Born on November 20, 1939, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife was the governor of Anambra State during the aborted Third Republic between January1992 and November 1993. This alumnus of the University of Ibadan, obtained his Masters and Doctorate degrees at the Harvard University, USA. He was the Special
Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Political Matters and member of the recent National Conference. In this interview, he speaks on different issues, affecting the nation in areas of insurgency, the 2015 election, the chances of President Goodluck Jonathan and accused the INEC Chairman of having an underground plan to rig 2015 election in favour of the North. Excerpts:
You have witnessed Nigeria’s democratic experience from the time of independence till date; what is your impression about our present democratic dispensation?
When you look at the First Republic and now, it will seem as if it is impossible to get order into the system and have the kind of love that existed then because you will realise that the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, all of them identified some differences; they disagreed in some places but there was love and understanding among Nigerians. And God created us in such an environment that we should be grateful to Him and love one another.
It is tribalism that is killing us. Instead of thinking about the development of Nigeria, I mean the economic development of this great country, we are thinking of our differences in tribes, geographical locations, religions and all that. The days of Zik were the days of hope. Today, we are in the day of despair and we must change.
Boko Haram, what is it? Some people think they are born to rule and that if they are not ruling, they will make the country ungovernable or unmanageable. Today, we are appealing to every Nigerian to appreciate the greatness of this country. And to give other tribes in this country, the same privilege they give themselves because there is no way we can progress in war. I praise the Northern governors for calling for total war on Boko Haram. That is what is needed instead of focusing too much on what is not necessary. We should declare a total war on Boko Haram. And make it clear that no election will be held anywhere, there is insurgency or security challenges. That way, some of the parties will begin to wake up and begin to join in waging war against the Boko Haram.
What is your reaction to the on-going voters registration exercise by the INEC?
Well, I cannot react to that because I’ve not gotten details of the exercise, but one thing I will say is that it seems the INEC has been hijacked by the North. INEC provided for extra 30,000 polling units and allocated 21,000 to the North. 9,000 to the North-West, North-East got 1,000, so Abuja, Zamfara, and various small places got more extra polling units than the South-East. And the whole Southern Nigeria people’s assembly demanded the resignation of Jega. The Senate resolved that he should postpone it. He went back against the wish of all the people of the South and said we must implement it.
We are now waiting because he said he is going to drop it. Once the intention to rig election is established, we must remove the person, the rigger. Jega has shown clear intention to rig the election through the polling units. After everybody has opposed that, he said “Oh! I yield”. He didn’t yield. Therefore, since his intention to rig has been established beyond reasonable doubt and he should step down.
What do you have to say on the adoption of Jonathan as a sole candidate of the PDP?
Nobody has a chance against Jonathan whether in the PDP or from outside. His being there is really an act of God. He has a purpose of being in that position and until that purpose is fulfilled, I don’t think anybody has a better chance. But it is good that many people come out to compete. The money they have stocked up over the years, they should distribute them among all of us. And that is the purpose their campaign will serve.
What do you have to say about the 2015 election and the place of Igbo on the previous agitation for presidency?
Those of us from the South-East are very lucky people. We are gifted by God. We should manage to love other people and help other people so that jealousy does not make us lose what God has given us.
Now on the presidency of Nigeria, after Goodluck Jonathan, whether he spends four years or he spends eight years, every part of Nigeria would have held the position of the president except the South-east. We believe Nigerians would at that stage yield to an Igbo president. We can see that coming already. A new Nigeria is in the oven. You can see the decision of the National Conference. The extra state for the South-east, virtually everybody supported it. Even when people from certain region asked negative questions about it, the Yoruba contingent at the National Conference rose like a lion and did as if they were personally hurt that somebody was asking question about one extra state for the South. They supported us. The same thing happened to the South-South person when that question arose
How will you describe the level of our democracy now, are we doing better than before?
This country must go back to democracy. We are not in it at all. Democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people. In true democracy, your votes must count, starting from the primary. Today, we are at the primary election stage and delegates are being bought for the primary. If you buy delegates for the primary election; is that democracy? Democracy arrives when people choose who they really want, starting from the primary. As from now on, I will preach that there should be no cabal primary in Nigeria. The primary should be direct. People in the party should be allowed to choose the candidate among the aspirants. Once people are able to choose who they really want among the aspirants at the primary, then we are heading for the true democracy. If that is not done, and people stay in Abuja and share money and decide who will be the candidates for my village; that is not democracy.
And the more we do that and make younger people learn it, the longer it will take us to get to the part of democracy.
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