Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall is a former
Nigerian security chief and prominent Ijaw leader. The pioneer member of the National Security Organisation
(NSO) was also the first Director-General of the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA), the fifth Director-General of the State Security
Service (SSS) and the pioneer Chairman
of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) now known
as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, Chief Horsfall, currently the Chairman of the Rivers State Social Rehabilitation Committee, charged with the rehabilitation of ex-militants from Rivers State, laments the insecurity that has been foisted on the state and the nation at large by the Boko Haram sect and the political crisis in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
As former head of an arm of the nation’s security services, how would you assess the state of the nation in terms of politics and security?
Nigeria is going through a period of severe political and security stress. Clearly, not many people realise in this country that the apparent ambition of the Boko Haram, for instance, is to mount a territorial claim on Nigerian sovereignty and integrity. From all indications, the terrorists intend to stay in this country, establish themselves and then religious sect, etc. The ambition of the earlier groups appears limited compared to what is happening with the present Boko Haram insurgency.
The Boko Haram sect has clearly been heavily infiltrated by outside forces and external terrorist groups whose objective is to take over parts of Nigeria as they seem to have done in Northern Mali before French forces flushed them out. No country worth its sovereignty will allow a terrorist gang to occupy its territory and thereby diminish the sovereignty and territorial authority of that country.
I did say in a lecture to Catholic Men’s Organization in October, 2011 that ‘Ghaddafi’s guns from Libya would extend radical and extremist insurgency to West Africa, including Nigeria.’ I did say then that ‘we now find these fears expressed rather so soon in parts of West Africa, especially in Mali where our troops are already being dispatched to fight to save that country. The truth is that the insurgency will not affect only Mali but could soon find its way to Niger where Colonel Ghaddafi’s guns are already in evidence, but also in Chad, Central African Republic, Mauritania and indeed, our country Nigeria. There is clear evidence that Boko Haram is in contact with insurgences in Mali, Libya, Sudan, Mauritania and even Somalia.
As a result of the negative posture of the late Col. Gaddafi towards Nigeria, Libya had usually been a threat to our national security. Among other hostile acts, Ghaddafi was suspected to be one of the external sources funding the Islamist fundamentalist fighters popularly called Boko Haram. Our national security and intelligence must have foreseen and should clearly foresee the potentially adverse effect on Nigeria’s security which the conflict in Libya posed to Nigeria.
In transmitting money and saboteurs to Nigeria, Ghaddafi and his former officials were a potential security threat to Nigeria. Security/intelligence has to anticipate that Ghaddafi cells for propaganda, indoctrination, training, infiltration and actual sabotage and subversion exist in this country and are run by Ghaddafi’s loyalists. Such elements must be quickly identified and rooted out. The media had reported the large scale movement of former Ghaddafi supporters to Niger and Chad Republic. Some of our national papers have even gone so far to suggest the possibility that some Ghaddafi agents may have infiltrated Katsina and some other states in Nigeria.’
The development in parts of northern Nigeria is clearly a manifestation of such threats. The terrorist cells and organisations ousted from different parts of the Middle East and North Africa in particular, including Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, etc, are all at present busy looking for places and territories to house themselves and foment their nefarious activities. It is therefore important for all concerned to realise the magnitude of the threats which the country faces from those terrorist armies and appreciate the measures taken by the government to contain them.
A lot of people were of the view that the declaration of state of emergency did not come early enough. Do you also think so?
The declaration of state of emergency by the President and Commander-in-Chief did not come soon enough. But thank God, Mr. President had to take the bull by the horn. The declaration had indeed become inevitable. It was either the Commander-in-Chief did what he eventually did or allow the terrorists to settle down and the issue of terrorism would become endemic in Nigeria. We pray not. Having taken the bull by the horn, the correct and wise thing for Mr. President to do is to chase the terrorists out of wherever they may have infiltrated. We must not allow them any breathing space or respite. Any such lack of relentless pursuit will allow them to find a foothold somewhere else in the country and continue to threaten the security, integrity and sovereignty of the country.
A state of emergency is a state of emergency. It must be pursued fully and relentlessly. Therefore, this is a time for all Nigerians to rally round the leadership of the President and ensure that our country is rid of this threat to the national sovereignty. We must equally rally round our armed forces, the police and the security services. They are trained and paid to do this job, but we must remember that they are Nigerians and they have flesh and blood. They have wives, children and family. And having placed themselves in this position to make sacrifice for the rest of Nigerians to find peace, relax and enjoy themselves, they deserve to be encouraged and publicly appreciated.
They must not be condemned as appeared to have been the case following the Baga incident. We must see our armed forces, police and security in the present situation as though they are our national football or athletic team. They expect us to encourage and cheer them up so that they can decisively defeat this threat to our national security.
In real sense, how much threat does insurgent and militant activities in the North and Niger Delta pose to our national security?
The threat of an insurgency has recently become a major factor in our national politics. Let us take, for instance, those of the Niger Delta which ended a couple of years ago. Apart from the few truly nationalist elements among those militants, a lot of criminal and self-seeking elements took advantage of the genuine demands of the Niger Delta militants and destroyed both human and material property as well as destroyed the lives of innocent citizens living in their community. Such is the consequence of these acts of insurgency and terrorism once they are started.
Sometimes, the consequences which flow from such acts are based on political, ideological or religious differences as we have seen in recent times. We have also seen that many times such security threats are started by political agitation and encouragement and pronouncement of a few vocal self-seeking elements in the society. But once the fire of insurgency has been lit, these elements who ab initio started the agitation find themselves incapable of putting out the fire they had started. Such is the case in parts of the country at present as was the case with the recent Niger Delta militancy.
Therefore, whilst addressing the cases of Bornu, Yobe and Adamawa, the government should equally and quickly look into the disturbances in Nassarawa, Taraba, Benue and particularly Plateau States, which has lasted for too long. The defence and security forces should also be directed there as soon as their present task is done to flush out the seemingly endemic disturbances in those states.
Side by side with the security threat raging in parts of the country at the moment, we have to contend with a number of political issues which have kept the polity in high gear. Yes, politics is about argument, discussions and sometimes quarrel. But some of these, like the one between the Presidency and the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), are clearly avoidable. They are avoidable because the NGF is not a constitutional organ, and having started by doing some good jobs, they seem to have now constituted themselves – with permanent secretariat and Director-General – into a parallel political group which tends to rival or checkmate the federal government on national issues.
The truth of the matter is that each of the 36 governors has a territory to administer within their constitutional authority. They are not independent states. Therefore, their limits are clearly defined by the constitution and the law. For them to constitute themselves into a parallel national political organ to checkmate the Federal Government and to make pronouncements, especially such pronouncements that go against the Federal Government’s authority on matters within the authority of the Federal Government, is to subvert the constitution and create avoidable friction within the polity. To say the least, such situations are totally uncalled for. The states governments are to operate within their constitutional boundaries and the federal government should similarly do so within its own constitutional authority. It will be wrong for one or the other to encroach or cross these boundaries. It is my firm opinion that the present crisis between the federal government and the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) is as a result of this clear encroachment by the NGF into federal territories.
The former EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Farida Waziri, once said the judiciary has constituted a cog in the anti-graft agency’s fight against corruption with the granting of interlocutory injunctions. Would you say the judiciary has acquitted itself well in the war against graft and terrorism?
The problem with us in this country is that we enjoy sensationalism and hyperbolism. Almost every issue that threatens security at present had been tackled and highlighted in my previous lectures and interviews. Let me quote a piece on judiciary in the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)-sponsored lecture of 13th January, 2013: ‘The judicial arm, in particular, has a major duty to perform in this matter. The dispensation of justice is on the shoulders of the judiciary and the least one would expect from the judiciary in the matter of violent terrorism, economic “terrorism” and corruption, is to emulate the action taken by their Indian counterpart, a Commonwealth country like us, to set up special courts to deal with these dangerous cases that are capable of destroying our country. It will be recalled that following the gang-rape of a 23-year-old lady by six Indian youths, the judiciary in that country designated special courts to rapidly dispense justice in that outrageous criminal matter. In my opinion, that is what the Nigerian judiciary should do by immediately designating special courts to rapidly deal with persons on trial in these matters!’
But no responsible persons or institutions appeared to heed. The main reason is that I am not one of those hyperbolic presenters of issues and narratives. Rather, I am an expert and I present issues in their true perspectives.
There are already a number of Boko Haram and other insurgents held in our prison custody awaiting trial. One or two of them are taken to court from time to time, but for one technical reason or another, they are returned to the cell, their cases having been further adjourned. When will these cases be dispensed with and justice done to the state or the individuals or groups concerned? What about consideration for the morale of the officers and men who labour tirelessly, and risk their lives day in and day out in an attempt to bring these alleged culprits to book? These alleged culprits remain in custody under terrible conditions while those who had striven to bring these suspects to book feel frustrated, while judges, lawyers and pressmen practise their trade and profession and delay their cases, not minding the plight and frustrations of these suspects and those who had worked so hard to bring them to trial.
In my humble opinion, all that the judiciary needs to do, even if that requires the introduction of a new law, and I do not believe it does, is to designate special courts or judges to fast-track and deal with these cases and those of fraud and corruption expeditiously, and punish the guilty and free the innocent. The Indian judiciary, a Commonwealth country and common law jurisdiction like ours, did a similar arrangement when a 21-year-old medical student was gang-raped. Why can’t our judiciary produce such innovation if we can smuggle the issue of plea bargain into our law to favour the rich and the privileged? We must therefore most sincerely plead with our judiciary to address this issue of special courts for this brand of serious crimes and criminality which have come to threaten our national sovereignty and integrity.
You alleged that the NGF has constituted itself into a parallel national government or organ. How has the existence of the body of governors conflicted with that of the government at the centre?
The posture of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) on matters of national security and governance is sometimes rather shocking. On the 14th of May, 2013, the NGF released a communiqué after one of its regular/emergency meetings advising or rather warning the Federal Government not to issue a state of emergency in any of the North East states where Boko Haram was nesting. Later that night, the Federal Government announced the state of emergency in three North Eastern states. Did members of the NGF have prior hint of the impending federal government pronouncement or indeed merely anticipated it? If it was the former – that they had prior hint – then they could be accused of divulging official secret which they swore to protect. If it was the latter, then they might have been expected to channel their advice through official channels to the federal government or expose themselves to constituting the NGF into a hostile pressure group by offering such negative and contrary advice to the federal government on a matter that touches on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation, which they, as governors, have equally sworn to uphold.
It must be observed that each of the governors is responsible within his constitutional limit for a chunk of Nigeria’s territory. But the Federal Government is responsible for protecting the entire territorial expanse and limits of Nigeria. The NGF is not a constitutional body. It is sadly promoting its affairs and activities as if it is part of the organs of government created by the constitution. Were it not for its negative posture, the faceoff between Governor Amaechi and the Presidency need not, in my opinion, to have happened in the first place. President Jonathan is Governor Amaechi’s political leader. All I think he needs to do and should still do is to invite Governor Amaechi to a little chat and talk him out of the NGF confrontational stance or, if that fails, use the party whip to call the governor and the rest of the PDP colleagues in the NGF to order or ask the party to withdraw the PDP governors from the NGF, using the party whip.
As for the governors, I maintain that they have assumed and are continuing to assume powers well beyond their constitutional limits. In an earlier interview in 2012, I had given detailed information regarding the absolute powers of some of our governors in their respective states. I made similar references to some of the governors’ attempt to exercise absolute power and authority within their scope. I might add that in the present case, for instance, the governors who already have ‘full power’ in their states where they control not only the executive arm of government but the legislature and the local government in some cases, try to influence the judicial arm through appointments, and so on. They are clearly moving out of steps with the intendment of their constitutional role. They already have enormous powers indeed and are trying to capture more through the back door. And having all these powers, they are now trying, through the NGF, to encroach on the powers of the federal government as they demonstrated in the matter of the emergency declaration, and so on, by advising against such action by the federal government.
Indeed, by taking such actions, they could be guilty of provoking avoidable constitutional crisis. In this regard, I can’t agree more with Prof. Jubril Aminu that the country should be protected from the overbearing authority of the state governors.
From your analysis of the situation, you risk being accused of bias. If I may ask, on whose side are you, really?
You call for a straightforward answer, and I will give you one! Amaechi and Jonathan are my ‘sons and brothers’. Jonathan is my Ijaw brother and Amaechi is my Ikwerre brother! I am not taking sides with either of them. I am rather on the side of the Nigerian nation and treating the issues involved as an elder statesman who should speak forthrightly and truthfully in the national interest.
As a young Special Branch officer of 25 years, I had fought most relentlessly to maintain the security and unity of this country. With humility and pride, I recall that under the leadership of Alhaji M. D. Yusufu, I established all the security stations and establishments of what is today’s Rivers and Bayelsa States and other places in neighbouring states. Thereafter, I made major contributions in building up Nigeria’s first security service—the NSO. I single-handedly set up the nation’s intelligence service following its establishment by law; after which I was returned to the internal security organ, the SSS, when it fell under severe stress, to turn it into the solid service it is at present.
I therefore feel not only qualified but duty-bound to speak out, not only for myself as an elder statesman and non-partisan politician, but perhaps also speak the minds of other elder statesmen who had contributed immensely to the rebuilding of this country following the civil war, at a time like this, when the country is once again coming under severe security and political stress involving our territorial integrity, as a result the invasion by foreign and local terrorist groups.
With regards to your question as to the behaviour of our politicians at this time of national emergency, I can only reply you with a statement quoting a famous American war-time general, George S. Patton. At the end of the war when he was asked to comment on the behaviour of the then allied politicians, he said: ‘Politicians are good at starting wars, not ending them. Before you finish one war, they are busy sowing the seed of another.’ One hopes that this will not be the case with our emergent situation and our current crop of politicians.
I have to address issues frankly in the manner that will ensure the continued unity and indivisibility of the country, and not to take sides with either party in this matter. That is my stand. After all, Governor Amaechi has done some marvelous job in stemming the tide of insecurity in Rivers State and in terms of developing infrastructure in the state, which is a big boost for his party, the PDP.
It is sad that once again, Rivers State which, thanks to Governor Amaechi’s efforts, only recently recovered from near anarchy has been turned to a fresh battle field because of the internal struggles within the PDP to bring down Governor Amaechi, with a series of pro and counter demonstrations, including the unleashing of militants who had only recently retired, back on the streets of Port Harcourt and its environs, to remind innocent citizens that they are still lurking around and driving the fear into the hearts of the peace loving citizens from going about their legitimate businesses. What is happening in Rivers State at present confirms the saying that it is the grass which suffers, when two elephants fight. I would like to plead with all concerned that Port Harcourt and its environs, which have only recently recovered from the trauma of militancy, be left alone in all of these pro and anti-Amaechi demonstrations and allow the prevailing peace in the land to be sustained.
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