2023: South East should produce the President – Shehu Sani

By Success Nwogu

A human rights activist, Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District from June 2015 to June 2019 in this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU on the sidelines of a summit, convened by the leader of the Nigerian Red Card Movement, Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia, titled, “Masses awakening and elite patriotism: The search for a better Nigeria,’ addresses national issues:

People are concerned about Nigeria. How do you feel about the nation currently?

We should be concerned; the separatist agitation in the South Eastern part of Nigeria is a threat to peace. It has the possibility of destroying the region economically and those who are engaged in this must stop.

Secondly, we should also build a process where there should be a dialogue with people who are thinking that breaking Nigeria is the solution. Afterall, those separatists, whether they are Sunday Igbogho or Nnamdi Kanu, were once patriots who believed in Nigeria.

So what made them to divorce themselves from Nigeria and now want to break it?

Let us examine those issues and work towards addressing them for a united country.

Let us show those who believe in Nigeria that they have made a right choice and by doing that, we disappoint those who want to break the country.

What is the import of burning public infrastructure such as facilities of Correctional Centres, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) among others? What is your advise?

It is condemnable to destroy public facilities, to attack the police, to burn INEC facilities and attack federal establishments. The perpetrators are simply destroying themselves.

This is happening mostly in the South-Eastern part of Nigeria. The Igbos have grown to be an economic power in Nigeria.

They are not just dominant in the South Eastern part of Nigeria, they are dominant in all parts of the country.

In Abuja today and in all parts of the north, they are there in the servicing industry, real estate, manufacturing and commerce, they are dominant. Now how do you want to shrink them to a small space?

The Igbos of the 1940s and 1950s are not the Igbos of the 21st century.

The Igbos of the 21st century, is a king that has gone beyond his own domain to also rule over land, so how do you want to pull him backwards to where he had already progressed.

A crisis in the South East is a threat to peace and order in the South Eastern part of Nigeria. We pray that South East does not become like North East because where people go to patronise goods, where people go to patronise industry; where people go for market, whether it is at Aba or Onitsha, if you create a situation of instability there, people will stop coming and that is very destructive.

So the Igbo of the 21 century is a king in many places. So you do not need to bring him back to be a king in a small place.

We have grown up and I can’t imagine myself waking up and not seeing Uche, Chidinma, Eze, Ada and Chinwe. I can’t imagine myself not seeing such people. Why should you be thinking of reducing the igbo man to a small territory when he has already conquered many territories.

Should the South or precisely South-East, produce the President of Nigeria in 2023?

Ofcourse, it is legitimate for them to produce the next President. It is unfair, since 1999, they have never produced a President or a Vice-President. The same thing with the North Central.

So why can’t they produce? They should be able to produce the President. It is a matter of consensus between the two major political parties to achieve that.

I believe that such an attempt can crush the agitations (for secession). Igbos have been living in the northern part of Nigeria long before many of us who are northerners were born.

And they have become a household and landlords. And they have developed assimilation with the society where they live.

So we must appreciate the northerners for the restraint too and for the hospitality which they have given people from other parts of the country.

The violence in the South East should be condemned but we should not judge the Igbos with the killings in the South Eastern part of Nigeria because as much as you can not judge the Hausas and northerners with the Boko Haram killings, you can not judge the whole Igbos with the gunmen killings.

Those who are killing represent an insignificant number with the millions of people who are living in other parts of the country in peace. Let us not undermine the political and economic aspirations of that part of the country because of the activities of a few.

What is your message for Nigerians on the summit, convened by the leader of the Nigerian Red Card Movement, Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia, titled, “Masses awakening and elite patriotism: The search for a better Nigeria?’

The message I have for Nigerians at a time like this, is that we should work hard for peace and continue to struggle to hold our government accountable.

At the same time, we should be ready to defend our freedom and our Constitution and gear ourselves, looking at the experiences that we have had in the last seven years, to make sure that the next generation of leaders are different in thinking, in thought, ideology and patriotism, from the ones which we have had in the last seven years.

Your message to the leaders?

The leaders should know very well that power is transient. If you are in a position of leadership today, you should build a nation where tomorrow when you are out of office, you will be comfortable, safe and protected. They should see the opportunity to serve as God’s privilege to them and they should serve their people and not to oppress them. They should look to having a more dignified nation where we all have a sense of belonging and peace.

The summit was convened by a young Nigerian, Yinka, what is your message to people like him?

Yinka is an inspiration to young people in this country. For him to have led a forum like this where a platform is provided without public funds, for people to come and truly express their opinions, he is one patriot that all Nigerians, young people, should appreciate. People should not wait for the government to organise a forum for them to go and express their opinions.

They should be able to organise themselves. A forum like this is an enlightenment process, an education process and an opportunity to exchange ideas and views and also hold the government to account. This is what I call the Peoples’ Parliament, where people come to give ideas on how their country can be governed.

There are concerns that the rights of Nigerians under democracy including protest and opposition are being strifled? What is your take on such a development?

It is important that our leaders should know how delicate and fragile Nigerian democracy is. Leaders who have assumed the position of political power should not shrink the democratic space and deny other people the right to stay and enjoy. We have been through one political party that has ruled this country for sixteen years. The experiences are clear.

We have also been through another political party that is in power for the last seven years. And it is clear to us that our answers and solutions do not lie with one magician or one messiah. It lies within ourselves.

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If we leave governance to politicians, we should know that they are driven by interest and power. And as such the need for civil society, the masses, to continue to agitate for what is theirs. The poor man in the north is suffering like the poor man in the south.

The rich man in the south is comfortable like the rich man in the north. We should see ourselves based on our class differences: people who have not and people who have more than enough. And for us as a country, we have no alternative. Let us do what is right to strengthen this union and this bond for our children and our grandchildren.

There is no doubt that people in authority can be adverse to criticism. It is ironic that people who protested years ago are against protest; people who spoke the truth years ago are also against people who are speaking the truth today.

Our diversity is wealth, it has the opportunity and the platform to make this country great. Government should learn to tolerate criticisms, and embrace ideas from people who necessarily are not within the corridors of power. Solving the problems of this country is beyond partisanship.