BIAFRA : Why it’s difficult for Ndigbo to forget Biafra –Nnabuife

David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi

Chairman, Anambra South Traditional Rulers Forum, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Emmanuel Nnabuife, Ezeoha of Isseke in Ihiala LGA, Anambra State has taken a critical look at the war against corruption under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch, pointing out some loopholes.

What is your assessment of Buhari – led administration in terms of fight against corruption?

Well, the way to fight corruption or fighting corruption means more than the present government is doing. If the fight is selective, then it is counter productive. If on the other hand the fight is by lip service, it is also counter productive.

There are many ways of fighting corruption – increasing productivity and making sure that more jobs are created. If the vice of society becomes reduced. Fighting corruption should not only be talked about but also demonstrated in all strata of life in the country.

Fighting corruption means there won’t be anything that will be anti economic, anti government and anti society.

When your government is nepotic, you’re not fighting any corruption because you are aggravating the indices of corruption. You should put square peg in a square hole.

You see, merit is sometimes no longer put into consideration in appointments and recognition. People go through the back door, giving bribes to gain admission, giving bribes to get contracts, giving bribes for everything, bribing even to evade tax.

So, once we put merit ahead of everything we do, to establish standard and do things right, then fight against corruption begins. There will be an internal mechanism that will fight corruption, if the right thing is done.

Fighting corruption doesn’t mean taking people to court and finding them guilty. Fighting corruption goes further than that. Like you are here in my house and you have free access to me and things are done orderly. Nobody took a bribe from you for you to see me. You didn’t bribe anybody because you want to see me. Now, if you want to see some governors, you have to bribe their lieutenants. The same thing goes when you want to see the Head of State. You have to bribe some of the staff before you see him. That is corruption. The same thing applies to ministers. Now, some lawyers compromise when somebody steals N1million and when he is being prosecuted, he now uses N400,000 to pay a lawyer to get him out of the hook. They use technicalities to quash case of corruption against the accused. That is deepening corruption, not fighting it.

If somebody is able to bribe a judge in order not to go to jail after he has stolen money, it is deepening corruption and not fighting it. But where things are clearly done and justice prevails universally irrespective of social status, religion or ethnic nationality, then it becomes generic and fight against corruption has a human face.

The present fight against corruption does not have a clear human face. It has the face of a monster.

That is why it looks as if corruption is fighting back. So, if the right things are done, it will stamp out corruption in our society.

What is your comment on free visa to people from other African countries which the Buhari administration has granted?

I think that is obnoxious and unacceptable to the Nigerian people. But it is the reality of today.

The only thing we can do is that those in-coming foreigners should remain with the people who brought them. I will advise my Igbo brothers in the South East not to allow any foreigner to their land. And those people who are coming should restrict themselves to those people who invited them. But I will advise everybody to be vigilant and make sure he stands up and defend himself against any aggression. The intention of that open visa policy is unknown to us, unknown to most Nigerians. And whatever it could develop to become, nobody can predict. Therefore, everybody should be vigilant and prepared to defend himself.

Some Igbo are strongly subscribing to cessation from Nigeria to Republic of Biafra as a permanent solution to all these. Do you subscribe to that too?

Now, Biafra is more or less an ideology, you must understand it. What brought about Biafra are certain circumstances in our land. Because of that, there was a war of aggression against the Eastern Region. At the end of the war, we were promised rehabilitation, reconciliation and reintegration.

Those three Rs are mere rhetoric, they are not executed to the letter because immediately the pronunciation of those three Rs, the value of money in our hands was reduced to 20 pounds and with 20 pounds, the people of the Eastern Region started reconstructing themselves, rehabilitating themselves and all of that. They deprived the Eastern Region of industries, roads and made Eastern Region inhabitable.

And because of that, there was a surge of people of the East for a greener pasture in other parts of Nigeria which led to people of the East abandoning the East to go and develop other regions because they were looking for what does not exist in their own region. And that is why it is now becoming very difficult to get our people back home after they have embraced one Nigeria, embraced rehabilitation, embraced everything to settle down outside their homeland.

Community projects are what have helped the East so far. You don’t see Federal Government presence anywhere in the East. Tell me one functional Federal Government industry in the South East. None. All the industries in the South East are developed by the South Easterners themselves either individually or communally.

Most of the roads built in the South East are built by South Easterners either communally or individually. And to some extent, the State governments use their money to develop the South East. Those ones they call federal roads are not catered for and in most cases, impassable. So, there is no federal presence in the South East Region.