In an address he read at an event in Lagos, Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum and Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma gave a resounding endorsement to the idea of traditional rulers having a constitutional role in governance.

Uzodimma’s position stirred the heart of Igwe Gerald Obunadike Mbamalu, Eze Oranyelu 1, Eze Ojoto III, in Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State, who for long has been advocating for inclusion of the traditional institution as the fourth tier of government in order to empower monarchs in the fight against insecurity.

In this interview, Igwe Mbamalu also reiterates his call on the Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi to speedily commence repair of the Benin Bypass, which is in a deplorable state, to prevent traffic jam during the forthcoming Yuletide.

Bandits/terrorists are occupying vast arable lands in the food basket states. Do you share the view that the time is overdue to allow communities to mobilize, and defend themselves with automatic weapons?

The sad reality of Nigeria is that credible leaders with ideas on how to take the country out of the pitiable situation it has sank into do not have the financial power to play Nigeria’s type of politics. That is one major factor responsible for recycling politicians, who lack clear capacity to deliver the kind of governance and solutions that the country needs at this time. The situation is so bad that even the electorate has been compromised due to hardship. These are some of the reasons miscreants called terrorists and bandits have become emboldened to invade states in the nation’s food basket region and hamper cultivation of the country’s vast arable land.

We must acknowledge that the military and other security agencies are doing their best to contain the insecurity situation, but they appear to be spread thin as they are fighting on many fronts.

It Is noteworthy that communities have formed strong vigilante groups to complement the efforts of the securities agencies, to protect and defend themselves. However, I will not encourage communities to mobilize and hand over automatic weapons to their youths to defend themselves. Rather, I still believe that the military and other security agencies are equal to the task. One thing I can suggest is that able-bodied and willing young men, properly vetted by their communities can join the military, undergo proper training under the strict operational regulations of the military and then be deployed to formations where they come from to beef up the strength of the security agencies in the area in the battle against terrorists and bandit, who are not natives of the areas. By integrating the vetted new blood into security agencies under the strict command structure of the military, I believe that the battle against foreign terrorists and bandits will be more effective because such young blood have a major motivation to defend their native areas against foreign invaders.

The 2027 election Is dominating political discourse. Given everything we have seen about the electoral process, do you think credible leaders can emerge through the present set up?

I don’t know the generation of Nigerians that will truly return power to the people. This generation cannot do that because democratic norms have been compromised. If you want to serve the people you must not be selfish and self-centred. We do not yet have a crop of leaders with genuine heart for selfless public service in the mold of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, Michael Okpara, Anthony Enahoro, Lateef Jakande, and many, many others who belonged to that generation. The genuine people with capacity to deliver good, accountable, transparent governance, which is also prudent in utilizing resources for the good of the country and not just to steal and steal for second, third and fourth generations, are not allowed to get into government and serve the people. So, we still have a vacuum of good leadership.

Christmas is around the corner, and there is usually mass movement to the Southeast and South-south. Against this background how do you feel about state of Benin bypass and the approach roads?

It is unfortunate that since the former Minister of Works and former National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), late Chief Tony Anenih, constructed the Benin’Bypass no repair has been carried out in that area. That is why the road is in a sorry state. Benin Bypass is strategic, especially during Yuletide because it leads to virtually all the states in the Southsouth and Southeast. As a matter of urgency, I am calling on the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, to rehabilitate that road before Christmas, so that travelers would have an easy ride. The welfare of the people is the primary purpose of government. Nigerians are not interested in hearing about the billions and trillions of Naira that ministers talk about on television and in newspapers. The people want practical solutions. Simplicita! However, Benin Bypass is not the only highway that is in deplorable condition. The Onitsha/Owerri Road is also in dilapidated state and needs urgent attention as we approach December. Our leaders travel by air with their families. They do not travel by road, and that is why they don’t care about the state of roads. We must continue to remind and pressure them to fix the roads. I must acknowledge that the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi has been tackling and fixing some major roads across the country. However, he should do more, especially in the Southeast. He should replicate the aggressive infrastructural development which he did in Ebonyi State as governor in the other states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.

The new tax law is generating concerns, especially as the 2026 commencement day gets closer. What is your take on this?

One activist recently said, “It will be impossible to get relief from somebody who came to kill you.” He said you should not be expecting mercy from an armed robber who came to rob you. And this is the only way we can put this tax reform of the government into perceptive. Many people cannot actually understand why government wants to tax everybody even those who are jobless, but are trying to make ends meet. The idea of tax is supposed to be from earnings or profit that one or companies make. That is my knowledge of the basis for tax. But in a situation where businesses are destroyed through government policies, businesses are not functioning properly and government is talking about tax. The people are now wondering where they are going to get money to pay tax. Is it from the business that is already moribund? And more are going down because the environment is not conducive. Factors that are supposed to encourage business are not there such as low exchange rate, steady power supply, infrastructure, low interest rate and security. If the pre-occupation of government is to tax hungry citizens that are going through hardship, we will be looking at them until when Nigerians are all dead then they will tax their dead bodies. The annoying thing is that when fuel subsidy was removed by this government in May 29, 2023, we were told that it was going to bring down the prices of goods and services, because more money would accrue to government and that would help make social amenities available. We were told that transport fares will reduce, to enable people move from one place to another. All these promises by this administration, we have not seen any of them fulfilled and they are now threatening us with compulsory tax.

Does the current effort on electoral reform give you any reason to be optimistic about 2027?

Sometimes we beat about the bush for nothing. All the electoral laws and reforms made in the past, if they were applied the issue of rigging would have become history. Unfortunately, the machinery of the government and the electoral umpire are deployed primarily to aid and abate rigging during elections. A law is only as good as it is implemented. An unimplemented law is no law at all. Former INEC Chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jega brought the wonderful idea of appointing professors and university heads as returning officers. That was supposed to have been the best that could handle the elections and ensure it was free and fair because when you talk about professors who are the epitome of knowledge, but we saw professors coming to lie about the results of an election. Some didn’t even announce the results themselves because they knew it was wrong. The same Jega brought a rule that says in order for everybody to be involved in what was going on, accreditation on the voting day would go to a certain period of time. Then after the accreditation all party agents would have the number of accredited voters so that there won’t be any over voting. But was it implemented? No. Now along the line, the immediate past chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu said results would be uploaded online to the iREV portal for real time display, to discourage rigging. The same INEC violated its own regulations. The most heart-rending is that security agents openly and unashamedly rig elections. We have consistently seen is betrayal by electoral officials and operatives of security agencies.

President Tinubu during his campaign in 2023 told Nigerians to vote him out by 2027 if he did not provide uninterrupted electricity. With frequent collapse of the national grid, many people expected President Tinubu to have resigned by now. What is your reaction?

How could he resign because of unsteady power supply? President Tinubu started campaigning for re-election from the first day he assumed office as the President. And there is nothing anybody can do about it. Restructuring is necessary for the advancement of Nigeria. Let’s hope that Tinubu will do the needful by restructuring the country before he leaves office.

The Director General of the DSS supported the idea of communities defending themselves with arms. Does this mean that the military and other security agencies failed to secure the people hence the call for communities to bear arms for self-defence?

Nigerians can give the best judgment because as a traditional ruler I don’t have the antidote to insecurity. There was #EndSARS and the police disappeared into the thin air. After EndSARS in the villages police could not make arrests rather they used the locals such the vigilante. Nigeria security is a conduit pipe and if government creates state police, that conduit pipe will reduce from 10mm to 5mm and it will affect some people. Everything about security is not only the burden of government the citizens need to complement the efforts of the security agencies by giving them information. The effect of insecurity is not only on the masses because the people that will execute it will sabotage it. Therefore, I don’t support the idea of communities bearing arms to defend themselves. Community policing will be best handled by traditional rulers. Every armed robber, terrorist or bandit has a community where he comes from. If we get traditional rulers involved some of the things can be checked. In the past, criminality was on the rise Onitsha. But one day, the people shouted “Boys oye” and because we knew the criminals, they all disappeared. Since then has anybody heard it like that again No. So, we cannot do without community policing. We have developed to have community policing even to legalize the carrying of arms. People attack you because they know that you are defenceless, but if they know that guns is legalized, somebody who is coming to harm you will know that you are armed and will be very careful. (The Sun)