eritvnews: IPOB Agitation For Biafra And Other Issues Raised Should Not Be Swept Under Carpet But Should Be Tested In Referendum - Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall

Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall

It is obvious that things have fallen apart and the centre being Nigeria can't hold anymore. Men of high honour are beginning to talk about the waning of oneness of Nigeria, which to me never existed in the first place.

Nigeria  may explode any time from now if the issues raised by so many aggrieved parties are not settled, Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall the first Director General of the National Intelligence Agency has warned.

He said you do not solve problems by merely wishing them away or remaining silent of burning issues that have given rise to agitation by separatist groups. He cited an instance with the issues raised in the ongoing agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra which he said must be urgently and carefully looked into in stead of wishing them away or sweeping them under the carpet.

He stated this in an interview with Sunday Sun where he covered a wide range of very sensitive issues.

Excerpt:

When you hear of threats of secession from groups, militancy over some perceived economic rights, resurgent calls for renegotiation of the Nigerian entity, do you believe strongly that they could have been effectively doused by the confab reports?

I think so to some extent. But there are issues being raised which appear strategic. Most of the demands by IPOB (Indigenous People Of Biafra) and some elements in the South-east on the economy and even separation from Nigeria should be very carefully looked into because these things keep simmering and keep coming back again and again. Therefore, you cannot sweep them under the carpet. 

A good strategy is to bring them up and expose them for full discussions and find ways of implementing a decision that has been freely taken. It should include the views of the people from those areas. That is how to solve political problems. By merely keeping quiet, you don’t solve the problem. The present approach to solving the problem cannot do it because they are there and some day they erupt and then we have a crisis.

And then we begin to find a solution. I don’t think that is good for the country or for the persons in those areas who are agitating. Why are they agitating? What can be done? Must it be a right to leave the country? If that is the decision, the constitution already makes a provision for agitations like that to be tested in a referendum and then be dealt with appropriately in a constitutional manner through the legislature and of course the executive arms of government. But merely sitting on them does not provide a solution and we keep the problems lingering and getting bigger by the day.