National Coordinator of the Ijaw Monitoring Group (IMG), Joseph Evah, speaks on the Petroleum Industry Bill, Niger Delta challenges and the recent arrest of the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, among others, in this interview with Mudiaga Affe

Do you see the fight against insecurity in Nigeria coming to an end any time soon?

Well, I do not think so because just last week the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was passed and the National Assembly is giving a paltry 2.5 or 3 per cent to oil-producing host communities. For me, the passage of such a bill is a hate speech coming from the National Assembly against the people of the Niger Delta.

Unfortunately, I must also say that our National Assembly members should be ashamed of themselves because they are no longer honourable in our sights. They have become betrayers. We expected them to walk out on their colleague when they saw the direction that the so-called bill was going, but they kept mute because of belief in this kind of settlement life which has entered into their bloodstream.

If the settlement spirit has not entered their blood, they would have seen it as an insult. Our people are demanding 10 per cent to be given to host communities and the so-called bill did not even propose five per cent and our National Assembly representatives are just sitting down there like a zombie because they have been settled, this is absurd. So, this PIB that was passed is provocative.

The situation is further compounded by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, who is making a mockery of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The whole situation is just upside-down and I do not know the kind of people we have in the seat of power.

So, are you, therefore, saying that Niger Delta people should reject the passed PIB?
Categorically, yes. The people of the Niger Delta have rejected the so-called PIB that has been passed into law. There is no productivity in our land and you are proposing three per cent? Before you finish the Nigerian agenda, I can assure you that the host communities will get zero per cent. Before the event, the companies settle the powers that be, there will be nothing left for the host communities.

Following a recent threat by a militant group, Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), to cripple the economy if issues in the region are not addressed, the Federal Government recently said they were already addressing issues in the region, what is your take on this?

DMO offers FG bonds for subscription at N1000 per unit

This is the very reason why we are complaining. We can no longer farm in our land. If they are addressing it, we would have seen it in the PIB that was passed by the National Assembly. Now that the minister, Akpabio, has turned NDDC into a yahoo-yahoo centre, the next name he will give to the person heading the commission is General Officer Commanding (GOC), maybe, to reflect when President Buhari was a GOC.

Let me say it that we are restraining ourselves because we are more dangerous than the South-East, especially if we want to protest. But we do not want to do that now. Our kind of protest takes a dimension that is very difficult for human beings to understand, and that is why we are warning the Presidency that they are provoking us with the passage of this PIB and unfortunately our children in the National Assembly are part of the betrayers. If they are not, the National Assembly cannot insult us with this PIB.

What are the real challenges of the region?

The problem is that the leadership of this nation is not listening to us. If this government says good morning in the name of Niger Delta, you will truly have to check through the window to know if it is morning or afternoon before you answer- that is the position. They do not want us to trust them. You can imagine the NDDC board members that were sent to the National Assembly and they screened and okayed them but Akpabio went behind to deceive the President that the board was not granted the permission to operate and they are coming with stories of a forensic audit. Is there not forensic audit in Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and other federal government agencies? The last NNPC Group Managing Director is currently on trial but the corporation’s board is functioning. You can see the confusion that these people are creating.

If you were to propose to the Federal Government, what are the critical areas in the region that need urgent attention?

They already know these things and the more you continue to remind them, the more they make a mockery of you. President Buhari was a former military governor before he became Head of State. He was also a former petroleum minister. He was also a former chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), so, there is no way he does not know what the agitations in the region are. Agreed, age is not on his side, if you have vibrant people around you just like what Yakubu Gowon did as Head of States, the country would have moved forward. There is a need to surround ourselves with productive and result-oriented people for us to move forward.

What if the Federal Government chooses to jettison the screened NDDC board and institute a new one, will that be okay for the region?

That will cause another confusion. We are telling the President that if he has integrity, then he should inaugurate the board that he sent and has been screened by the National Assembly. Anything about the Niger Delta, you do not just play with us like babies because if you come up with another board, your integrity will be at stake. If you have a responsible government you will inaugurate that board to show that you have integrity because nobody nominated those people for you. If tomorrow the President wants to appoint a puppet as minister representing us, we will not fold our hands.

Why do you think the military and other security agencies are not winning the war against insecurity?
It is simple. They are looking at the body language of the President. Look at what happened before he (President Buhari) changed the former service chiefs, it was bad. What kind of thing was that? Even his northern emirs were crying in front of him before he managed to change the service chiefs and this is happening in a democratically-elected government.

This is unacceptable. The service chiefs overstayed their years of service and the President only covered his face to remove them. What kind of thing was that? So, with that kind of situation, you are not encouraging the military personnel.

There was this incident in Taraba State where some suspected kidnappers were killed in shoddy circumstances by soldiers, till this moment those suspected military personnel have yet to face trial. Policemen that went to carry out that operation from Lagos State were killed because some soldiers had compromised. That case is gradually dying and you say you are serious about fighting banditry. The information minister will say the government is sincere in fighting bandits, but the security men that are aiding bandits are protected.

A school of thought believes the onslaught to arrest agitators and suspected criminals is more severe in the south than in the north, what is your take on this?

Those aiding banditry/kidnapping in the north are only destroying themselves. Of course, it is in the public domain that bandits attacked the convoy of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State. Even a lawmaker in Jigawa State or one of the northern states was recently killed. So, if anyone is fooling himself by pampering bandits, they are killing themselves. I know for sure that the governor of Kano State will never move freely again in his state.

So, if they are protecting criminal elements in the north who are terrorising them, they are just fooling themselves. They should be ashamed of themselves because the people are tormenting them. Three or four years ago, they were covering up those who were killing farmers in Benue State, but the tide is changing because the criminals are now attacking them directly. Those playing dirty politics are deceiving themselves and playing with their lives.

What is your reaction to the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)?
I have on several occasions disapproved of the attack on innocent people in the South-East. I feel he (Kanu) should face the trial if truly he is involved in sponsoring the attacks. It is unacceptable for you to be tormenting the same people you claim to be protecting their interests.

No revolutionary crusader will be burning police stations and correctional centres that are housing your people and killing them. The policemen killed in police stations and other government facilities in the South-East are they northerners? They are Igbo people. Let him face the trial and let’s see how innocent he is in all these allegations.

What about the move to arrest Sunday Igboho, who is an agitator in the South-West?
I will not comment on that until I see the reaction of Afenifere and Oodua Peoples Congress. We have so far got comments from the Department of State Service, and I feel they should not be the ones alone that should talk in this matter. If we start getting negative responses from the family of Igboho and others, we will now know that it is a set up.

What will be your advice to the Federal Government in handling Nnamdi Kanu’s case? Again, if Igboho is eventually arrested, how will the authorities pursue it?

We will still wait for further information on this whole thing because the Igboho matter is not clear yet. For Kanu’s case, there will be the need to establish those behind the killings and destructions in the South-East. I am still surprised because if truly he (Kanu) was sponsoring it, then he should face the law because you cannot sponsor the killing of your people who are clamouring for secession. Is it their ghosts that you want to come and govern? My concern is the innocent people that have been killed in the zone in the last five months. I am also worried about the attempt to turn the area into a war zone. Was he involved in these?

Following the FG’s clampdown on some of these agitators, do you think the call for secession will continue?
In those days, we used to agitate for the Niger Delta Republic or the Ijaw Republic but I did not believe in it. If you want a republic, you should go and do your homework. If you have not done that, then it is injustice. Look at the people of Southern Sudan that say they want to pull out from Sudan, till now, they do not have peace because of greed. Certain people are bent on bringing injustice even to their state because of greed.

Even some senators have brought injustice to their area because of greed and they choose to remain there. We are doing injustice to ourselves and by the time they allow us to go away, self-destruction will come to play. So, people should not just jump and start talking about republics when they have not created that awareness of the unity of purpose.

Those who struggled for us to have independence, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, among others, may have brought this underdevelopment over the years. We were too much in a hurry. Compare Nigeria to South Africa. South Africa is almost like the United States of America in terms of development. Although they still have some contending issues, it is a more organised society. If we had delayed our independence, we would have been more developed than the way we are now. We do not need to rush into self-independence of another republic.

Across the board, do you think we have the leaders that can take us to loftier heights in the country?

It is very difficult to say with the kind of politics we are playing because today if you talk about constitution review and ask our leaders to take us back to the parliamentary system they will refuse. You can see that because of the pecks they are getting they will never support the parliamentary system of government.

Look at what is happening in the National Assembly, they will never allow a parliamentary system because they are enjoying it the way it is. Look at the calibre of persons we have as leaders, the political class is so corrupt to the extent that their greed is uncontrollable. If I am to rate them today, they will just earn five-per cent because they are not thinking about the future. They do not think about 50 years ahead when the majority of us will be no more.