Interviews Politics

‘Without justice, agitations for restructuring, true federalism, among others will not end’

restructuring

Comrade Elliot Afiyo is the National Chairman of the Northern Youth Leaders Forum (NYLF). It is the umbrella body of 42 northern youths organisations. In this interview with TOM GARBA in Yola, he speaks on the 2023 presidential race, the COVID-19 pandemic, insecurity and national and regional issues.

Your forum has been engineering the process of producing Presidents since 2003. I recall when the NYLF nominated and presented late President Yar’adua in 2006 and also in 2010 when it insisted on former President Goodluck Jonathan to run in 2011. In 2014, the forum insisted on President Buhari. What indices inform your nominations?

In 2003, there were forces from the North that for one reason or the other, wanted a change because they believed and truly to some extent, that the North was being marginalised economically and in terms of infrastructural development. But, we felt that will be a breach of political agreement signed with President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

It was a serious issue. But thank God, former President Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State Abdulsalam Abubakar were able to douse the tension and brought peace and understanding.

Even at that, it was a difficult task convincing the Northern youths to dump Buhari for Obasanjo in the 2003 Presidential elections. In 2006, we were able to convince Late President Yar’Adua to accept to contest in 2007. He reluctantly agreed, but some two terms Northern governors opposed the decision and wanted to break away.

They were subsequently faced with an option either to remain in PDP or decamp to ANPP. Before then, ANPP had already endorsed Buhari. They were also threatened by the Federal Government through the then Chairman of the EFCC who went to the National Assembly and told the senators that almost all of them had one or two cases of corruption against them, weighing the available options, they decided to remain in PDP.

In 2010, it was Obasanjo that persuaded the Northern politicians to allow former President Jonathan to contest and serve for only one term. Based on this understanding, an agreement was reached and accepted by thirteen senior politicians. This agreement was signed and the original copy collected by one of the Governors from the South-South.

In 2014, former President Jonathan reneged on this agreement and decided to contest, the North felt cheated, belittled and ignored. The attention of former President Obasanjo was drawn to it and Obasanjo thrice warned Jonathan on the consequences of his action and thrice Jonathan rebuffed Obasanjo.

Meetings of the Northern political, religious, youth and traditional leaders were held in Sokoto, Kaduna and Kano and after these meetings a final and unanimous decision was taken to remove Jonathan by all means, either democratically or otherwise. A decisive awareness campaign was initiated towards the 2011 presidential elections.

In order to prove the political worth, value and supremacy of the North, Buhari was supported by the entire North-West, North-East and North-Central youths, religious and traditional leaders irrespective of political, religious or ethnic leanings and against all odds, Buhari won convincingly in all the three geopolitical zones in the North.

Even Jonathan’s political field commanders from the North were involved in this political conspiracy against him. The defection of some Northern Governors to the APC was part of this conspiracy while some remained in PDP to work against the President from the inside.

Note that we supported and voted for Buhari in 2015 not because we considered him as the best candidate for the North, but because he was the only option and available best candidate to be used to politically chase out Jonathan in other to conserve, preserve, maintain and sustain our only best asset, that is political supremacy and power.

In 2019, we knew quite alright that Atiku will definitely win the election, but he will not be given his mandate based on the political conspiracy against him despite our efforts towards uniting him with Obasanjo in 2014. We consequently, decided as a Forum, not to waste our resources, time and energy to support him.

We could not also campaign for Buhari because we were not happy or satisfied with the performance of his administration, especially the security situation in the North, as a Forum, we directed and supported the state chapters in the areas of mobilisation and election of individual candidates instead of parties.

That was why PDP won in some states and APC also won in other states. Many people didn’t understand the political mathematics and scheming that resulted in these victories and defeats, but we knew what we did.

So Bishop Kukah was right to have made those remarks at Christmas?

Of Course Yes, the only part of Bishop Kukah’s Christmas homily that I don’t expect from him is tagging Islam as having a pool of violence. That shouldn’t have come from any enlightened or educated elite, not to talk of coming from a Bishop and a member of the peace –committee. I am a senior Pastor in RCCG.

Should I come now and say Christianity is a religion of criminals because before now, vices such as kidnappings, rituals, cultism, armed robbery, 419 or assassinations were mostly carried out by Christians who bear the names such as Paul, Silas, Peter, Gideon, Mark and even Joseph? Nobody preached or invited me to leave my church to RCCG.

Jesus personally appeared to me and asked me to leave and join RCCG, because my spirit was down and discouraged as a result of the violence I witnessed in my former denomination. Violence is carried out by both Muslims and Christians.

We had witnessed violence even inside churches. Presently, we have Muslim leaders, Sheikhs and Imams that are speaking and condemning these killings and other violent acts more than Pastors and Christian leaders.

The Sultan of Sokoto is the Fulani leader, as well as, the head of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria. When the conference of Bishops including Bishop Kukah visited him in the early 2020 at Sokoto, he told them point blank that he was disappointed in them because nothing was working and they said nothing.

I remember vividly when the Association of Christian Traditional Rulers paid him a courtesy call in his house in Abuja, he told us that he will never be silent when people are being killed because he is a Fulani and a fellow Fulani is the President.

He once said any herder found with AK-47 riffle should be arrested. How many of our Christian leaders come out to condemn the senseless killings in Nigeria? I am from Adamawa State and from Girei Local Government, all my elder brothers lived and studied in Girei.

They were accommodated and fed by the Fulani who are Muslims until they completed their studies. What moral ground or right do I have now to condemn the Fulani or the Muslims that they love and practice violence?

To be sincere with you, I don’t mind what people would say, there is no religion or tribe that has no bad elements, majority of Muslims are more tolerant than the majority of Christians.

The Fulani have more regards and high standard of moral values than many other tribes in Nigeria. Before now, hardly would you see a Fulani man or woman who is an armed robber, kidnapper, fraudster or ritualist, until now when we have bandits.

If you take a genuine look into the history and causes of banditry in the North, you will find it very difficult to blame them, although one cannot justify shedding of innocent blood under any reason.

Between 2010 and 2014, they were being killed at will, their cows rustled, wives and children killed or abducted to be used as servants to Boko Haram leaders and their houses or tents destroyed. All their belongings and sources of survival were destroyed.

What do you expect from such a people? Violence of course. They have to mobilise themselves and with the assistance from their kith and kin to defend themselves (and you know of an average Fulani man), vengeance is a normal and acceptable way of living.

Unfortunately, some political elites took their advantage to be used to settle old scores and also execute their agenda without any commiserate or proportional reaction from government.

During your NEC meeting in Gombe, the NYLF advised the PDP and APC to zone their presidential slot to North–East and South-West respectively. What are your reasons for taking this decision?

From the analysis I gave you, you will realise that the decision of Jonathan to contest for the second term against the initial political agreement in the PDP brought Buhari and by extension the APC to power and consequently all these security challenges we are witnessing and experiencing today in the country.

That was what brought the alliance between the North and the South–West. If former President Jonathan had respected this agreement, APC wouldn’t have come to power, because the North would have voted massively for the Northern candidate who would have came from the North-East.

In the same vein, we were told that there is an existing agreement in the APC that power should be shifted to the South–West after Buhari. We therefore insist that such agreement should be respected so as to avoid a boomerang effect and consequences.

EDITORIAL: Dousing tension through restructuring

All these agitations for restructuring, true federalism, Biafra or Odua Republic are as a result of injustices. Let’s just avoid them by ensuring justice to all. The North- East that was denied that opportunity in 2015, should first of all be pacified and the South-West that have entered into an agreement with the North in APC, whether right or wrong, should also be considered.

That was our honest reason. Remember that there are Igbos in APC when such agreement was written, signed and sealed. They did not bother to challenge that agreement when it was being sealed because of their belief then that APC could not have won the presidential election, I was shocked to see some of them gathered to demand for the APC ticket in 2023.

But, the South-East is claiming that it is their turn since they have not produced any president in this political dispensation.  I don’t really understand how it becomes their turn.

The political agreement in PDP is between the North and the South not among geopolitical zones. It is left for the South to decide which zone to produce the president.

Let the three geopolitical zones in the South decide which of them to produce the president in 2023. Going by the agreement in PDP, Jonathan ought to have served for one term having completed the remaining two years of Yar’adua.

But he reneged and was fully backed up by the South-East. The South-East betrayed the North by supporting Jonathan in 2015. In the APC, there is an existing agreement that the power should not only shift to the South, but be shifted to the South-West.

The truth is that the North has learnt its lessons. Forget the fact that there was religious and ethnic differences in the North which was propagated and manifested during the Jonathan era and is clearly being implemented by the Buhari administrations.

If it comes to political elections, we always go enmass in one direction, because the Southerners always refer to us by our ethnic nationalities names such as Hausa, Fulani, Nupe, Bwatiye, Igala, Igbira or Tiv before elections.

But recognized, classified and categorised us as generally as Hausa after elections. An average Northern politician is very mindful of this divisive tendency against the North. Power is never donated or given free to anyone by God through man.

Check the scriptures, all those that were given power by God paid the price. Those that acquired power also paid the price, mostly those that didn’t pay the prize don’t last in power or always misuse or abuse the power.

We have some politicians from the North-West such as Tambuwal, Kwankwaso, Shekarau and Lamido who are rumored to have interest in 2023 presidency, is it justifiable to have another president from the North in 2023?

As I said earlier, we are in a democratic dispensation and so the only asset the Northerners are left with in this enterprise called Nigeria is political supremacy and power, because of our collective determination, political unity, coupled with our numerical strength.

Once either of these three things is affected, the North has nothing left than to become pushovers and ready-made vessels in the hands of the Southerners.

In order to preserve, sustain and maintain this asset, it requires nothing but justice, fairness and sense of belonging by all Northerners irrespective of geopolitical zones, ethnicity and religious belief. It is injurious and morally unjustifiable and unacceptable for somebody to come from the North –West to contest for the presidency in 2023.

The North-West has produced two presidents and a vice president, we believe it is the turn of the North-Central or North-East to produce the president or vice president which must be fully endorsed and supported by the North-West.

Fortunately, we have over two million of our members from the North –West and they have agreed not to support any candidate from the zone in 2023 in the best interest of the North.

Don’t take this as a political threat, if anybody from the North–West believes that they can dominate other two zones in the North because of their preponderance in number, let them try it and see in 2023. I strongly believe and truly too that even a Fulani man from North–East would never vote for any Fulani man from the North–west in 2023.

So, who are the politicians the NYLF is considering for 2023?

For now, six politicians have directly approached us and we have not penciled down any. But you will agree with us that we have the Bala Mohammed, Atiku Abubakar, Danjuma Goje, Prof. Babagana Zulum, Ahmed Lawan etc from the North –East, if any of these politicians is chosen to pair with Governors Nyesom Wike, Okowa, Ben Ayade, Raymond Dokpesi, Peter Obi, Rochas Okorocha, Orji Kalu, etc, we will have a near perfect ticket.

From the South –West, we have Tinubu, Fayemi, Osibanjo. If any politician is chosen to pair with either El-Rufai, Ganduje, Lalong, Bagudu or Babandende, we will have a good combination.

Are you then saying that the political battles for 2023 has started in earnest?

The political battles for 2027 has been concluded already and you are here talking of 2023? Recently, there was a meeting in Abuja where the only agenda was 2027 presidential arrangement; these politicians have their short, medium and long term plans just like our Economists.

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Ihesiulo Grace

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