By Eric Elezuo
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been dismissed in many quarters for being tribalistic and nepotistic. These infamous qualities however, have continually received credence from the number citizen and his foot soldiers in the running of the affairs of the country and its people. The region said to have been the biggest culprit in Buhari’s reign of division has been the people of the South East, and analysts have said that the President is unapologetic of his stand.
It would be recalled that at the inception of his presidency, Buhari unequivocally revealed his intention to create a pariah governance and rule by selection when he hinted before an international press that there was no way he would treat those that gave him 97 per cent vote and those that gave him five per cent vote equally.
The president was fielding questions from journalists when Dr. Pauline Baker, the President Emeritus of The Fund for Peace, inquired about security in the Niger Delta area. The exact wording of her question was: “My question relates to another area of Nigeria that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention during this trip and that is the Niger Delta. It’s a challenge that you are going to face. I wonder if you would tell us how you intend to approach it with particular reference to the amnesty, bunkering, and inclusive development?”
Buhari, who seemed lost at the content of the question seemed to struggle before replying thus: “I hope you have a copy of the election results. The constituents, for example, gave me 97% [of the vote] cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me 5%.”
“I think these are political reality,” the President added.
The president may have been answering questions relating to the Niger Delta at the time, but his body language and actions subsequently clearly showed he was referring to his relationship with the South East part of the country, which constitute the Igbo nation.
It is worthy of note that prior to the election of 2015 and even before, Buhari has never had the full support of the south east, and this has affected his general collation of votes, and to an extent created a political tension between him and the region. Stakeholders have therefore, concluded that Buhari’s response on that day, just few weeks after his inauguration, was premeditated, and no action so far from him has proved otherwise.
Matters have however, come to a different dimension as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami, unilaterally declared that the federal government would not hesitate to invoke the emergency rule if all avenues of keeping the peace in Anambra State fail before the governorship election set for November 6, 2021 in the state.
In a swift response, the government of the state through the Commissioner for Information, Don Adinuba, dismissed such calls as anachronistic, saying that it is outrageous and nothing but politically motivated. He insinuated that the call was an offshoot of the bias on Mr President has for the south east, asking if such states like Bornu, Zamfara, Kaduna and others heavily ravaged by insurgency attacks have been given emergency laws.
The Commissioner, who spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ a current affairs programme was reacting to the state of affairs in the sttt.
Suspected hoodlums, last week, had killed Dr Chike Akunyili, the widower of the late former Minister of Information and Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Prof. Dora Akunyili.
Dr Akunyili was reportedly shot dead on September 28 alongside seven others at Nkpor in the Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State. Some areas of the state including Nnewi have also recorded a pocket of violence as the November 6 governorship poll approaches and as the state governor, Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, enters his last months in office after eight years.
Consequently, Malami, after the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, said, “No possibility is ruled out by government in terms of ensuring the sanctity of our democratic order, in terms of ensuring that our elections in Anambra hold.
“And you cannot rule out the possibility of declaration of state of emergency where it is established, in essence, that there is a failure on the part of the state government to ensure the sanctity of security of lives, properties and democratic order,” he said.
However, reacting, the Commissioner of Information in Anambra said Malami’s statement was politically motivated.
He said there have been a high level of violence in All Progressives Congress states –Imo and Ebonyi – in the zone in the last few months yet emergency rule was not considered by the Federal Government.
Adinuba carpeted Malami, saying, “Nigerians are outraged by the threat by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
“Since the renewed violence in Anambra State which we believe is politically motivated, not more than 15 persons have been killed. How many persons have died in Borno, Niger, Kaduna, Yobe, Zamfara, even Imo, which is APC-controlled, (and) Ebonyi, which is APC-controlled?
“Has anybody threatened emergency rule in any of these states?
“For the past seven years, Anambra has remained the safest state, most stable in Nigeria.
“We remain the only state in the whole country that for the past seven years, has not experienced one single bank robbery; what is going on is politically motivated and the declaration by the honourable Attorney-General of the Federation is a confirmation.”
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Paul Ananaba, who spoke on the television programme on Wednesday night, said the insecurity experienced in Anambra has not degenerated into the declaration of an emergency rule.
Interpreting an emergency rule and its effects, Ananaba said, “What the State of Emergency does is to put aside the governor, the state assembly and all the institutions. It is an extraordinary measure. Anambra has not reached that point.
“Section 305 has made it clear that at the actual break down of law and order, there is no actual breakdown of law and order in Anambra State – schools are in session, banks are working, markets and all. There is violence but it has not gotten to the declaration of a State of Emergency.”
In a statement signed by the state’s Commissioner for Information,
Ndigbo Elders’ Forum has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse his perceived hatred for the Igbo as shown in their near exclusion in his government.
The group in its meeting in Enugu, yesterday, said the president has since assumption of office in 2015, treated its people as if they were not part of Nigeria.
Omife Omife, who said the issue had got to a head, described the exclusion of the Igbo in the National Security Council until recently when Major General Lucky Irabor from Delta State, was appointed Chief of Defence Staff, as worrisome, including denying them the position of inspector general of police.
He said appointments given to the Igbo in the Buhari government including ministerial portfolios were miserable.
Omife described Igbo as the most populous and patriotic stock in Nigeria, adding the people are found in every nook and cranny of the country, working assiduously to make the economy work.
He said no ethnic group has paid greater price for the unity of Nigeria than the Igbo.
Following the maltreatment meted to Ndigbo, Omife urged Buhari to allow them leave Nigeria since he would not give them their due share in the country.
He said they had to speak out as elders against ‘evil and the injustice’ of the government.
