South-East repositions for 2007
By Kodilinye Obiagwu, Clifford Ndujihe and Charles Ogugbuaja (Owerri)
THE South-East had always felt marginalised among the three major tribes - Igbo, Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba - as far as the leadership of the country is concerned. At every turn, it continues to agitate for the presidency of the country.
When the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998 adopted the rotation of power formula and zoned the first slot to the South, it had looked like the most viable option for the zone to achieve its dream. In 1998, the Igbo political intelligentsia believed that 2003 offered the best opportunity. However, the zone failed to realise the quest.
In pursuant of the ambition of the zone to produce the President in 2007, Igbo presidential candidates would be made known soon, Imo State Governor Achike Udenwa has said.
According to the governor, Igbo leaders are providing "a new impetus and a new support base" to ensure that the project did not turn out a pipe dream.
In an interview with The Guardian, Udenwa who faulted the clamour for power shift to the North, said the Igbo are poised to present a credible and acceptable person for the presidency.
"However, we now have enough time, three years to the time, to articulate our position, talk to fellow Nigerians. If the candidates start emerging two years to the time, they have enough time to explain to Nigerians how they can lead us.
"We are not talking of an Igbo President on sentiments such that anybody from the East can come out and be a Nigerian President. You must have the thoughts, and you must have what it takes; you must be sellable. The South-East Zone alone cannot make any of the Igbo aspirants a president. So, we must be able to sell you to other Nigerians. You must be acceptable to other Nigerians, which is why we feel the time is ripe for us to start and we will be able to carry it to 2007."
On the speculation that the North already has Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Marwa, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and Vice President Atiku Abubakar while no aspirant has come out from the South-East, Udenwa insisted that the candidates would emerge soon.
He said the zone was taking its time because of the alleged conspiracy that "robbed" it of the position in 1999 and 2003.
"The Igbo were battered in 1999. In the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), we thought Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme was winning. At the last moment, we saw a conspiracy and Ekwueme lost out. At the same time, you saw what happened, there was a conspiracy and people like Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu lost out in the then All Peoples Party (APP).
"In 2003, our people showed interest in the presidency - Ekwueme, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Maj. Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, Chief Idika Kalu, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo and others. Despite their interest, they lost out at the end of the day. It shows that the Igbo have been wounded politically. Now, there is a new impetus that we are providing, a new support base. We expect that very soon, you will see the emergence of Igbo candidates," he said.
Udenwa added: "I knew it was not practicable to have an Igbo presidency then. It was not practicable because it is always difficult to fight an incumbent. It will take a lot to win an election against an incumbent. You do not do such things out of sentiments. When you do, you go there to fail woefully because failure is already in front of you.
"At that time too, those who started did not start early enough. Again, the aspirants were too many that it was difficult to assess and pick one out of the lot. The parameters were not right. Some candidates emerged one month to the nomination. This country is large and we saw that they did not leave much impact."
However, a recent meeting of South-East caucus of PDP was seen as one of the outings where the elected leaders from the zone sat to reposition the area in the scheme of things in the nation. The attendance was considered significant. Those at the meeting were Udenwa, the host, and the initiator of the forum, Ebonyi State Governor, Dr. Sam Egwu with his Anambra State counterpart, Dr. Chris Ngige. Abia and Enugu state governors - Orji Uzor Kalu and Chimaraoke Nnamani respectively - were represented by their deputies, Dr. Chima Nwafor (Abia) and Okechukwu Itanya (Enugu). Udenwa's deputy, Chief Ebere Udeagu, was also present.
Also present was Senate President Chief Adolphus Wabara, Senator Arthur Nzeribe, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, Senator Emma Anosike, the deputy majority leader in the House of Representatives, Chief Gilbert Nnaji, Chief Francis Amadiegwu and Hon. Osita Izunaso. The publisher of Champion Newspapers and member, Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, also attended.
Though the agenda of the meting was expanded to include issues of development in the zone, the caucus did not disguise the fact that their focus was the Igbo Presidency in 2007. Udenwa recalled that the initial motive for the caucus was to pull together the intellectuals in the zone to chart a new political direction. He admitted that the caucus had come a long way on issues bothering the zone, especially in pursuing their goals on economic, political and social issues.
Ararume said that the 2007 presidency was a priority ahead of the Revenue Allocation formula as it affected the governors of the zones.
"The South-East will pursue the presidency of this country. It is the President of Nigeria that we are agitating for and not President of South-East or President of Igbo land," Ararume said.
He said that the fact that the governors and members of the National Assembly, including the Senate President, had come together to reaffirm that position meant that it was to be taken seriously.
On the issue of revenue allocation, he said Wabara should make efforts to ensure the Revenue Allocation and Fiscal Commission present a new formula to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Egwu, who said he would identify with the determination of the zone on the presidency project, called on Igbo nationwide to carry the message along. Ngige condemned the Igbo for making comments that could hamper the progress of the zone towards realising the project.
The bid became questionable when pitched against the zoning formula of the PDP, which zoned the presidency to the North in 2007. However, a new fillip was imbued into the project with the statement by the President that the party had not zoned the presidency to any zone.
The statement meant that every zone stood a chance to fight to win it. Sources in the South-East said that there would be a clamour for the presidency to remain in the South for another one or two terms.
"The PDP formula was unwritten, which means that nothing is sacrosanct about it. It can be changed according to circumstances," a politician from the zone said, adding, "We all remember that one of the issues that justified the formula was the fact that the North had held power in the centre far longer than any zone. The question now is whether that gap has been bridged." He believes that it is in that light that the President's statement should be seen and not whether it has foreclosed the ambition of any zone.
The PDP National Vice-Chairman, (South-East) Nze Ozichukwu praised the timing of the President's statement. He said that it has reduced the tension in the party because some people in the zones were beginning to be edgy about the situation.
The Publicity Secretary of the PDP
Venatus Ikem, who said that the PDP had not picked the zone to fly its banner, noted that it would be against the tenets of democracy.
However, the political leaders in the South-East are insisting that it is the turn of the zone to produce the next presidential candidate for the PDP.
The zone insists that it must pursue the issue of an Igbo President. Part of its agenda is to begin to talk to other zones since, as Udenwa said, no zone alone can produce the President of this country. Governor Kalu said that the zone had opened discussion with political leaders in other zones to help the South-East produce the President in 2007.
"We will put our strategies and forces together and present a common and acceptable candidate. The zone will be open to other zones as well and put its house in order to achieve the objective," he said.`
The zone insists that it must pursue the issue of an Igbo President. Part of its agenda is to begin to talk to other zones since, as Udenwa said, no zone alone can produce the President of this country. Governor Kalu said that the zone had opened discussion with political leaders in other zones to help the South-East produce the President in 2007
