Reverend Fredrick Ikyaan is the Gubernatorial Candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in Benue State. In this interview with our Correspondent, DOOSHIMA HIR, he said the 2019 elections will not be about party platforms but about individual candidates and their antecedents.
TNE : Looking at the prevailing conditions in Benue, particularly the insecurity, how do you intend to tackle it if you emerge winner in the forth-coming guber election?
There are some things I cannot say now given the nature of security. But as an individual, long before now, I have been involved in security issues in some way. You may be aware of the Movement Against Fulani Occupation of Benue (MAFO). I was privileged to be there right from inception of that movement. In fact, I provided the enabling environment, provided the office accommodation and some of the logistics that were required in the formation of that group.
I have also been involved in counselling other people about being security conscious. As a person, when I drive round town, I’m also aware that I’m supposed to be concerned with what happens and once in a while, I have also drawn the attention of the government to issues of security. I’m aware of security issues in Benue. The first thing I have noticed is what I call petty robbery where young boys in town snatch telephones of unsuspecting members of the public especially young girls. Many of our youths are idle, so they can be used very easily in causing disturbances that can degenerate into serious security challenges in the state. As we hear, the people invading our places do not just come and act alone, they use the local boys. So, one way of dealing with these issues of security providing useful, beneficial value adding engagement for these youths. For instance, if the Taraku Mills is functioning, several of these idle youths can be engaged there. Whoever comes to town and is looking for idle hands to use will find none.
Secondly, as one outside of government, I look at the opportunities for the military, the police and some of these other paramilitary formation; it is possible to work with them and I believe if repositioned, they can provide necessary security so that our security situation does not degenerate into something else. Our police and the military are always on the road checking those coming into town yet sometimes, we hear that arms are imported into town. So, where do they pass, on the road. It means that there is something wrong. From what we hear, our security personnel have received the best training yet in spite of their training, security is still an issue. It means that we need to look at the issue constitutionally and task those with the responsibility of security and make them live up to their responsibility.
TNE: At the moment, are you comfortable with what you are seeing in Benue state particularly at the IDP camps, the security architecture and efforts to ensure they go back home?
Well, the answer to your question is very obvious. First of all, I’m not comfortable. Just like the people in the IDP camps themselves are not comfortable. Nobody is comfortable with such a situation because that is not where they should live. They had homes, suddenly the homes were wiped away and they are now living in camps. It is not the best of the situation. Quite a number of things are going on in those places. So, if given the opportunity, I strongly believe in God, it will be possible to work out something so that they can find themselves back to their ancestral homes. The politicians can take undue advantage of them. Because of their desperate situation and desperate need, any solution, even if it is a theoretical one, that someone brings to them, they will be willing to subscribe to it. But I plead we don’t need to play politics with the issue of IDPs and from what I hear, the present government is ready to do something about it. I think it should be something of concern to any rational thinking man that these people are not in their comfort zones as the rest of us are and all hands ought to be on deck so they will go back to their homes. Also, if given the opportunity, it will be my pleasure to ensure that their places are secured much more than they were before the invasion, so they can go back, take care of themselves and also go back to their farming business. Every right thinking man should be concerned that they need to go back home. It is my concern up to this point and hopefully, at the time of entering into office.
TNE : 2019 election is almost here and looking at the IDPs, you also have eligible voters who may want to vote for you. What do you advise government to do so they are not disenfranchised?
Government is already doing something only that it needs to be hastened up because the time for election is approaching. INEC is aware that these people are there, some registered before, and some have not registered. I hear that INEC is going to move there to register them and make some provisions for them to cast their vote because they represent a reasonable percentage of the population of Benue. So, I will wait to see what INEC will do and how they will do it. If we find out that what INEC has done falls below expectation, we will partner with them to see how they can be improved so that truly, our people at the IDP camps are not disenfranchised.
TNE : But before the elections, what is your message to those Benue people living at the IDP camps?
First, I would like to commend the efforts of the Governor, our brother, Samuel Ortom. He has really gone a step further trying to address this situation. He has also gone ahead to report to the entire world that something fishy is going on, because how else can one explain that the international community wants to come visit the IDPs and some powerful force on ground is trying to prevent it. It means that there is more to it. I want to believe that the people that serve in the camp are not aware of some of the efforts that are being made. So, I want to use this medium to encourage them to be confident that even though they are helpless, Benue is solidly behind them. Benue is also concerned about their plight and at the end of the day, we can be sure that God will determine their course. It is usually said that though weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning. So this is their moment of weeping. God himself is going to hear their tears like He heard the children of Israelites.
I want them to persevere. Selling their PVCs is not the immediate solution to their present plight. They should show to the world and whoever that comes their way that solution to their problem is not in receiving small token and peanuts. Let them display the greatest sense of courage because their courage will speak volumes to inspire whoever is poised to alleviating their suffering. Our people say when you are bathing a child, the child needs to rub palm on his stomach showing a sign of commitment to the bathing process. So, as the present government is doing something about the conditions and the rest of us are showing concern, they also need to demonstrate their commitment to the concern others are showing to them. On the whole, I want them to be encouraged that something is being done about their plight and we will not be forgetful about it.
TNE : You mentioned idleness on the part of the youths as one reason why the security in Benue is deteriorating. What is your blueprint to get them off the street when you become the governor of Benue state?
To be able to clear the youths off the street, we need to engage them meaningfully. We cannot just ask them to go the farm. Some of them have gone to school to study in various trades and fields, yet they do not have an opportunity to be engaged. We have our ailing industries. Our concern is to focus on these industries to revamp them to provide employment. If you revive Taraku Oil Mills alone, thousands will be engaged. As a candidate today, I’m not going to bring about a miraculous change. No, I don’t need to promise the people something out of the blues, but with the little that we have in Benue, sufficient concern can be shown to the few industries that have long been dead. We may not do all at a time after all, I have just four year and I believe that these four years are enough to resuscitate two or three industries to engage our teeming youths in Benue.
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Secondly, agriculture can also be seen from a business perspective. It is not just for subsistence living. Over the years in Benue, in Tiv land especially, we take to farming more for the sake of eating food and it is because we don’t have sufficient human capacity to do farming on a large scale to a point of turning it into a business. Up till now, we are still using the hoe and ordinary cutlass and axe. Why can’t we move beyond this point? If given the opportunity, we will raise farming beyond this traditional approach to something more modern. There are hand held devices that can also be used and these will enhance our farm activities. Not everybody may be able to possess a tractor or necessarily depend on a tractor even if it is made available. Others may find themselves contented with hand held devices and some other traditional approaches to farming. So, if we address these issues, we will be assured that idleness would have been reduced and our youths would have been engaged in something more meaningful.
TNE : With the seeming interest of the Federal Government in the politics of Benue state and how recent elections were conducted in other states, do you have the confidence that INEC would conduct a free and fair elections this year?
I have always had the confidence because that is why INEC is there. Those who are working there know their mandate. Theirs is to conduct free, fair and acceptable elections but it becomes worrisome where government takes extra interest. You just know that there is more to it than meets the ordinary eye. Previously, money used to work miracles, now I hear the Benue populace saying money will no longer work. INEC must also be held accountable. So, where you find the ordinary man on the street, without being induced, singing and chanting this way, you know that by the time these opinions, these chants are being properly harnessed, you can be sure that INEC will not do anything outside what is expected of them. So, personally, I have confidence that INEC will do that. I also know that there are corrupt people that will also want to go behind the scene to influence INEC. There shall be no shying away from the truth. INEC staff are also Nigerians and we know that here, money changes a lot of things, but we are confident that this time money will lose its force, money will not achieve the same effect that it had achieved in previous elections because the voting public are becoming more aware; the people on their own, uninfluenced, are saying they will not accept anything short of the right thing. So, I will continue to sustain my confidence in INEC. As Nigerians, we need to have faith in INEC and with God all things are possible.
TNE : You have indicated interest to run the governorship on the platform of the PRP. From public opinion, the party is not popular in the state. What is the level of your acceptability ahead of the elections?
There appears to be a change of attitude among the electorates. What the electorates are saying is that they are tired of the political parties. It’s not the platform that brings about development to the people, it is the candidates who are involved. So for now, it is no longer about which party is going to bring the dividends of democracy but it is about the individual candidates and their capacity and, of course, their antecedents, that is what is going to speak in the up-coming election. So, even though I’m contesting on a platform that is not famous, it is not new really. Remember, by 1979, this political party was already in force. It is the oldest, only that it is not famous but our concern is not how famous a party is, it is about the individual involved. We have received overwhelming willingness and followership. So we are confident that the voting people know what is good for them. Remember there are about 91 political parties. It is not the multiplicity that is the solution to the problem of Nigeria but competent and capable hands, people with track records of antecedents of good governance that can be talked about. So, our confidence is that people have abandoned the concept of party to a new understanding which is the individual. We are looking ahead and the PRP will spring surprises in the state.
