By our correspondent
As the threat by the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump on possible military action against terrorists in Nigeria over alleged Christian genocide generates more reactions, a renown legal luminary, Barrister Amobi Nzelu has urged the Nigerian government to constructively engage American government on this matter.
Barrister Amobi Nzelu has been in private legal practice in Nigeria in the last 45 years haven been called to the Nigerian Bar in 1980.
He became very famous for defending 6 Nigerian youth popularly called “Apo 6” brutally murdered by the Police in Abuja and won.
He said “when you see an uprising lasting for more than three days, seven days, people have been feeding from that uprising. Nigerian government should constructively engage American government on this matter”.
In engaging with the US government, Nzelu advised that it is not the issue of coming to say it is a lie or it is correct, adding that “America don’t say things in vain. They must have done their in-house investigation into this particular matter before they come out to say it at that level.
For a president of America to say that there is genocide of the Christians, there are facts he may know we don’t know here. Me and you are in general, but there are certain facts that are concealed. And I’m sure that some of the killings are underreported.
The proper thing for them to do rather than confront the American head on, is to go out and see how they can engage them diplomatically rather than confronting the American government. Donald Trump may have his facts and figures. Nigerians may think he doesn’t have them. No, he may have his facts and figures together on this particular issue. They should engage him and explain to him one thing or the other. I believe they should engage the American government constructively.
Barrister Nzelu said Nigerians should not develop the attitude of insulting everybody, adding that he was pissed off when he watched what his good friend, Femi Falana said, that Trump told lies.
“Diplomacy is the ability to tell somebody to be stupid if they want to be stupid” he said, adding that the best way to put in this thing is “the president of America may not have been properly informed of what is going on in Nigeria rather than to call the man a liar. You know, these are war powers. There are things you don’t say out like that.
“For the man to say he is going to intervene in Nigerian military means that there are facts that are available to them, which we don’t know. It is left for Nigerian government to engage him and tell him that these facts are correct, these ones are incorrect, but not to start saying the man is a liar”.
He also faulted Asari Dokubo saying “come, we are waiting for you; we die here. You see, language that is not seasoned, leads to fatal consequences”.
According to him, “In 1967, Ojukwu said, no country in black Africa can defeat Biafra. African countries watched us and we are defeated in that war. That is why I’m telling them, you season your language. The way you address a 10-year-old boy, is not the way you address an adult of 40 years. You season your language, polish it, and make it look sweet, but you’ve made the same point you wanted to make”.
Still on Falana, the Barrister said “If my good friend had told them, no, no, no, no, I don’t think that you’ve got the facts correct. We have our own side of the story, rather than to say the man told lies to the world; that thing is irritating. And you’re talking to the number one president of the world.
The legal luminary said he watched a video clip of Senator Adams Oshimole in January this year where he said clearly to the government of the day that Chinese are funding this terrorism in Nigeria because of what they get out of Nigeria. He said so as a senator, I watched the video.
“If somebody has offered you a help to assist you do certain things you cannot do on your own, the best thing is to look at the options, look at the parameters and accept that kind of offer. The issue of security has completely overwhelmed Nigerians.
He recalled that other 16 people were killed in a Church in Benue state last week, adding that “when you are overwhelmed with certain things in your house, you have to look for an external help. But Nigerians normally tie external help to colonization, it’s not true.
“We cannot pretend that this thing that started in 2006 is still there with us. It’s a part of why they removed Goodluck. They got him out of the system. That was part of why Buhari came eight years, it became even worse. Tinubu came and still looking at these people that are doing this thing”.
“The security report is telling us that most of them that they captured had foreign currencies on them. Who is funding them? The DSS is saying that most of them that are arrested, they have foreign currencies. Look, we should stop deceiving ourselves”, he said.
