Ejike Eze: Delays in Political Appointments Can Trigger Mass Exodus from APC

Amb. Ejike Eze, a retired foreign service officer and diplomat, was the Senatorial Candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Enugu North Senatorial District, in the 2023 general elections. Eze who specialised in intelligence and security protocol served in Nigerian embassies in Germany, Portugal, Ghana and Cuba. He spoke to Linus Aleke on sundry national issues:

What was the experience like moving from the civil service into the turbulent waters of partisan politics in Nigeria?

The initial experience was that of excitement as l envisaged a robust politics of change in godfatherism, less emphasis on inducements and hope on the ultimate sovereign will of the people to prevail during the election. I believe that politicians who had been in office for many years with virtually nothing to better the lives of the masses and with a mindset of office entitlement should step aside for fresh hands and ideas. I felt that with my experience in the civil service, getting involved in politics would be a kind of giving back to society what I learned all this while traveling the whole world, working for Nigeria for 33 years, and seeing what politics means in other climes. I asked myself this question, how can we begin to look towards developing our political system in line with practice in most democracy outside of Africa as in many civilised countries.

As time went on I realised my ideas were almost utopian. The culture of intimidation, violence, deceit and rigging has mostly become the easy way and important in winning election in Nigeria. This has badly affected my ideas on the transformations needed to ensure free and fair election the country needs for development into a functional environment. The opportunity to really serve my people in such a way that I could make a little difference from what other politicians did became difficult as I could hardly fit into the desperation and turbulent nature of our politics. I have therefore decided to continue on decency and civility and garner more experience for future politics. We must all strive to play politics without bitterness for future generations.

Considering that you lost your senatorial bid at the poll, are you satisfied with the running of the party in Enugu State, especially when it comes to the sharing of appointments in the state?

I would say yes and no. Yes, because we have the leaders and a party structure that is working hard to attract dividends of democracy to the people and no, as I do not see fairness, justice and equity in the distribution of appointments and other dividends of democracy. It is also troubling that the party has remained divided and factionalised leading to palpable divisions within the party. A party that needs to win election stays united and cohesive. No divided group could achieve any progress. However, the APC Government has been fair in appointing our sons and daughters into high positions in the defence and security agencies. It is therefore, important to educate our people on the benefits of aligning with APC. It won election at the centre. Meanwhile, there are certain constitutional requirements for any government in power. It has to give appointments to every part of this country, because of the federal character principle. Flowing from that, we now have a minister, director generals, chairmen of boards, pro-chancellors, and many others which we would have lost if we had jettisoned APC completely. As we did not win in Enugu, we have two APC states in south-east and the presidency. These victories should ordinarily impact on our people as expected. Some of us participated actively in the electoral success of APC through our contest for elective positions. I therefore do not regret my campaign and working hard for the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

But, looking at the sharing of positions after the election, will you say the Enugu North Senatorial District has gotten its fair share from APC?

Well, like our people would say, you do not use early morning to know whether the market is going to be good or bad. Appointments have started rolling in, however, it has not been equitably distributed. I believe that there is still more to come. Our leader, the Minister of Science and Technology, Chief Uche Nnaji is a fair-minded person. He is carrying several people along. I know that he is aware that justice, fairness, and equity are important in what anybody does in politics. When you get a position and you allow it to be for your selfish interest, people never forget. Next time you run for election, it could become an issue and may be used as a campaign against you. I believe that it is not yet too late for us to get what we deserve.

I strongly believe that our leaders, Uche Nwakibia and our party chairman, Ugo Agbala are looking at these appointments and as experienced politicians know that if in the long run, they do not do well in carrying everybody along, they will not have enough courage to come back to ask those abandoned for their votes. Further delay could trigger a mass exodus of APC members to other parties. Already some people are leaving the party. I don’t have any position with which I can stop them after all, they are adults. So, I advise those with intent to leave to exercise patient, with time, everything will be sorted out and everybody will be happy, in Enugu East, West and North.

What is your assessment of the security situation in the southeast and what do you think can be done to nip the growing insecurity in the bud?

Create a strong synergy between the government and the people. A lot more interaction of the leaders of the zone with the people is needed especially with those who are in the know of what it entails to bring down the level of insecurity. For instance, I have said once that Governors must make effective use of their security votes, information is power. If our governors make good and effective use of that enormous amount they collect as security votes and deploy it to seek information, you will find that a lot of these things that are happening in the southeast will be drastically reduced. Governors in the zone should galvanise retired but still strong officers from the zone, the traditional rulers, and liaise with serving officers, to address insecurity in the southeast. Use of technology such as drones and GPS to find the location of kidnappers, unknown gunmen, and other criminals. Not only serving and retired security officers, but also the people themselves.

The use of traditional rulers, the influential people in every society is essential. That is what we mean when we say, an all-of-society approach in dealing with internal security challenges. Every politics they say is local, every community knows the criminals in their midst, the bad boys and the ones that are doing well. The government has to devise a way to liaise with and harness the potentials of these people, who can give them actionable information, then the problem is half solved and with such intelligence, they will relate to the security agencies. In Nigeria, hotels check guests in without any question. They check you in without even knowing who you are. Security checkpoints on the roads in the southeast are necessary. However, the number and mode of operation should be reviewed. Reduce the number, and let there be effective means of communication between the checkpoints.

The use of control rooms for coordination should be encouraged. Stop extortion of drivers on the roads. The leaders of all defense and security agencies should admonish the officers and men to stop all forms of extortion on the roads. For the police, they need to re-educate their men, they need to begin more sensitisation, I believe they should also be doing a kind of training for the officers. In-house regular training and courses are very essential.

 Speaking specifically on the issues in the southeast, what can be done to stop this issue of unknown gunmen?

The issue of unknown gunmen is linked to the problem of Nnamdi Kanu. A school of thought believes that if Nnamdi Kanu is released, it will reduce the issue of unknown gunmen. I believe it is the activities of people who do not agree with the way governments have been handling a lot of security-related concerns. For instance, in Imo states, where unknown gunmen always target policemen on duty, and attack them from time to time. There is a need to make effective use of police and other services to create a kind of synergy.

Who are these unknown gunmen? They didn’t come from the sky. They live amongst the people and the government should be interested in finding out what exactly is the reason for their actions. The horrendous attacks on military and police officers, by so doing the government will make significant progress. It may not be wiped out completely, but it will be drastically reduced. Many believe that the government in a democracy should respect judgment of the courts which have made one or two pronouncements about Nnamdi Kanu and release him, even if not completely but with conditionalities. Put him on house arrest where he can have access to his family and reduce the tension over IPOB in the southeast.

 What is your assessment of the efforts of the military and other security agencies in tackling terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, and other emerging security threats across the federation?

You know, the most striking thing about this security thing is that most actions of the military and other security agencies that battle this insurgency and banditry are not adequately publicized. But the moment the insurgents carry out one abduction or attack on a community, it goes viral forgetting that the military has been doing a lot to stop any form of criminality from taking place at all. The military and the intelligence assets are up and doing, and that is why you see them having joint special operations. They move around sniffing, seeking information, hitting the criminals, and stopping them before they carry out any form of criminality. So what I am saying is this, they will not also tell the public about the successes and sacrifices they are making. Our gallant security forces in the course of pushing these criminals out of their nefarious enterprises suffer some casualties. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mandate for renewed hope, giving specific mandates to heads of agencies and the military, Nigeria will soon enjoy peace and stability.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Christopher Musa is a very proactive man. Addressing soldiers recently in Benin, during the Edo election, you could feel the firmness and determination to rein in on the situation in his voice. He tasked soldiers on election duty in the Edo governorship election to ensure a free and fair election. The soldiers’ response was assuring and there was no violence during the Edo governorship election. The situation of insecurity is changing in the country. I believe the armed forces in synergy with other agencies are on top of the situation and Nigerians have started to enjoy the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

When they go for an operation, they go knowing clearly that there could be casualties and many times there are casualties. Similarly, the present NSA is coordinating the activities of security agencies very well. I am seeing real synergy and collaboration between and among security agencies. Oil theft is going down; many illegal refining sites have been destroyed by the Nigerian Navy since the inception of this administration. The Air Force is doing their best to complement the ground forces. Sometimes they make mistakes which is human but I see commitment to tackle insecurity in the country. Finally, I understand the concerns of many Nigerians on the economic hardship caused by the policies of the APC-led federal government.

I see big hope at the end of the day. I also use this medium to appeal to Governor Hope Uzodinma, leader of APC in the southeast to look into the crisis of APC in Enugu State. Those who insist there are no crises are the selfish benefactors of the crisis. They don’t think of the abysmal failure of the party in Enugu in the 2023 election and how to grow the party for greater success in 2027. APC needs cohesion not multiple divisions to make impact in future elections.