Hate speech is ominous —Latinwo

Salaudeen Adebola Latinwo, a retired Group Captain in the Nigerian Air Force and former military governor of Kwara State, speaks on the ethnic agitations in the country and other national issues, in this interview with KUNLE ODEREMI.

THERE is a growing concern over what many now regard as the phenomenon of hate speech, with its potential to cause more harm to the country. What needs to be done by the authorities to tame the menace?

We nip it the bud. It is ominous and none could know the end if we should allow the trend to further escalate and lead to an implosion. So, we must do all within our capacity to end hate messages, as we have nothing to gain by inciting one section of the country against the other. Our experience as a people and country as well as the experiences of other countries that are in the throes of arms conflicts should be more than enough grounds for us to exhibit self-restraint and wisdom. What we need is love and friendship. Religious organisations in the country, be it Christianity or Islam, should now embark on the promotion of love messages in their daily activities and sermons. Those in the entertainment industry-musicians, playwright, filmmakers, should carry love messages in whatever form or style, while our schools at all levels should teach love. Market men and women, as well as other stakeholders, should endeavour to demonstrate, in all possible ways, spirit of love, tolerance and unity. The media should preach love and these to my mind are open ways and methods we can use to promote unity and create a society where members can share concern, demonstrate remarkable feelings for one another. We can do it as it has been done in other countries with a huge success. The journey should start today.

Some say President Muhammadu Buhari and his party are being hypocritical over the ugly phenomenon, having made some frightening outbursts in the past and that Nigerians deserve apology from Buhari now?

I think we have gone beyond the issue of mere apology. In any case, what the president is doing now is that we should have a country that we all love; a country that would create an atmosphere for development and progress; a country that would give all equal opportunity and sense of belonging. It is more than giving an apology. What is an apology? It is just a statement, but he didn’t commit any offence. He was only playing the role of an opposition seeking to provide an alternative platform based on facts and figures on the state of the nation and providing the basis for comparison if he was in power. There was a time he lost an election and a few people began to claim he instigated people to create crisis. It is natural to feel bad when you lose an election under a curious and unfathomable circumstances. When you win an election, you become the leader of all and your attitude is that of the father. You would not want the house to collapse or break. So, the call by a few for secession is totally uncalled, uncivilized and retrogressive. You can hardly see any military officer saying the country should break up.  No, because you put life on the line for the country and (you) don’t want anything to happen to it, no matter what the situation is. The President fought in the civil war for the unity of the country and campaigned and was elected president. As the civilian president, he won’t be in power forever; but, we have to lay a solid foundation for good governance and a new Nigeria, and that is exactly what he is doing. We should not break down the system maybe because you don’t like his face. There is no way you lay you can a true foundation based on dishonesty or quicksand. We are all-duty bound to build a virile, united and progressive country that will be a source of pride to the next generation of Nigerians.

Many are still critical of the president over his broadcast to the nation 24 hours after he returned from medical treatment in the United Kingdom, as some claim his address fell short of general expectations concerning some tough and difficult challenges confronting the county?

His speech on arrival from the United Kingdom was straight to the point and very precise. He did not mince words as he addressed the issues of unity, peace and love in the country and I think that all well-meaning Nigerians should support his position. We have a lot to gain and benefit by standing together as a country and a lot to lose by breaking into smaller pieces as a nation. Before he travelled, he had intensified the war on Boko Haram and significantly degraded the sect. I am not too sure what the actual position is now. But definitely, we need to work more in that direction.

The correction agenda of the government seems to have been manipulated by a few of our people in positions of authority. Now that he is back, it would make sense to further intensify and fortify the war on corruption in the society with the full complement of our support. The economy is gradually picking up, and if the trend continues, it would be beneficial to all and sundry. There may be hard and discomforting periods but no good comes without some elements of pain and hardship. What he needs is the unalloyed support of the parliament: the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as all well-meaning Nigerians.

Those who are clamouring for restructuring must exercise some form of restraint and caution, while those seeking outright secession must be ready to face the music and consequence of their action. Their action and intention definitely are uncalled for. No responsible government compromises on the issue of security of lives and properties, and as such, those elements behind the spate of kidnapping must have a deep rethink; they constitute just a few in our midst, destroying and damaging the image of the country. The law enforcement agencies must stand firm in order to meet these challenges and ensure that the offenders are apprehended and brought to face justice. I hope all Nigerians would rally round the president, as the battle to reposition the country is not a one-man affair. If a man comes and he is leading a programme that is of benefit to all of us, I think the correct thing we should do is to encourage and support him unanimously. So, I am calling on all Nigerians have their eyes open and make sure we do the right thing at this difficult time in the history of our country.

I am seriously concerned about the threat of Boko Haram; I understand there is a lot of hardship all over the North-East. Maybe, it was because the president was not around and the military boys were trying to turn their hands back. I am also concerned about the case of corrupt few in the judiciary, especially the case of some judges alleged to be corrupt. We need to make sure that the right thing is done in the overall interest of the country, because the judiciary is critical in the life of any nation and society, particularly in deepening democracy. A corrupt judiciary can only undermine the fundamental values and tenets of a democracy.

You are one of the military officers that fought to keep Nigeria one between 1967 and 1970. What discernible lessons do you think the country has learnt from that conflict that claimed about million lives? These days, there are cases of one ethnic group issuing a quit notice to another in the country?

I am not sure if a few people have learnt anything from that tragic period in the history of the country. Recall that after the end of the war, the authorities declared that there was no victor, no vanquished and the idea was to embark on reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation, and overall concept was meant to evolve a united country, where nobody would be oppressed. That was the direction.

Even on the issue of the war, I am not sure it has been put in proper perspective or written. But what the government wanted to achieve that time was to make sure that we quickly put the past behind us and move forward, as the war was caused by a mistake made by a few people but then that does not mean it did not happen. A lot of people suffered, a lot of people died and there was so much confusion all over the place. In short, it was a catastrophe of no mean proportion, and that should be an enough lesson for everybody. Let people go online and see what a war situation looks like. It is a dangerous phenomenon as it destroys completely. So, what I think the president said is that ‘look, let’s put all these issues behind us and move forward as a country. Nobody is saying we have to revenge; we have to avenge for whatever it was. It was a mistake by a few people coming around to create the problem for all of us; war is dangerous and should not even be contemplated by all. I think we should be able to pick up from that and you don’t solve problems by going to war. It is always an extreme case.

After a war, which would have left heavy human casualties and wanton destruction of property, you would still come back to the roundtable to resolve your differences. If there are people with differences, they should come out and seek amicable settlement and resolution through compromise. There are many intelligent, forthright and honest people around who listen and seek a compromise in the interest of the country. There is nothing as good as working together as a united country, where no one would be oppressed; where there would be respect for the dignity of man and lives. That should be our focus as a people.

There is the insinuation among some elders that most of those involved in the violent agitation are younger people who never experienced the war, hence the current predicament facing the country?

That is a fact but they must have the support of some forces. If they knew the danger war stands for, definitely, they wouldn’t be asking for war because when you now begin to hoist a flag for a separate state in a sovereign country; you go about appointing ministers, commissioners, ministers, and so on, it is completely rebellious and when you rebel against a country or threaten other stakeholders, then you are calling for war. I am not too sure they understand this. When you start all that, you probably don’t understand the consequence of your actions and utterances.  Things do not work that way because if you want to break the system, you are calling for war. If you did not experience a war situation and its dire consequences, you can read about it. You can ask your parents what they suffered. So, they need to think deep because in a war situation, there will be no food, no medication, the basics needs of man will be in short supply or disappear with the consequence of humanitarian crisis and disaster. Look at the situation going on Syria and Afghanistan; it is a dangerous phenomenon. There is bound to be problems as they constitute an integral part of the existence of man and living.