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The Igbo
Presidency agenda for 2007
By Azuka
Iheabunike
A few days ago a
friend of mine from Okene in Kogi State asked me what I think about the
clamour already gaining ground that year 2007 should produce a President
of Nigeria from the Igbo ethnic group of this country. My answer to him
was to the effect that all at this point in time of my life that I do not
care where the President of the country comes but that if electing an Igbo
man as the President of Nigeria in year 2007 could be the only opportunity
for the Igbos in Nigeria to at least get what is due to them, then I am in
full support of the Igbo Presidency agenda for 2007.
No other ethnic group
practicalises its belief in the corporate entity of Nigeria as much as the
Igbos do. There is no village or hamlet in any part of this country no
matter how remote in distance or otherwise where you cannot find an Igbo
man contributing in one way or the other to the building of the economy of
the said hamlet and the country. Go to Iguobazuwa or Gamboru Ngala or even
to the remotest areas of the Mambila Plateau and you will find them moving
from one hamlet to the other doing their business for which they are
usually known. No other tribe in Nigeria can boast of matching the Igbos
in their spread all over Nigeria and even beyond. The Igboman has the
reputation of arriving a community empty handed and beginning with all
kinds of odd jobs, builds capital with time and then gets into trading for
which he is well known. In a short time he succeeds and more often than
not such successes come with unjustified envy from the hosts. The Igboman
like people from other tribes are not all saints. There are definitely
Igbos who are criminals and who may not have been fair to their hosts like
others from other tribes in Nigeria. Be that as it may however, the fact
remains that the Igbos are the most vastly distributed ethnic group in
Nigeria and they contribute in no small way to the economic development of
their host states and
communities in no small way, especially in areas like payment of taxes,
distributive trades and other specialized trades like motor mechanic,
carpentry, brick laying among others. Unfortunately however the spread and
contributions of the Igboman in this country notwithstanding, the Igboman
has not had a fair deal in this country in virtually all respects but more
particularly in the leadership and politics, which have all the time
resulted in the Igboman always holding the shorter end of the stick in all
the affairs of the nation.
Although the establishment is
usually blamed for the unenviable situation of the Igboman in the affairs
of the country, the Igbos themselves also have not helped in any
meaningful way in that usually, the Igbos are used in doing the worst harm
to the aspirations of the Igbos as a corporate entity in the affairs of
this country. Usually, personal gains are for these people much more
important than corporate gains but unfortunately after being used they are
dumped and they only start licking their wounds. Mention can be made of
the comment of an Igboman who happens to be in government and who was bold
enough to describe the Igbo Presidency project of 2003 as �simply
idiotic.� This was the most unfortunate statement about the Igbos to have
come from an Igboman. No other Nigerian from any other tribe can afford to
describe the corporate aspiration of his own people in that type of
caustic public remark even when he does not share the sentiments of those
fighting for the realization of such a project. The Igbo elite should
learn to put corporate success above personal success in the affairs of
this nation. A very good example of other tribe's corporate survival
strategy was shown in Yorubaland when the incumbent President was assured
of support even by politicians from rival political party that was in
control in his southwestern Nigeria with the slogan of vote PDP for
President and AC' for Governor." Although these governors were
shortchanged and lost their positions to the POP they were happy that
their kinsman still retained the number one political position in the
current dispensation. The Igboman is yet to learn to sacrifice personal
ambition for the ambition of the entire race. A good example is where
Igbomen were used as arrowheads in the fight against their own kinsmen who
are aspiring to national positions. The exploits of Governor Orji Uzor
Kalu and Chief Jim Nwobodo during the PDP convention in Jos is still fresh
in people's memory. Unfortunately this duo have received the hammer from
the powers that be recently as their services of yesteryears no longer
count and they now lick their wounds in disbelief. The 2003 general
elections have come and gone but the Igbos who were used to achieve other
peoples agenda can now sit and reflect about any gains whether private or
corporate which have come their way or the way of their kinsmen so far.
Granted however that the Igbos
have not done enough to help Igboland even when they find themselves in
positions of authority, the greatest problem of the Igboman is the entire
establishment called government. The issue of Igbo marginalisation has
been variously canversed and is yet to abate. The state of roads in the
whole of the south-east geo political zone of Nigeria has continued to be
highlighted in various fora without any redress coming their way. It is a
fact that the duration of journeys originating and terminating outside
Igboland can be guessed often with some certainty but not for any journeys
that may hase anything to do with any part of the south east zone of this
country due to the almost total absence of motorable roads in the area.
For now one can say for certain that it takes about five hours to drive
from Lagos to Asaba and maybe about nine to ten hours to drive from Lagos
to Abuja but for any journey that have anything to do with the south east
especially through the Onitsha-Owerri road such statements as to the
length of time the journey will take will only be unrealistic. They say
that seeing is believing and therefore anybody who is in doubt of these
issues only needs to take a trip to these areas for a first hand
experience. When the issue of a near total absence of roads is put side by
side with the fact that the economy of the area in question is almost
dependant on road travels, the real effect of such neglect will become
obvious. It is no exaggeration to claim that over fifty percent of
journeys by road in this country either originate or terminate in this
area where the roads are almost nonexistent. The loss occasioned to goods
in transit and even to motor vehicles that ply these roads can only be
imagined. If government is sincere, these problems would have been a thing
of the past as is the case of the Sagamu-Benin highway which was almost
impassable about a year ago but which has been repaired to the extent that
journeys between Benin and Lagos now take about three to four hours. Apart
from roads, there is an almost total absence of other infrastructure in
the southeast, no federal government industries and no meaningful control
of natural disasters such as the soil erosion problem, which has
devastated the whole of the southeast without any control.
The �abandoned property" issue
is still there unresolved after over 34 years of the end of the Nigerian
civil war, which occasioned such �abandonment� and nobody is saying
anything about such issues any longer.
Apart from Igbo politicians
who have not shown genuine leadership, the technocrats who were appointed
have proven to the whole world that they can deliver on mandates. The
exploits of people like Dora Akunyili who have gone to the extent of
putting their lives on the line in order to sanitize the drug and
regulated food product axis even when it is obvious that she is fighting
people from her own tribe has shown the type of dedication and commitment
with which the average Igbo works to achieve a cause he believes in. The
laws establishing NAFDAC has not changed and she has made so much change
in our lives in so short a time. Apart from Mrs. Dora Akunyili, there are
a lot of other Igbos appointed by the Presidency who have proven beyond
reasonable doubt, as they say, that they can be relied upon to deliver
results. But must they continue to execute mandates of others for how
long? It is my belief that the time has come for the rgboman to step
forward to be counted if at least that will help to sort out the much
talked about and obvious marginalisation in the affairs of this nation.
Apart from politics at the top echoleon of this nation the Igboman has
shown that he can survive no matter the odds placed on his way. Prom the
era of the civil war, the abandoned property, the issue of the release of
only twenty pounds to people who come to collect their bank savings after
the civil war and through a lot of government policies that are glaringly
targeted at them, the Igbos have shown that they have the interest of the
whole nation if everybody will rally round the Igbos to produce the
President of this country come 2007 as that may mark the beginning of the
end of the chronic misrule which has been our lot since independence in
Nigeria. In a nutshell I am in full support of the Igbo Presidency agenda
for year 2007 and believe that with the support of all sundry we shall
overcome.
� Iheabunike wrote in
from Lagos.
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