Jackson Omenazu, the Chancellor, International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, tells CHUKWUDI AKASIKE that the right to vote and be voted for as enshrined in the constitution cannot be taken away by any person or group
A faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has warned South-East governors and senators who failed to stop the sit-at-home ordered by the Indigenous People of Biafra to stay away from the 2023 general election. Do you think such warning is justifiable?
It is the inalienable right of a citizen in a democracy to vote and to be voted for. It is within the ambit of the law for any qualified citizen of Nigeria to contest any election if he or she wishes to do so. But while nobody can take away that right from the governors and senators from the South-East, the political class in the region has literally abdicated their responsibility to IPOB. The rise of IPOB in the South-East is a clear evidence of a vacuum in leadership. There is a complete leadership vacuum in the South-East and that gave rise to IPOB’s popularity.
One must honestly put it the way it is. If the political leadership in the South-East had done what they were supposed to do by carrying the people along and deploying the resources to them (people), IPOB would not have had the space to control the political psyche of majority of the youths of the South-East. There is no doubt that today, Nnamdi Kanu is literally the most popular political actor in the South-East.
Are you saying the political class in the South-East has not done well?
The political class in the South-East is so selfish. In Igbo land today, they are individually rich, but collectively poor. So, it is high time the political class in the South-East began to look inwards and know that the mandate which they exercise, whether they are governors or senators or House of Assembly members, is the people’s mandate. There should be a reflective thinking about the people and not them first.
But in all these, the faction of Ohanaeze Ndigbo has no right to say governors or senators in the region should not contest election in 2023. Definitely, the group does not have such right. Ohanaeze is a socio-cultural organisation of Ndigbo. Both the governors, senators and House of Reps members from the South-East are all members of Ohanaeze. The previous leadership that handed over to the current leadership allowed this factionalisation of Ohanaeze Ndigbo because the man there then literally removed the Oha and left the Eze in his style of leadership. He was cooperating with the kings and left the masses and therefore, their people’s loyalty becomes questionable. That is why you see the factions in Ohanaeze today.
Some are saying the sit-at-home ordered by IPOB is a tool to draw the Federal Government’s attention to the marginalisation of the South-East and that such tool will benefit the region. What is your take on this?
The sit-at-home has its merits and demerits. If the generality of Ndigbo say the sit-at-home is good for them, then it is good for them. But if it is the other way round, then it is not good for them. But the truth is that for an organisation to issue such an order and it is obeyed in totality, it means that the organisation has the conscience of the people. It is a minus on the political leadership of that area. IPOB’s foothold in the South-East is frightening. That means that both the governors, the Reps, and the senators have very porous constituencies. They are not on the ground. There is the need for them to go back to their constituencies and say the people are not going to obey this sit-at-home order for various reasons, and the people will see reasons with them. But because they are absentee Reps, senators and governors who only mind the Government House without the people, IPOB is in control.
For now, the group the masses listen to is the group that tells them what they want to hear because there is no evidence on the ground to counter it. This is where the problem is. So, if the political class wants to disagree with IPOB, they should go back to their constituencies, to their states and their various wards and begin to educate the people and begin to prove to them that they (political class) care. As of today, most of the people see the organisation that cares for their interest as IPOB and not the political class.
Irrespective of party affiliation, there is a serious disconnect between the people and the ruling class. Unless the ruling class reconnects, IPOB will still continue to hold sway in the South-East. That is the truth. It is unfortunate.
What is your message to the faction of Ohanaeze that warned politicians to stay away from 2023 elections?
My message to the group is that they should not worsen the situation on the ground but find a way for peace to return to the South-East. They should have known that based on the dictates of the constitution, nobody can stop any qualified person from voting or being voted for in a democracy. If the people do not want a particular politician to contest for a position, the people will vote him out. It is as simple as that. For me, I don’t support the warning to politicians not to contest the 2023 election. That would mean that the group would be overstepping its bounds.
What else can the political class in the South-East do in this situation?
The political class should know that it is time for them to understand that they cannot continue to play on the intelligence of the masses. What IPOB is doing in the South-East today has proved that there is an alternative third force that can counter them any day, any time, and there is the need for them to come down from their high horse and meet the people. There is the need for them to take the people’s resources back to the people so that the people can begin to listen to them. It is unfortunate that the political class in Igbo land does not realise that Igbo people are highly intelligent and you cannot continue to play on their intelligence without them reacting, and their reaction is what you are seeing now.
You can see that it has never happened in the history of Igbo land where a sitting governor’s house is burnt. That shows the highest level of discontent among the people. Today, most of them (politicians) can no longer come home to meet their people. They cannot continue to live in Abuja only to bring miserable bags of rice in December. The truth is that the people have been feeding before December and they will continue to feed. What the people want is pragmatic leadership, what they want is the leadership that will listen to them; they want a leadership that will bring amenities back home. They want water in their houses and not water in only the houses of governors, Representatives’ members and senators.
What is your view on the current clamour for a president of Nigeria from the South-East?
Such clamour is justifiable; other zones got it. So, what is source for the goose is source for the gander. I wish that the entire nation will see reasons for the South-East to produce the next president. Let them give the region a try. If other zones have within the current democratic experiment got the presidency at one point or the other, what is wrong for the South-East to get the presidency? They (South-East) have equally contributed to the development of this country and it is high time Nigerians began to treat each other with equity and justice. The absence of equity and justice is the presence of chaos and anarchy.
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