2015: North can’t dictate to Middle Belt —Onoja General Lawrence Onoja is the Chairman, Strategic Mobilization Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). He had served as the Military governor of Plateau State. He is also the President of the Alumni Association of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) Kuru, Jos. In this interview with newsmen, he says the North has lost its binding force due to the attitude of the current leaders in the zone. He also insists that President Goodluck Jonathan, will enjoy the support of the Middle Belt should he decide to seek a second term in office. Group Politics Editor, TAIWO ADISA, brings the excerpts: YOU were out of PDP for some time and now you are back in the party. Why are you back? On the issue of the party, as of today, I have not officially defected from ACN to PDP. But technically, I am almost in PDP now because I am working for the second term of Mr. President and obviously, he would want me to be in the same party with him. But the actual ceremony of receiving me in the PDP has not been done. So as at today, I am still a member of ACN. And then because of my position as the president of the Alumni Association of NIPPS, I am not allowed to be very visible in political parties but as a citizen, I have a right to belong to a political party. But I cannot contest any election as long as I am the president of the institute. And I cannot accept any visible position from any political party. But our constitution in Kuru allows us to be partners with any government and advise that government in terms of policy formulation. But I am only a card-carrying member of ACN; I have not gone to register with APC yet which you can interpret to mean that I am not in any political party since ACN is defunct now. Looking at the crises rocking PDP, do you think it is a party you will be comfortable in? The point is I was one of the original founders of PDP. I started activities in G34. I was sympathetic to their cause that time even when I was in uniform and later, it became PDP. So, I can comfortably say I am an original member of the party. What is happening in PDP today is not new. It has happened to many parties. But I believe that the party has got very eminent personalities and respected Nigerians that are willing to ensure that all the mechanism provided in the party is effective enough to settle all the crises in the party. I am particularly glad to hear that somebody like our former respected President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was my General Officer Commanding [GOC] in 1969 in Port Harcourt, when I was a Second Lieutenant, is now trying to reconcile the governors. That approach is what I have been waiting for that such an eminent person would come into the PDP crisis for the benefit of ensuring that there is peace in Nigeria and also for the benefit of assisting Mr. President to ensure we get what we have always wanted, which is good governance in the country. So, the reconciliatory efforts by the former president are really appreciated by me. And I believe that is what other elders like Obasanjo should do. We all should ensure peace and tranquility, a situation where Mr. President can function effectively and give us the required good governance that we deserve. You left the PDP in the midst of some allegations of undemocratic practices within the party. Now, you have tasted what it means to be in the opposition. Do you think APC, ahead of 2015, can give PDP a run for its money? I think that a couple of Nigerians were happy that we are having what is looking like an opposition because in democracy, you cannot enjoy it without a true opposition. There has to be an opposition for the game to be interesting. What APC now represents in the eyes of many Nigerians is that at least, an opposition that may likely be formidable is being formed to compete with the PDP. Whether it would match the might of the PDP as a viable political opposition is too early to predict. And I think it probably could in the future if it does certain things right. One, the approach of name calling and insulting Mr. President is appropriate, instead of presenting themselves as a viable opposition to Nigerians by saying we can do better in education, economy. That is what Nigerians want to hear, not insulting the person of Mr. President. I believe that is unfortunate. And if they continue to do that, a lot of Nigerians would lose the sympathy that they have for the opposition coming in to compete favourably for political positions with PDP. So, I believe what they should do is to let Nigerians know their manifesto; what they would do in Nigeria in terms of poverty alleviation; what they intend to do with the security situation. Do they intend to do better than what Mr. President has done, the amnesty programme, the emergency rule declared to combat the menace of Boko Haram in some parts of the country? Do they have better suggestions? That is what Nigerians want to hear. And then as a political party, they should criticise the political party not Mr. President. Even if you are going to criticise the President, let it not be like a personal insult, like one of them said he is a kindergarten leader. That is a personal insult. It shouldn’t be that way. Remember the office of the President will outlive all of us. Any of them can find themselves there tomorrow. You don’t insult the person occupying the office. So, I believe that approach is what I am not pleased with. But the opposition believes that it has better democratic credentials to upstage the PDP? It is very doubtful. Like I have just said the approach they are taking now, insulting the president and individuals, if they take that approach, they will not be an effective opposition to upstage PDP. What I expect them to do at this point is that if they have any criticism, they should direct it at PDP as a party, not Mr. President as a person. And they should show Nigerians their own credentials and what they can do to improve the situation, not descending low to call Mr. President all sorts of names. If they continue, then I am afraid, they will not be able to come near PDP in any election at all. One other issue in the PDP is power shift to the North. Don’t you think it is ripe time to return power to that zone? Every group has a right to ask for power, but I believe power is not given that way. You work for it. I want to let you know categorically here that it is not yet time for power to shift to the North. Mr. President has not done his second term. All the other Presidents were given opportunity to do their second terms and for me Mr. President, by virtue of the fact that he is a minority like me, it would be unfair and amount to injustice to stop him from doing his second term. If he finishes his second term in 2019, then other areas or blocs can now begin to agitate for power shift. I think it is only fair to allow Mr. President do his second term. But we understand that the power shift is a Northern agenda and you are from the North? There is a misconception. The North of the 60s when the Sarduana of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was alive is no long the same North today. Let me correct that misconception, I am from the Middle Belt which is a geographical reality today. I am an active member of the Congress for Equality and Change, which is a non-political association. I am also a member of the Middle Belt Forum. So, if you say I am from the North, and you are referring to the old North yes, I am from the North, but now, the Middle Belt is a geographical reality and I am from the area. I am not from the core North. When did the demarcation start? The demarcation has been there all along. It is just that the leaders that we had before, had the responsibility of making sure that we worked together as the same North. But yesterday is not the same as today. People have been educated, exposed, so if yesterday, some group of persons were dictating to us, today people will not accept the dictation of anybody again. We, in the Middle Belt are strong enough to go on our own in any situation. You said Mr. President should be allowed to go for second term, but people will ask whether it is a question of second term or performance. I believe Mr. President is doing well. This is my own opinion. Anybody has the right to express his or her own opinion. I believe Mr. President is doing well. Look at the situation, those who have been there before, what is extra-ordinary in their performance that Mr. President has not done? The President is rehabilitating the railway system, which everybody is yearning for and they are very grateful if he can complete it in a couple of months. The power situation has improved. Look at the steps he took to restore security in some parts of the North. Those steps are welcomed by me and they are very adequate now. While the military are doing what they are trained for, there is a committee on amnesty trying to appeal to those who are belligerent in the North. With time, I am sure, these things will yield peace and peace is already coming back to the North. We will still have pockets of these militants who will be resisting, but after some time, with the appeals being made by many Nigerians, and the amnesty committee working day and night to ensure they attract them, peace will soon be restored. The governor of Borno State is already rehabilitating the children of the militants. The military in Borno are even trying to embark on winning of hearts and minds of the people through pamphlets, through propaganda. So with time what Mr. President has put in place will yield results. The agitators for power shift to the North are pinning down Mr. President to an alleged agreement which says he is going to run for one term. They also claimed that when he went to Ethiopia, he said he was going to do one term and that what they are looking at is his honour and integrity of a leader over his words? I am not privy to any agreement. I do not know if any agreement was signed. And I don’t think Mr. President signed any agreement with anybody. This is politics. Why there is unpredictability in political events always is because you have the mind as an individual to change your mind if you do anything, depending on the situation. All I am saying is that he should be allowed to do his second term before any group can lay claims to power. I am not privy to any agreement he had with anybody. What are your thoughts on the five Northern governors, who seemingly, are not yielding to calls by PDP to seek reconciliation, using party mechanisms? They seem to be insisting on having their way? It is unfortunate if it is true that the five governors are insisting on having their way. I am not in the Governors Forum, but from what we read in the papers, the northern governors went to Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s house which is a show of the fact that peace is returning among the governors, maybe because of the efforts being made by our leader, former President Obasanjo to bring peace among the governors. The visit they made to Rivers State is unfortunate; I would not endorse that kind of visit. We believe that with time, the mechanisms provided by the PDP will solve of these issues. Everybody is supporting Mr. President. So, he must be allowed to do his second term. Those governors, with time, will come back to the fold. It is like a few people who are getting lost in the bush; they will come back to the town. Still on the North, will there ever be one North again? You cannot precisely give an answer to a political situation. It is difficult to say there will be one North again because in the 60s, due to the leadership provided by the Sarduana of Sokoto, from what I was told as I was in primary school then, I woke up one day to see light and water in my home town, Otukpo. Then, we had Ministers from our place, but our people said these things were provided by the Sarduana. And most of the people working around him, the Sunday Awoniyis and a number of people, were Christians. So, the picture I had as a young man then was that the Sardauna was a detribalised leader. This is the kind of leaders we are looking for. Then, the North had the concept of the North. But the times have changed and the elders we have in the North today are not the same with the Sarduana. So, I have my doubts if the North will be one North again because of events that have occurred between 1960 and now. A number of Northern leaders, ACF, Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, have spoken for the North on this issue of power shift, and they seem to be united that it is time for power to shift to the North. Could we say they are speaking for the generality of the people in that zone, in view of perceived anger against President Jonathan in the area? There could be anger in certain parts of the North. But there is no anger against Jonathan in my own Middle Belt part of the North. We support Jonathan for his second term. Every group has the fundamental right to agitate for power. The groups that are talking- the Northern Elders Forum, ACF- they are not political parties. They are socio-political cum cultural associations. So, they probably cannot install a President. At best they are talking of supporting a candidate from the North. You don’t blame me for saying that my own people support Jonathan. This is because assuming the power comes to the North today, would you tell them to concede power to the Idoma people where I come from because I am a minority in the North and Jonathan is a minority from the South South. Why don’t you allow him finish his second term, thereafter, any other group can begin to agitate for power? The argument of some other groups in the North is that the North-Central is not marginalised as alleged. They say former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, ruled for nine years and former military President, General Ibarahim Babangida, ruled for eight years and they are from the Middle Belt, whereas late President Umaru Yar’ Adua, did two years and former President Shehu Shagari, did four years and three months. As such, they believe that the core North still has a deficit in the power ratio. What about the people that were politically elected from the N-East in the 60s. You mentioned Gowon and Babangida, those were military presidents. I am talking of a democratically elected situation. That is what I am talking about. Gowon was there to service the country; there was a war. I fought the war as a young officer. The idea was that we wanted the country to be united. So if he stayed for nine years, it was because of the exigency of the situation that made him to stay there. And in the case of Babangida, it was a military time. I am talking about democratically elected president. Jonathan, having served four years, should be allowed to serve another four years. It is a very simple thing. In 2019, any group in the North can now try towards capturing power. Like you said, if it would come to the Middle Belt by that time, it would be decided by Nigerians and the political parties that are working for the good of this country. It cannot be decided by me and you. But everybody has a right to agitate, even the Northern elders. But we from the Middle Belt support Jonathan and we are saying he must do his second term. I am from the minority. With strict elections in this country, the Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, they keep winning because of numbers. God has brought us somebody from the minority, who is now our President. After four years, you are asking him to go and that power should return to another place. I am saying I don’t support it as an individual. I support him doing a second term. And after that, the power can now go to anywhere. Then, if we in the Middle Belt want power, we will fight for it, campaign for it by telling Nigerians why power must come to us. And if the core Northern elders want it, they have to convince Nigerians with all the available statistics as to why they want it.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 03:33:43 +0000
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