Mr Shehu Bankole-Hameed, author, politician,
who's a chieftain of the All Progressives
Congress, APC. Bankole-Hameed, a member of
the Lagos Forum in this interview, faults the
agitation for Biafra. He also bares his mind on
other sundry issues. Excerpts...
50 years after the truncation of the First
Republic, do you Nigeria has learned lessons?
My first reaction is that the activists who
truncated the First Republic were men of
questionable character in the fine profession of
the military. That was when a few soldiers
mostly of the then Eastern Region massacred
prominent political and economic leaders of
Northern Nigeria and Western Nigeria only.
This singular dastardly act resulted in deep
division and distrust among the three major
actors in the Nigeria political space; Hausa,
Yoruba and Igbo, who had the responsibility to
get the project going. The death of Hausa and
Yoruba leaders in the hands of the Igbo officers
created big economic and political gaps in these
regions.
What followed was what we are still witnessing
today. Another aspect of the ill conceived coup
is the decimation of minorities. I don't think we
have acted out to show if we as a nation have
learned anything.
There are growing concerns over the president's
continued refusal to obey court orders, what is
your take on this?
I'm not going to say that I don't think that the
President is a party to the court proceedings.
EFCC I believe is the institution that is on trial
as regards court orders, but to be fair to them,
explanation as to how a new arrest is effected
has been given. It was established in the case
of Dasuki for example,that he had new criminal
cases for which he was re-arrested.
What is your reaction to the continued detention
of Nnamdi Kanu?
I think this is truly an interesting development.
Here is someone who knows that what he did
embark on was nothing short of terrorism. What
does he expect of the authorities? Body
massage, hotel accommodation or what? He is
lucky Nigeria is not interested in capital
punishment, otherwise he may be so charged. I
think the government is even soft on him.
But do you think there should be a negotiation
with the South East over Biafra?
This is a very good question. What is Biafra,
who are the agitators and how is the cry for it
being funded? I will attempt to define Biafra as
best as I can and from the perspective of
average Nigerian.
There was an attempt by Ojukwu now late, to
steal away and enslave non Igbo of the then
Eastern Region, while taking over the oil in the
region.
He got his own people to buy into the act, there
was no justification for the declaration then,
which made the concept of Biafra ineligible for
negotiations.
What needs to be done is to amend the
Constitution to allow for legal agitation, where
structured steps are laid out for such discourse.
Many countries have such provision. There
should be no force or coercion in Union . Right
now, activities related to agitation for Biafra is
tantamount to terrorism.
Do you think each region should agitate for
autonomy?
The question of regional autonomy may be
discussed at state levels, where various local
communities agree that what is needed is the
granting of legal, financial and economic
autonomy. Then the next step is to convince the
federal assembly on the need to amend the
Constitution to that effect. How many of the
existing states can survive being autonomous?
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