Ex-ANPP chief, Bankole, backs emergency rule
By Fred Okoror, Political Correspondent
AFORMER national chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Alani Bankole has described the declaration of emergency rule in Plateau State as unfortunate but a necessary action to save innocent citizens and curtail the mayhem.
At a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, Bankole stated that though it was a sad political development, it became imperative to stop possible reprisal attacks in other parts of the country like Lagos, Abia, Kaduna and Kano states.
His words: "My view is that it was a very sad political development in the history of the country. Having had the first experience in 1962, I consider it as bad, unfortunate and avoidable.
"The circumstances in which we have found ourselves and seeing what has happened since the declaration of the emergency rule, I think it was a necessary evil that we have to contend with".
Bankole, a governorship candidate of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in Ogun State in 1979 and 1983, however, said that no side in the feuding groups should claim victory in the ethno-religious crisis.
According to him, all hands should be on deck to resolve the issue as amicably as possible to stem the tide once and for all.
"Anything short of this could be inimical to the current attempt to restore peace and tranquillity in the state. Besides, if the contending issues are not quickly resolved, they may affect other parts of the country and the course of democracy", he said.
He faulted the criticisms of President Olusegun Obasanjo as being biased in the way he handled the matter.
Bankole said: "How could anybody claim that the crisis was abating when it was already spreading to other parts of the country where people were already poised to retaliate. So it was a misplaced conjecture for people to think that Obasanjo will do anything against Christians.
"It should not be contemplated at all. Before the intervention of the President, the governor was accused of taking sides in the crisis. The Biron tribe believed that they have been cheated by the so called settlers and, therefore, they should find a way of getting rid of them".
On the duration of the emergency rule, he said it should last for as long as the people are able to reconcile.
He, however, urged that the reconciliation process be completed within three or four months, stressing that "with the way things are going, the indigenes are ready to bury their hatchets as they are already co-operating with the Sole Administrator, Maj.-Gen. Chris Alli".
