Why Jonathan will win Second term Election-2015

Alhaji Asari Dokubo means different things to different persons. Controversial, a rebel. freedom fighter, noisemaker and ethnic warlord. Call him anything, one cannot deny the fact that Asari has carved a niche for himself in the history of this nation. To his kinsmen, he is a liberator and they love him for that. To northerners, he is a tormentor and they hate him for that. To the journalist, he is a time bomb, especially for boldness to say openly what supposedly, some men of courage gossip about.

In this encounter, Asari bares his mind on a number of issues.

Looking at Nigeria today, what can you say about the situation of things in the country?
I think two things are at the front burner now: the submission of the reports of the National Conference and Ebola disease outbreak. And if you ask me, I will say that Ebola has quarantined Boko Haram (laugh­ter). So, for me, these are the two issues in the front burner for now.

What is your view on the recent constitu­tional conference?
I was not disappointed with the outcome. It was expected. From the beginning, I stressed that the importance of the National Confer­ence was to provide us an avenue to sit down and talk. That is what has been achieved.

As for the recommendations, nothing has changed, we’re still where we were, if not worse off. Issues that were put into the recom­mendations such as state creation and so on are nonsense. There is no need to create states for us. We need resources to fund these states and you have to talk of salaries and so on.

Nigeria is a federation and you’re talking about local government creation and all those issues that were raised. I think that we have not gone beyond where we were; we’re still where we were. And if I’m to make sugges­tions, I would say that the document should just be sent to the National Assembly or so. There’s nothing different from what is con­tained in the Abdulsalami 1999 Constitution.

The National Assembly has the right to make laws but not to write a new constitu­tion. But the President is saying he would take the outcome of the National Confer­ence to the National Assembly. Is this in order?
Like I said before, the document should be a guide. There’s nothing new in that docu­ment. And as such, there’s no need for us to dissipate energy on something that is not very important. It has made us to know those who are prepared to live peacefully; those who cherish peaceful co-existence and equality of all Nigerians before the Constitution. There are those who have this erroneous belief that they were born to rule while some of us are hewers of wood and drawers of water. And that is not advisable; it will never be accepted, it will be resisted at all cost. And until they come out of that illusion, there’s nothing anybody will do for them but to continue to join issues together.

I want all the Yorubas, Igbos, Efiks, Kwaras, Anangs, Ibibios, Ogonis, Nupes, Jukuns, Tivs, Idomas, Igedes to all know that our common enemy is the colonial invaders from Futa Jalon. They are the people that have held us down; they don’t want us to move forward, they don’t want us to progress. They are the people that have insisted that we should perpetually remain where we are. And we must be prepared to resist this at all costs.

When you sound like this, some people see you as a hypocrite as they can’t help wondering why then did he take up their religion?  
I’m surprised by your question. They have nothing to do with this religion. They picked up the religion and pretended they’re Muslims and they’re using it as a mask. Majority of these invaders are not even Muslims. I posted this in my facebook.  The word they have is syncretism – a mixture of their beliefs and Islamic beliefs to produce a variety of Islam that is not known to the Quran and the Suna.

I’m surprised to hear this because there is this belief that most of the northerners are core Muslims and now you’re telling me they’re not into Islam?  
To me, a belief is different and percep­tion different from what reality is. A lot of people can perceive things; can form opinions without really matching them to realities. The Quran and the Suna are there for everybody to go and read. You can get a copy of the Quran in English and other languages, wheth­er they practice what they do- the Shamas that you see on the road, the mallams that give you talisman and so on. These are practical things we see every day. Whether these things are in accordance with the Quran and Suna is your own cup of tea.
But if you want to have perception and form opinion, there’s nothing Dokubo Asari can do for you except to wish you well.

Sometime ago, you warned that if Jona­than is not re-elected, there’s going to be civil war, what motivates you to make such an extreme statement?  
I didn’t say so.  I said Jonathan would win, but if Jonathan does not win, then that’s bye-bye. I believe that he would win. He has shown that he has won. That is the truth!
So he has already won?
Yes, he has already won. Did he not win in Ekiti and Osun states?  He won in Ekiti and Osun states. He won majority votes in Ekiti and about 40 per cent of votes in Osun State, the stronghold of the opposition. So, how would he not win the election? Besides, they know now. Don’t you see how they’re all running from the APC to PDP? They are all running.

If you keep all the presidents of Nigeria, all the rulers of Nigeria, prime ministers and Heads of State of Nigeria from 1956, when we had self-government, to 2010, when Goodluck came in on one side and Jonathan on the other side, he has surpassed all of them in terms of achievements in the five years he has been there.

The colonialists left a working railway system. The railway system died. He’s reviv­ing it! People are saying he’s going to buy 1860 coaches and so on. Those that are saying so, why didn’t Buhari buy 1860 coaches to make the railway work? Why didn’t IBB buy 1860 coaches to make the railway work? Why did OBJ not do it, after spending billions on railway and we didn’t see anything?  Today, agricultural pyramids are coming back. We have rice pyramid in Ebonyi State. Forbes (international magazine) recognised and hon­oured the Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria as the man of the year for Africa last year. The airports in Nigeria have a new look. Go to the National Hospital, we now have a bromide section. It was not there before. Buhari did not do it, IBB did not do it, and Obasanjo too did not do it!  Goodluck has done it. We have a nuclear medical centre at the National Hospital, the first of its kind.

Buhari, of course, did not do it, IBB did not do it and Obasanjo did not do it. One can go on and on and on. Look at the number of roads under the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Before, if you’re travelling from Lagos to Benin, it would be like camel passing through the eye of the needle; passing through hell fire. Today, all that is a thing of the past. So these are the things we’re talk­ing about, that Goodluck has already won. They’re just wasting their time in trying to contest the election.

Somebody alleged that you bribed him to go and kill Buhari when his car was attacked. And you said it was a suicide bomber at­tempt…(cutting me off)

It was not a suicide bomber attempt. Like the Chibok girls scam, it was a scam. The man just provided a scene to say people were attacking him. Aanybody who has military knowledge knows that when there is primary explosion, people are evacuated because there is every tendency that there might be a secondary explosion.  There might be un­detonated devices that would detonate later. So the first thing is to evacuate people. Did that happen?  Buhari said a car shifted and ran into him. That was his own testimony. And after that, he came down and he was  waiving. Yes, my brother, he was waiving.  And people were standing on the dead bodies of other people, concocting a crime scene.

On the issue of me paying money to some­one to kill Buhari, look, these are all orches­trated things as they said in Benin where they tried to rope me in. I want SSS to go to the root of this accusation because I have nothing to fear. I don’t need to kill Buhari. I will be there for him to be defeated again insha-Allah. He failed in 2003, 2007 and 2011. He will also fail in 2015 insha-Allah.  So I don’t have anything to fear. He is not a threat.

In Benin republic, what actually hap­pened?
The opposition, from our findings, peti­tioned Benin and Interpol that I was one of the leaders of Boko Haram. Based on that, I was arrested and the Beninoise authorities discovered that I was not. And now, they’ve even made me much stronger in that country because I now have access to all the important people in that country.
Before, I was living and lying low. You see, the problem they have is that they are afraid of arrest and prison. Prison and arrests have become part of my life. I have been arrested 76 times, so this has become part and parcel of my life. I will feel momentary pain but I come out stronger every time I’m arrested.
Obasanjo, for instance, put me under­ground, buried me alive when I was still alive. I came out stronger. Every time you try to arrest me, you’re making me stronger because I would come out because I’ve not committed any offence known to law that you put me in prison. If fighting for my people is to break the law then I would continue to break the law.

What makes you tick? People are won­dering if there is any mystic, any mythic power behind you?  
I don’t know whether there is. I cannot really tell. But my ancestors, King Amakri, founder of the Kalabari state; my great ancestor, A.D. Abali, my great ancestor, Omugwo, were all men of war and the politi­cal leaders of their time, astute entrepreneurs and businessmen. And I learnt from them. What propels me is to keep their legacy alive. So, my businesses I named after them. My children are named after them. I don’t look for new names. I give the names of my forbearers to my children to continue to propagate their memories. And then, I believe in God.  And live under the shadow of my grandmother who said: “Cause no man any harm; any man who tries to cause you harm will fail.”
So, I don’t like to cause any man any harm, even if he’s the worst of my enemies. I might hate him, I don’t pretend that all is well, but I will not cause him harm. He doesn’t even bother me because in my heart, he doesn’t exist.  I don’t bother myself over my enemies. They’re my enemies, but I don’t go and start planning and plotting against them. But at all times, I try to be ready for any eventuality that will take place.

Talking about things that don’t exist in your heart of hearts, does the word, fear exist?
Whether you fear or not, you will still die. Since we will still die, why should you be afraid of your fellow man? Whether you are afraid of him or not, you would still die. Death is something that you cannot run away from. Certainly, not me. I don’t know of anybody that can run away from death.
I don’t even pray to be 90 this or that. No, I don’t pray for that. But if God wants to make me reach 90, I’ll say God please let my eyes be open, my limbs strong; all the organs of my body let them be in perfect working condition, if you’re going to make me 90.
I don’t want a situation where I would be lying on the bed unable to move, people will have to bath for me and help me to the toilet. No, I don’t desire that. I prefer that when the time comes for me, I just go.
I have a lot of things running in my head, I’m a very creative person and I’m a great organiser and mobiliser. So, every time I’m thinking of new things to do and that’s what keeps me alive. There is no dull moment in my life.

Coming back to your threat about Jonathan not winning the election or civil war… (Cut­ting me off)
I did not threaten anybody, I don’t threaten people.  I say what I believe. Jonathan is the president. It is traditional and conventional that he must have uninterrupted eight years of two terms. Anybody who wants to take that away from us we will resist. And we’re not joking about it; and we’re not going to be apologetic about it. If Jonathan does not have eight year of two terms, we will resist it.

And the way you will resist it is to make sure there will no longer be Nigeria?
He who pays the piper dictates the tune. It’s Ijaw people’s money they’re eating; it’s Itsekiri people’s money they’re eating; it’s Igbo people’s money they’re eating. We pay them, so they must obey us.  When we speak they must show us respect. The prophet said the hand that is on top that gives is higher than the hand below. It’s not the other way round. It is in their best interest that they should not even contest the election.

The former military President celebrated his 73rd birthday and in the process said you don’t know what war is, that you’re just…
(Again, cutting me off). He should shut up. People like him are opening their mouth to talk only because we’re in this part of the world. Who is he to talk? Somebody like General Pinochet ran away from Chile. He should just shut his bloody mouth.  When an elder does not respect his age, he should be told. We all voted on June 12 (1993). For the first time, people kept religion aside and voted a Muslim-Muslim ticket. And all the dreams of the people he destroyed them. And he’s still running his mouth. He doesn’t know what war is. The last one he went to Bonny, what happened to him? Did he not end up in the hospital?

Do you ever sit back and imagine what will happen to you after Jonathan?
Whatever they plan we will give it back to them. They’re men and we are men.  All the time I went to prison was it under Jonathan? Did I start under Jonathan? The treason trial that I went through, was it under Jonathan? What made me to go through the treason trial? One single man was the reason. Go and read my books and find out the man who made oil price to go up.
Globally, I made oil price to go up from 20-something dollars to 53 dollars per barrel in one day. Was it under Jonathan? People just give themselves unnecessary accolade; unnecessary air of importance. Dokubo Asari is not a creation of Jonathan. When I started, there was no Jonathan. And I don’t think my struggle will end with Jonathan. As Jonathan is there, we are on sabbatical. If Jonathan goes, will they be able to lift one drop of oil? Forget about this one they’re doing; it’s small children something.
I don’t know what they want to do, I’m not in Jonathan’s government but I’m telling you that after Jonathan, would they be able to take one drop of oil?
I am 50 years old with 20 children. How old was Jesus Christ, how old was Mu­hammed? How old was Alexander the Great?  How old were these people? How can I be afraid of my fellow human being? Does he have four legs to my two? Does he have two heads and I have one? You see, he’s a man and I am a man. That’s an Ijaw song.

Recently, you said if Ojukwu were still alive you would have apologised?

That’s not true. That statement is not true.
It was all over the net.
That statement is not from me. It’s a bloody lie.
There was no need for me to apologise because my family supported Biafra. Look, in the East, there was a lot of misunderstand­ing. During slave trade, the Ijaws at the coast, Bonny, Kalabari, Ogbogbo, Nembe, then the exit of old Calabar sold a lot of slaves. And majority of the slaves were from the hinter­land – the Ibibios and the Igbos. Colonial­ism came and power moved from the coast because they were opposed to the European rule. They fought the Europeans. Power now moved to Enugu; power came into the hands of the Igbos, they were the majority. People now thought that some people were margin­alised and so on and so forth. And this con­tinued. But my family, my grandmother was supposed to be executed by firing squad if not for an in-law after Nigeria captured Buguma, my community. Her younger brother, King Frederick Amaha Thristle Amakri VIII, for the first time in the history of Amakri dynasty, abdicated the throne and followed Ojukwu into exile.

The history is there. Not only him, King S.U. Ogams did the same thing. Chris Abi did the same thing. The king of Bonny and King of Opobo did the same thing. They all followed Ojukwu into exile because they were strong supporters of Biafra.

So if you talk about my family, my father fought in the Biafran Army. So how would I apologise and to whom? I had always said that Biafra would have been better for us than Nigeria. How would I have apologised when the Igbos had been magnanimous and had come out to vote for Goodluck Jonathan with­out any peaceful settlement or anything. They came out on their own and voted en masse for Goodluck Jonathan bringing about unilateral reconciliation.

And today, the Ijaws and the Igbos are liv­ing together as brothers and sisters. So what would have been the need for me to make such a statement? There were issues of aban­doned property; my father did not buy any abandoned property and I did not inherit any. My father did not buy a single house in Port Harcourt. My father owned only one building before he died.

Today I have houses. I started by owning a house in 2002 in South Africa. I sold it. I have houses in Cotonou and a house in Cyprus. They’re not abandoned property. I’m building a small hut in my hometown, Oboama.  It’s not abandoned property. So how did I benefit? Why should I apologise on behalf other people while all along I’ve been a victim for supporting Biafra?

During the Niger-Delta struggle, at a point I thought you people were going to the extreme until I visited the Niger-Delta area. For the first time in my life as an adult, I shed tears. Now when you visit Abuja and look around, looking back at the Niger-Delta, how do you feel?  
For me, I dream or I lead. Like Malcom X said, “If you don’t bend your back nobody would ride on your back.” You have to bend. The exponents of this bending – (Melford) Okilo is dead, Dappa Priye is dead, but Senator (Edwin) Clarke is alive. He has now realised that the ‘bending’ was wrong. And he is in the forefront of those who say, “we no go gree.” “If you no go gree, we too no go gree.”
So we’re happy that what we started, what I pioneered is taking root. I’ve always said it that one gunshot is more effective and worthier than a thousand years of sermoniza­tion. A thousand years of dialogue, a thousand years of conference, a thousand years of negotiation cannot match one gunshot. That’s my belief and that’s why as President of IYC (Ijaw Youths Council), I clearly stated the slo­gan: ‘Self-determination and resource control by any means necessary.’
When I left, they now changed it. I don’t know what it is now. They’ve changed it. The logo is the same but the motto has been changed.

If the push comes to shove are you ready to go back to the creeks?
I’m already in the creeks; I’ve gone back already. The drums of war have been sounded.

So trouble is brewing?
Trouble has come. It’s not brewing. People are putting flags in their places and the whole world is seeing and they’re not talking. Na my area bi dis. Fire me I fire you. They are digging their own graves. When the conse­quences of what they’re doing will dawn on them, it will be terrible. Person wey no get leg come go war. Wetin I go carry run? He’s landlocked, he does not have resources except reliance on agriculture. We no fit use our oil import food from anywhere in the world? A lot of people no know, they just dey talk as if we be small-small children. Go to Saudi Arabia, banana, everything is there. It’s not planted there, it’s imported.
We have the resources. The banana and plantain they’re eating are they from their place? My grandmother throughout her life didn’t eat garri, even once. And throughout her life, she never ate cow meat.  She lived up to 94 years. She was eating cassava and it was usually locally planted.

There is this notion that some of the things you say, you were sent by the presi­dency to go and test the water?
If there is anybody they don’t like in the presidency, I think I’m number one.

How many people do you think will believe this?
And I don’t need anybody to believe. Goodluck is my brother so whether they believe or not, it doesn’t matter. Brothers and sisters disagree. So if we disagree it’s not a big deal. They just tolerate me. Abeg leave am make him go with him trouble. People say I’m a billionaire, that they pack money and give me. Na my money, if them give me there’s nothing wrong with it.
So, how can the President send me: the President is 56 or 57 years old – we’re in the same age grade. I am 50 years old. In my vil­lage, every 10 years is one age grade. May be from 51 to 60 will be one age grade or so.  So may be he is one age grade ahead of me. He can’t be my father, but at 50 I should still be listening to people. When I was the National Union of Rivers State Students President when I was at Unical (University of Calabar), I didn’t listen to people. Is it now that I should start listening to people? They don’t know where I came from and where I’m going.  I don’t bother myself.  All the while, I was go­ing to prison, being arrested, at that time was it Goodluck that was sending me when he was Deputy Director at OMPADEC. So, that time was he sending me or may be, my father was sending me?