Veteran Biafran soldier and former Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka, Prof. Boniface Egboka, speaks on the recent invasion of Enugu community by Fulani herdsmen, additional states for South East and dangers of creating grazing routes for herders in the southern parts of the country, among other issues in this interview with Special Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO.
There is this allegation that since the attack on Nimbo community in Enugu State, South East National Assembly members have not taken a bold stance on the issue. How do you feel with the development?
Honestly, with the unfolding events and incidents that have continued to affect the interest of the South East geo-political zone, one wonders the role of our representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Our people are not talking. They are not making much comments and contributions.
There has, for instance, been strong demand for creation of more states in the South East zone. But it all seems as if nothing is being done about that. We elected them to go out there and speak on our behalf, but I am yet to get the most favourable results so far.
We had talked and canvassed about Lagos/Calabar rail line that would further link us with even some parts of the North with other states in the South East. All we hear or witness is the type of politics being played with that all-important project.
Our people do not understand the importance of that project to the South East and the South South. With that rail line, the pressure on our federal highways would reduce drastically. We are all aware of the state of our roads and the attendant state of dilapidation, occasioned by the pressure of heavy duty vehicles and other vehicles. Our National Assembly members should work with their colleagues to actualise that project. I even learnt that this project was put in our budget and later stories came around that it was withdrawn from the budget. The controversy it has generated has not even helped matters in this present circumstance.
Some people, I believe, are somewhere working against our interest, and this does not speak well of our democracy at all. It also does not speak well of our national unity as a country. Our National Assembly members should always brace up for the tasks ahead.
A similar matter here is the second Niger Bridge which has been a sing-song. At some point, we heard that contract had been awarded for that project, and a lot of politics followed it. Now we hear that our budget was tampered with and the second Niger Bridge was affected. These are issues that must be addressed in our country’s interest.
But I am not doing a total write-off on our National Assembly members. I know that the likes of Uche Ekwunife, Joy Emordi, Enyinnaya Abaribe and the late Uche Chukwumerije had at one point or another made meaningful contributions at the National Assembly. But more needs to be done. I also know that they need the support of their colleagues from other zones to succeed.
That indeed reminds us about the need for the creation of more states in the South East, currently with five states. We only have 15 senators. Also, the number of House of Representatives members from the zone is too small compared to the number from other zones.
With more states in the South East, it will increase the number of representatives from the zone in the National Assembly. The exercise will also increase number of local government areas and number of House of Assembly seats in the area.
It is my suggestion that Ohanaeze Ndigbo and other pan-Igbo organisations should be more focused towards actualising these dreams and ambitions. I must say at this point that the South East is the sick baby of the federation. Will the Lagos/Calabar rail line suffer the same fate with second Niger Bridge? What about the power station at Ala-Oji?
If you make your research, you will discover that many large-scale, medium-scale and small-scale industries have closed shop due to epileptic power supply, and you know that the number of unemployed people has been on the increase.
We had the Oji Power Station in Enugu State before the Civil War and it served the old Eastern Region. It can be revived, so that we have other sources of power and reduce the pressure on the national power services.
My humble submission is that our people should be more proactive and not being fallow. When you study the North, you will also discover that they and the West are more proactive than our people. I was in the Constituent Assembly before and we had people like Babagana Kingibe, Segun Osoba and we know the role they played for their people.
Fulani herdsmen’s attack is not the first of such occurrences. Curiously, the Igbo are mostly the targets in such situations. How do you feel about the whole thing?
It has been a constant issue in Nigeria. When you hear of religious riot, the worst hit are the Igbo because we are everywhere. If there is a problem in Lagos, everybody goes to Idumota Market, Alaba International Market and Ladipo Market where our people do business and we have continued to lose a lot. Today we hear of the attacks on our people by the Fulani herdsmen.
These are people who are more of cattle men. Now they carry guns and attack our villages, kill people and rape our women.
Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, is wrong by saying that grazing is part of Fulani culture. So, what that means is that they can go to any part of Nigeria with cattle and graze. This is unacceptable to us in the South East.
We are farmers. Before the advent of crude oil, our people relied greatly on agriculture as our source of economic sustenance and up till now agriculture is still part of our life. You cannot come all the way from the North to destroy our farms on the grounds that Fulani culture is grazing. Who is ready to part with his or her farmland or ancestral land in the name of grazing? There is the need for us as Nigerians to be mindful of some statements that are inimical to our corporate existence.
We are yet to address the Boko Haram issue in Nigeria and the Fulani herdsmen have come into the stage. This goes to question the state of security in Nigeria and the safety of our people in this part of the country.
How do you think grazing in the South would affect the region?
What it means is that when we are talking about afforestation, the federal government is talking about deforestation. When you look at Lake Chad Basin, you will discover that it was not the same 15 to 20 years ago. It was a large lake, but now it has lost 90 per cent of its water and will soon dry out.
They should have cattle in ranches. Government should build ranches and not to come down to the South to facilitate desert encroachment. If you go to Egypt and other parts of Europe, they have ranches. They should supply grasses and not to push deforestation down the South.
That was how it all started and our brothers and sisters were killed in the North. Pregnant women had their wombs ripped and children slaughtered. This time around, it is happening in the South East and our senators and House of Representatives members are watching. This is yet another way of telling us that we are war captives and we must remain a conquered race.
People may think that it is one of those things; but sooner or later, we shall come to terms with the realities of the undercurrent.
I saw the pogrom and I saw the war. I saw people suffer. I saw hunger. I saw frustration. I saw orphans. I saw psychological distress. There was pogrom and those things are still happening now.
Do you see possibility of another Civil War, going by the turn of events?
We have fought the war and we learnt our lessons from the war. We are not talking about another war, but there is that urgent need to address issues that led to the Civil War. We had the constitutional conference. Such issues and other related matters were raised and resolutions made. That should also be a good working document for our country.
At this stage of our polity, we should be asking ourselves very pertinent questions about our cooperate existence. That would be better for our country and not going into another civil war.
Any part of the country that is calling for a civil war should go ahead and fight, but not with us, the lgbo. We have had our own share of the civil war and we actually made our point. All we need now is to talk to ourselves and find a better way of bettering our condition and not going to war.
After the war, they said ‘no victor no vanquished’ and we accepted all that. But today we know the victor and we also know the vanquished. So going to war is out of consideration because we, the Igbo, saw it all during that war.