Southeast Will Ignore Any Protest Calls Against President Tinubu, Says Josef Onoh
According to the report from the Vanguard, Dr. Josef Onoh, the former spokesperson for President Bola Tinubu in the Southeast, has responded to Senator Shehu Sani’s recent remarks on the region’s absence from the ongoing hunger protests. Onoh argued that the Southeast’s refusal to participate is not a protest against the Tinubu administration but a protest against Nigeria itself.
Onoh emphasized that the region’s resistance stems from a long history of marginalization and hardship imposed by the Nigerian state over the past 54 years, a burden now being unjustly attributed to President Tinubu. “The adamant stance in the region is because Nigeria has refused to accord the Southeast its due status as an integral part of the country,” Onoh stated.
In response to Senator Sani’s query about the lack of protests in the Southeast, Onoh offered a multifaceted explanation. He criticized the protesters’ demands to scrap the 1999 constitution and replace it with a people-made constitution, highlighting the lack of a concrete alternative.
He also pointed out the constitutional limitations of the President’s power, noting the protesters’ call to dismantle the National Assembly.
“The Southeast is silent because the protesters demanded scrapping of the 1999 constitution…without providing their own people-made manuscript for that new constitution,” he said.
Onoh further noted the region’s high level of militarization even under a democratic setting and the protesters’ call for military rule, which he argued would be disastrous for the Southeast. He contended that the silence of the Southeast has exposed the “real enemies” of President Tinubu, adding that the region lacks the political luxuries and influence enjoyed by other protesting regions.
“The Southeast is silent because we do not have the political luxuries, influence, entitlement, and benefits the regions participating in the protest have…The North have produced presidents, the South-South and South-West but not the Southeast,” Onoh asserted. He reminded those questioning the Southeast’s silence that the region has long been marginalized and treated as insignificant.
Onoh’s statement included a poignant reflection on the historical and ongoing struggles of the Southeast: “When we had tears to shed, no region wiped away our tears. When we had a voice to shout, they said we were mad. When we cared, they said we had other motives.”
Despite the challenges, Onoh expressed a continued belief in President Tinubu’s leadership and called for unity among Nigerians. He advised the President to review certain policies and consider reshuffling his cabinet, criticizing the current technocrats for their lack of political insight and support.
“Technocrats and 90 percent of your current appointees have failed you with exception of a select few…It’s time to reshuffle your cabinet because you can’t fight politicians using technocrats,” Onoh recommended.
He concluded with a call for transforming Nigeria’s political landscape by strengthening the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and eliminating political interference. “We need to transform the political narratives and perceptions of Nigeria from a nation saturated by looters instead of leaders,” Onoh urged.
Onoh firmly stated that the Southeast will remain unresponsive to protest calls against President Tinubu or Nigeria, as the region continues to grapple with enduring hardship and suffering. “The Southeast will remain deaf and dumb to any protest call against President Tinubu or Nigeria because they don’t see our nation or the current administration from a different light outside the hardship and suffering they have always known and dealt with in Nigeria,” he concluded……See_More
