Chief Goddy Uwazuruike, a lawyer, is the former president of Aka Ikenga, an Igbo socio-cultural organisation. He says President Muhammadu Buhari has by his actions and appointments literarily ‘northernised’ the Federal Government. He is therefore calling on the president to comply with the provisions of the constitution and ensure national spread in appointments.

The central government has been fully established with the June 11 inauguration of the Ninth National Assembly. But curiously we notice that the South East geopolitical zone is not represented at all in leadership structure of the country. What do you say to that?

The 1999 constitution of Nigeria as amended is very clear that the government of the country shall reflect the federal character. In other words Section 14 (3) of the constitution is being deliberately disobeyed by the government. The federal character says all parts of Nigeria will be represented in the government. You don’t exempt, you don’t discriminate that ‘I don’t want this person or that person.’ Therefore the deliberate act of the government of Nigeria in making sure that no body from the South East is part of the government as it exists today is a clear unconstitutional act. Granted that the National Assembly elects its leaders, but in electing their leaders, they must also ensure the national spread exists in the three arms of government. For the avoidance of doubt the three arms are the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. In the Nigerian constitution the legislature comes first and it is probably the most important. What it actually means is that when the top management of Nigeria represented by the president and the vice president, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and their deputies and then the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) are called, there is no body from the South East that will be there. Let us not forget that at independence, this country was built on a tripod of the Igbo, the Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba. You can go further and say the country was founded on a square and include the minorities. But, as it is today, this country is standing on two legs, the Hausa/ Fulani and the Yoruba. It is by share act of wickedness and manipulation that the Igbo have been schemed out the power game in Nigeria. That is how I want to look at it.

You say the constitution is violated with the current distribution of leadership positions at the federal level. How can the imbalance be redressed?

There is a position in the National Assembly known as the Majority Leader. The Majority Leader is the one who speaks the moment President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives calls the house to order. That position should go to the Igbo. Then in the executive arm of government there is the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) that too should go to the South East. That way when the inner circle or the fulcrum or engine room of the government is working you will have representation of all parts of Nigeria. My observation in the first four years of President Muhammadu Buhari is that there were no Igbo in any place where sensitive things were to be discussed. It is a careful manipulation; it was not because of lack of qualified people. This is the beginning of the second and final term of President Buhari and every care must be taken to see that all parts of Nigeria are represented.

As it is today, you have a Hausa/Fulani man as president that is how I will refer to him; you have a Yoruba man as the vice president, what happens to the third leg of the tripod? The South East should get a prominent position. In the National Assembly the same thing has happened. So giving us Deputy Chief Whip or Minority Whip is not reflective of the setting. When they begin to drive us down the ladder, they should know that at a point the Igbo will also react and when they react every part of Nigeria will start running around on how to handle the situation. So what I’m saying is that we should handle the situation now to prevent any reaction.

You talk about the Igbo reacting or pushing back if pushed to the wall…

(Cuts in) The fact is that even the most helpless person, a man who has no guts, there is how far you will push him and he will push back. Even if you are killing him he will fight back. So for many of us, we don’t want to be servants where we should be kings. I don’t want to grumble where I should ask for my rights. These things I’m saying would not have been said if there were alive to their responsibilities. That is the point I’m making. It will get to a point where that man that answers only yes sir will ask what this is. Then you as the president or the governor will take another look at what is going on.

In law we have an expression ‘Res Ipss Loquitor’, meaning ‘the Facts Speak for itself.’ The facts of the northernisation of Nigerian government speak for itself. Let me put it bluntly, the president can meet with two or three top officials of the Federal Government to discuss Nigeria’s affairs and their language of communication will be Hausa, which is the primary language all of them have in common. So they will meet and discuss in Hausa how to handle this country. It doesn’t make sense; it was never the intention of anybody that this country should be governed on such a parochial level.

I will go a little further, when President Goodluck Jonathan was there, his National Security Adviser was a Fulani man, Col. Sambo Dasuki, his Principal Secretary was also Fulani, his Secretary to the Government, Pius Anyim is from Ebonyi State. His Chief of Staff was from Ondo State; initially one came from Edo State. What of his Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Staff? President Jonathan made sure he reflected the national spread and that is how a government is formed. Under Jonathan the President of the Senate came from the Middle Belt, the Deputy came from the South East. The Speaker of the House of Representatives came from Sokoto State in North West and the deputy from South West. In other words they ensured a national spread. Today, you cannot call a meeting of all the national leaders and have a national spread, it is not possible. This was not the case under Jonathan. So President Buhari must abide by the spirit of the constitution otherwise when the spirit gets angry it will blow everybody away.

There is ongoing agitation on the region that will produce the president in 2023. The North wants it, the South wants it and the South West thinks it should come back to it. What is the position of the South East on the issue?

The South East believes in power rotation and power sharing and that the South East should produce the president in 2023. The South East believes that whatever comes around should go around. Nobody should think that the South East is not interested in 2023. We are interested and we have people. Let me mention a name, do you think there is a better presidential material in Nigeria today than Peter Obi? Nobody can stand up to him but when politics enters you start seeing all kinds of considerations. South West has had its chance from 1999 to 2007. The North has also had its chance; the South South has also had its chance, so the South East deserves its chance too. We are also asking for restructuring, which can be done by the president and any president that wants to do restructuring can do it. So, not withstanding our demand for restructuring, the South East also wants the presidency because the region is entitled to it just like other parts of Nigeria. Let no body deceive us that we don’t need the presidency until we restructure. Who will do the restructuring? Do you think President Buhari has any interest in that? It is only a president with conscience that will restructure Nigeria.

The South East cannot get the presidency by playing on emotions, equity and fair play alone. Politics requires negotiations and alignment. Is this ongoing?

There is no part of Nigeria where the president works without opposition. There will always be opposition and there will always be alignments and negotiations. The Igbo have always believed in that. What we object to is somebody saying it will not come to South East. Power is demanded and the South East is demanding for it, we are not begging for it, it is our right just like it is the right of every other part of the country to ask for it. Others have got it and we deserve to get it too, that is the fulcrum of our argument, what goes around comes around.

What advice would you give President Buhari, going forward?

President Buhari is actually standing on the last leg of his administration. He had a chance to show us what he can do, but his first four years was a disaster, the regime was a disaster, the economy went down, there was clear disregard of court orders and there was clear disregard of the constitution. Many people believed the president is a conscientious man; they called him Mr. Integrity they want to see the pursuit against corruption carried out independently and without fear or favour. Now, I grew up with one expression, that the problem of Nigeria is nepotism and corruption. Under this government all we hear is corruption, nobody is talking about nepotism, whereas nepotism is far worse than corruption. If Mr. President wants to succeed, I will advise him to fight both corruption and nepotism at the same time. As it is today there is no part of Nigeria that is free from the Fulani menace. Even though they prefer to call them bandits rather than Fulani, but by whatever name they are called, the Federal Government should send soldiers to fight them. There was Operation Python Dance in the South East where the soldiers were showing off their prowess, yet there is insecurity everywhere. You cannot travel from Abuja to Kaduna or Abuja to Lokoja safely. If you are travelling from Lagos to the East by the time you reach Shagamu you will start looking out for them. If you are going from Ife to Ibadan the core land of the Yoruba, you will always think ‘Lord, here I come.’ There is no part of Nigeria you can say is safe.

In the area of the economy Mr. President failed woefully. The fulcrum of every economy is manufacturing, Nigeria’s manufacturing sector is dead. Mr. President should find a way to help manufacturers. The Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) is there threatening manufactures every day, how has that helped our economy? Yet the purpose of establishing AMCON is to ensure the economy does not become comatose. But today the economy is comatose. As direct advice to Mr. President, I think his kitchen cabinet will be key to a successful administration. So he should ensure that his kitchen cabinet is made up of people who are well versed, not necessarily government officials, but people who have a mind of their own, who can speak without fear or favour. What they tell him will enable him know the truth about what is going on. As long as Mr. President relies on his media team believe me he will not do well. (Daily Sun)

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