[allAfrica.com]  [Africa_2005]


Oil Not Our Problem, It is the People

Vanguard (Lagos)
INTERVIEW
December 5, 2005
Posted to the web December 5, 2005

About Col. Achuzie: Born seventy years ago, in the present day Delta State, Col
Joe Achuzie has been involved in the programmes and activities of Ohaneze
Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organization in Igboland, for the past fifteen
years. Since he assumed office as the Secretary-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, he
has been distinguished by his frankness in public communications, and the
passion with which he canvases the Igbo position on matters of national and
regional interests. He believes strongly in one, united Nigeria, where equity,
justice, fairness and mutual respect for one another are unreservedly
operational at all levels of governance and social interactions. He is of the
opinion that the deterioration in the country is as old as the country itself,
and that the only way to ensure harmony and progress in the nation is to
convoke a conference of ethnic nationalities where the thorny issues plaguing
Nigeria could be properly addressed.
After the Biafra/Nigeria war in which he played a prominent role, he was
detained by Nigerian authorities. Fearing he might not survive the
incarceration, he wrote his book, Requiem Biafra, to articulate his role in the
war, and check attempts by later writers to, in his own words, " superimpose
falsehood" on him.
IGBO YOUTHS AND EDUCATION
There is current media hype on the low enrolment of Igbo youths in schools;
now, if this is true, what is Ohaneze doing to address the situation?
The low enrolment I believe is caused by two factors. One is excessive poverty
in Igboland, and the cost of education. The youths have now discovered that due
to the penalty imposed on Ndigbo by the powers that be in Nigeria, Igbo
children, after their mandatory one year NYSC programme, find it difficult,
because of their Igbo names, to get employment. So their reason may be: Why
litter the place with educated young men, who cannot find job placements
despite the promises that education is the way toward fulfillment and better
living?
But will Ndigbo not eventually lose out in the scheme of things in the nation
if Igbo youths continue to drop out of school?
But that's the intention of the present Nigerian leadership. Ohaneze and Ndigbo
are, however, still doing everything they can to make sure that that's not the
case.
ON CORRUPTION
Some people are saying that President Obasanjo has stepped up the fight against
corruption, while some others maintain that the crusade is only a tool to
persecute perceived enemies? Now, how do you see it?
The country is corrupt. Corruption didn't start yesterday. To stop corruption,
you must start from somewhere. I give the president credit for having the will
to fight corruption, not minding the cost. There have been other presidents and
heads of state in Nigeria -- if you go through the records, you will discover
that their records are tainted, not only as harbingers of corruption but
leaders of corruption and corrupt practices.
At least, we are happy that one head of state has woken up one morning, and
decided that enough is enough, no matter the cost to himself.
But a number of people are insinuating, based on recent reports, that the anti-
graft battle appears to be waged with soiled hands?
There is nothing like fighting corruption with soiled hands. If you are a good
Christian, you must remember that it is said: repent of your sins and you will
be forgiven and made whole. We can't say that because I made a mistake in the
past, and have now realized the proper thing to do, I shouldn't go ahead and
rectify the situation?
But assuming that the person appears not to have changed? Did you read the
details of Gov Orji Uzor-Kalu's allegations against the president? You are also
aware of what transpired during the launching of the Presidential Library?
I can't believe �-oe Orji Uzor Kalu has made his accusations, which I read in
the newspapers. I also read the president's response. He said that he who is
already on the ground need fear no fall. The president feels that he is on a
sure ground, that corruption must be fought. He even gave orders to the same
authority that is invested with the powers to fight corruption to investigate
the accusations against him, and make their findings public. For me, it takes
courage, and somebody with clean hands to say such a thing.
But the EFCC appears to be developing cold feet now?
That's your assumption.
No, from newspaper reports today.
Yes, that's still your own conclusion and assumption. Did the EFCC tell you
that they have developed cold feet?
They are saying that they are waiting for Orji Uzor Kalu to supply them with
evidence.
Correct! If you make allegations, you must be prepared to prove them.
HIS VISION AND PERSON
What would you say is your vision for Nigeria?
What I expect to see is a Nigeria where all the various ethnic groups live in
peace, side by side under a true federation; a federation of equal partners; a
federation where spiritual pursuits are allowed to be the personal affairs of
individuals, not that of the state; a federation where every Nigerian is free
to ply his trade wherever he wants without let or hindrance; a federation where
our children will grow with a vision of self respect wherever they find
themselves in this world; a federation where the name Nigeria does not confer
pariah status to those that identify with it; a federation where every child
that is born in Nigeria can walk with his head high, knowing that tomorrow will
be better than today; a federation free of corruption, free of political
chicanery and all sorts of vice; a federation untainted by any schism as a
result of religion.
Our intention, in this interview, is to seek realistic solutions. You have such
wonderful expectations; but how do we go about realizing them?
Well, I should think that the first step is for everybody who wishes or expects
to lead this country to first search his conscience and ask himself whether he
has got what it takes to lead the country. He should be asking himself can I
make the necessary sacrifices without trying to enrich myself at the expense of
fellow Nigerians? Have I the mental capacity to lead the people out of the
present quagmire in which they have found themselves. If his answers are in the
affirmative, then the person can bring himself before the people and we will
give him the leadership on a golden platter.
Majority of those who will read this interview already know that you are the
Secretary General of Ohaneze Ndigbo. Can you tell us a little more about
yourself?
There is nothing new about me. I've been around for the past three score and
ten years, and participated in the vicissitudes that visited Nigeria since the
late sixties. I also went through the Civil War, thanking God for surviving it,
and still thanking Him for the strength and good health to be in Ohaneze for
the past fifteen years. And, today, being the Secretary General of the
organization, I have only one single vision in my mind: namely, to bring the
Igbo together towards the original objective of Igbo togetherness, and to lead
them back into the primary positions they used to occupy before the Civil War.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Many people have reservations about the political parties we have in Nigeria
today. Some say our present crop of party men are not bound by any ideologies,
but by mainly narrow interests. Is that your opinion as well?
Well, ideology is a reflection of people's mental attitude. You form ideologies
by packaging together your various expectations and working out a formula for
actualizing and concentrating on them.
What people are saying is that the political parties today are an amorphous
grouping of people with diverse vested interests, with only one common
objective, and that is to use the place as a platform for launching political
careers. But to what end? They have no articulated programmes, and so people
believe that they are devoid of ideologies.
So, what does this portend for the country?
If you look into all the political parties we have now, none sprang up with the
intention of ruling; it's a grouping of strange bed fellows, each looking
forward to getting what they consider is their own share of the cake.
Now that Ohaneze is talking about the Igbo producing the next president,
considering that the person must come through one of the parties, how do you
intend to ensure he is not part of the unwholesome system you have just
described?
If the parties we have now are the ones allowed to produce the candidates,
Ndigbo, being part of Nigeria, will automatically use the material on the
ground for their own spring board.
THE CURSE OF OIL
People are saying that crude oil appears to have become a curse to Nigeria. We
have oil in abundance, but the masses are not benefiting from it; they buy fuel
at exorbitant prices; there are hardly any social amenities.
The oil is not to blame. The oil has benefited us. Why do I say so? Before the
advent of oil, our people toiled in the fields, getting calloused hands through
farming and all sorts of manual labour. Today, you see them in their big togas,
in big babaringas, driving such expensive cars like Sheiks of Arabia, and you
are telling me the oil didn't benefit them.
It benefited only a tiny few
Exactly. What you should have been asking is how come we are in the midst of
plenty, and yet going about, cap in hand, begging. Indeed, just a few among us
have cornered, to themselves, the fortune that belongs to everyone. I will say
that the people are to blame, not the oil. It's because they are all -- even
those that we say are suffering in poverty -- overfed, that's why they are
afraid to scratch their skins. If not, why can't they come out in their
thousands, in their millions, and pull down their tormentors, the few that have
cornered the things that belong to many?
A passive populace, we have then?
Passivity is as a result of excessive craving to preserve the body; like the
Igbo man will say -- "aru uso" -- that is, when one feels so comfortable that
he cannot afford to be troubled.
It could be as a result of fear.
Fear of what? If you are afraid, you will die, if you are not afraid, you will
die. So, why are you afraid, when you know that the ultimate is death?
MILITARY INTERVENTION
People are saying that democracy has come to stay, but some others are yet to
overcome the fear of the possibility of the military staging a come-back. Do
you foresee that happening?
Who is in the military?
The same people ruling now, I suppose.
The military are you and I, our children. They are not strangers. They are not
imported mercenaries. Why should any one be putting it into their heads that
they must disobey the people that brought them up? Why should you be afraid of
them? If you are afraid of them, then disband the military. Why package
something that you will be afraid of?
The military was once considered the most effective platform for lasting unity
in the country. But it's like at some point, such a belief evaporated.
How can there be unity in an army that is packaged on what you call federal
character? People don't join the army because they see it as a vocation; most
of the people in the army are surrogates of certain people who put them there
for their nefarious purposes. When we have a proper, well-oriented country, we
will put together an army that will be for the protection and the defense of
the people against external aggression.
I am ashamed to say that I have not read your book, Requiem Biafra, but could
you just share with us what you set out to achieve with that book?
Requiem Biafra, first of all, was a book that I wrote while in detention.
After the war?
Yes�-oe while in detention. I wasn't sure I would survive the detention. And
I was not prepared for history to portray me unfairly. And so, I wanted to tell
my own part of the story, of what took place in the battle, before other people
superimposed falsehood on me.
MESSAGE TO NIGERIANS
What final message do you have for Nigerians?
All I can say is that all the ethnic groups in this country need to come
together to resolve their differences, and that without that, there is no other
power that can shape and bring about the Nigeria we all are looking forward to.
ON THE INTERVIEW PROJECT
What do you think about the Interview Project that the Chinua Achebe Foundation
is organizing? What is your impression, having participated now?
I have the greatest respect for Chinua Achebe, because I know him. I knew him
through the war. I knew him after the war. Achebe has a very brilliant,
literary mind, and from his books, one can see that his level of thinking is
not just on the surface, but deeply engraved. He loves and truly believes in
Nigeria as one, as do I and other true patriots. Consequently, I believe that
whatever he embarks on is genuinely in the best interest of Ndigbo and Nigeria.

   

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