Vincent Kalu
President, Congress for Non-Political Party Members (CNPM), Comrade John Mayor Echefu, has warned that if caution is not taken, Nigeria may be history, as every group is showing loyalty fatigue to the nation.
In this interview, he spoke on various national issues.
What is your view on the state of the nation?
Nigeria is in a slippery slope to something that is very disastrous to the corporate existence of this nation and we must do everything possible to avoid this from happening. It is sad, very sad.
The situation is so bad and we have never experienced what we are going through today.
No one sleeps with both eyes closed. If you are traveling, you are dead until you get to your destination because herdsmen who have turned to kidnappers have taken over the nation’s highways and there is no solution in sight. The government is yet to arrest any of these kidnappers who are suspected to be members of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association (MACBAN).
To Nigerians, this group enjoys an immunity that is very difficult to explain, and this is the more reason that their members enjoy a field day killing, maiming, raping people and destroying and sacking communities.
The country has not been as divided as it is now, not even during the civil war. The corporate existence of this country is threatened from all sides. Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping, killings everywhere. We are in an extremely failed state status. If you look at the data of failed states produced by International Crisis Group, it has categorised this nation in diverse ways, and Nigeria is second from bottom on the categorisation.
A failed state is one where certain institutions of government are no longer functioning, and one of the most critical is when the government is unable to secure lives and property.
The country was once the giant of Africa, but today, it is a giant on mosquito legs, and producing endlessly, the negative manuals for decent living.
Every problem has a solution, how do we arrest the country from drifting to the precipice?
There is a discordant tune from every part of the country. A section of the country wants to dictate the term in which we are going to live together. That is not right.
When the Whiteman amalgamated us, they didn’t consult us. Since the amalgamation is causing trouble, then let us de-amalgamate and let everybody go back to his father’s house.
The North is talking about Arewa Republic, the South East is agitating for Biafra, while the Yoruba is equally stressing on Oduduwa Republic, and the Niger Delta people are also fed up with this enterprise called, Nigeria. So, it is better we separate in peace the way Czechoslovakia did and they became separate nations – Czech Republic and Slovakia.
How can you be interested in establishing RUGA settlements in every state in the country? The South and some Middle Belt states are opposed to it and you want to force it down their throat, is that the way to live together in peace; you want to be the rider while others are the horse. Let us tell ourselves the basic truth.
Since everybody is tired and there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight, let us go our separate ways.
Nigeria is the most populous nation in the world and championing the course of the Black people, don’t you think that if we break up, it will affect the Black race in the world?
It will not in any way affect the Black race. There is one powerful country in Nigeria, which the British and some other western nations don’t want to see. It is Biafra.
If you give them six years, they will become world power and they can champion the emancipation of the black race all over the world far better than what Nigeria is presently doing, if actually it is doing anything. Nigeria that is yet to fix her problems is talking about liberating the Black race.
Of all the countries that the British colonised, it is only Nigeria that is still intact; others have broken into different countries and that is the more reason why we are not making any meaningful progress as a nation.
The government is not unaware of the insecurity situation.
Recall that the late Head of State, Gen Sanni Abacha (retd), said any insecurity that lasted beyond 48 hours, the government can’t be absolved.
Has your group suggested to the government on how to arrest the drift in the country?
We have written twice to the presidency on how to address the security challenges in the country. You know in this country we live in denial and we hardly tell ourselves the basic truth. The government is good in propaganda, and it has tried to muzzle the media.
President Buhari and some All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014 demonstrated against the situation in the country and they demanded a lot of things and even called for a revolution. Today, those things they demanded from the regime of Jonathan, they are unable to accomplish them, and the same things are Nigerians asking from them, but instead of proffering solutions, they resort to propaganda.
We are not going to take it easy again; this is the time that the whole youth in Nigeria should rise and take back our country. Over five million members of Congress for Non Political Party Members are gearing for a protest that will shook the foundation of this country. Enough is enough. People keep dying like dogs in the country. You can’t travel freely from Abuja to Kaduna; you can’t travel from Lagos to Ibadan; you can’t travel from Lagos to Onitsha freely. Herdsmen who have transmuted into kidnappers have taken over the country, but surprisingly, none of them have been arrested or prosecuted.
The herdsmen have been killing and sacking communities, but if any community carries out reprisal, security agencies come after it. Who have we offended to deserve this punishment?
Why is it that democracy always suffers in the hands of President Buhari? In 1983, he truncated a democratic government, and right now, the tenets of democracy – rule of law; freedom of movement and speech are inhibited.
I called on world leaders to pay attention to what is happening in Nigeria.