From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
A public analyst and Executive Director Africa Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), Austin Onuoha, has asked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to make the new year, 2025 a dialogue year.
He said discussing with all aggrieved groups in the country will address their agitations and douse the growing tensions for lasting peace in the country.
Onuoha, who named the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), bandits, herders, farmers, Oduduwa republic, as such aggrieved groups said “Let him, President Tinubu, make year 2025 a year of dialogue. Anyone or group that has a grievance, let government begin to talk to them.
“Whether he wants to set up a committee or will mandate the public petitions committee of National Assembly, House of Reps, let him begin to talk to everybody. We need to douse tension.”
The public analyst also stated that the country is spending too much money on security saying Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) is threatening to go on strike and there was need to also address their grievances and pump money into education.
“We also need to put money into roads, health, and into agriculture. The money we are pumping into security is not being useful to us in the long run.
“We need to talk to people. Many Nigerians are aggrieved and generally, they are being alienated from the system. Loyalty is now turning more into ethnic cleavage, family, primordial, we no longer pledged allegiance to the nation because people don’t see Nigeria as benefitting them in the short and long run.
“We need to move money from security back into these critical sectors; education, health and agriculture.
“The first step towards addressing grievances is to acknowledge the persons grievance. No grievance is small no grievance is trivial. People must be listened to and you need to ask them what would make them happy.
“The Youths Confab we talked about was a total waste of time. Talk to aggrieved groups. Any group that is not able to identify its leaders to talk to government doesn’t exist. Make this year a year of dialogue with all aggrieved groups and probably find solutions to their grievances.”
Onuoha who urged the President to use the religious and traditional leaders, National Assembly to articulate people’s needs and see whether they can be met.
According to him, “IPOB has always argued that the South East is marginalized and the Federal Government counter narrative has been to militarize the area.”
He said “There must be a counter narrative. We need the opening of the space for people to discuss to douse tension in the country.”