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By Madu Obi
Former governor of Anambra State and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has called on President Bola Tinubu to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other people still in detention.
Addressing reporters in Onitsha on Saturday, Obi said, for instance, that he did not see any need for the continued detention of Kanu, especially when the court had granted him bail.
He said: "Government must obey the law as the rule of law is an intrinsic asset that we must cherish and live with. And I have always said that I am going to discuss with every agitator.
I plead with with government to ensure that all those who are in similar conditions, are released and discussed with. We are a democratic nation and we should not be doing things that are arbitrary and not within the law."
He also called on Nigerian leaders to double their efforts in securing the country saying, “the primary work of government is the security of lives and property."
According to Obi, security is the foundation on which people can live in any nation because no one can stay in an insecure place.
"Like I always say, the primary duty of any government is security of life and property. It is the foundation on which people live in a nation because nobody can stay in an insecure place.
And it is worrisome what is happening in Nigeria where people wake up everyday with
news of killings, abductions and kidnappings, which have made Nigeria one of the most insecure place on the surface of the earth and it requires urgent attention".
He particularly spoke about the state of insecurity in the South East, advising the governors of the zone to come together to be able to tackle the problem.
“As I thank the governments in the zone for their efforts, there is need to do more. I want our governors to come together as a family to solve this problem. I am saying this with the little experience I had when I was there.
As the federal government appears to have overshadowed everybody, the governors should urgently come together. They can even invite those of us who had been there to interact with them to chart the way forward.
Yes, there was an attempt in the past that failed, but I don't believe in failure. There should be more effort to make it work. They should also work with security agencies, vigilante groups to achieve the desired objective.
Even in economic agenda, I want to see the South East governors work closely more. We want to see them come together and also bring together other groups in the zone.”
Obi also spoke on protests, stressing that while he supports peaceful protests, he is opposed to riots and destruction of government assets.
“I’m against destruction of government assets and property, because it is still our scarce resources that we are going to use to repair them.
Peaceful protest is allowed, but it must be for a reason and not personal interest of some people. It must be properly articulated and properly directed.
I recall when people said they were protesting police brutality and I said to them no, let’s rather deal with the leadership issue.
If we have good leaders, their agents can’t be bad. The problem is leadership. If the leaders are competent, have the capacity and doing the right thing, their agents will follow their examples.
I want to use this opportunity to call that all those who are being held because of one protest or the other should be released, whether they are freedom fighters, EndSARS protesters because there is freedom of speech..
We are a democratic country and people have right under the constitution to express themselves freely. They also have right to peacefully protest and we must listen to them.
We must listen to those who say they are not happy, that is why it is a democratic nation. We should stop acting dictatorial and behave as if this is not a democratic country.
I know we are in a state capture, but then, we should act in a manner that shows some decency.”
On whether there are plans for him to join other politicians to form a mega party, Obi said: "I’m more particular on how the poor Nigerians can feed. I will rather talk about things that are affecting Nigerians today. We politicians are preoccupied by election, and that is not what I’m after. I’m talking about how we can reduce the prices of food?
Our people are dying of hunger. How do we make life more conducive for the poor Nigerian? How do we make our people to earn more money? How do we pull people out of poverty? That should be our concern, and not forming a mega party.
But if forming a mega party will provide all these things I have illustrated, then I’m all for it. But if it is for state capture, so that you can take power and continue with the consumption, consumption, consumption, that we see today, I will say no. But if it is to move it to production, production, production, then I say yes.”
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