Founder of the Igbo Youth Movement and Deputy Secretary, Igbo Leaders of Thought, is not happy with the way the Federal Government is combating the Boko Haram insurgents, who are bent on carving out an Islamic Caliphate in Northern. Nigeria. Apart from taking decisive and proactive action, he says in this interview among others that without tackling the root cause of the insurgency Nigeria would have a group that is worse than Boko Haram in future. Excerpts:
By Clifford Ndujihe
HIS take on the flickering flames of insurgency in the country and how to overcome it
This cancer called Boko Haram did not fall from the sky. Certain people, certain acts inspired it. We are merely living in denial. If we refuse to address the mindset of the people who inspired this madness another Boko Haram will rear it’s ugly head after the demise of this one. We are treating the symptoms without identifying and addressing the root cause of the ailment.
Boko Haram is a product of a mind set. It is called Jihad. Some people stoked the fire by introducing sharia Legal code in eight states 14 years ago, then this Boko Haram warriors were probably about 10 – 15 year old boys then. They were also inspired by certain religious clerics. If we refuse to face up to the truth we will only be deceiving ourselves.
Secondly violent culture of killings, burning and destruction which also influenced these young men has been accepted in the North as a way of life. All these coupled with the tolerance of decades of blood-letting and religious bigotry and regional nepotism all gave legitimacy to the born-to-rule mentality. We must address the issues of the causative agents of the Boko Haram mind set before we can have lasting peace in Nigeria.
It is ironic that those who put manure on the Boko Haram seed are now at the receiving end of this cancer. Our president must deal with this cancer decisively. I disagree with his assertion that he is not a lion. He is Commander-in-Chief. He must face up to reality. Boko Haram is a fast spreading cancer that must be destroyed.
The Igbo leaders of Thought once raised a committee to secure the South-East form Boko Haram attacks. How is the effort playing out?
By Clifford Ndujihe
HIS take on the flickering flames of insurgency in the country and how to overcome it
This cancer called Boko Haram did not fall from the sky. Certain people, certain acts inspired it. We are merely living in denial. If we refuse to address the mindset of the people who inspired this madness another Boko Haram will rear it’s ugly head after the demise of this one. We are treating the symptoms without identifying and addressing the root cause of the ailment.
Boko Haram is a product of a mind set. It is called Jihad. Some people stoked the fire by introducing sharia Legal code in eight states 14 years ago, then this Boko Haram warriors were probably about 10 – 15 year old boys then. They were also inspired by certain religious clerics. If we refuse to face up to the truth we will only be deceiving ourselves.
Secondly violent culture of killings, burning and destruction which also influenced these young men has been accepted in the North as a way of life. All these coupled with the tolerance of decades of blood-letting and religious bigotry and regional nepotism all gave legitimacy to the born-to-rule mentality. We must address the issues of the causative agents of the Boko Haram mind set before we can have lasting peace in Nigeria.
It is ironic that those who put manure on the Boko Haram seed are now at the receiving end of this cancer. Our president must deal with this cancer decisively. I disagree with his assertion that he is not a lion. He is Commander-in-Chief. He must face up to reality. Boko Haram is a fast spreading cancer that must be destroyed.
The Igbo leaders of Thought once raised a committee to secure the South-East form Boko Haram attacks. How is the effort playing out?
What Igbo leaders of Thought did was to bring the attention of the government to the grave danger that Boko Haram in the South-East portends. The efforts to protect the zone from BH attack, is not something we should make public. The Igbo leaders of thought led by Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN) is a gathering of accomplished men and women who want only the best for their country.
Prof. Nwabueze in spite of age and not so good health travelled severally to Abuja and to the East from his Lagos base to try and assist in building a strong, United, prosperous nation. He met severally with confab delegates from several zones, all in an effort to get things right. The principal agenda of the Igbo Leaders of Thought is how to build an enviable country where things work.
We also want to live in peace with fellow Nigerians. Ndigbo have never been attacked anywhere else except in Northern Nigeria. in April 2011, of the 863 Nigerians killed as INEC announced Jonathan winner of that elections 691 were Igbo. We don’t want that to happen in February 2015. The Igbo Leaders of Thought believe that respect for life is one of the surest ways to build a country where people will be willing to give their all to grow and develop.
The confab resolutions now await implementation. As one of earliest advocates of the confab, how do you see the current developments?
There are so many earlier and more steadfast advocates of the need for a confab. It is really about the huge desire to save Nigeria. Our blessed land have been misdirected and mismanaged for decades, especially during the military incursion into governance. The journey to redesign and grow our great country should be everyone’s concern actually. The confab may well turn out to be President Jonathan’s greatest legacy to this generation, if the resolutions are dutifully implemented.
To answer your question Nigerians expected radical structural changes which did not happen, but the twenty committees did good job in so many areas which if studiously implemented without delay, Nigeria of tomorrow will be better than the Nigeria of yesterday. Any group of people who decides to subvert, undermine or sabotage an early and wholesome implementation of the confab resolutions, will actually be working against the very survival of Nigeria. There is so much awareness now about the state of the union, the confab resolutions will help cement the bonds of unity and grow our country.
The south East governors are mostly rounding off in eight months. How do you rate them?
These crop since 2007 did a lot better than the 1999-2007 set. They worked a lot together and they concentrated on real infrastructure development especially roads and rural electrification. Sullivan Chime did a lot in Enugu, Peter Obi managed Anambra resources so well, Martin Elechi tried to consolidate on the great work Sam Egwu initiated in Ebonyi. But the gentleman in Abia is facing a lot of propaganda from his political enemies who think that Abia is their personal property.
Governor Theodore Orji is the most attacked Governor in Nigeria. He has performed so well with meager resources but his detractors are angry that he freed Abia from the shackles of slavery. Gov. Orji opened up political communication in Abia, restored security, empowered the youth and brought decency to governance, but some people believe Abia State is their personal property.
So they go to extra mile to run down Governor Orji in the media. In Imo, what we see is a lot of razzmatazz; it is difficult to confirm if they are for real or mere showmanship.