Guardian

Udengs Eradiri is a former Secretary General of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC). He also flew the flag of Labour Party (LP) for the Yenagoa-Kolokuma-Opokuma Federal Constituency in the 2011 elections.  In this interview, he speaks on the rising tension in the country over the 2015 general election, among other national issues.

MANY Nigerians believe that the controversy surrounding the chairmanship election of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum portends danger for the 2015 elections. What is your take on the issue?

What is the usefulness of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum? How many times have these governors sat down to fashion out ways of creating jobs for millions of unemployed youths across the country? They are only interested in dragging power with the President. They have only been interested in the Sovereign Wealth Fund. But I ask: What about the one that they are creating? I blame the unfortunate development on the style of President Goodluck Jonathan. Why didn’t they dictate to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo when he was the president? Do we have Local Government Chairmen that dictate to the governors how to govern their states? Will the governors accept it if the council chairmen say no to deduction of their funds?

I admire Governor Rotimi Amaechi because of his achievements in Rivers State. So, I will advise him to face governance in his state. I don’t think that the President is involved in the crisis rocking the Governors’ Forum, so he and his colleagues should resolve their differences and leave Jonathan out of it.

I wouldn’t want to see a breakdown of law and order in Rivers State because my rating of Amaechi is based on his performance in Rivers State, which is his primary responsibility to his people and not on political intrigues.

Don’t forget that we must build bridges if we are to win the 2015 presidential election. So impeaching Amaechi as being proposed by some elements will only create bad blood between the people of the South-South; it will be too costly an error to commit.

Having said this, I will equally advise Amaechi to reconcile with the President, which doesn’t mean that he should not assume leadership. Remember that at times one has to stoop in order to conquer if need be. As a leader, he has proved to be a good manager of resources and even though he has the right to any political alignment, it is only normal for him to support the wishes and aspiration of his people – the South-South zone. He should not allow himself to be used by the North to create crisis in the South-South.

When you talk about building political bridges as regards President Jonathan’s second tenure ambition, many people believe that Jonathan’s strategists are not doing enough, especially with the way they are ignoring the South-West. Do you agree?

The people of the South-West are intelligent and politically enlightened people, so when the chips are down, you will see their true dance steps. We will be making a mistake by thinking that they will align with the North in 2015.

Former president of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo recently threatened that there would be no Nigeria if President Jonathan fails to win the 2015 presidential election. Did he speak the minds of Ijaw youths?

Yes, he spoke the minds of Ijaw youths because we believe that the President must be given the opportunity, just like past presidents from other ethnic groups, to rule for eight years. It is unfortunate that Nigerians don’t see anything good coming from President Jonathan. The man has diligently ensured that the railways are working. Look at our roads; we know what they used to be before Jonathan became president. The recent Good Governance Tour exposed a lot of what the President has done that we were not aware of in the power, education, transport and other sectors of the economy. Is it because the man is a southerner that nobody wants to see the good things he is doing?

The Boko Haram insurgency, which some people are relying on to rate him low, is a well-orchestrated plan to deter him, but he has refused to be distracted. For me, Jonathan has been able to steer the ship of the Nigerian state efficiently. So, we believe that there would be crisis if the President is intimidated and pushed away. Gone are the days when we allowed people to take our resources and still spit on our faces.

However, I must say that we want to win the 2015 presidential election by building bridges, making friends, reaching out to the South-East, South-South and even the North because we cannot do it alone. Nobody wants to spill blood because of 2015. I am assuring you that the President’s work will speak for him when the time comes.

But should Jonathan fail to win in a free and fair contest, will you people accept the result?

I doubt if there would free and fair elections; but I will tell you that Jonathan will win the presidential election if the poll is free and fair. I doubt the possibility of free and fair elections because we have seen the drumbeat of Boko Haram. It is has succeeded in putting fear into the people of the North. What does this translate to? They have already started the process of rigging the election ahead of time. There is a breakdown of law and order in the North, so who will come out to take part in the electoral process?

What is your take on the recent declaration of state of emergency in three North-Eastern states, which some people have described as a ploy by the President to derail the 2015 elections?

The question is: What are the conditions that warrant the declaration of a state of emergency because there are constitutional provisions for such action? These conditions, if we tell ourselves the truth, have been created long ago. Law and order have completely broken down in those states.

For once, Nigerians should give kudos to the President at least for upholding the democratic structures in those states. If I were to be President, they would have given way, but I must say that Nigerians are lucky that they have a president that respects the feelings of the people, which some mischievous people have misconstrued to be a sign of weakness. I think the man is achieving results with his style, which is a non-violent and democratic one.

Are you worried that strategising for 2015 has taken over the polity to the detriment of good governance at the various levels of government?

It still boils down to our system, which is almost dead. I still maintain that until we have a Sovereign National Conference to chart the way forward, we will continue to window-dress issues of national importance. A situation where we continue to sing praises of a governor for constructing a kilometre road is very appalling. Why was he elected in the first place?

We must ensure that our system is a competitive one because what we are witnessing now are indicators of a failed a system. Why should people be talking about 2015 when they have not completed their respective first tenures? That’s why I still praise the President for not allowing himself to be distracted. He just presented the scorecard of his first two years and asked for more support for the last lap of his first tenure. That’s how it should be.