The Nat Democratic Front, which handed down this warning on Friday, described HURIWA and its leader, Emmanuel Onwubiko, as commissioned agents to escalate anti-Nigerian state propaganda.
NDF was reacting to a recent statement by HURIWA where it accused the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, as working against the Nigerian state.
Bolaji Abdulkadir, NDF National Secretary, while addressing a press conference on the constant media propaganda by HURIWA on Thursday in Abuja, said Onwubiko and his group are agents of destabilization that are in pursuit of ethnic agenda in Nigeria.
It, therefore, asked Onwubiko to refund their paymaster as their task of tarnishing the images of Buratai and Gbajabiamila has failed woefully.
Full text of his speech below.
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has become aware of escalation of anti-state propaganda by one Emmanuel Onwubiko and his blackmail group, the so called Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). This is not his first time but we are seeing a dangerous pattern that requires that the lies he is putting in the public space are expeditiously corrected before people think that is the correct state of affairs.
The latest of this failed attempt at using negative propaganda against the Nigerian state involved Onwubiko disparaging the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. He futilely strived to create the impression that these reputable men are the enemy when the real enemy of the people is the person attempting to shove falsehood down their throats.
This refined urchin accused General Buratai of sophistry because he dared to expose how politics and politicians are the real factors driving the widespread security breaches in the country. Interestingly, Onwubiko alluded to how banditry, kidnapping and terrorism are happening across the country without acknowledging that the people he works for are the ones that unleashed these evil as punishment on Nigerians for not voting to reintroduce corruption during the recent general elections.
It is common knowledge in Nigeria that because of monetary and ethnic considerations, Onwubiko is a die hard supporter and canvasser for Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The HURIWA businessman is aware that his client famously declared that killings and violence will intensify when President Muhammadu Buhari gets re-elected. The predicted violence has not taken hold and one of its promoters is blaming the Chief of Army Staff for situating the problem where it is.
At the right time, Onwubiko will have to answer for his contributions to the carnage that has been witnessed in some parts of the country. When that time comes he will be able to tell Nigerians how much he collected to launch the evil propaganda against the government and the persons that paid that money.
Meanwhile, we realise that Onwubiko’s main interest is not General Buratai, whom he merely used to gain relevance and attract attention to his wares as a blackmailer. His intended target is the Speaker, Rt. Hon Gbajabiamila, whom he believes would be amenable to blackmail, only that his projection was wrong. Not only is the strategy wrong, the premises upon which he attempted to tarnish the image of the Speaker were faulty to the point where one have to begin to review his mental state.
He has a problem with the peace mission embarked upon by Rt. Hon. Gbajabiamila in Zamfara state, which he concluded was high treason. While this appear logical on the surface, an actual understanding of it will show a kind of deviousness that merits being confined to supervised care. He rather wants the bandits to be tried and no talks held with them even if that will bring solutions.
We are at a loss if this is the same HURIWA/Onwubiko that chastised the government for not negotiating with extremists of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), two groups that have been outlawed on account of their being militarised and being a terrorist group respectively.
Two things stand out in this historic transaction of Onwubiko. He is first about the money and will sing to support any group that drops coin in his bowl, which was the basis on which the IMN bought his services to argue that government should dialogue with them.
The second thing is that Onwubiko is an irredeemable ethnic bigot who thinks a terrorist IPoB should be pampered with negotiation and amnesty while bandits should be treated differently simply because they are from the north that he hates with all his being. The records are there and they speak to how the HURIWA leader has been playing two sides of the divide.
It is therefore not in doubt that HURIWA and Onwubiko are agents of destabilization that are in pursuit of ethnic agenda. Since the organization and its leader are one and the same, we confidently say that Onwubiko has proven that he does not know the difference between politics and agitating for human rights. If he does he would not have disingenuously attempted to retire the political contract he got to malign Buratai and Gbajabiamila under the sub-head of human rights. It stuck out like a sore thumb for what it is. A cheap propaganda that was badly packaged and delivered.
We know Onwubiko as a confused bigot that can sell his family to the highest bidder or if the money arrives at a certain time in the right amount. His brand of activism is purely monetized at the very least it must appeal to his ethnic jingoism, for which he must be paid anyway.
Our charge to Onwubiko with his HURIWA is simple. He should go back and refund whatever he has been paid to carry out his latest assignment because he has not only failed those who sent him the errand but has also failed himself for not being able to come up with something more creative than the watery non-issues he tried to raise against the two leaders.
He must also learn to not try gaining political capital out of something that Nigerians are trying to get rid of. His attempt to leverage on the terrorist attacks and kidnappings for making money is reprehensible and he is advised to desist from such irresponsible acts.