Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, engages former President-General of Aka-Ikenga, Dr. Sylvan Ebigwei, as he shares his views on present political happenings, particularly developments in the general election.
Former president of Aka-Ikenga, an intellectual think-tank of Igbo professionals and National Coordinator of South South Forum, Lagos, Dr. Sylvan Ebigwei, comes across as a highly dedicated and dutiful statesman that has always pointed the way forward for a stronger and more united Nigeria propelled on the wings of justice, equity and fairness.
On occasions in the nation’s quest for standard practice, he has made insightful interventions. In line with this established tradition, he had vowed, during an encounter with TheNiche, that he would not keep mute on sensitive issues that can impact on the future of the country, which he said has bright future, if potentials are well harnessed.
For him, “Nigeria is the only country that I have, and as far as my strength can carry me, I will not keep mute but will always speak out and make my contributions known, particularly to ensure that policies or issues that would address the growth of the country is not undermined. We must play the type of politics that will enhance our development rather than one that would take us back.”
As the 2015 political campaign heats up, Ebigwei is of the opinion that President Goodluck Jonathan should be given a second chance to consolidate on all that he started in the first tenure, adding that he has done so much, but the opposition has not been fair to him in its lethal criticism.
He observed in his assessment of the campaign so far that PDP appears to be winning in the electronic media war against the opposition, but picked holes in the centralisation of campaign through Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), rather than strengthening the various support groups littered in many parts of the country.
He faulted the organisation for appearing not to be getting it right in its publicity arrangement.
“The campaign has started and you can see that two major political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), are trying seriously to burrow into the stronghold of each other. There is a lot of media assault from both sides to gather enough votes from the electorate.
“For instance, the PDP, which is the ruling party where I belong, seems to have tried winning the electronic media war. APC is lagging behind in the electronic media war. I can see APC coming up strongly in the house-to-house campaign, and also trying to engage the grassroots. They are fighting like wounded lion,” he observed.
He alleged that a lot of false propaganda has been unleashed on Jonathan, adding that not much of his laudable achievements are highlighted. In his opinion, Jonathan has done well, but that his good works are being downplayed by the opposition party.
“The gains made by this nation under Jonathan are being down-played, and being supplanted by the negative side of what is happening in the country. The various campaign organisations should focus on highlighting the transformation of this nation by the Jonathan administration.
“A lot has happened since he took over. But those positive aspects of his administration are being dwarfed seriously through the massive campaign of the opposition in trying to hoodwink the nation and trying to mask the various transformations this country has witnessed.
“Right now, the few negative aspects of what the country is witnessing are what the opposition is capitalising on to rubbish the good work of the administration. What you hear are Boko Haram, Chibok Girls and corruption,” he lamented.
Ebigwei, a renowned dentist and National Coordinator, Anioma Nation for Jonathan, argued that the current security challenge in the land is a global phenomenon and not peculiar to the country.
According to him, those blaming Jonathan are not fair to him, stressing that the president has shown that he is a leader to trust and one passionate about the development of the country.
Ebigwei said, “It is only a fool who does not know the significance of insurrection caused through religious war. Nigeria is not the only country having religious bigots fighting. It is not a conventional war. These are people who fight and run across the border. And Nigeria military has not been trained in the area of guerilla warfare.
“Also, let’s try to understand that since 1970 when the civil war ended, Nigeria has not fought a war again. But we participate in international peace-keeping, which is a different thing from what we are witnessing now. Also, over the years, when the military ruled this country, they were having the highest budgetary votes for the military. But where is it? What did they do with the money?
“There are no military hardware, no helicopters, no submarines, no good warships, no good armoured personnel carriers (APCs). The gun the military is using is outdated. The highest is AK47. Warfare has gone beyond that. And the Boko Haram is being funded from outside. They have benefitted from the left-over of arms of the Libyan war. Had the military era up to the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo acquired some modern sophisticated weapons to at least defend the borders of this country, such as attack helicopters, very good jet bombers, good guns for the infantry, we will not be witnessing all this today.”
He expressed optimism that Nigeria would not disintegrate, despite alleged American predictions, but would rather get stronger, warning those he called agents of destruction to tread with caution.
“Nigeria will not scatter. Whatever is happening is very unfortunate. I am not tracing it to 2015 at all. It is very unfortunate that the happenstances are going on now. If those who are supporting the insurgents are doing so because they want to win the election, I think they have failed.
“Those who think that 2015 will make heaven fall will lose because heaven is not going to fall. After 2015, Nigeria will continue to wax strong,” he said.
According to Ebigwei, all hands must be on deck if Nigeria must get it right in the general elections.
“My message to the country is that every Nigerian should contribute his or her quota to make sure that the election is violence-free. Every Nigerian should join hands with the government to fight the insurgents. This is not the only country where insurgency is on.
“Every country teams up with its leaders to fight insurgents, and not use it as political gimmick to fault the ruling government. Fighting insurgency is no easy affair. Nobody should claim that if he is there, he would stop it in a day,” he counselled.