Some people want to use Boko Haram to provoke national mayhem —Senator Lar

Less than five months to the gubernatorial primary, there is no single poster of any aspirant on the streets of Plateau. ISAAC SHOBAYO, speaks with the senator representing Plateau South, Victor Mainasara Lar, on the political situation in the state, insecurity in the country and his interest in the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party. Excerpts:

THE level of insecurity in Nigeria is alarming and worrisome. How do you think the situation can be addressed?

I am worried about the situation and it is time the country took another look at the security situation in the country. Some people are instigating activities that will provoke ethno-religious crisis, political intolerance and inter-tribal suspicion. How do we explain the abduction of 237 girls, a majority of whom are Christians? Take the flip side of the coin and imagine what would have happened if the majority of those girls were Muslims. Some people want to provoke national mayhem and calamity. We have to be careful. I am a little bit overwhelmed by the argument that they have security breaches and some people are saying don’t declare state of emergency or don’t extend it because our people would not like it. No responsible government would allow breakdown of law and order to the level we are experiencing in the North-East without taking any step. I support and Nigerians should support the extension of state of emergency. They claim it is not yielding any result but it did before. If it is not yielding any result now, we have to restrategise, re-kit the soldiers and allow the thing to go on and not to withdraw because there is temporary setback. Above all, government must take a hard look at the situation, because the lie about equipping the armed forces and the air force has fallen on its face; soldiers run away from Boko Haram in the face of superior fire power. That is what the governor of Borno State said. I think the government should take a hard look at that and equip the military men operating in that part of the county. It is suicidal to send people to the warfront without equipping them properly.

There is a call from certain quarters that Mr. President should resign on account of insecurity in the country, especially over the menace of Boko Haram ravaging the North-Eastern part of the country.

I want to say that everybody is entitled to his opinion but I think that it is neither here nor there. That means the people know those behind the insecurity and they know that people are perpetrating itm, because President Goodluck Jonathan wants to run. If he does not run, will Boko Haram denounce their activities? Certainly, they will not. Personally, I believe this is not the first time that insecurity is rearing its ugly head in the country. It did not start with Jonathan and it will not end with him. If he wants to resign, let it be that he thought of it but for people to say he should resign because of insecurity is not fair.

Should the president contest in 2015?

What is wrong with him contesting?  In fact, as the occupant of the seat he should have the right of first refusal.

Sir, with less than five months to the gubernatorial primary, no single aspirant has indicated interest to contest the 2015 governorship election in Plateau State. What is responsible for this?

The fact that I have a campaign office is to tell you that we have moved from the drawing board to reality. The truth is that I am interested in contesting the governorship election and I will run to the end. I will run and win by the grace of God. What I have to offer Plateau State, first and foremost, cannot be different from what has been encapsulated in the constitution, to bring about good governance; to bring about happiness for the generality of the people; to ensure security and to work for the prosperity and progress of Plateau State. As Victor Lar, I am coming from a different background and I know that my delivery will be different. I am a child that is covenanted with his creator; to start with the covenant is the surest platform for which to commit to God. As a result of this, I have certain dos and don’ts. I will give you example. I believe that time has come for us to take a look at the ethno-religious cum political relationship among the ethnic nationalities on the Plateau. We cannot make progress without unifying these ethnic nationalities; this is the platform on which we can have lasting peace on the Plateau. I am not saying there is no peace. There is peace, but for us to have a lasting peace it must be founded in intrinsic internal unifying force within the ethnic nationalities that make up Plateau State, to the point that if you touch one, you touch all. If you touch all, you touch one. The second thing is that I believe that God is a God of season and time He said there is time for everything. The present government said it has come for redemption and transformation. Yes after being redeemed, what next? We are transiting from redemption to visitation. What do I mean? Plateau State is going to arrive at a point when we may not need statutory allocation from Abuja, the wealth is here. It has to be created; it has to be harnessed. The state is going to arrive at a point where it is going to be a regional distribution centre for the gospel. I have a five-point agenda for the state; we will elevate our relationship with God to the point that we will become a regional distribution centre for the gospel. The Bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God. By the time we do that, all other things would come. We intend to give practical expression to that. That will come as a precursor for the development of tourism on the Plateau. Tourism is about visitors; it is about people who are ready to spend for leisure. We will make conscious efforts to ensure that things that will attract visitors and sustain their interest and make them to come back again. Another area we intend to harness is mining. The Bible says I will give you the hidden riches of secret places. We would discover the mineral that has not been discovered anywhere in the world. It is going to be done by the spirit of God. We would develop agriculture and revolutionise education.

Governor Jonah Jang has been urging the people of the state to pray to God to reveal who will be his successor in 2015 and has said God has not revealed the person to him, a development that reportedly resulted in the lull in the politics of the state. With less than five months to primary, don’t you see this as a setback politically?

I know myself as a child of God and I know the governor as a pastor. I will use the story of Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus Christ in the morning of resurrection, she went and met an empty tomb and she saw the venue and asked the Angel where have you taken my Lord to and the Angel said why are you looking for the living among the dead. Promotion does not reside with human beings here on earth. So, anybody waiting for another human being to anoint him is like looking for the living among the dead; it does not reside with anybody  here on earth. The Bible says there is a God that rules in the affairs of men. I have prayed; I have received revelation and I received confirmation that it shall be well. As for whether Governor Jang has anointed me or not, as a man of God, if it is God that says so I have no choice. So I can confidently tell you that I am the anointed, whether it is of Jang or God is a different thing. But Jang and God should be on the same page. So I am anointed. Look, if the governor said he has not been told, you want me to extrapolate and expatiate on that statement within certain context. One, it means God cannot anoint a successor without Governor Jang’s consent and support, which means the Bible can be faulted. As the Bible says, with God all things are possible, not with man. And two, can any man say he has arrived at a point he can assist God, that God cannot do His will expect by helping hand? this is the obvious implication of that statement and as a Christian, I believe they are neither there nor here. Whether we like it or not, as politicians we know that there is power of incumbency, which can either make or mar an ambition. I see that statement in that contest but I had prayed. If somebody is just praying, I have finished praying since, but I have not invited him to pray with me and he has not invited me to pray with him. What I saw may be different from what he sees and we may see the same thing.

Regarding your question on people waiting to be anointed, it is good; Jang is the leader whether you like him or not and until I discussed my ambition with him, I did not start consultation. I believe those waiting are waiting out of respect for him as the leader of the party and governor of the state.

There is a political debate and controversy over which of the three senatorial zones should produce the next governor. What is your position concerning zoning in the state?

Whatever name you call it, it is an attempt at explaining a political phenomenon; the truth is that Plateau has not at anytime sat down to say that we would adopt zoning. In that wise, all elections had been keenly contested by the people from all the zones at the same time. In that regard, you would admit there is no zoning, but somehow there is an unwritten understanding. But there is one magnetic pool that pulls the majority of the votes for candidate from the preferred zone indicating though unwritten, clear existence of a zoning arrangement. What is ‘adashe’? Do they contribute money, how much money; equal amount of money by all the contributors, there is no adashe where contributors give different amount as contribution. In the contest of adashe, assuming without even conceding, that the arrangement you talked about exists, in the former Plateau State including the present day Nasarawa State, the late Chief Solomon Lar was in office for four years and Sir Fedelis Tapgun held office for 20 months, if you put the two together, that is just six years. It is less than what former Governor Joshua Dariye alone spent in office and what Jang alone has spent. So in this case, the adashe theory cannot stand. What guides election in any dispensation is the constitutions we are using. Can we exhume and apply the 1995 constitution? I said no, the truth is that the 1979 constitution which gave birth to Solomon Lar and Tapgun governments have gone with that era. That is why rather than five senators, we are having three. The truth is that that adashe has never existed; if it did, there must be a convener. Nobody has done the central collection and distribution. What are the facts on the ground? The facts are that some people think they can take the temporary advantage that the northern zone now enjoys for having the governor and exploited it in a manner that they would manipulate the process and get another person from the northern zone to benefit.

Based on your thinking, which zone do you think should produce the next governor?

I think the zone that should produce the governor is the southern zone. I know that Dariye from the central zone spent eight years. Jonah Jang from the northern zone would have completed eight years by 2015. So the next governor should come from the southern zone and he should spend eight years.

Copyright – Nigeria Tribune

Some people want to use Boko Haram to provoke national mayhem —Senator Lar