Ambassador Mathew Tawo Mbu, former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, took a look at the gale of civil uprising sweeping across the Arab world and laughed off the chances of a similar occurence in Nigeria, insisting that the peculiarities of Egypt and its sister Arab nations are far removed from the situation in Nigeria. In an Interview with LINUS OBOGO and OMONIYI SALAUDEEN, he said, “The development in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world must not be equated with the happenings in Nigeria. Any attempt to ape the civil evolutions in the Arab countries in Nigeria will spell catastrophe.”
With the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as the candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would you say that the North/South controversy over the presidency in 2011 has finally been laid to rest?
Let individuals vote for the candidates of their choice. Don’t forget, Lord Lugard amalgamated the North and the South in 1914. Since history has brought us together, let us stay together and remain united, rather than calling ourselves names. Calling names is not the answer to our problems.
How do you see the wind of change that is blowing across the Arab world vis-a-viz the Nigerian situation?
The wind of change has been blowing from the time Macmillan went to South Africa and spoke about the wind of change. That change started later and blew away apartheid. So, if the wind of change is blowing in the Arab world, it is because they have their own peculiar problems. But are those peculiar problems the same with Nigeria’s? When the wind of change blew apartheid apart, was Nigeria not there? So, don’t equate what is happening in the Arab world with the situation in our own country. Let us sort out our problems with our own solution. But simply aping other people’s problems as our own will lead to disaster because they may not be the same thing. For instance, have we had a leader who has been in power for 10 years? But in Egypt, Hussein Mubarak lasted 30 years in power, his counterpart in Yemen, 32 years and Libyan’s Moammar Gadhafi, 42 years. Nigeria has her own peculiar problems which can only be solved by our own peculiar solutions.
What would you identify as Nigeria’s peculiar problems?
If you talk of leadership problem, you have a choice. Now, another election is coming up in April, you have a chance to elect a leader of your choice. If you don’t have a choice, just stay put. Stay away; don’t cast your vote.
Ours is said to be a problem of ethnicity, how do we get this resolved?
You cannot do away with ethnicity. Is there any country in the world that does not have divisions? Is there any country in the world that is as multi-ethnic as America? If they can live together as one, in spite of their ethnic differences, why can’t we? Why can’t we learn from others and try and proffer solutions to our problems?
Again, another monster that is threatening the outcome of the April general elections is the resurgence of ethnic hostilities in places like Jos, Borno, and some other parts of the north. Aren’t you worried?
All that had happened before and it will continue to happen. That is a matter of law and order. If we have law and order, it can be controlled. Is this the first time we will be having violence in Nigeria? All we need do is to make our laws work. Fish out those who are behind it and bring them to book.
But some others have said it is a lack of leadership’s political will. How true is this?
The law must be allowed to work. It must be made effective. We have prescriptions for wrong doings, including killing. But the law must be allowed to apply its sanctions on those who go against it.
Why hasn’t the law work?
That is why we must find out why it hasn’t work and make it work. As an elder statesman, isn’t your experience over the years enough to identify what has militated against the law working?
(Cuts in). Whether we score a goal or we don’t, we should stop shifting the goalpost. Unless we all resolve to solve these problems, they cannot be tackled outside Nigeria or from the Mars. Whatever ethnic groups we may belong to, don’t we call ourselves Nigerians? Can’t we find out those who are responsible for the incessant violence and bring them out and punish according to the law? China, for instance, has a population close to two billion people, yet the kind of things that happen to us in Nigeria don’t happen in China. Why? Because the law is respected. In China, if you act in breach of the law, you are punished, irrespective of who you are. If we do the same thing in Nigeria, some of these things would have been jettisoned. God has given us intelligence and every other thing we need to succeed. So, we cannot expect God to come down and govern us.
As one of the founders and chieftains of the PDP…
(Cuts in). Am I?
Or were you not one of the founding fathers?
Those who rule us should not be confused with those who have the philosophy of the founding fathers of the party. Those who rule us are not necessarily the founders. So, don’t make that mistake.
So, what went wrong with the philosophy and values that informed the formation of the party?
When responsible people fail to take over the reins of government, vagabonds take charge. So, If Nigerians allow the wrong people to be in charge, they should not blame anybody for their choice. If we had the right choice, things will go right. If we make a wrong choice, things will go wrong. So, the choice is ours.
But as one of the founding fathers of the PDP, isn’t it a strange development that your son is seeking to be governor of Cross River State on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria?
He is an individual, I am also an individual. He is a democrat, I am also a democrat. He is entirely entitled to his own choice. I cannot control him, just as he cannot control me. When I founded the PDP in Cross Rivers State, he was my field commander. But extraneous forces have invaded the party and turned it into something else. If not, where were all these pretenders who are now calling the shot when we were doing the field work? Nobody can tell me what is right; I know what is right.
How do reconcile a scenario where you are campaigning for Jonathan’s presidency on the PDP one hand, and supporting your child in another party on the other hand?
He is my son, but he is a free thinker and equally knows what is good for him. I am fighting with him. And I may ask him to stop any day. Now you have raised the question, but nobody among those casting aspersions on me has the temerity to come and ask for my opinion. Why can’t they ask me? They never sought my opinion. In Nigeria, there are so many brands of democrats. Are they all democrats?
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