 The senator representing Abya South Senatorial District in Naya Abaribi has blamed the governors of the South East States for the lingering insecurity in the zone. He noted that the political differences of the governors have hampered any effective resolution of the security situation in the zone. He cited the example of the failure of the state governors to jointly fund the Ebubeago Zonal security outfit. Joining us to discuss this further is legal practitioner Mekan Wadyoke and political analyst Francis Chilaka. Thank you very much gentlemen for joining us. Thank you, Merriam. Thanks for having me. Great. Ms. Wadyoke, you and I spoke in the midst, just before and after the Annambra elections and we spoke on issues of insecurity within the states, which were concerns as that election was going on. But then also neighboring emo states and other parts of the South East have been experiencing a fair, their fair share of insecurity. Now I remember also that the governor of emo states had a security summit with governors from the South East and as of today, we're still yet to see what in effect that meeting was about and if there be any changes whatsoever. Yes. It's really not surprising that there hasn't been any more result from that summit so cold because fundamentally he has a big disconnect between the South East governors for as we understand. They can probably say that they are in disarray, you used that word, it won't be entirely wrong. They've not been working as a unit and you wouldn't say they are working at cross-proposal. There's no unity, there's no amity, there's no cohesion, there's probably no leadership. So it wouldn't then be surprising if the security situation is just as chaotic as that thought. Interesting. Francis, I traveled from Anambara to through Enugu and I realized that Enugu state seems to be relatively peaceful. And the question on my mind was what was the Enugu state government doing differently that other states in the South East could not borrow a leaf from Francis? Well, you need to understand where this whole thing is coming from and the heat of the insecurity in the South East. If you take a proper look at the political terrain in the South East, you will know that Enugu has always been a very quiet state. It used to be Anambara that was hot, then Abia because these are the two predominant states as of the time that you would talk of Biafra and then they would arise. But now it's moved to Emo. So Enugu gets its own beat once in a while and I would say that what the government is doing is also trying to carry everybody along. There's not much heat in terms of political gladiators in the Enugu state. That is one thing I give to them. They're not doing a dual diapolitics that you have in other South Eastern states where an ex-governor wants to assert himself and claim to be or to tell the president that I put you there or I am probably in charge. So what you have playing out in other states and it's not playing out in Enugu is that the Enugu state government doesn't really have anybody fighting with him or anybody dragging the political siege with him. But in other states where you have gotten a high level of insecurity, check it out. You'll find out that there's a serious political war going on amongst the political gladiators in those states. I'm curious, are you insinuating that all the insecurity that we've been reporting on in the South is as a result of politics? I mean we've heard that according to reports and security agents that some of these problems that we're facing, especially when the police stations were burned down, the prison was hit, they attributed that to the iPop guys, even though iPop had come out to say this wasn't us. So you're telling me that these insecurities and unrest in the South East are perpetrated by political oppositions to the government of the day? Is this what you're saying? We need to be able to say things the way they are. Who amongst the ordinary Nigerians would wake up tomorrow and carry ants to go after uniformed men? Who would do that? Nigerians that you and I know, that you and I belong to, that you and I relate to are people who are looking for their everyday needs. Now who has the money to mobilize people to buy guns, to arm people? It's people who are seeking for political relevance. People who want to become the governor, they want to become senator, they want to become honorable members. These are the people that are creating the entire chaos you're having in the South East. But you see, there is something we should also forget. You need to understand that the people of the South East, generally, have not forgotten Operation Titan Dance. And they have also not forgotten the issue of extrajudicial killings that are said to be targeted at young Igbo men in one guys or the other. Now all of this, when you have situations like this, it is easy for anybody who wants to create or comment trouble to take advantage of such situations. And that is what is playing out in the South East right now. By some water, okay. The South East has been asking for an opportunity to play with the big boys and when I'm talking about that, I'm talking about a shot at the presidency. Many have said, well, nobody's stopping the South East from throwing its hat into the ring and producing credible candidates in that regard. Now, we've heard a few, you know, people from the South East who have said they want to run a boy state governor, former governor Pitao B. And a few others who may not be as big as he is. But that, on the other hand, that's on one side. On the other hand, we see Sanitabari Bey saying or accusing governors of bad leadership in the South East. Hence the reason why they're unable to deal head on with the issue of insecurity. Do you agree that maybe bad leadership is a result of what's happening in the South East? Or do you think these governors are overwhelmed by all that's happening and it's not the job of just these governors to put an end to insecurity? Yes, it's actually a combination of a lot of factors. Apparently, there's a deep disconnect between the governance and the youth. The issue of marginalization is there. The issue of discrimination is there. And so it's a situation where when you now combine this with more or less absence of leadership, you have a serious matter at hand. Because really what is at stake is that the youth don't trust the leadership anymore, so to speak. So you see a kind of leadership factor. Whether you're looking at the established governors forum, then probably it would have maybe been a filler for the absence of leadership at the South East Dove North Forum also had its own challenge with its crisis in the election. And then a kind of credibility crisis, you know. So you then see a situation where there's really more of a slow leadership. And again, when you also talk back to the fact that, you know, there were killings of the youth and there wasn't kind of maybe a pre-compense or even the leadership trying to relate with that and maybe come devoid and all that. So you now see a kind of distrust between the youth and the leadership. Then you have probably also the sort of ongoing spaces. A lot of spaces in the East now are ongoing. It's almost like killing fear. And you can actually blame anybody. So at the critical, you also see that recently President Ulysses Chepo about some of the who should know that recently he said that there are three categories in that group. And he talked about the genuinely post-war youths and the militants. They actually come together and take the militants along with the IPOC. Then he had this other group which he called those sponsored by the politicians. Then you have a third category which he called criminals. So when you look at this categorization, you don't see what is actually playing out. So it's quite unfortunate. So if we're having a free-for-all, permit me to use that word because of the three categories that you've painted. How do these people who are putting their foot forward to run for presidency in the South East hope to deal with the issues here? Because we've seen former Senate President Ayim Payas saying he wants to run. You need these young people to band behind you and support you. And if these people, one way or the other, are saying that they're being given the short end of the stick, is there really hope for a South East president? Whether now or in the future? I think that we lost the barrister. Are you still there? I think that we lost him. Okay Francis, I'm going to toss this question to you quickly before we wrap up. Okay, you see my personal problem with the political class is that the political class over time has grown to become very mean and wicked and they do not care about the people. The political class only cares about the people. When they want the vote of the people, that is when the people matter to them. And so, you know, right now we can see universities are on strike, the electorals on strike. Now these are the same youths that are meant to be leaders of tomorrow. So because elections is coming up, nobody's paying attention to any other thing in this country. The national grid has been down, no light, no electricity. It's not just saying you want these youths behind you. The question is, what are you offering these youths? I don't understand why somebody would be in the Senate for 8 years, 12 years, you know, going. And you do not have any impact on the lives of the people that have sent you to represent them. And you live in the Senate, you want to go and contest to become either a governor or a president. It doesn't add up. I think that we need to, as a people, begin to prioritize what we want in this country. And I've already said, it is not what the leaders want that should play out. It is the leaders listening to know what the people want and giving them what they want. I mean, look at the whole structure called Nigeria. You know, right now it is as if there is nothing moving forward. We're not moving forward. We're just stagnant. The youths are out there, you know, committing suicide, going into hard drugs, going into prostitution. And yet, we have people that have been elected as leaders that are receiving very enormous salary. And yet, and yet, the youths are still suffering. The Nigerians are still suffering. So for me, anybody who comes forward, I mean, oh, I want to be president. You know, I need to know what are you bringing to the table. We must, we must, as a people begin to make demands to know what are you bringing to the table? What is your pedigree? What have you done in the past? How have you been able to impact rights? And what have you been able to steal our common words? Okay. Finally, Barsan Wadduke, I think you have joined us again quickly. What's the future for the Southeast, whether it be the youths or the people of the state? Now, aside from a number of states that's been deliberate in picking the people who've led them so far, which is impressive. The likes of Imo, Abia, Boy, what's the future? Because Francis has made a case that it's not necessarily what the politician wants. It should be us setting the tone for the conversation. We should be the ones telling them what to do. But how interested in this governance thing are the people in the Southeast? Are they as deliberate as the N number of people to make sure that there's a future and a hope for Ibo people in Nigeria? The people are quite deliberate about what they want. The people are quite deliberate about the outcome of the political process. But when you have a situation where maybe at the end of the day, it's not even the voter that decides. It's probably the votes. I mean, to announce some verdict that may not be acceptable to the people. This may also create challenges even for the security situation. And also, you look at whether the president actually has the political will to also tackle the security situation in the Southeast. All these things have to be put in the book. So, at the end of the day, definitely the people are determined to change their leaders. They knew all the things that might not like pressure and all that. Obviously, it would help. Okay. Well, I want to say thank you to Mekong Audio Cape, a legal practitioner and a political analyst, Francis Chilaka. Thank you gentlemen for being part of the conversation. Thank you. All right. Well, I want to thank you all for being part of the program. That's the size of the show tonight. We'll leave you with what Nigerians feel or are saying about the PDP. If they can change the country, come 2023. I'm Mary Annacon. I'll see you tomorrow. By the grace of God, this country is for Nigeria. And I believe anybody saying he will develop this country is a verbal talk. Personally, my opinion is that God is the only one that can put somebody that would make this country to be a promises have been made several times. And I believe, well, we don't have anybody to say, actually, this is the person that will make the, that will be the God sent. Or let's give any person a tryer because with a tryer, it may even work out. No, if I remember that, it's not all about the party. It's all about a person and his own personality. So, unlike me, I don't vote party, but I vote people's personality. So, whichever that wants to come in, maybe as a PDP, and even believes that will not fail Nigerians, it can come in. There's no problem about that. And what the masses need is for them to give us a good result. We've given APC 80 years and for me as a youth, there is nothing tangible that you've done. So, let's try PDP. Or if possible, let's try any other party who can actually spring up with someone new. Let's try up new things for me personally. I would say let's try up new things because we are tired of this old man we've been seeing since 1999. So, let's try up new guys. To me, I believe in God-choosing presidents for us. It is only God-choosing that can develop this country, not ask anything to do other PDP or APC. Even in another party, let the person be God-choosing candidates. I think that is the best thing for us in this country.