We're United in our Struggle for the Igbo
By Chris Ajaero
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Achike Udenwa, governor of Imo State spoke to Chris Ajaero, assistant editor on the Igbo presidency project, the level of involvement of the South-East governors and Ohaneze Ndigbo, as well as the agitation for Biafra. Excerpts:
Newswatch: You have been in the forefront in the recent clamour for Ndigbo to produce the president of Nigeria in 2007. Could you tell us why you are so vocal and resolute in spreadheading this campaign?
Udenwa: Well, I would say that the reason for my being quite concerned about it is that I believe that the time is very ripe. And I believe that the Igbo have missed a lot of chances and I believe that justice would have been seen to have been done if at this particular time in our national life an Igboman becomes the president of this country. In the interest of equity and fairplay, let us try an Igboman. Let's give him a chance to prove himself because he has not had the chance to do that.
We have had about 44 years of independence and by 2007 we would have had 47 years of independence of which the North had ruled for about 35 years, the West had ruled for about 12 years, and we only tasted it for six months under a circumstance that was not normal. In fact, you can recall that General Aguiyi Ironsi tested it for six months and had a very hectic time during the period. He didn't have the opportunity to do anything before he was killed in a coup and at the same time he wasn't even part of the coup that brought him in. He was just trying to save the country from collapse at that time and that was why he went in and paid the supreme sacrifice. So you would not even say that the Igbos have ruled but let's say we have ruled, it was only for six months so this time around we are saying that it is ripe for us to taste it.
Newswatch: Most people tend to believe that Igbos are not united in the battle for the presidency in 2007. They claim that in the 1999 and 2003 presidential elections Dr. Alex Ekwueme, a former vice-president came very close towards clinching the exalted position but lost at the last minute because of this lack of unity among Igbo politicians. What gives you the confidence that Igbos can get it this time around?
Udenwa: Let me just debunk one thing. Anybody who is telling you that the Igbos are not united is not telling you the truth. Igbos are very united. Honestly, they just bring it out to try to rubbish us. In 1999, there was nothing the Igbos did not do for Ekwueme to succeed. Not just only Ekwueme. Ekwueme was contesting under PDP. Under ANPP, the likes of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu were also contesting. And the Igbos were very united. If you were in the PDP convention in Jos in 1999 you would have known that the Igbos came together, politicians and even non-politicians. But there was a conspiracy against us in Jos and also at the APP convention in Kaduna. It was the same conspiracy. So who tells you that we are not united? I hate hearing that Igbos are not united. We are very very united.
Newswatch: There is this notion that virtually all the South-East governors are interested in the race. Are you considering the option of producing a consensus candidate so that there will not be a scramble for the position which might make it to elude you once again?
Udenwa: I think again there is a misconception there that Igbo governors are all looking for it. The Igbo presidency we are asking for is not exclusive to the governors. Every Igbo leader is qualified to aspire for the position. In fact, the best might not be a governor. We don't know who is going to be the best amongst us. So what is important is that whoever is interested will come out. At the appropriate time, the Igbo can now sit back together and say, please, you wait, this is our candidate, let him go. We will be able to come together in such a way that we can present a common candidate. But it is not a crime to aspire. If any governor aspires, fair enough let him come out and we will check whether he is the best man we can present. It is not exclusive to the governors at all.
Newswatch: But right now the governors are championing the cause and they have been meeting over it.
Udenwa: Yes, the governors are championing it but that has nothing to do with their own individual ambitions. It doesn't mean that because the governors are championing it then it is because they want to grab the position personally. That is not it at all. Today, the governors are defacto political leaders of the Igbo, so they have to champion the cause that would benefit the Igbo, they are not championing it for their own selfish interests. But that doesn't exclude them. It means that any of them is equally qualified to aspire.
Newswatch: Recently, the people of Orlu zone, your kith and kin and Imo House of Assembly unanimously urged you to take a shot at the presidency in 2007. Are you positively disposed towards this clarion call?
Udenwa: Well, they did and I think is it a mark of confidence in me that they did so. But I did also say that as far as I am concerned, I have not even tuned myself psychologically to that because I have not thought about my possible candidacy. That does not mean that at the appropriate time, if I can convince myself I can run, that I will not come out. I thank them for the confidence reposed in me. But at the same time, quite frankly I am not in that frame of mind. I am only concerned now with what I can do in Imo State because I still have about two and half years to stay in office as governor. But as the time approaches, I will begin to assess myself more and if I feel I am convinced that I can aspire to it, why not, I will come out.
Newswatch: There is this impression that the issue of Igbo presidency has created an invidious division among some Easterner governors. It is believed that Governors Orji Kalu of Abia State and Chimaroke Nnamani of Anambra State are at each other's throat because both of them are keenly interested in the race. Could you throw more light on this perceived conflict?
Udenwa: As far as I am concerned I have not seen anything like that. Even if both of them are interested in the race, it is a question of ambition. Everybody is free to have his own ambition. If both of us are interested in a position, that does not mean we should be enemies. Everybody is at liberty to have an ambition. Who told you I won't be interested? I have told you that at the appropriate time, I might be interested? Any other person might also be interested. But I don't believe those governors are quarelling and that the cause of the quarrelling is the presidency. They are matured enough not to do that.
Newswatch: So all the five South-East governors are working in unity?
Udenwa: Yes, we are working in unity. I can assure you that on this issue of Igbo presidency, the five of us are very much of the same opinion.
Newswatch: The renewed agitation for Biafra spear-headed by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra is gathering momentum. Don't you foresee a situation whereby this could jeopardise the interest of Ndigbo in the 2007 presidency?
Udenwa: We don't even know whether MASSOB is being sponsored by people from outside Igboland. To be frank with you, I have said it a lot of times, I understand what is happening, people propagate Biafra out of frustration. And I keep saying, we should please find accommodation within a united Nigeria. That is the reality on ground today. The reality is not for Biafra because when you talk of Biafra, Biafra is not exclusive to the Igbo, you are talking of the Efiks, Ibibios, Ijaws, the Ikwerres and all the other ethnic groups in the old Eastern Nigeria. They all constitute Biafra and we ask ourselves as at today will those our brothers be able to go along with us if we are talking about Biafra or are we now talking about Biafra for the Igbo race alone. If it has to be the original concept of Biafra, is it workable in today's circumstances, and what is out plan to realise it? Is it by force or is it by appeal or what? Anybody telling us about the actualisation of the sovereign state of Biafra should tell us how we are going to go about it. If it is by force, then you tell us what forces and armaments you have. If it is by appeal, you tell us whom you have appealed to who has consented.
So you find out that our people are frustrated, I must tell you. This is the major issue. The Igbos are frustrated in Nigeria today but I don't think the solution to that frustration is to talk about Biafra. I think we must assert ourselves, we must be able to aspire within a united Nigeria. That is why we are calling for Igbo presidency so that we feel integrated into Nigeria. This is a country we built. The Igbos contributed a lot to the development of this country. So, whom are we leaving it for? If there is any tribe that has a stake in one Nigeria today, it is the Igbo. Go round the whole Nigeria, there is no state you go to in Nigeria where you don't see the Igbo doing their business and even investing seriously in those places where they live. What does it tell you? It tells you that Igbo have confidence in Nigeria. So, whom are we going to abandon these things for? Where are we going?
I don't want our people to ever think they are leaving this country. We made efforts in the past, the efforts failed. Today, we believe in one Nigeria and we must all find accommodation within one Nigeria.
Newswatch: The North appears determined to produce the next president of this country and they claim that there is an agreement in the PDP that the presidency should rotate between the North and South. Already, prominent Northern politicians namely, Ibrahim Babagida, Buba Marwa and Atiku Abubakar, the vice president are positioning themselves for a shot at the presidency. How prepared are Igbos to overcome the challenges posed by this factor and the personalities involved?
Udenwa: Okay, they are positioning themselves. It is also left for our people to position themselves. As far as I am concerned there is no such agreement. You have been hearing people are saying it, but why has nobody produced a copy of that agreement? I thought by now somebody would have produced a copy of the agreement saying this is what we agreed. The time that agreement was reached, who were those present? Who did they represent? But nobody has been able to produce anything like that.
I am aware that somebody mentioned it in one of the expanded caucus meeting of the PDP which I attended and I got up and said are you saying that for me to become a president of this country, I have to wait for 2015? He said yes, I said it will not be acceptable to our people. But by and large, I would not be surprised that is the Northerners are also coming out. That is fair enough. We are in a democracy. It is not by appointment, it is by election. What we are doing is appealing to the conscience of Nigerians and saying, look this country used to be on a tripod: The West, the East and North. The North has had more than it's fair share of this. The West has had some measure of share of this, we have not had, so that is what we are saying. Give us the opportunity to produce a president. We are appealing to them, we are not forcing anybody. Today, I am very happy that if you watch you would see that a lot of people up North are beginning to see reason with what we are saying.
When I mentioned this first it sounded like heresy, everybody said it is the turn of the North. But today, even Northerners who are honest to themselves are coming out to say give them a chance. I am happy that by the time we approach 2007 others will see reason.
Newswatch: Right now, Northern candidates have openly declared their interest in the race and are already campaigning. But nobody from the South-East has come out to say he is interested, don't you think that Igbo people will eventually start when it would be rather late to realise it?
Udenwa: I wouldn't think we would start very late. In 2003 we started very late. It was just about six months or so to the election. That was why we couldn't make any impact and anybody who told you it was because the Igbo were not united is not telling you the truth. Our candidates came out too late in the day, there was nothing anybody could do about it. You also had an incumbent. Some of us saw it and knew that it would never be easy at that point to beat the incumbent and that is why we did not give the support people expected from us.
But today, we are starting very early. We are talking about 2007 and elections would hold about March and April that year. We still have about two and half years to go. I can tell you that if some people come out one year or one year and six months to the elections, we would be very much on time. History has it. It doesn't mean that the first people to jump out are the people who will win. The current president came out late in 1999, but he beat everybody. So, we are still very much on time and we are confident that at the appropriate time our people will come out. By the time our people come out and we begin to campaign and work with other sections of the country we should be able to win.
Newswatch: What is the level of involvement of Ohaneze Ndigbo in this project?
Udenwa: Oh! Ohaneze is very much involved. They have equally issued a statement on this. In fact, this is something that the Igbo are almost total in its pursuit. I assure you that Ohaneze is very much involved. We respect Ohaneze and they carry the symbol of what the Igbo stand for. So, it will play its own role in this enterprise.
Newswatch: Although Northern candidates are warming up for the race, Wada Nas, a prominent Northern politician recently said it should be the turn of Ndigbo. Would you say that his statement is enough evidence that some Northern politicians are sympathetic to the Igbo interest?
Udenwa: Yes, that is exactly what I told you. I salute the courage of Wada Nas, I salute his honesty. He is a Northern politician but he knows that it would be an injustice again if the Igbos miss it this time around. He is not alone. And I think the other experienced Northern politicians who know the history of this country for decades and the role everybody played in struggle for independence would support the Igbo presidency in 2007. I know at the appropriate time we will continue to win more converts from the North.
Newswatch: How are you networking within the PDP ranks to ensure the Igbo candidates gets the nomination when the chips are down?
Udenwa : I do agree that it is not going to be easy, that is why we are appealing to everybody. It is also not something that will be given to anybody on a platter of gold. You must lobby, you must talk to other people.
