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Onoh said the lack of unity among the governors, was a huge impediment in the quest of the zone for the presidency. Onoh like Egwu said he disagrees with those who do not believe that it was not possible for an Igbo to be president of the country. Onoh warned the unless the governors changed, "the governance of this nation will elude you."
"In 1998, Ekwueme brought the agenda of six geo-political zones to ease the rotation of political power. The North did not forgive him and his brothers, the governors, failed Ekwueme in 1999 and 2003," he said. Onoh and Udenwa concluded that: "the problem is not in the nation, but in us."
However, the overall impression from the caucus meeting was that of the inability of Igbo to chart a common course towards 2007.
Another question on the minds of some politicians and Igbo watchers, is why the choice of Abakaliki as a venue of such a strategic meeting.
The Chairman of the Committee of South-East Governors, (COSEG), Udenwa explained that the caucus of South-East leaders which started in 2001 could not continue for obvious reasons that border on the Igbo attitude to politics.
Udenwa also pointed out that the meeting was revived in May 15, 2004, ostensibly to pursue the issue of President of this country. But what informed the desire to rotate the meeting among the states was to wake the interest of Igbo in the power game after the last general polls.
Egwu had in his address stated: "If we are to make more impact in our collective aspirations, we must individually submit ourselves to the rigours of reconciliation, accommodation and inclusion."
To those who knew, Egwu's speech was a veiled reference to the bitter fight for supremacy among the governors of the South-East.
Onoh put the issue pointedly: "Our governors are not united. I pray that they show the light, so that the followers could find the path." He called on the governors to show the light. "We must submit ourselves to the rigours of reconciliation and accommodation," he said.
Nwafor asked the governors to give peace a chance. He noted that because of personal ambition, there was much friction between their governor and another in the zone.
This friction among the governors has been at the root of the near cessation of the caucus meeting after its inception in 2001.
In fact instituting the meeting of South-East leaders caucus seems an ingenious attempt to cover the reflection of COSEG's failure. It was said that the South-East governors were polarised to an extent that it required nothing short of a miracle to unite them.
At the centre of the disunity among the governors, is said to be their personal ambitions. It was pointed out that the governors do not manage their ambition with any sense of brotherhood. Two years into their first term, some of them started looking ahead to 2007.
The Guardian learnt that the rift started when Kalu alleged that there were saboteurs in their midst who took details of their meetings to Abuja.
The reality of that allegation led to Kalu's apathy towards the South- East Governors' Forum. Nnamani, sources said lost interest in the Governors' Forum "because he alleged that the Forum had no sincere agenda for the development of Igbo land.
A former chieftain of the Ohanaeze said that both governors were interested in the vice presidency in 2007. This schism led to the call by Kalu for the shift of the venue of the Igbo day of 2001 to Umuahia though Enugu is held as the political and administrative capital of the South-East. The governor had said that Enugu have lost the moral authority to serve as a rallying point for Igbo.
Egwu alluded to the situation in his welcome address. He said such "bickering and discordant tunes seriously undercut the corporate respectability of Igbo."
Despite their individual ambitions of the governors to be vice president, it is also said that since 2001, three camps had existed among the governors. Kalu leads one camp described as the hawks. He is believed to have the support of Anambra State Governor of, Dr. Chris Ngige. Nnamani, who remains a lone ranger, had noted once that "ethnic solidarity cannot make an Igbo man president of Nigeria." The other camp, which is known as 'the doves,' has Udenwa and Egwu as members. The camp, it was learnt enjoys the sympathy of the President. In the South-East, Egwu is said to be the only governor that has the respect of many notable Igbo politicians across party lines while "Udenwa is loved for his quiet approach to issues." The attendance at the meetings was believed to have followed the lines of the three camp. A PDP chieftain said that though the Kalu group accept that the PDP has zoned the Presidency to the North, the 'doves' are confident that with unity and understanding, the Igbo can produce the president.
The Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara noted that it is to solve the many problems in the zone that Udenwa initiated the caucus meeting, so that the zone would be ready for 2007 come what may.
"We cannot continue to run here and there or step on toes." He however dwelt on party discipline saying, "if we are looking forward to 2007, there is no other party except the PDP, on which the people can achieve the 2007.
In all the "frequent inability of Igbo to speak in one voice, which Egwu condemned, loomed large. The chances are that some elements in Igbo leadership are still inclined to do what Egwu discovered.
When some of the leaders openly proclaim that the 2007 presidency has been zoned to the North, the enormity of the challenge comes to light. However, former Second Republic Vice President, Ekwueme believes that more than anything else, now, the leaders of the zone need to meet often to plan and reason together. Egwu opted that the Igbo need peace, and stability to actualise their dream.
If the Abakaliki meeting exposed the rift within the Governors' Forum, the next meeting billed for Umuahia Abia, State in September will determine whether the Igbo can unite and brace up for a fight for 2007.
The only sign and surest indicator of that turn of event remains the attendance by the five governors. How this could come about is for now a matter of conjecture. The Chairman of the committee of South-East Governors, Udenwa, told journalists, that the meeting did not discuss the Anambra crisis or the absence of the other governors.
The meeting made it apparent that the Igbo are in search of leadership. Udenwa noted the damage the lack of leadership could cause the zone towards 2007. He charged his kinsmen to stop thinking and acting as if Azikiwe, Okpara, Ibiam, and Mbakwe could come back to life. "You and I, gathered here are the Zik, Okpara and Ibiam of today," he said.
Egwu noted that Igbo are still tied to the grief of the past. He stated: "We have as yet not fully effected the de-marginalisation of Ndigbo. And we cannot claim optimal sagacity in our political engagement with other political blocks in the country." The remembrance of past leaders has made it impossible for the Igbo to rally round new leaders. In addition, if the leaders could become organised, then the progress of the Igbo is in their hands.
The Guardian was told that the claim by Onoh that President Olusegun Obasanjo would not allow an Igbo candidate to emerge in the PDP made the radical tendencies among the delegates to suggest constructive engagement with the President to win him over. Yet, others were said to be unhappy that the exodus of founding members from the party will affect the chances of the zone negatively.
But the Senate President believes that the South-East would not get the presidency through any other party other than PDP. "We cannot continue to run here and there. If we look forward 2007 there is no other party except through the PDP," Wabara said.
The point was made that in the bid to reach out to other zones, it must be noted that with the population of Igbo, no zone will produce the president without Igbo support. The Chairman, Conference of South-East Speakers, Hon. Stanley Ohajuruka said: "We are more populous than we are made to understand."
