Buhari Is Too Soft On Nnamdi Kanu – Bankole Hameed

Mr Shehu Bankole-Hameed, author, politician is 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?

Posted via Blogaway