Mr Bonnie Iwuoha was until recently, shortly before the army launched ‘Operation Python Dance’ in the five Southeast states, the Commissioner for Information in Abia State, the epicentre of the military intervention. A cabinet dissolution, yet to be reconstituted, keeps him temporarily out of office. He is a former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists and a fellow of the Nigeria Guild of Editors. In this interview with Thisage, he draws on his vast and deep experiences in government and public life in his assessment and support for the current military operation is the zone, the dilemma of leaders of the region in the wake of IPOB activities and proffers solutions to prevent a reoccurrence.
Abia plays a major role as operational base for the Army’s ‘Operation Python Dance’ in the Southeast. As someone with knowledge of the inner workings of government how would you say Abia is coping?
Well, first I must say that both the government and the people of Abia State welcomed the military in their operations, in their activities, because it is a very important exercise. The military is a very strong and powerful institution in the maintenance of peace and stability in any nation. Therefore, we cannot afford to undermine the operations of the military. So when the military declared ‘Operation Python Dance’, the second, it was believed that it was a follow-up to Operation Python Dance one, which they had a couple of years back, to fight criminality within the zone. At that time kidnapping, robbery and all manner of crime were raging and they were able to curtail the excesses of the criminals. So when they were coming for the second time, everybody thought this was the repeat of an exercise they had witnessed before. It just happened that the exercise coincided with the activities of IPOB, (Independent People of Biafra).
Really?
Yes, IPOB. Now take it from the time of MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra), led by Nwazurike. MASSOB was not violent, they did not trouble anybody, they kept making their points, stressing their opinions and when IPOD came everybody thought it was a follow-up to that. Recall that about five years ago, the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, in UK had led a demonstration in the in favour of the unity and oneness of Nigeria. It was all over the place. So when he started with IPOB, everybody thought this guy who had wished for the unity of the country means very well for the peace and sustenance of Nigeria. Everybody relaxed without knowing the thing was going to assume some other dimension. So the truth is that in Abia State people took things easy, even when IPOB held their early meetings in Afara in Umiahia, which is just a walking distance from Government House, nobody troubled them. So when they began to make some negative comments, those of us who witnessed the events that led to the civil war in this country began to get worried. People thought this was mere childish display until the military came and they were welcomed by everybody. There was no real threat to their presence, not even the reported challenges from members of IPOB. There military action in the southeast is what everybody welcomed, especially giving that their first coming helped to check the incidence of criminality in the zone.
Mr Iwuoha
Well, you were not in office when the army came for the first operation, still one wonders if they achieved their purpose to warrant a second coming?
Yes. I want to say this, there is something about human nature. Generally, criminality is something you cannot say you have wiped out completely. Even in developed countries where you have well developed institutions devoted to checking the activities of crime, you still have people who go out their way to commit crime. Do you know that between that time and now that the military checked kidnapping and robbery, there were still minor skirmishes here and there, even to the point of kidnapping little children and women and demanding such small sums as N5,000?. It is just that the criminal activities were not as elaborate as they were before the military came again. That is to say crime was not wiped out completely in their first coming, but that things calmed down. And again the southeast zone is part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the military has the mandate to come in and restore order when they see things going out of hand. So when there was a clash between them and IPOB this time round, it was evident that something was wrong somewhere which many did not realise the magnitude, which, perhaps, the military understood. And again you ask yourself, how can civilians who do not carry arms choose to block the way of the military and start harassing them? That is looking for trouble. So I am saying that generally, both the government and the people of Abia State welcomed the military because the first time they came, they did a fine job. People expect that their second coming would promote peace and calmness.
Now that the IPOB phenomena has given a dimension to the second coming of the military, don’t you foresee a third ‘Operation Python Dance’, if some of the issues raised by the group are left unaddressed?
The point is this. In any country, the military has the right and responsibility to maintain peace and ensure there is security within the country. Now, after this second operation and in the next two or three years, the military also senses through their intelligence that something untoward is happening within the country, they have the right to go in there and exercise their authority. Nobody has the authority to stop them except the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. So, I do not see why anybody would say after this operations, they cannot come back again if they think there is need to do so.
As the epicenter of military operations, would you say Abia State was carried along?
I cannot say, because before the military came, the cabinet had been dissolved. So I speak now as someone who lives in Umuahia. The truth is that the government took things calmly, opened the doors for them. I think the governor appreciates it because he would not support anything that would breed disunity, bring rancour and any form of disturbance in the state. But nobody resisted their coming and the governor exhibited what I consider an uncommon level of maturity and discipline in the way he handled the entire thing. So the government took no steps directly on indirectly against the activity of the military.
Mr Iwuoha
When the military eventually take their leave on October 15, do you think governors of the S/East would be able to handle security matters thenceforth?
Look, the governors do not control the security apparatus. They are under the control of the federal government, that is the army, the police and the civil defence.
But nowadays the state governments fund the army and police deployed to their states and the officers of these security organs attend weekly security meetings with governors. So why can’t they in practice influence the security agencies in their states?
On this I can speak with the benefit of hindsight. Yes, governors fund the operations of the the army, air force, police, customs, immigrations and the national civil defence in their states. But that notwithstanding, the governors do not have control over the operations of these security and para-military organisations. They meet minds with governors during weekly security meetings and brief them on some of the reports they have and thereby help to maintain peace in the states. But then they still take final command from their superiors at the centre. For instance the Commissioner of Police cannot go out for major operations without getting clearance from the Inspector General of Police. Now, while the ongoing military intervention was going on, the Commissioner of Police received a signal from Abuja that he was being transferred from the state. He had scheduled some security programs for the state without knowing he would be redeployed soon and another sent to replace him. He was to go to Aba with some journalists to inspect some tense moments there, but then he was redeployed. The governor could not stop his redeployment. But that does not mean that the governors cannot continue to cooperate and work with the security outfits in the state when the military withdraws.
Mr Iwuoha
Can the social issues of inequality, marginalisation raised by the IPOB and other groups be address by military intervention alone? What role should the governments in the S/East and the centre play to address theses challenges?
You see the issue of kidnapping started in the riverine areas of the Niger Delta region before it blew over into other zones of the country. I remember I wrote on it during the administration of President Obasanjo that arms were proliferating in the region and they had to be taken out. Nobody listened. Now look at the issue we now call Boko Haram ? The members used to be a group operating and damaging things in Borno, Bauchi, Yola and yet the Federal Government did not listen to security reports that were coming to them on the activities of the group then until, after some uncontrolled situation, it became something else. A soldier was talking to me the other time that the group is regrouping in Sambas forest, meaning that there would be fresh attack once the rains are over. The fact however remains that no matter the dimensions of these developments the military would be able to contain them. Now kidnapping has even gone to Lagos State where little children were kidnapped recently and held for over 40 days. What about the billionaire kidnapper, Evans?. What I want to stresses is that the leaders are not in control of the boys in Iboland, that is the sad truth, I mean the IPOB. In the Southwest for example, the elders can call any group of rebels to order, not soon Iboland. In the North, the Hausa-Fulani elders can call their misbehaving youths to order, not so in Iboland. That is why people are surprised that the Boko Haram people has been having a free day, which points to the fact that many of them may actually not be Hausa-Fulani because within the Hausa- Fulani community the youths know how to respect their elders when they talk to them. One problem in the Southeast is that the youths hardly listen to elders. This is what many of us don’t seem to understand. If you were to seek to intervene in matters concerning them, they would ask ‘are you the one feeding me?’. So you can see what need to be understood when people say the leaders should do this or that. Recall the time in the Southwest when factions of the OPC (Oodua Peoples Congress) was clashing, it was not the police that restored order. It was the Yoruba elders that gathered and settled the rift between Gani Adams faction and that of the original founder, Dr Frederick Fashehun. Now the OPC is serving a useful purpose in the zone. In the Southeast, it is not as easy as that.
Why is it so?
Well, you have what people say is the republican nature of the Igboman. I think it is beyond that because you have a people who feel that whatever they want to do is what they would do, that nobody should talk to them. The youths of today are so individualistic, unlike the older generation who were not like that. You see, there was a time when elders of the community would take a decision and it would be binding on everyone in the community. Those days no household would want to disobey or get into conflict with the elders. But it is not the same today. Generally, I feel for the leaders go Igboland, I feel for the governors. And if anybody tells you that the governors had a hand in the activities of IPOB, that person is telling lies. This is because there is no governor who does not want peace in his state, who does not want development in his state.No, there is no governors who is involved, I can tell you this. The truth of the matter is that the leaders in the Southeast have found themselves in a situation that is a bit difficult for them to handle.
Mr Iwuoha
Considering the powers of life and death of a governor granted by the Constitution, doesn’t it sound ironical that a man who has such powers cannot exercise control over unlawful citizens among those who voted him into office?
What are you talking about? We are talking about democracy here. So they should not uphold the respect of freedom of association, speech and assembly? Remember I said earlier that everybody though the IPOB leader was still the same man who few years ago was canvassing the unity of Nigeria while in the UK. It is a situation that requires different approach and maturity to handle and that is what the governors have been able to do. In addition to that is what the military has done now, which is clear to everybody including IPOD members that if you carry out actions that run contrary to the laws of the land, you may attract the attention of the military again. Therefore if the governors speak it is necessary that they must be listened to because a measure of force has come to their aid. If there were those who had died in the process, it is quiet clear to all now that they cannot rise and protest again. Therefore those who are alive should be able to safe guide their own lives and protect the interest of their family by obeying their leaders. Now that the leaders have agreed that IPOB is proscribed, it is good for everyone because if you disobey the leaders, the military is going to return and nobody would protect you directly or indirectly. So far, I think the elders and governors of the zone has talked to President Buhari. That is why things have mellowed down. But if the governors had full control over security in their states, I think they should have been able to control the activities of IPOB.
IPOB may be considered to be playing politics of identity considering the general cry of marginalisation of the Igbo in Nigerian politics. Are you saying such groups would die out if the social issues are unaddressed?
I want to say this. It is my personal view. It is not every problem that is solved by creating more problems
The only thing I think the Federal Government ought to do is to look at the reports of the last national conference held under President Jonathan’s administration, which Nigerians from all walks of life, belief and status worked out. For the first time in the history of this country, people from all over the country took part and came out with resolutions for the good of the country. What stops the Federal Government from implementing the recommendations of that conference?
But the ruling elite is not agreed on the report, particularly those in the current government?
You see that is where we are getting it wrong as a people. People were drawn from all the nook and crannies of Nigeria for the conference and they worked out what would bring peace and development to the country. Many Nigerians are crying for its implementation. Whoever kept that report under the table is the one causing these social and economic crises in the country. Even the issue of Boko Haram would be solved if the recommendations contained in that conference report are implemented.
