Major tribes need restructuring most — Briamah Isiaka
Alhaji Ibrahim Briamah Isiaka is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Plateau State. He was a member of the state house of assembly from 1991-1993 under the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), and holds the traditional title of
not live in peace and harmony in this country as the two dominant religions - Christianity and Islam preach peaceful living. If we cannot live in peace as dictated by the two religions, then we are not fair to them. What sort of society are we? The so-called education has not done anything good for us. I am sorry to say that what education has brought to Nigeria is corruption. It is only when you can read and write that you can manipulate government documents. An illiterate person does not know that.
What is your advice on the agitation for Biafra?
My view is that if somebody wants freedom, what sort of independence does he want, who is persecuting him or what is he not getting in Nigeria? When you look at the Igbo today, what they are getting is more than two-third of what others are receiving. Go to every village in Nigeria, there is an Igbo man there with investment, children going to school and many more. So, what sort of independence do they want? They are living in peace. Besides, I also believe that northerners living in other parts of the country are living in peace.
The Supreme Court has settled the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national leadership crisis. Does it portend a serious challenge now to the ruling APC?
The PDP is a formation of the military. They asked people to join; it is not a party of like minds. They brought everybody together. That was why when the party was formed; it came with its problems. Moreover, there is no internal democracy in PDP. Rather, the APC is a political party because it was formed when political structures are in place. Everyone came with his views. There is internal democracy in the APC.
So, I don’t think the PDP is ever a threat even with the settlement of the leadership crisis by the Supreme Court. Nigerians have come to see that there was a lot of destruction during the 16 years of PDP rule. The insurgency in the NorthEast heightened during its rule. It also generated a lot of revenue, unequalled in the country’s history, yet there was no commensurate development. Nigerians are aware of this, corruption was high.
Two years into the APC leadership in Plateau State, do you think it is providing better governance than in the past?
Since the coming of APC in Plateau State, the killings of the past have stopped. There is peace. People are now going to the farms without fear. Though the problem now is that the government is operating with lean resources but doing its best. There is also physical development across the state and workers’ salaries are being paid. Also in the past, people did not feel free to move about in the state. Not anymore. So it is a great achievement. The state is safer now.