A former Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Chief Simon Okeke, has asked the presidential candidate of the Labour Party( LP), Mr Peter Obi, to be security conscious as he goes about with his 2023 electioneering.
Okeke who gave the advice in a telephone interview, said he had expected Nigerians would be in unison in supporting a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction this time, regreted that the Igbo were schemed out from the major political parties which he said made Mr Peter Obi to defect from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to join LP.
Continuing, Okeke berated the All Progressives Congress( APC) and the PDP for not considering an Igbo man as a presidential candidate. He traced the leadership history of Nigeria since 1960 and asserted that no Igbo man had ever been elected president of Nigeria.
He said, “Obi left when he saw the handwriting on the wall.He decamped from the PDP to join LP. And soon as he joined the LP, he was unanimously accepted in the, South, East, North and West -all over the country. He is a movement now. My advice to all Nigerians is that you already know where to put in your vote. You should be “Obidient” as the saying goes. I advise Mr Peter Obi to be security conscious wherever he goes.”
Describing the Muslim-Muslim ticket of the APC as anachronistic and senseless,
Okeke said for the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, to have looked down on multi religious nature of Nigeria was a great error that would not be tolerated by the Christians, adding that Tinubu should have recognized Muslim-Christian pair as had been the case immemorial on issue of presidency.
Okeke cited past presidents, ranging from Abubakar Tafawa Belewa with Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe through the Muslim military heads of state and their Christians Chief of Army Staff, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Alex Ekwueme, Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar, Musa Yar’Adua and Ebele Jonathan up to Muhammadu Buhari and Prof Yemi Osibanjo.
He expressed disappointment to Tinubu’s action, stating that no leader of Nigeria had ever led with same-faith partner in the history of the country, saying that it had always been either Muslim-Christian or Christian-Muslim.
Okeke said it appeared Tinubu had bought into the idea of Islamising Nigeria as feared by some Christians, adding,”It is unthinkable. It is an impunity that cannot be tolerated. We will see how far this can go. It is absolutely not acceptable and very anachronistic. It will not work.
On the general insecurity in the country, the ex-police boss tasked telecom providers and experts in Information and Communications Technology( ICT) to help the country more with their expertise to fight crime and criminality.
Okeke noted that it was an indictment on the stakeholders in the communication industry to claim to be experts in their fields when kidnappers could comfortably kidnap their victims, negotiate for ransom through the telephones without being traced.
He said the situation had made kidnapping a lucrative and thriving business since those who called themselves ICT and cyber security experts including service providers in Nigeria proved to be confused as they watched the hoodlums having their way undisturbed on a daily basis.
He said,”Someone will be kidnapped and the kidnappers call their victim’s family, negotiate for so much money and will never be located. It is an indictment on those who claim to be experts. I feel disappointed that this is going on in Nigeria. I don’t know about other countries.
“Those that are experts on security issues should do more work on kidnapping and negotiation for ransom. Once they are able to identify the kidnappers during their negotiations and deal with them, kidnapping will certainly reduce.
On security in Anambra, the former Police boss commended Governor Charles Soludo in his security strategies to save lives and property in the State.
“Security is cost-effective and financial resources are required to secure lives and property. I think Governor Soludo is trying. He has tried to raise money from private individuals who have responded comfortably.
“He is doing well. A lot of security challenges are going on especially about those unknown gunmen or whatever you call them. I’m satisfied with what the Governor has done so far, trying to dislodge the unknown gunmen in forests, bushes and all the enclaves where they are.
” I must tell you that in a little way I give the Governor my own advice including the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, the Director of State Service (DSS) in Anambra and the Commander, Onitsha Garrison. I do speak with them and we discuss from time to time. They are all very much concerned in security
of the State, ” Okeke said.
