NewStats: 3,261,918 , 8,175,552 topics. Date: Saturday, 31 May 2025 at 03:41 AM 3926o

Honourable Prestige Ossy represents Aba North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State on the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance. He is the Chairman, House Committee on Nigeria – Meico Relations as well as the Technical Committee on Customs and Excise. In this interview, he says South East governors are lily-livered, following what he describes as their poor response to the killings linked to herdsmen in the zone. He also says restructuring Nigeria is the way out of the current economic recession.



Fulani herdsmen have been terrorising some communities in the country, especially in the South East. What is your advice to governors and lawmakers in the zone?

It takes one with guts to be a leader. Most of them are lily-livered. There is nothing that will stop you as a leader, as a governor or a member of the House from saying something that will protect your people. If you cannot take the bull by the horn by enacting laws that will protect the citizens of your state, then I don’t know what else you are talking about.

Most of them don’t have that confidence. If you have confidence in yourself, I don’t see any reason why you should not come up with such legislation because you are not doing it against anybody. Nobody will be happy to come to his farm the next morning to see that his farm is ravaged by herdsmen. It is never done but because of the fear of the unknown, ‘who knows if I say this now, what will happen?’ some of them are even thinking of second tenure. ‘If I say this now, these people might make it difficult for me to go for second tenure’. That is actually the problem.

I don’t see any reason why most of them in the South-East are keeping quiet when these things happen.

I am challenging them, if they know that they actually have the mandate of the people, let them speak for the people and do things right for the people. I don’t see the reason why they should shy away from the truth of the matter by enacting laws to protect our farmers and our citizens from the rampaging herdsmen.

Have you made any effort to talk with the Abia State governor or Speaker on the herdsmen’s attacks?

Let me say this, I have a lot of programmes here at the National Assembly but they (governors) are there in the South-East, they know what the problems are, and that is why we elected them. They also elected me to come to Abuja and look at those laws that will benefit our people and bring in Federal Government presence that our state should get from the center.

I feel sad that most of them are just there, these things are going on and none of them is speaking but that does not mean that I wouldn’t make out time.




•Honourable Prestige Ossy
The country is witnessing economic recession. What do you think the Federal Government can do to get us out of this quagmire?

I have been an advocate of diversification. I want to say that government has been paying lip service to diversification. I have not seen the seriousness on the part of government to diversify this economy.

They are talking of diversification into agriculture, but tell me one policy of government that has encouraged real mechanized farming. I have not seen that government, state, local or even federal, buying one tractor to farmers. All we hear is that we are to do mechanize farming. How can you do mechanized farming without tractors to work with? How can you go into mechanized farming without fertilizer, without improved seedling, without facilities where you can store if you harvest, without processor that will process those things and they come finished products.

All we do is pay lip service. Tell me one area, at least I come from the South East, I have not heard from any governor, I have not seen one tractor imported, the Federal Government has not also not imported one. What we hear is that we are diversifying into agriculture.

Go to the Bank of Agriculture and talk of loan and see whether you will get it. The incentives are not the order of the day

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/herdsmens-killings-south-east-governors-lily-livered-hon-prestige-ossy/

After dem go say Yorubas be coward, ordinary Fayose pattern dem no fit copy.

Firstlieutenant:
After dem go say Yorubas be coward, ordinary Fayose pattern dem no fit copy.

I think the Igbo governors are afraid of the EFCC sent to them.

I agree.

The governors are just cowards.

They are most likely afraid of Buhari using the EFCC to harass them.

Firstlieutenant:
After dem go say Yorubas be coward, ordinary Fayose pattern dem no fit copy.

Na only fayose you dey talk.Shebe herdsmen don attack lagos and Ogun state and go scot-free?Why the governors for these state no take action?Yeye.

AgentH2SO4:
I agree.

The governors are just cowards.

They are most likely afraid of Buhari using the EFCC to harass them.

Why dem dey fear efcc.Sheybe immunity cover them to steal.Efcc na God?No be olisa metuh go there and returned safely?

It is true. All our leaders in Igboland are liily livered, spineless and gutless cowards. How I wish Governor Fayose can rule us in Igboland

true talk!

comshots:
Na only fayose you dey talk.Shebe herdsmen don attack lagos and Ogun state and go scot-free?Why the governors for these state no take action?Yeye.

At least one Yoruba done stand out whereas all igbos be sitting-ducks. Okpo!

CliffordOrji:
It is true. All our leaders in Igboland are liily livered, spineless and gutless cowards. How I wish Governor Fayose can rule us in Igboland

That enugu governor own is the worst.

Firstlieutenant:


At least one Yoruba done stand out whereas all igbos be sitting-ducks. Okpo!

Shey be una call am a traitor,that he is not a Yorubaman?

comshots:
Shey be una call am a traitor,that he is not a Yoruba?

Don't mind them. If u check well, u will see that Fayose has a little Igbo connection in him. Let Fayose come to Igbo land, he is our son.

Bobandgreat:


Don't mind them. If u check well, u will see that Fayose has a little Igbo connection in him. Let Fayose come to Igbo land, he is our son.

He has little Igbo connection yet those who are 'complete' Igbos are lilly-livered.

Igbo governrship really missed fearless Orji Uzor Kalu here,i could during sharia riot in kaduna years back. He threatened and i qoute "If any Easterner is killed in any part of nigeria again i will retariate".

Unblockable:


He has little Igbo connection yet those who are 'complete' Igbos are lilly-livered.

Lol...I thought I was d only one who reasoned that. But u av to knw this bro., bravery in igbo means shouting and chest beating, Not taking actions.

Firstlieutenant:
After dem go say Yorubas be coward, ordinary Fayose pattern dem no fit copy.

Weren't you among the Fayose haters ?

I believe he was specifically referring to the crying governor of enugu state.

Enugu state governor bothers me, not because he supposedly cried, but because he won't act. I don't know what's wrong with him. Enugu ppl are gentle, but not docile.

I heard from my mum that when the so called herdsmen we're coming, at one point, the governor was made aware of such. That he called Buhari to request for soldiers or something and that he was put on indefinite hold. My mums issue with it, is that will he wait for Buhari even when ppl are gonna die, which is what happened. It's unfortunate.

I don't believe that the SE governors are lily-livered but I wonder what's holding them back from action. Maybe the precedent that was set in the 60's, cause we all know what happened the last time Igbo leaders took action against mass murderers.

Lilly-livered is even an understatement. They are shameless and irresponsible cowards!!!

Firstlieutenant:
After dem go say Yorubas be coward, ordinary Fayose pattern dem no fit copy.

Taa Mechionu, the same Fayose your people rejected out of cowardice?

Firstlieutenant:


At least one Yoruba done stand out whereas all igbos be sitting-ducks. Okpo!

The day your people can produce a courageous and fearless person like Nnamdi Kanu then I'll take you serious.

AgentH2SO4:
I agree.

The governors are just cowards.

They are most likely afraid of Buhari using the EFCC to harass them.

But the EFCC should not be an excuse if they dont have any thing to hide IMO.

Not suprising sef.....after all their gods "ojukwu and kanu" have displayed a mastery of cowardly actions in the past!

Funlordjnr:


Not suprising sef.....after all their gods "ojukwu [size=5pt]and[/size] kanu" have displayed a mastery of cowardly actions in the past!



Pls don't mind my people. We term [size=15pt]chest beating [/size]and [size=15pt]shouting[/size] as [size=15pt]bravery[/size]

proeast:
The day your people can produce a courageous and fearless person like Nnamdi Kanu then I'll take you serious.

The one who's gonna rot in jail?

Not on front page yet?

proeast:
The day your people can produce a courageous and fearless person like Nnamdi Kanu then I'll take you serious.

The day your people produce fearless civilians like fela and gani who stood up against mad military men like obj,buhari\idiagbon,ibb,abacha i will take u serious.

Firstlieutenant:
After dem go say Yorubas be coward, ordinary Fayose pattern dem no fit copy.

i've said it several times that the fulani herdsmen should kill the coward igbos and takeover their land. i've never seen so coward race in my life. fayose of yoruba race is one man standing in that southern part of the zoo called nigeria.

Lalasticlala edakun, biko

Whether Fayose, whether Fani Kayoed, all Afonjas are snakes and shouldn't be trusted