Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko is the Founder/President Igbo Youth Movement (IYM). An Activist, he is also the Secretary of the Eastern Consultative Assembly and Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought (ILT).

In this interview with ONYEDIKA AGBEDO, he gives his verdict on the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, commending him for demonstrating courage by removing petrol subsidy and unifying the foreign exchange regime.

He, however, believes the President should do more in the area of ensuring equity in his appointments and provision of infrastructure across the country. He also charges the administration to resolve the lingering political crisis in the South East, while tasking the people of the zone to be amenable to peace as “resolution and closure is very possible.”

 You’ve been very silent for some time now. Are you satisfied with the state of affairs in the country now?

I don’t talk all the time because I don’t play to the gallery. I speak only the truth and you know that the truth is usually offensive.

Nigeria has a thousand problems, but I believe they are all solvable if we tell ourselves the truth and honestly approach the problems with sincerity. Our unitary structure is largely responsible for the horrific prebendalism and impunity, which inspire corruption and mismanagement.

It’s also common knowledge that persistent oppression, dichotomy and repression, sectarianism, sectionalism, injustice and inequity etc, inspire agitations and discontent.

Religious and ethnic irredentism create violent insurrection as can be seen in the North East region. One misguided North West governor suddenly introduced religious laws 25 years ago and inspired Boko Haram, as 10-year olds at that time grew up believing him that their religion’s laws should be imposed on the country, taking away peaceful coexistence and stability, even as continuous stubborn opposition to restructuring the polity created fear of the future and loss of faith in the system among certain sections of the country as presently constituted, inspiring agitation for secession.

These problems simply persist because we obstinately refuse to accept the truth and sincerely address the root causes. The minute we agree to sincerely address these issues, our problems will disappear and the beauty, riches and greatness of this country will manifest.

Do you see any nexus between the level of poverty and insecurity in the country and the current structure of the country?

Addressing the root causes, instead of scratching the symptoms of the problems, is actually the way to go. I’ve been in the trenches fighting for justice and equity for decades now and I know that the cabal holding Nigeria down and resisting positive change, are in the minority. But they are powerful, influential and very strong. They need to repent so Nigeria can be saved. No angel will come from outside to save Nigeria.

We must face reality and make sacrifices to jointly work for a new Nigeria anchored on true federalism and devolution of power. That’s the first thing we need to do and every other thing will fall in place.

How do you rate President Bola Tinubu’s administration so far? And do you see him winning a second term?

Everybody knows I deliberately refuse to take sides in political contests. I wish him and his opponents well. I rather choose to remain apolitical. I advise him to address corruption, insecurity, witch-hunting of opponents, nepotism and insensitivity to the plights of the poor.

I plead for real time relay of election results and fairness in appointments. The latest CBN appointments where his region alone got 70 per cent are wrong.

But I commend him on the courageous removal of the very injurious fuel subsidy, and the unholy dual foreign exchange regime, which he unified. Nigerians are grateful for lower and reduced food prices, bringing down inflation and availability of fuel etc.

His courage is legendary; I admire his courage, but he should allow for a free and fair election to retain people’s confidence in the electoral process.

I’m not working for or against any candidate or party. I pray for peaceful elections. I never join the usual madness and frenzy that come with every election season. My decades-old activism is built on advocacy for the infrastructural development of every region and the restructuring of Nigeria.

My region craves to see a global standard seaport, an international airport with a functional cargo wing, railways, dry port/container terminals and an industrial hub/export processing zone.

My people believe that these infrastructure, when provided, will transform our zone. In fact, lack of infrastructure actually inspires the loss of faith in the system that drives the regrettable agitation. I have no interest in individual politicians. I wish all of them well.

The South East has been agitating to produce the president of Nigeria. Do they stand a chance in the 2027 elections?

I sincerely don’t know. Twenty-five years ago, I mobilised students and we marched on the streets demanding that Nigeria should give an Igbo a chance to govern the country for a season for equity. But sadly, Ndigbo are not sitting well now.

One of them packaged himself as a messiah in the last election and also for next year’s election; while others in the ruling political party are hoping to emerge as vice president in 2031.

So, this reality means these two forces will work against each other, thereby cancelling each other. I don’t think Ndigbo are well positioned now. We stood a better chance in 2023. My answer is that I don’t really know God’s plan for Ndigbo.

We as Igbo people should think more about the development of Igbo land. It seems our quest for the presidency unsettles our compatriots and scares them stiff.

We need to develop our region, improve on our relationship with our neighbours, and go out of our way to reassure fellow Nigerians that we are not angling to dominate anybody.

We must accept the reality that our success in trade and commerce attracts envy and jealousy. We have to refrain from the current online cross-ethnic insults regardless of which side started it. It generates enormous hate.

We must address the reality that our quest for central power frightens other regions or at least makes them uncomfortable. We are usually misunderstood. We must imbibe humility and a meek spirit. Our quest for central power seems to have blinded us to the real need of developing our region. The Presidency should not be our only priority now.

I must stress that the paid social media rats singing the praises of one politician while abusing another to no end creates hate. This online warfare worries me. There are WhatsApp groups deliberately established for ethnic warfare.

It seems to get worse every election season. That’s exactly how Hutu versus Tutsi verbal exchanges of hate led to the horrific carnage in Rwanda 30 years ago. The ongoing online abuses are quite dangerous and must be discouraged.