The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, the Deputy speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, Monday, said that the crises in the SouthEast region occasioned by the various agitations have drastically reduced.
He credited the development to the new approach of non-kinetics adopted by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying it is a paradigm shift from the norms.
Kalu gave the testimony at the plenary season of the ongoing 2024 First Ordinary Season of the Sixth Legislature of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament in Abuja.
The deputy speaker who was recently inaugurated as a member of the Parliament said that the military has toned down their operations and have heeded the directive of President Tinubu in subscribing to the non kinetics means of settling the conflicts in the zone rather than wielding the guns.
Kalu revealed that this understanding has helped to restore tranquility in the region and enabled the zone to appeal to the authorities to release the agitators who are in prison by activating a political solution.
The deputy speaker also enjoined the subregional body to adopt the same measure in resolving similar issues, saying it is yielding positive results.
He said: “The usual tradition has been to send the military with their arms to crisis areas, to the battle of barrels of guns against barrels of guns. But there is a new wave now in my country where issues are being resolved without sending a military task force with guns. And it’s a non kinetic approach. It’s happening in my region, the southeastern region.
“Before his (President Bola Ahmed Tinubu) emergence, it was about Operation Crocodile, Operation Lion, Operation this and that. But through his initiative, he has been able to speak to the military, to look at sociological problems that remain the causative factors for the crisis and begin to look at ways of interpreting them and finding ways to bring the people to the table for resolution purposes. It’s a good template that Africa should actually absorb. ECOWAS should also look into..
“And it’s working in my region, the nerves that we are frayed with now, those who were agitating, the radicalized ones are beginning to see opportunities to look at non kinetic approaches towards resolving the conflict in the area. Remember I mentioned that my zone is the zone that suffered from the civil war.
So the pain is still there but the approach Mr President is using now is calming the tension there and it’s commendable.
“And we also hope that the region, through this non kinetic approach, also is reaching out to the administration to release some of the people who are in prison for the agitation for separation through non litigious ways. And it is working. My region is getting calmer than it used to be. So, it’s something that we must report.”
The deputy speaker also used the occasion to congratulate the President on his reelection as the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Governments.
South East Crises Reducing Under Tinubu, Deputy Speaker, Kalu Tells ECOWAS Parliament
