A political scientist, Professor O.B.C. Nwolise, speaks with WALE AKINSELURE on how the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) should intervene in the Nigerien situation, spiritual warfare as Africa’s weapon of war, possible re-colonisation of African countries.
What do you make of the stance of the ECOWAS regarding the crisis in the Niger Republic, especially with Burkina Faso and Mali promising to support Mali in the event of a military intervention by ECOWAS?
Nigeria spent billions of dollars on ECOMOG peace keeping operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone, what did we gain from Liberia? Now we want to go into another battle against an ECOWAS member and start spending money again. The Americans, who were enjoying in Liberia with their companies, ran away, took away their siblings, when Liberians were killing themselves, using human intestines to mount roadblocks. It was Nigerians who mobilised other West African nations to go and maintain peace in Liberia, to stop Liberians from committing national suicide. After that, what did Nigeria gain from Liberia? All the Western nations that ran away, abandoned Liberia, Nigeria spent her resources, lost thousands of soldiers and gained nothing. What is the positive achievement of Nigeria in Liberia? What did we gain from going to Liberia? We went to Liberia to maintain democracy; do we have democracy in Nigeria? Is Nigeria a federation? Is Nigeria a republic? Is Nigeria a nation? What are we trying to tell the world?
I have listened to the new military leader in Niger Republic, and he is telling us that he will not listen to any Nigerian leader because we have our problems with our own democracy. It is an insult on us. Somebody telling our president that he is an illegitimate president is an insult on Nigerians. African youths and African military are already aware of what the West did to Africa. That is why they wanted to remove history from our schools.
What the West did to Africa is becoming very obvious to our youths and our military. My advice to African leaders now is for them to enthrone good governance, ensure justice in their nations, mobilise the youths; let them put their talents in national productivity and wealth generation. If African leaders do not stop the looting of the continent by foreigners and their locals, by the time African youths will move, this continent will be on fire everywhere and there will be no hiding place. I saw a video of Nigeriens beating their politicians and burning their vehicles, and I asked if Nigerian politicians are listening. I saw another video where another African military man was telling Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia to get ready, that the coup planners are coming to them. Youths are frustrated on this continent. Let us leave this Nigerien thing because if we move into something without adequate thinking, planning and strategising, it may boomerang.
To avoid a boomerang, how best do you think ECOWAS should handle the Nigerien issue?
Diplomacy. ECOWAS should first do a research on the mindset of Nigerien themselves. If Nigeriens stand by their military leaders, they will fight ECOWAS troops. If the coupists are selfish people, then any ECOWAS effort will succeed. But, if the masses are with the coupists, ECOWAS will find itself in a battle it cannot win. ECOWAS should act softly, do social research, find out the stance of the Nigerien masses with the coupists. If the masses are with the coupists, and ECOWAS sends troops, the lives of those troops will be in danger. I have listened to President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda saying that when the African Union (AU) wanted to go and solve the problem in Libya diplomatically, NATO and Western nations stopped them. They stopped them because they wanted an opportunity to finish Muammar Gadaffi, an opportunity they had been looking for, for 40 years. Eventually they got him and killed him. They used his own people to kill him. That is how they killed Patrick Lumumba, jailed Nelson Mandela for several years; that is how they killed Thomas Sankara, all the patriotic African leaders, they get them down and support dictators. They use veto at the United Nations (UN) to stop the UN from doing anything against Mobutu Seseseko of the then Zaire in those days. This was Mobutu that was killing people; a dictator that was wasting the resources of Zaire, but the West protected him. The West protected apartheid in South Africa and today they don’t want Africa to be on the side of Russia in the Ukraine war. They should stop insulting the intelligence of Africans. Our African leaders should rather stand up now. African leaders should sit and use their brains and read the handwriting on the wall that African youths across the board are tired of our leaders allowing foreigners to loot our resources while we are all suffering. The West is planning to come back and take this continent.
How can African leaders prevent another colonisation of their countries, as you have painted?
Africans should stand up and be proud. Africa has been described as the poverty centre of the world. Africa has been described as dependent. Africa is the centre not the periphery. If America, Asia, Latin America or any continent was subjected to what Africa has been subjected to in the last 500 years, that continent would have collapsed. If North America or Latin America has been subjected to what Africa has been subjected to by the West, for over 500 years, with looting, massacre, that continent would have collapsed. Africa has seen hell in the hands of the West. Militarily, we don’t stand any grounds; we are even in a worse situation compared to our great grandfathers who could not prepare militarily against the invasion of the West. They came in first with unequal trade, then slave trade, taking away more than 400 million Africans for over 400 years, and using them as slaves to build the prosperity of Europe. They say that we are dependent, deceiving our youths, deceiving our people that we are poor, lazy, don’t contribute anything to the economy of the world, yet they are the ones looting our resources and using these resources to build their nations. Since we gained independence, we have been unable to build our military might, they failed to build Africa’s military might. Our great grandfathers refused to build our military might and Europe conquered Africa, shaved our heads, imposed their language, culture on us. We are not better off, in terms of military power, and we have had leaders and rulers in this continent who will prefer to arrest an ordinary blacksmith making guns. These are blacksmith we should have mobilised to form the nucleus of indigenous arms production. We arrest and jail them. We did not make the gains of the scientific breakthrough that the Biafrans made in terms of weapons production because of myopic leadership, leadership without vision. So, every African state today is militarily weak with the result that if the West wants to recolonise, militarily, we are down. It is late to start building our own weapons because the West is already boasting of superiority in space, strategic weapons, and that is true. We don’t even have a productive line for even rifles. Nigeria started the Defence Industry Corporation in 1964, the same year with Brazil. Brazil is now exporting armoured vehicles, tanks, engines and Nigeria is producing furniture. We have not been able to produce one jet fighter from 1960; we have not been able to produce one tank when Biafrans were able to convert ordinary bulldozers into Armoured Vehicles. What did we do to those scientists? Out of jealousy, visionlessness, we allow those great roots to die. Today, Nigeria, that is supposed to be the defender of Africa, is down militarily. Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana are supposed to have their own defence industries separately and have a joint defence industry with branches in these countries.
Shouldn’t the African Union (AU) be at the forefront of building such Africa defence?
Of course. What is their job? What has the AU done to arm Africa against recolonisation? We should get ready for spiritual warfare. We have our strategies; we have our capabilities; we have our capacities in spiritual warfare. Let us go for them while our leaders, if they become patriotic, we can begin to produce our own weapons. But, before that, let us develop our own strategic weapons for spiritual warfare.
Spiritual warfare?
While I was doing my research for my inaugural lecture, delivered in 2014, I was taken to a man called “Atakekere” at Lalupon and he took me to a place where there were millions of bees. Bees are biological or zoological weapons of spiritual warfare. When oyinbo sends their jet fighter to our country, you send millions of bees to occupy the jet fighters, jet bombers; occupy the windscreens and the pilot will not see anywhere to drop his bombs and eventually will crash somewhere.
Really! That is interesting. Spiritual warfare in the face of nuclear weapons, technological sophistication!
Yes! I saw a video last year where somebody stole an amplifier and then, the owner of the amplifier simply sent bees to whoever stole it and when bees started attacking this fellow, he had to take back the amplifier to the owner. We have those animals that we can use as instruments of spiritual warfare. There are places bombs were dropped during the civil war and the bombs could not explode. We can develop those capacities. Soldier ants are instruments of spiritual warfare. So, if the enemies come, you send soldier ants to them and eat them alive, if they don’t run away. Solider ants can eat up a whole human being who is alive. Let us begin now to develop our strategic instruments of spiritual warfare. For all those nations that have amassed nuclear weapons, if Africa would leverage on spiritual warfare, we would simply give them a warning that if they don’t dismantle those nuclear weapons, we can send spirits to detonate one nuclear bomb, in the home of the country that has the weapon.
Technology is idea, skill. If people die, Africa has the skill to wake up the dead person and ask him or her question. If people are killed, you can wake up their spirits, ask questions and they will tell exactly who killed them. Africa is a country that did not have mysterious deaths. That is what the church has killed. I have researched spiritual warfare for 20 years. Those who dismiss the spiritual warfare, I ask them, where have they been since oyinbo has been dealing with us? Where is the technology? It is too late for us so we have to use our indigenous wisdom to protect ourselves. The West is coming to Africa to fight us and take control of our resources or to fight Russia and China. Africa is in danger. The Ukraine war is creating problems in the whole of Western Europe and that is why America had to summon all African presidents to make sure we are with them. How can one country summon over 50 presidents? It is an insult. They want to be sure that our resources are still in their control. African youths must stand up now. We must prepare. During the colonial times, when Italy invaded Ethiopia, the league of nations knew that Italy was producing weapons and Ethiopia was not producing weapons. But they imposed arms embargo on both Italy and Ethiopia; that is hypocrisy. So, Ethiopia could not buy weapons, yet it was producing but by God’s grace, Ethiopia was able to stand its grounds from being colonized by Italy. We don’t have weapons; let us use our indigenous wisdom. Vietnam did not defeat America with Western weapons, they used their native wisdom to defeat America in their territory.
Is it also some form of re-colonisation abroad that a lot of Nigerians continue to go outside the country? What do you make of the ‘japa’ crave by several Nigerians, especially the youths?
That japa is deliberate. It is the foreigners working with our bad leaders, creating very bad conditions in Africa so that our youths can go there and become ‘slaves’. This one is called legitimate bondage. We go there on our own, we enslave ourselves but it is because of the situation created at home by our bad leaders. That is what is chasing away our youths. Let us have good governance at home. Let us have good leaders; let us have the rule of law; let us have industries; let us have infrastructure; let us have electricity in Africa and the youths can take care of themselves. India is using the faeces of cows to produce electricity. India is amassing exreta from big towns and using them to produce electricity. Free sun that God has given us, we cannot harness it. We cannot harness dry grass that is everywhere. A big explosion is coming to this continent and it is already taking root. African youths are tired; they don’t have jobs here; there is no food; there is no peace; they are running abroad; they are dying on the seas; they are dying in the desert. This is an African continent that you have so many professors pulling their weights all over the world. Some African presidents, governors whenever they visit foreign hospitals are deliberately assigned to African doctors for treatment.
Talking about good leadership in Africa, we have a new president in Nigeria, he is just over two months in office. Do the first moves of President Tinubu show prospects of the good leadership that you speak about?
Leaders have their plans. What I expected him to do since he said he has been preparing for this all his life is to come up with a strategic plan for the country. Leaders of African countries don’t have strategic cabinet, not ministers. Strategic cabinet is different from political cabinet. I am talking of a cabinet where you have experts, thinkers, strategists, people who think of 50 years time, the economy, education of Nigeria, Africa in the next 50 years. On this continent, people lived for 300 years before. We need a three-section health care system: orthodox, African traditional and spiritual medicine. So, any ailment that the orthodox cannot handle, we hand over to the African traditional, where they can use herbs and roots. If it fails there, we hand over to the spiritual medicine. So, the new president will be more settled after the tribunal ruling. I expect that after the court matter, he can now get strategists; he needs a strategic cabinet, strategic thinkers who can then work out how we can generate 2,000-3,000 megawatts of electricity within one year; how we can produce our own weapon systems within one year; how we can get the youths, women employed; get the nation working. This is not job for politicians, job for the boys; this is the job of strategic thinkers. Strategic thinkers are not people coming to you as president for job or contracts. And it is he that has to go and look for them, even if they are in Cotonou, America or Russia, as long as they are Nigerians, even Africans. There should be the first eleven of governance in Nigeria; just like in soccer, these are the best players. You’ll also have the second eleven and third eleven. You select the best regardless from where they are, forgetting sentiments. If this country does not move forward, Africa will not move forward; they will keep laughing at us. I am ashamed of this country. I know what this country can do for Africa.
Opposition is now growing against the sit-at-home in the South-East, many say enough is enough. Where do you stand on this?
Who gave the sit-at-home order? Nnamdi Kanu has said he does not give a sit-at-home order, every Monday. I have listened to him say, he cannot kill people he is trying to defend. What we learnt from guerilla warfare, although IPOB has said it is not doing such, is that you must be with the people. The difference between terrorism and liberation fighting is that the question is who are you fighting for. The terrorist is fighting for himself and those who paid him; the liberation fighter is fighting for the people. So, if you are fighting for your people, you cannot be killing your people, and that is what NnamdiKanu has been saying. IPOB said its own sit-at-home is only on the day NnamdiKanu goes to court. So, what should be investigated is who is giving this order of sit at home every Monday? Who is losing with the sit-at-home? The economy of the South-East is in shambles. This country is not a federation, not a democracy, not a republic. If you claim to be a democracy, you must move by the rule of law; if court says, free this man, why are you still holding him? Let him talk to his people, grant press conference and say what he wants people to hear. Let him be interviewed so that people will know what he says might be different from what is happening the South-East. But, they lock him up there. They don’t want him to talk to people and people are taking decisions on his behalf, and putting blames on him and on IPOB. That is not fair.
There is a Simon Ekpa, who has also been speaking.
But, IPOB is saying that fellow is not its member. So, why not free NnamdiKanu to come out and talk. Let him and Ekpa sit and talk and explain themselves. Then if they want to do election, let the people in the East vote for them. Let us know who among them the chosen leader is. Let us find out, who is giving the order.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then