Deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, said that the crises in the South East region, occasioned by the various agitations, have drastically reduced under President Bola Tinubu following his approach to peace through non-kinetic means.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Levinus Nwabughiogu, chief press secretary to the deputy speaker, stressing that Tinubu’s approach is a paradigm shift from the norms.
The statement added that Kalu gave the testimony at the plenary session 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 its operations and heeded President Tinubu’s directive to use non-kinetic means rather than guns to settle conflicts in the zone.
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 statement said.
The deputy speaker also urged the subregional body to adopt the same measure to resolve similar issues, saying it yields positive results.
He said: “The usual tradition has been to send the military with their arms to crisis areas, to battle barrels of the gun against barrels of the gun. 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, and Operation This. But through his initiative, he has been able to speak to the military, 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 absorb. ECOWAS should also be looked into.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, Kalu said that the President is supporting the Peace In South East Project (PISE-P) in its bid to provide the needed peace and infrastructure for the people in the region.
“It’s important to note that this current administration is unique because they have a new paradigm shift from how crises have been managed over the years.
“And I raised it before the ECOWAS parliament that the president supported the initiative I birthed, which is the Peace in South East Project (PISE-P), by sending the vice president to represent him at the official unveiling of the project.
“The deputy senate president and all the traditional rulers in all four corners of the country were there to support crisis and conflict resolution through non-kinetic means.
“You are aware that over the years, what we have had in Nigeria has been Operation Lion, Operation Crocodile, Operation where military men are sent to crisis areas with a lot of guns. And he is saying, no, this is a new dimension. There is a new dimension to conflict resolution,” he said.
