By Chioma Gabriel, Deputy Editor
Professor Itse Sagay is known to be very outspoken on issues of resource control and other national issues of the moment.

In this interview, the Professor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, speaks on the state of insecurity in Nigeria,the Henry Okah allegation and dismisses him as a desperate fellow who is capable of any evil because his business of gun-running is already down due to the amnesty programme.

What in your view is  responsible for the general state of  insecurity in the country: killings, kidnappings , Boko Haram , bomb blasts? Some people think its all about the forthcoming elections.

Itse Sagay: Okah not serious

It is not all about the elections but you cannot rule that out. Aba kidnapping  is a commercial venture. It’s about financial enrichments.  Boko Haram activities is about religious  extremism. In the 80s, we used to have the Maitasine. Religious extremism is about those who cannot tolerate religious differences or divergent religious opinions. It’s the same thing all over the world amongst muslim fanatics.

But whatever form the insecurity is taking in the country has to be tackled seriously.
The one that baffled all of us which is pure terrorism was the independence -day bomb blasts. The Abuja bombing was a confusion to a lot of us.

The MEND which  claimed they did  it had no reason to do it because of the amnesty programme which has already taken effect. There are training, rehabilitations  which started with Yar’Adua and has continued with Jonathan. There are major projects going on in the Niger Delta. So, there is no reason for them, having been part of the Niger Delta struggle to do what they claimed they did.

So, in addition to investigating  MEND, I think there are also  people who are thinking they have lost chance to continue to dominate the affairs of this country who also should be investigated. Those are the people calling  onJonathan to resign. A splinter MEND which did not accept amnesty and those who are saying they will make Nigeria ungovernable if Jonathan does not resign should be investigated.

And in investigating the  terrorism attack on Abuja, I think we should bring in foreigners who are more advanced on issues like this because they will trace the manufacturers of the bombs, trace those who bought them and from there, trace the people behind the bomb blast because this thing that happened in Abuja is pure terrorism .

Perhaps, having  looked  at the amnesty programme going on in the Niger Delta, Jonathan must have seen there was no reason why MEND would be responsible for that and I think that was why he made the earlier statement he made that MEND was not responsible because he couldn’t see the reason why MEND should do it.

So, the investigations should be thorough?

Yes. And we should  not be foreclosed in our opinions because it could have been pure terrorism. It could also have been  political because some people have vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable should Jonathan emerge President and have been calling for his resignation. Those who made such negative responses should be probed and investigated because they too could know something about the bomb blasts on independence day.

Then those militants who did not accept amnesty should also not be left out and so, the whole issue should be investigated thoroughly because the level of insecurity at this stage is alarming and one thinks the security operatives should step up with new tactics to protect the citizenry and ensure safety of lives and property and Nigerians should be assured that come 2011, there is nothing to fear as they throng out in their millions to vote in the next elections.

From what you said, you seem to agree with the president that MEND couldn’t have done what it claimed it did?

I don’t believe that the bomb blast was the handiwork of MEND. For one thing, the leaders of the group recently assembled at Abuja, all their commanders had a meeting and we saw them. They denied involvement.

And that leaves us with two possibilities: We may have what one can call relative splinter which did it or people who are not MEND at all who devised this strategy so as to bring President Goodluck Jonathan into this problem of Nigerians saying that his people bombed Abuja to discredit him.

But from what Henry Okah told Al Jazeera, one cannot just sweep under the carpet his allegation that a Presidential aide approached him to tell MEND to withdraw its earlier claims that they were responsible.
I think Henry Okah did what he did because he is a frustrated man. He was hoping to make a lot of money from Jonathan but when he saw he was not doing so, he was ready to do anything. So, really, I think Henry Okah made up his allegations.

If we are already having these problems close to elections. What do you think will happen during elections?

We should be at alert. I’m sure the government has learnt from this and that is even why we should be more committed to putting a good government in power; a government that will be accountable to all of us, a government that is not corrupt and will obey the rule of law. So, I think that we should be up and doing and I hope too that the security agents are equal to the task.

Would you say the security agencies are really up to the task?

I wouldn’t say I’m impressed with their performance this time. If they were, what happened at Abuja wouldn’t have happened because we learnt there was warning some days to the incident and some hours before it happened. But it is either they didn’t take the warning seriously or they are thoroughly incompetent.

Many Nigerians suspect all these have to do with Jonathan contesting election in 2011. Do you think what happened is enough reason for him to withdraw?

He should continue. It is his constitutional right. But there are a lot of people who are living in the past and who think ruling this country is their inherited right but it is not. And by sheer coincidence, these are the people who are contributing the least in terms of resources; people, who are surviving on other peoples’ resources and they want to continue to rule the people who generate these resources. It is an unsustainable situation.

So, anybody can vie for any political office in this country whether the North likes it or not because democracy must be a level playing field for every Nigerian. Every Nigerian is entitled to power and that includes Jonathan as well. So, Jonathan must conclusively pursue this agenda to run for presidency to the end.

But it becomes a minus when this kind of thing happens in one’s regime and for the first time in this country. It is believed the perpetrators are the President’s kinsmen of the South-South.

The militants are being re-habilitated. They have already put down their guns. Go to the Niger Delta, there are many development programmes going on. MEND was part of the struggle for these developments.

That is the issue.But the investigation is on and those responsible must be fished out so that a stop can be put to it. Nobody can blame any part of the country as being responsible because we don’t really know who did it. Another part of the country could have done it and blame MEND so as to give a bad name to the South-South. We hope the rehabilitated MEND and members of the government would  unravel this mystery so that those responsible should be given the appropriate punishment.

So, nobody should take Henry Okah’s allegations seriously?

Nobody should. He is a disgruntled fellow, he’s a gun-runner. He lives by selling guns and now that arms have been put down, he is badly affected. So, he is desperate and he is capable of any evil at this point in time.

Was it his decision to go and live in South-Africa?

Well, he is already undergoing trial in South-Africa. If there is enough evidence to connect him to the independence day bombing, FG can extradite him for trial in Nigeria.