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Odimegwu Onwumere, Chairman, Advocacy Network On Religious And Cultural Coexistence ANORACC
By ODIMEGWU ONWUMERE
The previous day, one Simon Ekpa's arrest made headlines.
The Finnish authorities who ordered his arrest said it was based on incitement to terrorism that he spread through social media channels.
The Nigerian president has remained silent since his arrest, but individuals and organisations such as Ohanaeze and the Nigerian Army have demanded his head be handed over as they believe his arrest will bring some peace to the South-East through Ekpa's leadership on the Biafra issue.
I see that through his arrest, Ekpa, who was hated by those who consider the Biafran position detrimental to Nigeria, will force the Nigerian power company to provide electricity 24 hours a day.
Ekpa was considered the cause of poor governance at all levels of the Nigerian project. His arrest will prevent vote rigging and silence voter fraudsters who are good at telling their political opponents to “go to court” immediately they are declared winner.
Indeed, his arrest will prevent the collapse of state control and stop police officers from conducting driver fraud andsearching the mobile phones of suspected "Yahoo Boys" even though the police leadership has said such actions by police officers are illegal.
Ekpa's arrest may be worthwhile because it will help politicians in the South-East develop the region and spend project funds where they should be spent. His arrest will stop soldiers from invading Nigerian communities where people have forgotten that we live in a democracy and have their own people killed on any provocation.
The arrest will stop herders from invading people's farms and prevent a kind of ethnic cleansing in some Benue and Plateau states. This will help ensure that our health system meets international standards. How else can you explain his arrest?
This will help the government provide piped water to all streets and make Nigerian roads pothole-free. This will help the government stop debt and stop gas flaring, which the relevant courts have condemned.
Ekpa's arrest will help accelerate Ogoni clean-up efforts, ensure good nutrition for Nigerians, bring down oil prices and restart oil refineries.
His arrest will stop doctors from leaving Nigeria in droves because they think the Nigerian government is bad. I mean, inciting terror is not good, according to international best practices.
But what about a country that doesn't try to clean up the dirty misrule and mismanagement that foments fear and creates incivility?