Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Magnus Abe, speaks on President Goodluck Jonathan's declaration of a state of emergency, the Rivers PDP crisis among other issues in this interview with JOHN ALECHENU
Do you think President Jonathan acted in time by declaring a state of emergency in the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa?
The President as the Commander-in-Chief gets his briefings and is privy to information that the rest of us will not have. I don't think it will be proper for anybody to second guess how he takes his decisions based on the advice that he is getting from his security chiefs. I think that given the level of information that is available to him, he took the decision at a time he felt the situation called for it. And I would not want to second guess that. What I will like to say is to call on all Nigerians, let's not look at the issues going on in parts of this country today as a political issue. It is not a Peoples Democratic Party matter; it is not a Jonathan matter. Nigeria is under threat and we need to take it seriously, all Nigerians should take it seriously. As we speak, the constitutional freedoms guaranteed to all citizens of this country are no longer being enjoyed by millions of Nigerians. The freedom of movement, freedom of association, the freedom of worship, freedom of religion guaranteed by the constitution are not being enjoyed by millions of Nigerians. They are not even enjoying the freedom to life and the rights that are guaranteed by our constitution. People are taking other people's lives with reckless abandon. As far as possible, we may have issues with each other when it comes to politics but in this particular matter, I think all Nigerians need to rally together and stamp out this evil. We should do what we can to bring this under control. I would like to support our troops; I would like to support all the security agents who are putting their lives at risk to try to get this thing under control. We should not only support them, we should honour them.
Will the proclamation not derail the proposed amnesty for members of the Boko Haram sect?
People have talked about the amnesty and the state of emergency. I would like to say that the two issues are not related. As far as I'm concerned, the state of emergency does not in any way affect the issue of amnesty. Anybody who is conducting himself in a manner that is contrary to public order is not interested in amnesty. Anybody who is interested in amnesty will not be conducting himself in a manner that is contrary to public order. He will be talking to the amnesty committee as both things can go together at the same time. I would like to call on all those who are affected or involved to take advantage of the amnesty instead of creating a situation that calls for resolution by force.
In your opinion, will the declaration restore order to the troubled states?
I believe leadership is a contest of ideas as nobody knows everything. What I know is that in the cause of governance when you have a situation where there is a breakdown of law and order and where people will not obey the law, where people are not guided by the normal norms of what you can do and what you cannot do, the option open to the government is to call in the army or the security forces to restore order by force. That's the option open, the other option of course, is to try to in-between that to stop it. If anybody has a third option that has not been revealed, they are free to contribute their ideas. If you feel this one will not work, please say what will work. All we want is peace in Nigeria. If I know of any other one that is better than the options that are available now, I will gladly say it right here that we shouldn't be doing this, this is what we should be doing. But if people don't have a better idea and this is the one that is on the table, we should support it to work. That's how I look at things, right now, I can't think of what we can do other than trying to restore order by the means that is available to the Nigerian state.
What is your take on the face-off between your governor, Rotimi Amaechi and President Jonathan?
I don't know of any face-off between Amaechi and the President. There are those who are taking advantage of their political ambitions and desires to try to create a situation of crisis in the South-South. I want to say clearly that having problems in the South-South is not in anybody's interest, it is certainly not in the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party, it is certainly not in the interest of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is certainly not in my own interest. Anybody who genuinely wants PDP to succeed, anybody who genuinely wants the President to succeed will not be trying to create bush fires where there is no need for such. I don't want to say anything that will pre-empt the effort that the Senate is making to try to reach out to all parties and allow peace to reign in Rivers State. But I would like to say very clearly that you can have disagreements – we are politicians and there is no way we can all agree to everything. That does not give anybody the right to do some of the things that I see going on in Rivers State. It gives nobody such rights and it will not work in the interest of anybody. I just want to at this point be part of trying to look for solutions that will allow politicians to disagree, play their politics without playing politics with the lives of people. How do you compromise the police to the extent that is going on in Rivers State? We've talked about saying, 'oh, we don't want state police because state police can be abused by politicians;' and this is what is going on in Rivers State. Will state police do what is happening in Rivers State today? The PDP caucus in the Senate met and took a decision to set up a committee to go and look for a political solution and I stand by what the PDP caucus in the Senate has decided. But I would like to repeat that what is going on in Rivers State is not in the interest of the South-South, it is not in the interest of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and it is definitely not in the interest of Rivers People, I will say that and I will say that anywhere.
Abuja based politicians have been accused of fanning the embers of this conflict. What is your response?
The issue of Rivers PDP, as far as I am concerned, is neither here nor there. Like I said, people like politicians are looking for what they are looking for; this is the season for that. That in itself wouldn't be a problem. Anytime there is a transition, politicians break into camps and try to outdo one another that is normal, that by itself wouldn't be a problem. What I am against is the level to which this is being allowed to degenerate for whatever reason. That is what I'm against. Outside of that, people are free to play their politics. Whatever it is that they want to do and they are doing it within the law, that is okay by me but it is not when people look at the truth and stand the truth on its head. We all went for a congress, we all attended the congress everybody knew it, it was televised, we spoke after the congress then somebody can stand up and deny something at that level. There are some things I will be afraid to do because when my children grow up I don't want them to say this is how your father was. So I won't do it but if people can do it for the sake of power, it's fine by me. I have nothing against it but all I am saying is don't set the state on fire. Don't use the police as an instrument of politics, don't do things that can take the lives of ordinary people and create confusion that we may not be able to come out from. That is all I'm saying. The one of politics, everyone is free to play politics but let us draw lines that will allow people who are not politicians to live their normal lives. Because the way we are going now, people who are not politicians will be caught in the crossfire and that is not the kind of leadership we should be providing.
No comments:
Post a Comment