Lack of orientation,bane of Nigeria problems--EU Group

Emeka Ibemere

A non- political, non- religious organization but social cum cultural group has identified the problem militating Nigeria.

The organization, Easter Union (EU), said lack of national orientation is the cause of all the troubles rearing their ugly heads as election draws near.

The Group rising from their end of the year national convention in Lagos State, made the remark on Monday December 16, 2013 and said the current national orientation has failed the nation.

The Union’s national co-coordinator, Mr Charles Anike, observed that the nation is in sticky situation because the orientation bequeathed on the country by the founding fathers of the nation has not taking us anywhere.

Taking an over view on the current state of the nation, Anike stated that the nation needs re-orientation to fix itself on the right track of development.

“There are certain things we expected the present government to do they have not done, especially in the area of national orientation. The President has not being able to re-oriented Nigerians. Nigerians need re-orientation. Get them re-oriented, corruption will go”, Anike stated. “The type of orientation we have in this country is the major problem. The National Orientation Agency is not working. The agency is a failure and need to be reactivated. We need an agency that can go out there to the grassroots and do a serious work on our psych, as a nation”.

According to him, there was every need to invest in developing the psych of many Nigerians from the mundane thoughts and believe about Nigeria. Anike said many Nigerians don’t believe in the Nigeria project.

 “We need cultural re-orientation, educational re-orientation, social re-orientation and even spiritual re-orientation. We go on with type of orientation that create hates, unpatriotic, ethnic interest, and corruption, get quick rich, and unforgiven spirit”, he quipped. “These are the areas the National Orientation Agency should work on and see how they could re-orientate Nigerians to walk on the path of national interest rather than selfish interests which are causing all the crises in the country. It looks as if the NOA is nonexistent”.

On the crises bleeding in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and other sundry criticism against the present government, the EU co-ordinator stated that it wasn’t the first time such things are coming up in Nigeria but believed that the crises would fizzle away soon. “Look, let me tell you something. Crises have always being part of election everywhere in the world. Even when the military wanted to handover, we saw all these things”, he added,

“We had so many agitations, infighting, tribal abuses, party crises and what have you; but at the end of it, we were able to overcome it. So also this present crisis, it will surely fizzle out. We will resolve the crises; we will move out of it, we will overcome it, the President will over come out of it. The aggrieved ones will at a point realize the need to resolve the problem”.  

The Group believed in dialogue as only means of resolving the crises either in PDP, or in any other party. He said Nigerian politicians should discuss and embrace peace rather than throwing stones at each other and making things worse for the President. He said further.

“There is need for dialogue, there is need for discussion and there is need for peace. Yes, the President has not done too badly; not to go for second term, and he has not done too well not to go for second term. He has distinguished himself in so many areas and has done certain things that would warrant you to say, give him another time. He is not God but a human being. He has his own shortcomings”.

Anike said the Eastern Union believes that the country is moving on well despite the challenges facing it and said that though not as people expected.  “I think the nation is moving on well. It is going through a kind of process associated with the human society. It is not static and it’s moving on, except that certain things are not going on in a right direction. I do believe that the country is moving forward”.

When reminded by the letter written by the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan, the EU national Co-ordinator described the letter as very unfortunate because the current situation in Nigeria doesn’t warrant such public letter. According to the Union, all the issues raised by the former president were okay but that the approach was faulty. He added that there was nothing wrong now that Nigerians didn’t experience during the former president’s tenure.

 “If you call it a letter, we saw it as an essay and to some of us it’s very unfortunate. If you take a critical view of the letter, you will discover that what he pointed out is okay but during his own time, all those things were there. So the question is while did he not do those things he was complaining about. The oil thieves were there, the killer nest were there and other things he appointed out. According to Achebe, ‘when a man is making a fight for another person, he is making a fight for himself’. He doesn’t mean well for Jonathan. If he really meant well for this present government, the approach he took was never in order”, he stated.

 “There are many ways he could have sort out the issues with the President. The issues raised by obj were very important but his approach to it spoiled it. He is not comfortable with Jonathan’s administration. Olusegun Obasanjo should support this government, the way he should support it as a government that succeeded him”.

Reacting to the concluded Anambra State Gubernatorial election, Anike frowned at those who described the election as not being a standard one and asked them to point a particular election that was standard since the inception of the country.  “Anambra election has come and gone and it is just like every other election in Nigeria before it. If anybody is saying anything then, you also refer to other elections in the past. It is always like that. This is a country where people don’t have good spirit of sportsmanship. A person who wins rejoice and those who lost continue to complain and feel bitter. As far as Eastern Union are concerned, the man who won the election merited it”, he added. “He is a man who has history and track records in Nigeria. He has a good profile compare to others. Anambra cannot after tasting good governance for eight years, go back and begin to allow ‘Area boys’ to rule them or allow some people without history to rule them. For me and the Easter Union, the election was superb. If people are condemning it; it also means that every other election in Nigeria is incorrect. We have to take it like that and allow peace to rain”.

According to the group, all the political mudslinging, the letters, criticisms and inter and intra party crises are all because of the 2015 election which is still far away from now.  “We agree and I will tell you that it’s very unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this mess. This is because; we just finished election in 2011 and this is 2013, and the governors are moving from one state to another and abandoned their duties and responsibilities and be junketing from one zone to another. If you visit the states of these governors, their states are nothing to write home about”, he said that it’s very unfortunate that the 2015 election has started causing problem in 2013. According to Anike, the issue will rest itself amicably without the aggrieved ones knowing it.

“So 2015 issue is a very troublesome one. Because I cannot understand while people that were given mandate will not think of how to develop their states and living up to their mandate responsibilities and instead moving from one state to another and trying to unseat a sitting President not to contest again”. What they need to do is to fortify themselves and go to the polls and stop him their instead of fighting and writing letters, leaving the party and not leaving the party. Why putting the president under pressure to quit when the constitution allows him ample chance to contest. I believe that 2015 will come and go and Nigeria will remain intact as a country”.

On the Union’s interest in supporting an Igbo president in 2015, Anike said the Igbos have right to aspire to rule Nigeria but believes that even if it cannot realised now that it could be realized one day. “For us, the Igbo have every right to present candidates of their choice in 2015 if they have good ones in any political party, good and well. We will give our support to them but one thing i want to let you know is the present government to us has not done very badly and even if Igbo is not willing to contest in 2015, there are 2019. We still have every ample time to do so”.

The Group also said that the corruption index in Nigeria has remained all time high not because President Jonathan is in power. According to him, the issue of corruption is an endemic one defying all known anti-corruption strategy. He said Jonathan inherited corruption from the past leaders before him. He however tasked the President to be decisive on the issue and stop forming committees to fight corruption.

“It will continue to increase and the reason is not because Jonathan is not fighting corrupt persons so to speak. This is one country where people just want to be corrupt. They are devising several means every day as if corruption is part of our culture”, Anike stated. “So, it needs serious approach to tackle it. Like I want to say, that one thing the president has not done well is in the area of corruption. You don’t need to set-up committees to fight corruption. There are certain things you must be decisive on and take action as the president. It is not everything you set-up committee,” he continued.

“The President must be decisive, take decision and execute it without setting up committee of this and that. Such committees kill and delay execution. They said when snake comes into your house you don’t need to set up committee to kill it. There are lots of issues Jonathan sets up committees that are not necessary. So the corruption issue in Nigeria needs to be tackled without kid-glove. In any society where corruption is high as it is in Nigeria will find it to develop”.

The Union also reacted to the deportation of Igbos from Lagos State by the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola and described the action as a criminal by the state government.

“It is unheard of; that a man can be deportee in his own country. It pained me when some people who claimed to be Human Rights crusaders join issues with the governor and supported such actions. We expected the governor to do what the Edo State governor did by not only apologising but went to employ the woman he abused; that is the only way Igbos can forgive Fashola in this country”, the group warned. “The only way we can really know that he is sober was to employ those people. And there is report that one of those women died. Fashola should go and attend the funeral of that woman and apologise to the children. It is not a question of gathering some people and said you have apologised to them. The action has caused Ngige his election and will continue to cause others in APC, their election in the whole of South- East and unless he was not going to contest election again, it will cause him election. He should bring those people back and employ them, which are the only time; we will know that he was really sober”.

Anike speaking on the South East Governors said they have failed their responsibilities. Anike took particular reference in Akwa Ibom, where the Governor has turned things around and urged the Abia State governor Theodore Orji to emulate his neighbouring governor and stop parading in the media.

“It is very unfortunate that South East governors. There is serious lack of governance in the South East. I happened to be in Abia, particularly Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state and what we saw there was too bad to perceive. I have seen the governor on media flaunting how he has turned Abia into ‘USA’ but visit the state, there is nothing to show in the last seven years. We saw the same situation when Nnamani Chimaroke, was in the media at the end of it all, there was nothing to show for all the media reports on Enugu when Nnamani was there as the governor”. According to Anike, “The same thing is happening in Abia now. I think what took place in Imo in 2011 should happen in Abia. A very drastic change took place in Imo; Abia should do that in 2015 and replace the governor’s candidate by stopping him from winning the state again. Theodor has not done anything in that state especially on roads. If you travel to Aba, you will see what I am telling you. Go to Aba and see the rots of road situations there. Aba is highly industrialized town that if the governor has the vision of fixing the roads, he won’t be waiting for federal allocations but go there you won’t see any access road. There is no road linking Aba to its neighbouring community, Ikot Ekpene. We went through bush yet the governor is always in the media talking about his records”.