A former Minister of Defence [State], Chief [Dr.] Roland .L. Oritsejafor, the Ogwa of Warri Kingdom, recently tackled various issues with journalist in Warri, Delta State where he described the All Progressives Congress [APC] presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari [rtd.] as a symbol of old traditional way of doing things. Our News Editor, Francis Sadhere attended the press briefing.
Happy reading!
You have been out of the political scene for a while now; please tell us what you have been doing?
You are right but not completely right. I have been out of the political scene for a while but then you can remember that we have a political structure in place here in the three Warri, which was put together right after the military regime. I left for Abuja to take over national responsibilities as the Deputy National Secretary under President Olusegun Obasanjo. I have always been working with the structure. Yes in politics, there are bound to be struggle for political positions but that notwithstanding PDP has always been strong in Warri and Delta State. We have come a long way and those people that have learnt from us are now in charge. There is a saying in my place that if you go to a party and you did not see the cow, you will find its hide and skin in the backyard. So if my political children are holding forth for me that means I am there. I have an NGO in Abuja which addresses medical issues particularly military personnel and their surrounding communities. We have over thirty sites. I have been quite busy. I travel out to share my work with others. The NGO is a global branch.
What is your assessment of the contribution of your party, PDP in the state for the past 16 years?
We knew where we started and if I look at the institution I will say yes, we have achieved some developmental goals. But I must say that I expected the presence of government more in the riverine areas. I am not too pleased with what we have achieved in the riverine areas.
What is your assessment of Okowa as candidate of your party?
The candidate is fantastic and he is the best thing that has ever happened to Delta State since its creation. He is an accomplished Medical Doctor, a seasoned administrator, tested proven and divinely prepared for this assignment. He is cool headed and he has been everywhere. He has the heart of a servant. He is one leader that is at home with market traders and academia. He is a barrier breaker and is he unlimited in term of resources. The beauty of it all is that he was there at the beginning. I moved the motion in Abuja that we should bring PDP to Delta State. We have worked together and he is a grassroots mobilizer. He has all it takes to correct the things we have done wrong in the party. I have no doubt that he is going to take Delta state to the next level. I want to appeal to all Deltans to come out and give him their supports and votes.
Is 2015 elections going to be free and fair? How is government going to deal with post election violence if it happens?
I think they have taken the right steps but I must let you know that it is all about the people. Nigerians know what they want. There are committees in place that bring people from the different divides to come and talk. Prof. Bola Akinyemi the former Foreign Minister started it very well. I know that my brother, Pastor Ayo and other religion leaders are working hard to enlighten the people on the need to remain calm during and after the elections. When you talk about security, you have to be proactive. It is not only about those leaders, but about us. The Media also has a role to play. They have to keep telling the people why they need to be peaceful. Let the mandate of the people stand. If the party of your choice does not come out victorious; there is no need to be violent.
Some militants have threatened the peace of this country if PDP does not win, don’t you think the Federal Government should have done something about this if they are proactive like you said?
The militants only reacted to what the Northern have said. Let us be conscious in analyzing security situation. When you make a statement it does not mean it is the party that is making the statement. PDP is a well respected and responsible party. Some people are making statements and I cannot defend them. PDP is pursuing peace because it is in our interest to pursue peace. So why would we now support violence when we have the opportunity to show what we have done? So if for example I am invited to Aso- Rock and I made a statement does that mean that the government is in support of what I am saying? In the past we under-report our achievements and that is why the President is going round the country telling people about what he has done.
President Jonathan has done so much because the challenges are colossal. If you look at governance, he has brought governance closer to the people. We are talking about measurable transformation. He has brought power to us. He has done a lot in gender equality. The Rwandan President became popular because he gave opportunities to women and you can see what is happening here.
Security is a great challenge in every nation. The different between us and those who have got it right is that security is not left only in the hands of the professionals. Everybody has to be conscious of security and it is only after that that we can bring in the professionals. Those throwing bombs are living among us and yet we are silent. Why do you wait until people are killed before you come out to shout? I want to appeal to our people that we should all be involved and committed to the security of the nation. In medical statistics, a surgeon can come out from operation and said I have 99% success in an operation, but the patient still dies. The patient that has died is a lost to his family. So, life is very important. All of us should be involved in protection of life and property.
On Boko Haram
I happened to be a former security adviser and I know how these things work. Security is not about one plus one is two, especially when we are talking about insurgents. There are some fundamental issues. The theater of war has changed. It is no longer conventional. The weapons and rules of engagement have changed. People can be in their houses and be using fatal weapon. It is difficult to say this is the way it should be done. Governance is difficult. For example when I was working in government I used tax payers’ money to procure weapon. And do you know how painful it is for me to start using those weapons against our own people? It is not easy as you think. Those causing havoc in the country are Nigerians who are misguided. Initially it was difficult to take a stance. But once you have appealed to them and they refused to stop, then we have to step up and this is the stage we are in now. The President has my sympathy. It is a lost to all of us not matter what party we are.
How is Boko Haram different from Niger Delta Struggle?
The difference is that our leaders played a very constructive role in arresting the situation. It came up as a result of neglect. When they discovered that governments were too slow they took up arms. The leaders gathered around them, listened to them and at the end of the day they resolved it. Leaders have a major role to make them understand that is not the way to go. I was highly involved in that. I have to go to the creeks and have series of meetings with them telling them that this is not the way to go. You can see that today we have peace.
Are you satisfied with the way the President has been tackling corruption in the past six years?
I am not satisfied with the way corruption is being highlighted in the country. It is like this death sentence. It has not prevented armed robbery. When you are doing something and it is not working you have to go and re-strategize. And that is what the President is doing. The issue is not about putting people in jail because it has not solved the problem. What we should do is let us try and let them understand that it is madness for you to steal from yourself. Let people understand that you are creating problem for generations yet unborn. I talked about under-reporting not quite long ago. You have to go and visit the EFCC and look at the statistics of persecution that are going on there. I will say, corruption is being tackled by the various agencies. It is not about making noise when you want to prosecute people. Let them know that we are interested in redirection method and not punitive measure.
Are you saying that punitive measure is not the way to go? I want to disagree with you on this. During Obasanjo regime politicians were being prosecuted but today politicians are not being prosecuted as we expected.
Another thing is that we must have confident in our judiciary system. It is not the President that prosecutes people. It is not about going to papers and even condemning people before they are taken to court. You should think of reintegrating them because first and foremost they are Nigerians.
How will you access the Presidential candidate of the opposition party?
He is a symbol of the old traditional way of doing things and a symbol of failure. He has not won any election. If you do something every time and it is not yielding result you have to do another thing. How will you explain this? Is it not madness? Abraham Lincoln survived because the people of America believed in him. But if Buhari is able to convince them that he is the better candidate and they believed him then so be it. If not there are other younger candidates in the party that they should have projected instead of Buhari. That is my personal opinion.
On power in the state
I am not celebrating their little effort. But we have our challenges like vandalization. We need to work harder because we are still behind our target. Security is also a big challenge. Our people vandalize all these things. It is not politics. These people who vandalize government property are living with us. We need to educate them that what they are doing is very wrong.
On unemployment
No administration globally can say they have created enough opportunity for employment. You know what is happening in Europe. There are not enough jobs. But that does not mean that in Nigeria we have maximize all the opportunities that we have. That is why you must commend the administration of Governor Uduaghan’s vision of Delta Beyond Oil. Look at what is happening in the oil market that is making budgeting a huge challenge. You cannot say we have created enough employment opportunities. We must have a system of measuring how many employment opportunities we have created so that we can know where are and where we are going.
Involvement in Okowa project
Apart from been a personal colleague; we started PDP together and I have absolute trust in him. For him to come out at this time is divine and you will come and ask me that question again after one year. I don’t have any doubt that he will deliver. He has a servant heart and he is here for service.
On Stabilizing Factor Group
We at Stabilizing Factor, we believe in education because it is very important. When you start using mundane things to measure the level of a person you get frustrated. But when you make them understand the way things are and the way they reason, you can contribute to the society and you will help them to redirect their energies that were misguided. We are stabilizing in terms of awareness. In terms of challenging leaders in what they are doing and not doing. I don’t have to be with them physically.
Message to politicians and electorate
I want to handle this from a non partisan level. We have to move towards perfection. We need to move away from foundational and primordial issues and move ahead. We need to put in place education of our people and our self on how our attitude toward politics will change. It should be politics without bitterness where you let the people decide the government they want. Thank God that democracy is a system whereby after a certain period you will be made to go back to the people. They will judge us in terms of how we respond to their needs. That is why I key into the human capital and infrastructural development. Making government a business is no longer the in-thing, but creating the environment that will let us use our education, competence, versatility to create wealth and employment. I am appealing to politicians to shun violence in this election. Let us be instrument of development. If your ideas are not accepted by the people then let it be. We have to educate them and tell them the truth. Another thing I want them to know is that if you do not have your PVC you cannot be in my political forum. Your PVC is more powerful than violence. I have my PVC with me. I should live by example.
On security
You do not have to come to the public and shout about your strategies. You have to have your facts. I am not in position to defend the statement made by some people. I do not know what they are doing about that statement they made. But it should be condemned.
On purchase of weapon contracted to Tompolo
All over the world it is people that acquire weapons as long as you have the license to do it. To me that is not the problem. We have to be very careful with this issue. We should not politicize everything. Every Nigerian citizen has the right to acquire weapons if he is licensed. But unless you have something against them and you have taken them to a competent court of law. Yes these guys were militants. But let me ask you a question, do these guys have a cause for carrying arm against the Federal Government? The fact they were militants does not stop them from partaking in activities going on in the country. They carried arms because they were oppressed and when they protested, government recognized that they have been wronged and the matter was corrected.
