13072019 - Buhari on new cabinet: I’ll never appoint ‘strangers’ again

SATURDAY Vanguard, JULY 13, 2019—11
Fulani Vigilante in Igboland will lead to bloodshed FG may not be able to control
Continues from pg 10
Miyetti Allah Association?
The president General of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia Nwodo, has
spoken, he is very efficient, very capable,
we elected him and he is speaking our
minds. I am telling Nigerians that
anything Nwodo has said is the position
of Igbo leaders because he consults us,
we accept his leadership and he is doing
well. Igbos have a peculiar way of doing
things, at first you may think that they
are not united. The Igbos are the most
united people, when they reach a point
of affirmative action and they say “Igbo
kwenu, Igbo Kwenu”, that is the end of
it. For instance in politics, in the last four
years government did not favour us. We
did not get much but we stood by our
position, if you like take it, if don’t like
leave it,we don’t care.
Have the Igbos benefited from such
positions that they have taken
Igbos are proud people and when we
take a decision we stand by it. These
people are daring us. The last time there
was war, Nigerians said the war would
last only a few months but we held
Nigerians for nearly three years. We were
blockaded by air, by sea, by land and Igbo
scientists came together and we produced
all the weapons of war here in Biafra.
Biafra produced rockets that could deliver
up to eight miles. Before I joined the
army, I was part of research and
production team that produced rocket,
the point was that the rocket was not
guided. Later in the Army, I had an injury
and after the injury I went for a training
on an advance military intelligence.
When I finished the training I was posted
to combat engineering. I became the
head of combat engineering intelligence.
I advised our boss then, the head of state,
Ojukwu, that we should withdraw but
because we were able to produce rockets
which we used during the war he had
little hope. Russia, America, Britain were
all against one small country, Biafra, and
yet we resisted.
People came to blame Ojukwu, but
Ojukwu did not declare Biafra. He was
our leader, he led us well. Igbos don’t
abandon their leaders, we stood by him
till the last. So the Igbos declared Biafra.
Zik was our leader. The war ended thanks
to Zik. If anybody says we were defeated,
it is not true, Biafrans were trained to
sustain this war as far as Nigeria did not
give us what we wanted.
We only stopped when our leader,
Nnamdi Azikiwe met with the then
president of Liberia and Gowon, and after
that meeting they had an agreement
including ‘no victor no vanquished’
position. We don’t want to hear that we
were defeated. So, when we heard ‘no
victor no vanquished’ and that all the
people would go back and take their
positions, the conditions
were very satisfactory.
Yes, we cleared with our
leader General
Odimegwu Ojukwu who
confirmed that we should
surrender.
Otherwise, the youths,
the younger ones did not
want to surrender until
Ojukwu confirmed Zik’s
position. To many of us,
Zik, was like a god,
whatever he said we
would do because he was
very highly respected.
Zik and Ojukwu
persuaded the younger
ones to withdraw,
otherwise we would have
continued with the war.
So, we don’t want that
situation again. We want
them to leave Igboland
alone. We have gone
through war and we do
not want them to push us
into any crises again.
Miyetti Allah should
leave things as they are,
they are still grazing in
We only stopped
when our leader,
Nnamdi Azikiwe met
with the then
president of Liberia
and Gowon, and
after that meeting
they had an
agreement
including ‘no victor
no vanquished’
position
Igboland and we are not disturbing
them. We don’t rustle their cows, Igbos
are not cattle rustlers. Igbos host them,
befriend them and buy their cattle, they
should therefore tell those who are
sponsoring them to leave us alone.
We have warned them that there is no
need for any colony here and we don’t
want an Igbo colony in any part of
Nigeria. Igbo will not stop
any cattle rearer from
grazing but he should not
graze on a farm land and
should not carry AK 47 but
their normal bow and arrow
and stick. So, they should
drop this idea of having a
colony in Igboland or for
some Fulani youths to come
here and form a vigilante, it
is going to create some kind
of violence and bloodshed
which is not going to be easy
to control.
As a politician and a
renowned business man,
what is the problem with
Nigerian economy?
The problem is very, very
serious. I am a politician but
I am basically a business
man. I read science and
engineering so I have vast
knowledge of many things
in Nigeria. I am very
passionate about this
country. I love Nigeria so
much, Nigeria has
honoured me three times
and I am not sure how many people in
Nigeria have been honoured three times
with MFR, through the Nigeria Society
of Engineers, OFR and CFR, I am so
•Iwuanyanwu
passionate about this country. In 2015, the
PDP lost to the APC, and <strong>Buhari</strong> came to
power and expectations were very high.
<strong>Buhari</strong> came to power and economy was
part of his programmes. People thought
that the economy at that time was bad and
needed to be improved. He also talked
about corruption which is a serious issue
in this country. So, he came in and
everybody had a high expectation and
you could see that the people’s high
expectations were not met. I am a
Christian, I was brought up in a strong
Christian family. I am a politician, I am
in PDP, I am not in APC. I am not the type
of politician who will not face the reality.
So, I have to say the truth about the whole
thing. On the question of <strong>Buhari</strong>’s
capabilty, he is capable. People have
questioned his education but I don’t like
this story. <strong>Buhari</strong> is a General in the
Nigeria Army, and to be a General in the
Army, you must have attended so many
staff courses. All the staff courses <strong>Buhari</strong>
has attended were actually good enough.
When the army took over government in
1983, his colleagues picked him to be the
head of state. Before then, he had been a
governor of a state, he had been a
minister. <strong>Buhari</strong> has got a lot of
experience. When <strong>Buhari</strong> took over power
after that coup, he started War Against
Indiscipline. Nigerians at that time were
very undisciplined. They were rushing to
everything. They would rush to catch a
plane, rush to catch a bus, they were
rushing everywhere. But <strong>Buhari</strong> with
WAI, stopped it. At that time if anybody
was jumping the queue, they would say
WAI, and the person would stop. It was
an achievement he made. When he came
this time around, he talked about
security, but <strong>Buhari</strong> was sick most of the
time and I believe if he were well enough,
he could have done better.
The economic problem under <strong>Buhari</strong> is
said to be getting worse, do you agree?
Up till today, all the economic
languages they tell us I don’t understand
them. Why was the naira which was about
N160 to a dollar, allowed to drop to more
than N400 at a point until it was
controlled at about N360?
Let me tell you, every country protects
its currency. I can’t understand why the
Central Bank allowed the currency to go
from N160 to N400 and even N500 before
it intervened and it started appreciating
until it came to N360. Once the currency
of a country is changed, it automatically
affects everything. For instance, a worker
who is earning N18,000 or N20, 000 per
month cannot feed himself again and that
is why they are demanding for a wage
increase. Even the wage increase of
N30,000 cannot feed a Nigerian. N30,000
is not a fair wage for any worker in
Nigeria today, I don’t know any worker
who can feed with N30,000 in a month
because the workers have children also.
Can’t Nigeria Government pay N30,000
minimum wage?
If that money is paid, Nigeria will be
completely bankrupt. I have done a
simple rule of the thumb and I even think
that if they pay it this year, the budget of
Nigeria will only be used for recurrent
expenditure and there will be no money
for capital. I think our problem is the
devaluation of our naira and the health
of the President.
Any hope for improvement?
The bright side is that I want to
congratulate the President for his fight
against corruption. Yes, people say he is
partial. You know the problem in Nigeria
is that the president is only one man and
there are people around who have a lot
of influence. But one thing that is clear is
that for the first time in Nigeria,
somebody has taken a bold step to fight
corruption. That is a major thing I think
he has achieved. I am aware people say
he is partial, yes it is possible. In the last
election, <strong>Buhari</strong> did not influence election
in the South East like my state, Imo.
Corruption goes with flamboyant
lifestyle. <strong>Buhari</strong>, all through his time as
governor, minister, head of state, did not
exhibit that type of flamboyant lifestyle.
But I think he made one mistake. If I were
to advise him, I could have advised him
to finish one term and go away. If <strong>Buhari</strong>
had not contested election for second
term and had spent only one term, he
could have been a hero. He could have
done like Nelson Mandela by spending
just four years.
<strong>Buhari</strong>, has made the mistake of
running for second term. He is my friend
but he has made that mistake. The
economy is getting worse and
complicated because of insurgency and
herdsmen as foreign investors are
running away. Even Nigeria investors are
pulling their businesses to neighbouring
countries like Ghana, Togo, even
Gambia. If you look at it today, in most of
the northern parts of this country, you
can’t move freely. Farmers are running
away from farms. If care is not taken
before the end of this year the Nigerian
economy will come to a halt completely.
Now, where do we go from here
The challenge is at the door step of
<strong>Buhari</strong>, to either make himself a hero or
not. There is no solution to the immediate
Nigerian economic problem apart from
immediate restructuring. The insurgency
cannot be solved without restructuring.
This idea of some people thinking that
they are going to expand to go and occupy
other people’s territory is not going to
help. If <strong>Buhari</strong> helps to restructure the
country he would the economy will
bounce back. He would have ensured the
unity of this country because Nigeria will
become a more formidable united country.
States and local governments will get
more money because the federal
government will relinquish what it is
doing presently. So the solution is the
immediate restructuring of the country.