Mazi Nnamdi Kanu: A Victim Of Igbophobia  – Sir Temple Ogueri Onyeukwu

Sir Temple Ogueri Onyeukwu, former aspirant for the Mbaike House of Representatives, retired Military Officer, Social Crusader, Philanthropist and Political Analysts granted our correspondent this interview in his office in Abuja

2027 GENERAL ELECTIONS IS APPROACHING, WILL THE SOUTH EAST BE ABLE TO PRODUCE THE SUCCESSOR TO PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU FOR THE REMAINING 4 YEARS THE PRESIDENCY WILL BE DOMICILED IN THE SOUTH?

The South East is witnessing the height of disappointments and betrayal. Most of the present crop of governors and political leaders from the South East have demonstrated the greatest level of betrayal of South East interest since 1960. Right before our presence, General Olusegun Obasanjo from the South West had 8 years as the president, Goodluck Jonathan from the South South had 5 years as president, professor Yemi Osinbajo from the South West had 8 years as the vice president and General Muhammed Buhari of blessed memory from the North had 8 years as president. Yet when it was the turn of the South East, they betrayed us and some of them supported Bola Ahmed Tinubu from the South West to become president again. Even now, instead of supporting Mr. Peter Obi who is arguably the most credible and generally accepted presidential material nationally, they are sabotaging his efforts and ambition and supporting Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term.

Ironically most of the governors and legislators from the South West are supporting Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term also. Ogbonna Onu of blessed memory captured it aptly at the primaries of the APC in 2023 at the Eagles sqare in Abuja when he out of frustration asked “where is the Justice” where is the justice? Where is the justice? Where is the justice if the entire nation with the complicity of the South East political leaders will gang up against Peter Obi. The most credible Nigeria has produced since 1999? Where lies the redemption of Nigeria? How many of the present South East political leaders who are making decisions on our behalf had any viable business before political opportunism? How many had employees apart from casual drivers? The present crop of South East Political leaders is the reason the zone has continued to slip into renewed political, economic and social hopelessness.

The apparent consensus of most Nigerians across Geopolitical zones to suppress, oppress, subjugate, marginalize, discriminate and possibly annihilate people of South East zonal extraction is worrisome. All Geopolitical zones in Nigerian appear to habour a phobia for the Ibos of the South East. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is a victim of Igbo phobia

WHAT HOPE DOES THE NEW ELECTORIAL ACT HOLD FOR TRANSPARENT CREDIBLE ELECTIONS COME 2027?

The essence of public hearing by the legislators in law making is to decipher what the nation wants as part of the law. The Senate and the House of Representatives spent tax payers’ money to conduct public hearing in the process of amending the electoral Act 2022. The generality of submissions at all the zonal public hearings was the inclusion of Real time electronic transmission of election results from the pooling boots. Electronic transmission of results will eliminate result. Jacking, fraudulent, manipulation and falsification of results, between the polling boots and the collation centres. However little did we know that the national Assembly does not represent the Nigerian masses. The National Assembly represents the interest of the paymaster. By blatantly rejecting the wish of the masses, it has inadvertently introduced violent electoral Brigandage and gangsterism in the politics of 2027. The generality of Nigerians are aware that political Brigandage, gangsterism, manipulation of election results, falsification of results. Prevention of voters from voting and intimidation are characteristics of elections held in Rivers State, Lagos State and to a lesser extent Kano State. Financial inducement at poling boots has become the hallmark of Nigerian Elections and the 2027 elections will witness this in a greater scale.

NIGERIA HAS PRODUCED UNIQUE POLITICIANS WHO MAY BE DESCRIBED AS TRANSGENDER POLITICIANS. CAN TRANSGENDER POLITICIANS PROMOTE DEMOCRACY?

Transgender politicians are politicians who belong to one political party, but are working for the interest of a rival political party. Some of them have very deep pockets, very arrogant, unruly and boastful simply because they enjoy the support of the ruling party for now. They betray the interest of the party they hold membership, control the levers of political power and exercise that control for the interest of the rival parties. They play God. They are very pretentious, they lie. They do not believe in justice, but have the ability to exploit the judiciary. They manipulate the judiciary exploiting their connections with the ruling party to the detriment of the party they profess to belong to. They are serial betrayers. They can betray all their mentors and those who helped them to political prominence. They with the complicity of their present sponsors can suffocate their successors in power. They are always right in their own eyes. They do not brook any challenge to their authority on the levers of power. They are present dangers to our democratic development. Nigerians are in despair. The darkness enveloping our democracy as a result of the activities of these transgender politicians may lead the nation to slip into renewed hopelessness.

A COMMON SAYING AMONG POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDERS IS THAT THE UNITY OF NIGERIA IS NOT NEGOTIABLE. YOUR THOUGHTS?

Unity imposed without justice is a fallacy, pretentious, lie, unsustainable. Nigeria has over the years demonstrated a pandemic of ingratitude against the South East. Let us look at two cases at stake. Look at the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, some Northerners during the presidency of Goodluck Jonathan openly asked for an independent country of their own. Sunday Igboho a South Westerner openly campaigned for the Oduduwa Republic, yet none of them is in jail today. But Nigeria went as far as Kenya to abduct Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, against all international laws and treaties, allegedly drugged him and forcibly brought him to Nigerians, and put him in prison for asking for Biafra to leave Nigeria. Another contemporary case is the rotation of the presidency between the North and the South. Whereas the South West has had 8 years as president, 8 years as vice president and whereas the South South has had 5 years as president and 3 years as vice president, yet when it was the time for the South East, the opportunity was denied them using both the electoral umpire, and all organs of the state. Where is the justice? Where lies the Unity?

ON NIGERIA AND THE RULE OF LAW?

The rule of law has no meaning, when in a society, legality becomes elastic. Impunity becomes the order of the day while the state turns a blind eye. The normalization of illegality can only lead to a collapse of governance into gangsterism. The silence of the state can only be interpreted as complicity. Take a chronicle of the infiltration, destabilization, destruction, poaching, and legal traps, obstacles and manipulations allegedly sponsored by the ruling APC against opposition political parties using willing insider members of those parties and the institutions of state, where will this lead us to? Political stagnation? One party state? Coronation of the presidential candidate of the APC? Subsequent decent and attendant instability? Nigeria must not be allowed decent into constitutional vandalism. By encouraging and accepting defecting law makers into APC, the party is reinforcing the disobedience of the law, promoting political prostitution, and rewarding outlaws. Until the laws are amended banning defection from one party to the other with the mandate of another party and institutionalizing a two party system, our democracy will continue to be bedeviled with Kakistocrats and kleptomaniacs whose only business in politics is to grab power and loot the common wealth of the action

WHERE IN YOUR VIEW DOES NIGERIA GO FROM HERE?

As long as Nigeria continues to reinforce failure, falsehood and injustice, the unity of the nation will continue to deteriorate in geometric proportions. Peace will continue to elude the country because we continue to sow the seed of discord. The unity of the country once described as a mere aspiration far from reality by Sir Ahmadu Bello will remain in the realms of aspiration. The fault lines forcefully holding the geographical expression will continue to thin out and in no distant time will get to the elastic limit. At that point Nigeria will move from the intensive care unit to the mortuary. When a country is united by force and not by the consensus of its citizens, the development will always be jeopardized. When a country pretends it is united in the full glare of injustice, inequity, impunity and political gangsterism and agberosm, then its democracy is doomed. The Nigeria state instead of deploying superior force to clear the terrorists who are killing our brothers and sisters are busy deploying superior force to suppress, capture, decimate and destroy opposition PDP, ADC, Labour Party and any other party that will raise its head to challenge APC in the forthcoming 2027 elections.

We must stop the criminal infiltration into other political parties and the alleged use of the judiciary to stampede opposition out of democratic political contestations.