisms. But anyway, it is a political situation and many people will have different ideas about how to approach it. I’m happy that the executive headed by the President showed serious understanding of our presentation. And since coming back, actually I haven’t heard anybody who said the South-East should not go begging for release of Nnamdi Kanu. Maybe, we should go fighting but we don’t have the equipment.
