BREAKING NEWS, Cover Box
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Monday Ubani, human rights lawyer, in this interview with Anayo Ezugwu, reporter, Realnews, shares his thoughts on why the current agitation may not succeed. Excerpt:
Realnews: What does the law say about self-determination?
Ubani: Some of the United Nations instruments recognise self-determination for any group of persons. How it is being done is usually through constitutional means. Presently, there is no known law in the 1999 constitution for such in our local law but the international law does have. And of course, most of the countries in the world subscribe to the international law. We are a member of the United Nation. One of the things about universal declaration is peoples’ right to self-determination. But doing it within the polity where you are, the agitation and procedures for referendum to determine whether you want to be on your own must be done legally and within the law of the land.
We have legislators from the eastern region and the best thing is to get to them and ask them on how we can go through the process within the confines of our Constitution and determine whether we want to be in a federation. But I tell you it may not be an easy task because there was a war that ended in 1970 and certain things were agreed upon like ‘no winner, no vanquish.’ And since then we have been operating as a country.
Realnews: What are your thoughts on Biafra agitators?
Ubani: We have to start by looking at what the agitators are clamouring for and why the sudden renewed call for Biafra. One of the things they said was that the Igbo is marginalised. Every tribe in the country sees them as a people who are not trusted and everywhere they are they are not safe. And that was what led to the war in the 1960s and the same thing now is heightening especially in the light of this present government. They mentioned that some of the key appointments that were made by the government did not carry the Igbo along. They also make reference to the infrastructural decay in the south east region. Some of us are coming out to say yes the Igbo has a right to complain about marginalisation. Igbo has a right to complain about certain things that is not right within our polity. But we must find a way of addressing it so that others will have to give us respect and know that we are not putting ourselves in a pitiable situation because we are the most hardworking people in this country. We are industrious and there are many good sides of being an Igbo. So, the Igbo man should not in any way do things that will make him look like a crying baby within the polity.
Immediately after the loss of elections we saw a resurgent within the Igbo. We saw hate speeches, so much name calling. We saw young men who were not born during the war propagating hate speeches and it was vice visa from the Yoruba and the Hausa against the Igbo all over the social media. And I saw it as an unhealthy situation because it will put the country under unnecessary crisis and put the Igbo under jeopardy with the knowledge that Igbo are scattered all over the country and with a lot of investments.
So, the way we go about it even in agitating for Biafra or some of the things we are complaining about must be done in a more decent and legal way for other tribes to respect our intelligence. God has actually blessed the easterners after the war because we have produced almost everything, the vice-president, senate president, duty senate president, inspector-general of police, chief of army staff and minister of justice. So, we have almost occupied all the known positions and it’s now time for us to aim for the highest and that is the presidency. And 2023 presents the best opportunity.
The issue of name calling and using of radio abroad to spread hatred are jeopardising the interest of the Igbo and also jeopardising the interest of those who are scattered all over the country with so much investments. That is not the way go about it.
Now that we are talking about marginalisation, what we should do is to call our leaders and hold them accountable. Our leaders have not been helping in good governance and that is why in almost every village in Igboland you don’t see youths. What we are seeing are old men and women. All the youths are out there either in Lagos, Abuja or abroad because the condition back home is not conducive for them to pursue economic interest.
Realnews: What then should the Igbo be agitating for?
Ubani: One, they should hold their leaders accountable because they collect the same allocations other states are collecting. Just like every other states go to Abuja to get allocations, what do they do with their allocations? They only end up becoming fourth richest men in Nigeria, but we don’t see Igbo holding our leaders accountable. Rather what they are pointing is that it’s (Bola) Tinubu, (Babatunde) Fashola and we are in Lagos enjoying some of the political dividends they laid for their people. They are saying Tinubu is corrupt but they don’t see their own leaders who have led offices. Even if an Igbo man is involved in corruption you will see Igbo coming out to defend him and that is not what the Yoruba do.
Realnews: What is the way forward?
Ubani: Going forward for an Igbo man is for him to be strategic. Strategic in the sense that he is almost there to assume the highest position and that will become possible in 2023. Secondly, whatever grievances the Igbo have which one of them is restructuring Nigeria that they must push through the National Assembly? Let us restructure Nigeria. Now if you are talking about the national conference President (Goodluck) Jonathan did, my problem with that conference was – did Jonathan really intend to actually its use? Or he just did it for the purpose of doing it? Because if he really wanted to implement it there were administrative ones he would have implemented before leaving or the ones he would have sent to the National Assembly to pass as legislation before the issue of constitutional amendment. But he did not do any of them. He was only promising that when he came back. So, we must push for a restructure of this country and the issue of federating units to be given more powers to control many more things that affect the lives of the people. Not that every individual life must be controlled from Abuja, that will not work in the interest of the nation including the Yoruba and Hausa. There is nobody it will benefit if we continue this way but if we allow the federating units in certain areas like the way they were doing in the 1960s, you will find out that the country will excel. Just like what is going on in the United States.
The way the protesters are going about showing flags in a sovereign nation is not good. They are making us in the eyes of others to look as if we are fools. The Igbo is not known for such hatred and the way things are going what is the difference with Boko Haram? The way this issue is going it will get to the stage that they will begin to take extreme measures.
We can’t have senators, members of the House of Representatives and high rank civil servants who are enjoying the Nigerian state and you say you want to break away? We have to call them because they are the people that will spearhead it because all these small boys cannot. If all our leaders agreed that we will break away, then we will ask for a referendum. Not people who are doing it in a way that looks irrational with all the name calling and hate speeches; you are not even encouraging people to even allow you to go for referendum. Because it is your speech and language that will make people to say let’s allow these people to go. With hate speeches and name calling you think they will allow you? They won’t because they are in charge and if care is not taken we will pay dearly as we did in the 1960s.
Realnews: The federal government is charging Nnamdi Kanu for terrorism, what do you think about this?
Ubani: The federal government is helping in making Nnamdi more popular. The way they are going about it I have said it before that if you have any case against him, what you should rather do is to charge him with evidence and try him. But if you don’t have any evidence against him what you should do is to release him unconditional. I have said it several times on radio where I do newspapers review. I don’t want a situation where government will make him a hero. Look at the crowd that came to the court.
Realnews: His long detention, is it not a violation of his fundamental human right?
Ubani: Of course, keeping him indefinitely in detention is violation of the provisions of the 1999 constitutions with respect to fundamental human right (unlawful detention). He must be charged to court and tried with evidence produced before the court. I don’t want a persecution rather what I want is prosecution. If anyone commits a crime let him be prosecuted and if there is no evidence against him let him be released unconditional. That is the way I Ubani think we should run this country.
Realnews: What is the way out of all these problems?
Ubani: The person at the helm of affairs should make sure he carries everybody along. President Muhammadu Buhari is a social crusader. He has come to correct some anomalies, ills, impunity in the society. But in doing it, he must do it in a way that is just and must be seen to be just. He must carry everybody along to build a very strong federation. If he now begins to favour only one section he will raise oppositions and unnecessary criticisms to his government. But if he now comes as a national leader whose duty is to bring all together for the exercise of the so much energy we have as a nation and to attain that goal of a country everybody will be proud of, then you have that opportunity to execute it. But the moment your policies and actions seem to be sectional, then you have lost the name of being a national leader.
But one of the greatest things President Buhari can do is to allow the people to write their own constitution. We need a national conference to decide whether all of us want to stay together. Let no one say it’s an issue that is forgone. Let us agree that we want to stay together but the issue of conditions and terms of staying together will now be worked out. I see no reason why a Yoruba man will not go to the east and invest and contest election. That means before he goes there, there must be something that attracts him. So, our environment must be conducive for industries to grow. We must build industries in the South-East; make the roads and infrastructure to be okay. So, that is my comprehensive opinion over the agitation for Biafra. I’m not against the Igbo agitating for marginalisation but we must do it in a manner that will make others see us as being reasonable and be strategic not to miss the opportunity God is going to present for us in 2023.
— Dec 14, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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