From Petrus Obi, Enugu

IN the wake of the tension generated by the recent quit order by coalition of Arewa youth organizations coupled with the agitation for restoration of Biafra, head of the Enugu Ecclesiastical Province of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Archbishop Emmanuel Chukwuma h as sounded a note of warning to the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, saying he should watch his utterances. He said that Kanu should seek the advice of elders so as not to derail even as he reviewed the goings-on in the polity and declared that nobody should drag the country into another war. 

In this interview, Archbishop Chukwuma also speaks more on other relevant national issues.

Looking at the recent ultimatum by Arewa youths to Igbo in the North to leave the geo-political zone, what is your assessment of the situation today?

The thing is that we have the hate speech made by the Arewa youths, for which they are not to be blamed because it was as a result of the IPOB agitation. So they felt like, if you want to go, you go. But it was a wrong direction and we are grateful to the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, for the way he has handled the matter by calling meetings to mediate and to douse the situation, and I feel that is the right thing because it was very wrong for the Arewa youths to have made that statement. Even though IPOB has been agitating for Biafra, there was no time they asked the Northerners in the East to pack out of the South-east. Rather what we are saying is give us our right and allow equity and justice to prevail in all that we do as a nation. That’s all.

So, we are not taking it lightly, all we are saying is that we do not want what happened in 1966 to reoccur. Because as far as I am concerned, this was how it started. Nigeria belongs to all of us and if the constitution affirms that everybody in Nigeria can afford to live anywhere you choose and you have so many northerners living in the South-east, therefore, asking the Igbo in the North to leave is the same as asking for Nigeria to be divided and if that is the case, it calls for referendum. But as far as I am concerned, we are not going to be very much worried about it. All we are saying is let there be security for our people in the North and we are not going to be shaken. We are not going to be afraid about it. For me, I don’t think it’s a threat for anybody to feel concerned about. All we are concerned about is that if this is not checked, and the threat is carried out, it might spark off another civil war, which we don’t want. We don’t want any civil war.Rather, we want peace and coexistence. But if it cannot be so and the marriage cannot work then you begin to think out of the box.

What do you mean sir, when you say we need to think outside the box?

Our amalgamation has been for over 100 years and if this amalgamation is not going to work again, then, let’s have a referendum. That’s why the APC must begin to think about it. Think about the National Conference that was held. What were the things that were decided? They should be put into effect and then we begin to think about referendum and Nigeria’s unity. Because with what is happening now, it has become clear that contrary to what President Muhammadu Buhari said that the unity of Nigeria in non-negotiable, it is now negotiable. And we have to negotiate and we will know if it will be “To your tents O Israel,” or if we are going to live together. We must discuss. It’s negotiable. Because you don’t know when these people are serious and when they are not serious. These youths are becoming, somehow, very much unscrupulous. Our youths are also not controlling their own temper. And they are people of today.

It means that there is something wrong with the governance of Nigeria and there is something wrong with the leadership of the elders. The elders have lost control of the young people of this nation. That is why they have taken over decisions and talking anyhow. The elders should take their place and begin to control the society as they should by showing good example and discipline.

What the IPOB is campaigning for is Biafra. What is your view on the reaction to the call for Biafra and what alternative do we have as a people?

What do you mean by Biafra? Are you talking about a sovereign country?

Yes sir.

We cannot afford sovereignty now because we do not have the economic and political base. I have told the youths, if we are going to have Biafra, which I don’t probably oppose, we must prepare for it. Because right now as it is, we should ask ourselves as they are boasting that all the food we eat come from the North, how much can we produce as far as food is concerned – the yams, beans, grains, cattle meat and all that? We should stop depending on all these things from the North and produce our own then we will know that we have become self-sustaining and that is it. But the question is: What do you do about your brothers who are in the North who have become established and put down roots in the place? This is going to teach them a very bitter lesson. If you ask any Hausa man or Yoruba man to leave Eastern Nigeria now, they will gladly go because they have not invested as much as Igbo have done in their place. The Hausa man will just take his palette and his bucket and go and probably with his kettle and stick for rearing cattle. He has nothing here. But the Igbo man has invested so much in the North that we are going to be on the losing side and the Hausas are looking forward to taking over our buildings, which we will not accept.  They should not think we are fools. We are not going anywhere until we are prepared for it. And if we are going to leave the North, they must refund and pay for it. If not, we are not going anywhere. This country belongs to us. During the war against Biafra, it was said that the task to keep Nigeria one was a task that must be done. If that is the case that we must be one, then why are we now going to ask somebody to leave a place? We will not allow that. This country belongs to all of us and many have inter-married. This whole situation has been caused by a failure of governance. The failure of the leadership of this nation and society is the result of whatever we are seeing today.

As far as I am concerned I don’t have anything against it. It is good that this thing is happening so that you will know that things are not the way it used to be. We are blaming IPOB, we are blaming the youths but it’s because the youths are frustrated; what they are doing now is a sort of a clarion call for Nigerians to know that the centre can no longer hold and for them to begin to ask what they are going to do. And if that is the case, therefore, we must discuss it. That’s what I’m saying. We don’t throw away what the youths are saying but we must caution them, because if you hear what the people on Radio Biafra are saying, they are insulting even the elders in the East, which is not good. They should control their statements and they should respect elders. I have said it before, even among our people that we have to respect ourselves. We must also have a political and economic base before we can begin to take off. Put our home in order and love ourselves; we should shun arrogance and pomposity among our people. The politicians must know that they also have a duty to perform to serve their constituencies.

You talked about discussion, what forum do you suggest for such a dialogue?

Referendum! We have to have a referendum. And that means that northern and southern elders must discuss. It’s a matter of South and North. You cannot just say East, it’s a matter of South and North. So the South-east and the other parts of the South must come together because when we call the North, we do not call the North-east or North-west. North is North. It must be North versus South.

Referendum is about what is happening today, whether we should live together or not. And talk about whether we will run a restructured government or not. Because you find out that some areas are marginalized. The national conference has captured everything quite well although the northerners will not take it lightly but it’s the truth that we must face. I have lived in the North before. Some local governments in the North are not as large as some southern local governments and they share the same revenue. That is cheating, pure and simple. It is the height of unfairness and injustice. It was the past military people who did this and they did it to satisfy their selfishness and to satisfy their own people in the North. Now look at South-east with only five states. Is it fair? It’s not fair. Look at the Second Niger Bridge, nothing has been said about it.

Our roads are dilapidated and nothing is being done about it. Right now, no service chief is an Igbo man. And there is not one good office even in the executive for the Igbo. The president is a northerner, the vice president is Yoruba, and you find that the chief of staff is also a northerner. Why not give Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to a Southeasterner. The desire that we might belong is part of the agitation. South-east should be given SGF. You see, most of the executive posts are for northerners and a few westerners. We are being marginalized; there is no doubt about it. And I’m concerned about it because some people may say that one is being political but it’s not about being political. It’s about the concern for the people. I am an advocate of my people and I am speaking because I feel that something must be done to salvage them. We cannot be praying without action. We are praying for peace, we are praying for things to go well. But again we must put it into action to say this is what is better as the prophet of old.

Governors of the South-east recently met with major stakeholders over the quit notice. As a religious leader, would you say the governors have handled the situation properly?

The meeting that was held at Nike Lake, Enugu, was a well deserved meeting because after we visited the Aso Rock Villa to discuss with the acting president, there was need for a forum to give a feedback to our people and eminent stakeholders were called to the meeting and the report was given. It is good for you to come back and strategize on what next we think should be the stand of Igbo. So it was a great thing that the governors had to bring the meeting together for all of us to meet and to have a discussion and be able to know where we belong because we must not be divided against ourselves. Time has come for the Igbo to come together and be united. We know that there are so many people who think they are out of the group, but everybody must come together now to discuss on how and where we are going as Ndigbo.

The IPOB are saying that elections will not hold in Anambra State…

(Cuts in). That is nonsense! That is unpatriotic. Although it has been denied because it’s a constitutional thing and if it is held in other states in the country, why should we be an enemy to ourselves, on what basis? It must be held. I don’t support it and I heard that at Aguleri, they have said that the election is going to hold. Whatever is their grievances that should not stop it. All we want is that Anambra election must go forward. Anambra is one of the core states of Igbo and nobody should disrupt peace there. So they should be very careful and cautioned. IPOB should know that if they want to get the blessings of the elders and some of us, they should be cautioned in the way they act. Otherwise, if we back out from them, they will lose relevance.  Since Kanu came out, has he come to see me? But we fought and talked about him. All he does is to be talking about Judaism. Where do we have Judaism in the East? He shouldn’t be a religious bastard. Has he come to see me? And many of us fought for him and he came out. Look, Kanu is not an Igbo leader. So he should cool down otherwise he will lose his relevance. He is not an Igbo leader.

He did not see the civil war, so I’m not happy with him. I am bitter with Kanu because those who fought for him and those who spoke out on his behalf. He has not even visited some of us. Rather he is talking rubbish somewhere else. We don’t want anybody to put us into war. We must come to discuss and he must be cautioned to mind what he is saying sometimes. Because as far as I am concerned most of us are talking on his behalf but he has not come. Rather he is going to profess himself to be a Jew or whatever. Was it Judaism that saved him? We prayed for him. We talked about him. Many of us were given bad names but up till now he hasn’t even come to pay homage and for us to advise him. So whatever he is saying he is saying it on his own. It is his followers and all these people who are now listening to him, particularly even some of the Igbo in the Diaspora that may be sponsoring him. They should be careful and stop disrupting our peace here and giving us a bad name.

In the light of you have said that Nigeria is derailing, what should be done? Is there hope for tomorrow?

The thing is that where we are is very much a sorry case. Nigeria is deteriorating into a case of serious anarchy unless we come together and restructure Nigeria, so that there will be peace, equity and justice. I don’t know where we are going. Thank God for the acting president. But we should know that he himself is a target. He is a target because the northerners are watching and waiting, so that if anything should happen, they won’t allow him to continue to rule Nigeria. But the man is governing Nigeria very well now. He is an intelligent man. What Nigeria needs is not whether you come from the North or South, or whether you are a Muslim or Christian, but a person who has the intelligence and the capability to rule and give Nigeria good governance for success and progress. That is what we are talking about. But when they are saying that these people must hold on to power, they must know that for two times the North has produced people who were not fit enough to rule. We don’t want anybody to come to lead Nigeria and then begin to be sick and then die. We are not praying for that but who knows what God is doing by that. It’s saying that northerners should be very careful and know that it is time power must shift because it may not be their own luck and God’s own design that they must be the leaders of this country. As these things are happening, they should see the handwriting on the wall that God is not happy. Time has come that the South-east must be given opportunity to rule Nigeria. And the blood of the Nigerians and the blood of the innocent people who were killed in Biafra are still crying out. We pray that God forgives Nigeria. The people in Nigeria should begin to pray that God forgives Nigeria. Until the leadership of Nigeria begins to pray for the forgiveness of the past civil war, I don’t know what will happen again. We don’t pray for another civil war but the blood of the innocent people that were killed is still crying – both those that were murdered during 1966 in the North and over one million that were killed during the civil war.

So these things are there but we must learn our lesson, and come together and allow peace, unity and progress to reign in Nigeria. Nigeria is a blessed country but because of bad governance and hatred, Nigeria has become a bad country, a country that is now full of evil. God must grant us repentant heart. We are praying for that.