By Raphael Okhiria

Hon. Dr. Isaiah Osifo is a politician, farmer and a university lecturer. He is simple but very brilliant and sharp. He was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), in the 2024 gubernatorial election in Edo State.
He recently granted an exclusive interview to The RELIANCE, where he spoke about the one year in office of Governor Monday Okpebholo, the looming invasion of the terrorists’ hideouts in Nigeria by the military of the United States of America, and he gave reasons why his new political party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is the party to beat in the 2027 general elections.
Happy reading:

Accessing Okpebholo’s Government for one year in office?

Well, my brother, thank you so much. Last time we spoke and I said, well, six months was too short to assess the performance of the government. Now it is a year old. I can say now that one year is enough to lay a foundation and may not be enough to do a complete classification as to the performance or non-performance. But there are indications that you can identify to say, well, we have started well or it’s not starting well. There are two areas that I want to address. The area of integration with the people, which is very important in governance. Is the government close to the people? We need that as a factor to create a foundation for effective administration for the benefit of the people. Is it an isolated government or is it an integrated government with the community, with the people? I think the answer is yes. To me, the government is sufficiently close to the people. It’s sufficiently close to the communities in the state. And that shows that he is willing to be part and parcel of the entire society, the system, so that he can learn from the areas that are deficient, and for persons that are highly talented and on the basis of that, his policies can be formulated. So I commend Governor Okpebholo for that, for his closeness to the people of the state and to the communities in the state. In response to an article that somebody wrote about a lot of appointments, and I said an appointment is an indication of a government that is willing to engage persons in administration. Governments should engage persons. In America, a senator has more than 100 personal assistants, one senator. They engage persons, but the challenge is this, and my advice is this, while I commend the government for engaging many persons by expanding the cabinet and all that, but he should utilise them for the benefits of the people of the state.
So, I do not like the idea of appointing a commissioner who will go and sit around the mango tree in the Government House. Yes, or just sit around the mango tree, or below the tree in the corridor of Government House, looking for the secretary to the government to discuss, or looking for the chief of staff, or looking for Mr. Governor. Just parading the street like a street boy. A commissioner should be engaged in his ministry. A commissioner should be creative. A commissioner should be productive. A commissioner should be speaking the minds of the people. The commissioner should be foresighted and generate ideas that can increase productivity. Our productivity is low, and you can only get production when you get good men and women engaged in factors of production. So in that aspect, I commend him, but I can only challenge him that it is not a job for just the boys and the girls. A commissioner, a special adviser, should be utilised for the benefit of the people of the state. So on that aspect, I commend him by engaging more people in his government, which shows that he is a community person, which shows that he is close to the people. Okay, now, but to demonstrate that you are close to the people, there must be practical results. And that’s where we are now, especially now that you have made one year in office, in terms of demonstrating your character that I’m a governor that is close to the people, I’m close to persons. Let’s start seeing this transformation of this person in the physical infrastructure, in the moral activities, in the social capital, in the general perception of the people in terms of welfare, in terms of security, and all things that are for their general well-being. I commend him for that. But the only minus, where I disagree with him, is that in democracy, you must be a servant to the rule of law. A democratic government must be subservient to the rule of law. You must obey the constitution of your country, you must obey the laws of your state, you must obey the judgement of the high court or the courts. The issue of local government, that is the only aspect that I disagree with him, that the councils were sacked, not in line with the lay down laws, the chairman and vice-chairman of the councils were removed, not in line with the constitution of Nigeria, not in line with the laws of the state, and judgments were given, retaining these chairmen, and the state government disobeyed. That is the only aspect that I want to advise him about. He should learn to obey court judgements. So, outside of that, I think I’m impressed with other aspects of what he is doing.

The looming invasion of the terrorists’ hideouts in Nigeria by the military of the United States of America (USA)?

You see, sometimes when I listen to people talk, and I just laugh, either they talk out of ignorance or they are just mischievous. What is international relations? International relations is the relationship between two or more countries coming together for transactions, it could be economic, it could be social, it could be political, or it could be military. And we are now in a globalised village. And now, in the era of globalisation, which simply means that you cannot avoid having a relationship with the external communities or with the external nations. So, it’s a necessary requirement, whether you are a developing country or you are developed, you must have a reason to have a relationship with other countries. Now, if somebody is having a relationship with you, or these countries have a relationship with each other, as encapsulated by the United Nations General Assembly, where every year, they all go there as one global community to talk about international issues, human rights, development, security. They are now seeing a country where things are going wrong. And you say, because I don’t come from that country, it’s not my business? Now, I know authoritarian regimes, like China, like Russia, like this idea of isolationism, don’t get involved in the internal affairs of the country. If you are a strong person, and you see an innocent weakling being beaten, being brutalised, and being killed, you fold your arms and begin to watch, because these children or persons are not born by your parents, but you’re just a passerby. People are fighting and there’s a bigger one beating and trying to kill the smaller one, and you feel unconcerned because he’s not your person? Then, you are an evil person. So, you can interfere in the internal affairs of another country, if it is meant to protect their fundamental human rights. If it is meant to protect their security, if it is meant to protect their lives and property, you can interfere. You can intervene. The theory of humanitarian intervention, as documented and approved by the United Nations General Assembly, says that nations can intervene in another sovereign country if it is for the purpose of defending the fundamental rights of the citizens. And in addition, when countries fail consistently or deliberately refuse to protect the lives and property of their citizens, the countries that are democratic and liberal and have humanity in their philosophy can intervene to go and protect the rights of the citizens. After all, Liberia was in civil war. The civil war was taking so many lives, taking women and children. It got to the point that what we’re seeing on television can no longer be tolerated. Nigeria organised, went into the civil war, and put an end to the civil war, and restored democratic government to Liberia. Again, Nigeria went to Sierra Leone, put an end to the civil war, and restored a sane government in that country. Nobody in Liberia invited the Nigerian government to come and intervene, but we felt that what was going on there was becoming too barbaric.
Children were being conscripted into the military, women that are pregnant were just raped and killed, so the world could not take it any longer. For goodness sake, the government of President Tinubu should shut up. Like Donald Trump said, they are disgraceful, they are so shameless, you are making noise, you are still talking, you are in government, people are being killed, and you say they are only two.
What is only two? One life is precious to a nation that cares about human lives. We have the federal, state and local governments and people are being slaughtered by their numbers, and you say it doesn’t matter. Rather, you are campaigning for the 2027 general elections. Indeed, that’s shameful, disgusting and disgraceful.
Churches bombed, over 50,000 Christians killed, and you say it doesn’t matter? That person doesn’t like the Christians.
Therefore, we should be happy that help is coming to us. I am an expert in international relations, that’s my field. I don’t like Donald Trump because I am not a Republican, I am a Social Democrat, but he is behaving like a responsible president that should be commended by everybody. He is saying, put an end to these killings, or if you don’t put an end, I will do it for you. We should commend him, we should jubilate it. What Donald Trump is doing, or what he has said, has not violated any provision of international law. It has not violated any charter of the United Nations. Sovereignty is not for a failed government. Sovereignty belongs to the people. The locus of sovereignty rests with the citizens. They are the sovereigns. Who are the sovereigns? The citizens are the sovereigns. They are the advocates of all, my sovereign, your sovereign, her/his sovereign; when you put all our sovereigns together, that is sovereignty. Rousseau, General Will and General Command, says that the collectivity of all the individual sovereigns constitutes the sovereignty of a nation. The sovereignty is not for the failed government. The sovereignty is for the people of Nigeria. So sovereignty is not being violated by Trump, rather he is trying to restore it and sustain it so that the individual sovereign can really be a sovereign in the collective sovereignty.
Sovereignty is not for the president. It’s not for the senate. It’s not for the government. It’s for the people. So, in summary, Donald Trump’s stance on Nigeria has not violated any provision of the international law. And I’m ready for any debate at any time with any of the commentators to point to me the aspect of the international law that will be violated by the Americans. Yes, all nations are equal. And at the same time, the law says you cannot violate the rights of the citizens and you expect other countries to fold their hands and watch you violate their rights of your citizens; and more so, the countries concerned have been involved in similar activities. So, we should commend President Trump. We should thank him. However, the only clarification is that in truth, it isn’t only the Christians that are the target. It’s everybody. You know, there’s a difference between religious war and terrorism. Terrorists don’t know their fathers, they don’t know their mothers. What we have in Nigeria is terrorism. They are terrorising the Christians, terrorising the Muslims. So, when Trump is coming with his military might, he’s not going to fight the Muslims. He’s going to fight the terrorists. The terrorists are not Muslims. The bandits are not Muslims. Forget about they (terrorists) trying to hide under religion. A real Muslim person would not take the life of any innocent person. They are evil, they are devilish, they are wicked, they are criminals. President Trump is coming for the criminals.
He’s not coming to attack the Muslims. He’s not coming to attack the mosque. He’s coming to attack the criminals that are killing the Christians and everyone. In the process, the Muslims will be protected. Because if you stop them from killing the Christians, they will not be available to kill the Muslims.

Why I’m in the African Democratic Congress (ADC)?

You see, unfortunately, the political parties in Nigeria, they are all the same. I’ve attended ADC meetings and I tell them, when you come here and sit down and start shouting ADC, are you better than the other people? Look at your own antecedents. So, don’t come to ADC and start shouting ADC, ADC, because you want to find a platform to get together. All the parties are the same. But the electorate, members of the civil societies of Nigeria, the media, please identify the characters of the individuals to see if they are worthy and credible before supporting them. You see, the only reason why I am in ADC is not because of the name, it is because of the leadership. The national chairman, Senator David Mark, has this record of the Senate president that fought for the autonomy of the judiciary in Nigeria. He fought for the law, saying that the only way Nigeria can have genuine democracy is for the judiciary to be independent so as to stop going to the president or the executive and asking for money. He made the law, worked it out, and it was passed and President Jonathan signed it into law. But unfortunately, the judiciary abused the privilege. So, the whole essence of what David Mark wanted to achieve has been destroyed by the present APC government, because judges now see themselves as agents of the executive branch of government. When I say judges, I’m not saying all of them. There are some courageous ones, there are some good ones, but from what we hear and see, the kind of judgments we are hearing from the Supreme Court, it’s sickening. It’s sad. When they are giving these judgments, do judges think that they are the most intelligent people in the country? In any case, I was telling one of my friends who is a professor of law, he said, law, law, law, you read law in university, were you taught only by lawyers? As a law student, you’re going to take courses in sociology, you’re going to take courses in political science, and most of your major courses are in philosophy. There are people who are not lawyers who are more brilliant than lawyers. To see that, some judges write all these kind of irresponsible judgments and throw it out to the public because they have been privileged to be appointed as judges.
For what David Mark did for the judiciary, trying to strengthen our democracy, I’m standing with him, because in a democracy, you need independence, that he did. You need the independence of the national and state legislative arm of government, that he did. Therefore, now that he is national chairman of the ADC, he believes in democracy by fighting as senate president for what is right. So I do not expect him to lead the ADC to government, and at the same time, the independence of the judiciary he fought for will now be rubbished. No, he wouldn’t allow that. That is why I say, this is the hope of the commonwealth government. So whoever is fighting for the judiciary, is fighting for the commonwealth government. David Mark’s style of leadership is attractive. That is why I am in ADC, not because of the name. Secondly, at the state level, luckily, by coincidence, ADC is led by two responsible former governors that have no stains in their records. And I tell you, in Nigeria, if you have been a governor, you have been chairman, you have been whatever, and you are in opposition, you can’t survive if you have a skeleton in your cupboard. So for a former governor, Chief John Oyegun, former national chairman of the ruling APC, and for another former governor, former senator, to say we are in ADC, shows that they don’t have any skeleton in their cupboard. They are clean men. Former Governor Osunbor doesn’t have a single house in Benin City. Other governors came and all the properties that were documented in the GRA, they stole all, sold it to themselves, and friends. They sold everything. Osunbor doesn’t have one single land. We documented all the government land in the GRA, I was the chief of staff to the governor when those properties were documented. So when the three of them (Mark, Oyegun and Osunbor) are seated, and I tell them in ADC, if they were not here, I wouldn’t be there. So, we have credible people leading us in ADC, and by the grace of God, we will rely on that platform. The characters, not the name. So, in the 2027 elections, voters should look out for good people and vote for them to be their leaders. That’s the only way Nigeria can move forward, and that is how Nigerians can get the much needed dividends of democracy in this country