BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE
Evangelist Elliot Ukoh, is a member of the Ime Obi (inner caucus ) of Ohanaeze Ndigbo and President of Igbo Youths Movement.

In this interview, he speaks on struggle for 2015 by different sections of the country, performance of President Goodluck Jonathan since coming power and laments that the Presidents is yet to meet the expectations of the citizenry. Excerpts:

South – South, leaders, recently insisted that President Jonathan should run for a second term of office. The South-East believes it’s its turn. What is your reaction to that?

The IYM, as a matter of principle, does not dabble into such  partisan debates. We leave that to politicians. But I can advise President Jonathan to face the issues of governance. Even though, we have always supported him, we think he is not proactive with regard to fighting corruption frontally. Nigerians are getting disappointed with his style; even those who put in everything to campaign for him are now complaining aloud, that he is not fighting corruption. Nigerians want him to confront corruption as he promised. Instead,  the system seems to celebrate corruption.

Any talk about a second term when he has not completed one year into the four-year term is provocative and could alienate him from a large chunk of his support base. He should concentrate on the economy, fighting insecurity, building infrastructure, creating jobs, boosting agricultural output, addressing deficiencies in health care delivery, education, transportation system, housing, etc.

But most important of all, he must fight corruption as only a drastic war on corruption can save Nigeria. Those beating the second term drum now are only trying to heat up the polity.

Has president Jonathan performed well so far?

President Jonathan has disappointed Nigerians by tolerating corruption and refusing to confront the monster as he promised during his campaigns. It is business as usual, nothing has change. The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) stinks to high heavens, illegal oil bunkering is still going on; some people seem to be above the law. Our judiciary is under threat. Nothing has change at all. Nigerians thought President Jonathan would vigorously overhaul and energize the anti-corruption war.

We thought by now public officials would carry themselves with some respect, we thought some scape  goats would have been used to deter others. We thought government would become more transparent, become trimmer, Nigerians would have access to information on how much oil we sell monthly and how the wealth is distributed. We thought transformation meant a new,  more civilized way of governance but lo and behold, nothing has changed from the Obasanjo era, through the Yar’Adua era and the Jonathan regime.

We expected so much from this government. This regime is not moving in an inspiring manner. Check out the electricity problem, check out the insecurity, and check out the crime rate, the unemployment rate, the state of our roads. We trusted Jonathan with our whole heart, but now we are not particularly inspired by his dance steps and the mind set of the cabal around him.

President Jonathan needs to know that he represents hope to millions of Nigerians. We keep cool because we don’t want to play into the hands of power hungry vultures who want to rubbish him for the sake of politics. But he needs to know that if opinion poll is carried out to day, he will discover that his popularity rating has plummeted dangerously. We know that some evil men hope to blackmail him. But we also know that he has a huge opportunity to change things for the better and not much has been done. Nigerians are asking when the transformation will begin. Poverty, hunger and frustration still rule the land in the two years he has been in charge of Nigeria. President Jonathan can do better. Nigerians are no longer excited. This country needs positive change.

How do you see the government’s handling of prevailing security challenges posed by Boko Haram in the country?

Boko Haram is a product of a society that has brain-washed its youths that other Nigerians are infidels. That warped mentality has developed into a bloodletting culture for more than two generations. The leaders refused to do anything to correct this mentality because it helps the North intimidate the South politically.

Even if the government crushes Boko Haram today, cold blooded slaughter of Christians and Southerners will continue in the North. It has been on since 1952. There will always be people, who instigate religious and ethnic crises in northern Nigeria in order to drive their political agenda. Have you ever wondered why there have never been such senseless slaughter in Northern Cameroun, Northern Benin, Northern Ghana, Northern Togo etc?.

In all these countries, Southern Christians dwell peacefully with their predominantly Northern Muslims. It is only in Nigeria that endless crisis occur year in year out simply because some people play politics with religion.

Christian Ghanaians from the port city of Tema in southern Ghana, dwell in large numbers in northern region of Brong Ahafo; which is predominantly Muslim. Why haven’t we heard of religious riots in Northern Ghana? Southern Camerounian Christians live in the muslim dominated Northern cameroun without a single record of attack on the Christians. Why only in Nigeria?

Nigerians must address the contradictions of Nigeria at a National Conference. This country must be restructured along the lines of true federalism and regional autonomy. Only Aburi Accord of 1967 will save Nigeria. We should revert to six regions without delay. Nigeria cannot stand under this false military structure. Boko Haram is a product of hate culture and the use of religion to advance political agenda.

It is targeted at the soul of Nigeria. Its agenda is to bring down the Government and instigate Sudan-like kind of war in Nigeria and I can tell you that Boko Haram sponsors and their Al Qaeda friends are committed to civil war agenda. Nigerians must dialogue now. Delay is dangerous. Boko Haram is a prelude to the introduction of Sharia rule by enemies of Nigeria.

Are the Igbo really serious about 2015?

Every honest Nigerian knows that the best thing at this time would be, for the whole country to support the South-East to produce Nigerian’s next president. Nothing more would heal the country. That would finally unite Nigerians and lay a solid foundation for Nigerian’s true greatness. Whether desperate politicians from other sections of Nigerian would be honest enough to accept that fact is a different matter. It also depends on how Igbo politicians comport themselves and allay the fears and suspicions of fellow Nigerians. But nothing would unite Nigerian now more than an Igbo president.

The North is positioning itself to reclaim power by 2015 as evidenced by the emergence of several groups in the region. How do you view the move?

The bane of Nigeria is the naked fact that people still see Nigeria as a dead elephant and there is enough meat for everybody. When regions plot to take power, what they are saying really is that the basis of unity does not exist, as General Yakubu Gowon said in August 1966.

But the truth is that we should support a good committed president, irrespective of where he hails from. Sectional agitation simply means that we pay only lip service to national unity. The proper thing for us all to do is help the incumbent to succeed. We should cover our faces in shame at the pace with which Brazil, Malaysia, South-Africa etc have frog-leaped economically while Nigeria stagnated. These are nations we were at par with, if not ahead of in the 1970s. All hands should be on deck to fight corruption and insecurity, to dialogue on a truly federal structure and to re-orientate extremists in our midst. Sectional struggle for central power is unhealthy and unhelpful.

Will Ndigbo trade off their desire for the presidency in 2015 and support President Jonathan for another term?

Ndigbo are unique and beautiful people. They make their decisions by themselves. I do not speak for the great Igbo nation. The great Zik advised all who had ears that nobody leads Ndigbo by the leash, Zik advised that to get along with Ndigbo all you have to do is find out where they are headed and then join them. There is still plenty of time before 2015. Ndigbo will decide their future by themselves.

The most important things Nigerians need now are to defeat corruption, defeat insecurity, restructure the country, increase power supply, counsel extremists in our midst and grow the economy. Where the president comes from, does not really matter to Nigerians.

I thought our leaders would be busy thinking about how to bring Nigerians together in order to save the country, especially during this very trying period of bomb blasts. I am disappointed that meetings are held with the sole agenda of taking the presidency back to this region or that region. It shows that our leaders do not love Nigeria and do not care about the future of our country.

The struggle for power in 2015 is a litmus test of the way politicians treat Nigeria. Nigerians will see if the leaders are willing to make sacrifices for the survival of Nigeria. The younger generation is keenly watching.

Critics accuse Ndigbo of speaking in cacophony of voices, who speaks for Ndigbo?

Our governors are the leaders of the South-East, they usually consult widely and the people themselves know what they want. Our elders work harmoniously with the leaders. But when it comes to making political decisions like the vote direction in presidential election, I can assure you that Ndigbo know exactly what they want. They have suffered so much in Nigeria that nobody can deceive them anymore.

They lost over two million souls during the war, they’ve lost another quarter of a million in ethno- religious and political crises in Northern Nigeria. They have suffered humiliation and oppression for than 40 years. Ndigbo are no fools. When the time comes, they will speak for themselves.