‘Unemployment, responsible for Onitsha crisis’

Gozie Agbakoba, House of Representatives member representing Onitsha Federal Constituency

– Gozie Agbakoba, House of Representatives member representing Onitsha Federal Constituency
What is your reaction to the insecurity situation in your Onitsha constituency?
It is something that has its history from the time of Governor (Chinwoke) Mbadinuju. Those days saw the promotion of mediocres and thugs and people like that. You know, there was this challenge of insecurity so the government believed that it will use criminals to wipe out criminals. It was the days of Bakassi, original Bakassi and fake Bakassi and all that stuff and it created a problem. I didn’t believe then that it was going to be a long term social problem because many people were worried. It is not basically a way of solving problems of that nature. But now, we find that this has galvanized into a crisis. I believe that Onitsha is one of the important areas in this country and I think that there is need to give that town a boost. This is a town where the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (first president of Nigeria) hail from and so many other prominent people. I think there is need for the government to develop the waterway. You see, every year in the budget, you see very paltry sums assigned to the inland waterway project. I don’t think the Federal Government is serious about that project. There is need for proper drainage in that place. And the president (Chief Olusegun Obasanjo) supports this inland waterway project because he believes it is a way of improving the transport system in Nigeria. I think that it is the answer to unemployment problem in Onitsha, as it will create employment for several thousands of people. And if that happens, you won’t have people available for the kind of jobs you are seeing today; the kind of criminality you are witnessing. I think that will change the character of the town.
The second thing I think I want to talk about is the need to create community police, which I think is important. I think if we have community police; grassroots policing, it will help solve some problems we have.
Do you think that the traditional leadership of Onitsha has really done enough to make sure that these criminal activities were addressed?
The traditional rulers and authorities cannot be in charge because Onitsha is a commercial city. It is not just a traditional town. The people of Onitsha can only take care of some aspects of the security and that is happening at the inland town. And that is why in inland town, there is no problem, because the security is intact and is working. And they know themselves. It is the stranger class- the commercial people that is the problem. The old OMATA (Onitsha Markets Amalgamated Traders Association) used to be effective in this business of security, but it was dismantled in favour of Bakassi. So, they need to revamp some of these old ideas.
From your own findings, what factor is responsible for the crisis?
The crisis arose as a result of allowing private individuals take control of the motor parks, allowing people to charge all kinds of fees in the parks. This crisis is all about commercial gains.
You seem to blame the security policy of former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju which introduced “Bakassi Boys” to checkmate criminal activities in the state. But you appear to have forgotten that that policy was only a response to the level of crimewave in the state as at that period.
When Mbadinuju came, he brought Bakassi, no problem. The problem was to know when to draw the line. That arrangement could have been a six-month affair, after which a better solution would be put in place.
Everybody will say that police is controlled by the Federal Government but I believe that the police is controlled by the governor of the state because the governor is the Chief Security Officer of his state. We have to create jobs. I have created 50 or so jobs in Onitsha but that is not enough to solve employment problem in that town. We need something of a structure to help the town. So, let us address this fundamental issues of job creation.