By Nnedinso Ogaziechi
In just a few days the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohaneze Ndigbo would hold an election of a new leadership as the Nnia Nwodo-led leadership comes to an end on the 10th of January, 2021.
However, just like in the larger Nigerian political environment, the election seems to be a wholly male affair. No woman is contesting for either the President General or the Secretary General positions, two of the most influential positions in the leadership of the 44 year-old organization that was a child of necessity at the end of the civil war. The umbrella socio-cultural group was formed as a forum representing all Igbo communities both locally and in the diaspora.
Even though the group is a socio-cultural organization, it is not by any means insulated from the usual politics either within the region or at the national and global levels. It cannot however be described as a political organization or affiliated to any political party. However, with the whirlwind-like evolution of national and global politics, the organization is not insulated from certain core political dynamics.
The run-up to the elections has been as controversial as it has been suspense-filled. From debates over consensus candidacy to that of the venue for the election, no Ohaneze election in the past had attracted this amount of media and national attention. This goes to show that technology and the advent of the internet and social media have all changed the dynamics of associations of any group of people whether overtly political or otherwise.
However, The Roundtable Conversation observed that like in the larger political field in the country that women’s presence in this socio-cultural organization remains largely peripheral. No woman is among the five male candidates for the post of the President General that has Prof. Chidi Osuagwu, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, Prof. George Obiozor, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu and Dr. Chris Asoluka in the race. The post had according to the organization’s constitution, been zoned to Imo state.
The Roundtable tried to find out why the organization seems almost bereft of an active female presence knowing that in pristine times, the present male only leadership amongst Ndigbo was not the norm.
Regina Amadi-Njoku, the Chairperson Board of Trustees of Nkata Ndi Inyom Igbo, a socio-cultural group of Igbo women by ancestry and or marriage, a former Assistant Secretary General at the United Nations and gender/development expert observes that the predominantly male membership is a fallout of the changing dynamics of African culture especially given the effects of colonialism and its impact on gender relations and development.
She recalls that prior to the colonial period, Ndigbo practiced dual sex governance where women played their part even though they did not exercise the same level of authority with the men in the society. There were queens, the amazons, priestesses and varied titled women with leadership duties in the past she says. She points out what we are seeing in Ohaneze is traceable to the colonial administrative style in African colonies having come from a background of male-only governance.
They gave the African men more power but the African men also lost leadership eminence in what can be seen as a double-edged knife with its white administrative gains and the fragmentation of the leadership styles across Africa.
The whites empowered the man but at the same time removed their psychological power by taking some out as slaves and converting the others as indentured laborers in their own land working for the colonial governments. They were given power and at the other hand their geo-political assets and resources were taken but when eventually the colonialists left after independence, the African men consolidated power and continued the female exclusion from governance.
To Amadi-Njoku, the result of the leadership disruption caused by the coming of the white man is like what a character in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart said about the white man putting a knife to what held the us together thereby making things including leadership styles ‘fall apart’. From the look of things, this piece of history is necessary in order to fully appreciate the idea of an Ohaneze without the active participation of women. The colonial administrative style has its scars one of which is too much conflict between the genders not only among Ndigbo but in all regions and most colonized countries. The men watched the colonialists and today both in the socio-cultural associations and even in core politics female exclusion is evident.
However, she feels strongly that there are solutions, because both the men and women are tired of fractionized leadership. However, Our strength seems to be our weakness, our entrepreneurship is our solidarity, it is our DNA, our Ubuntu. The igwe bu ike spirit is more productive.
The Igbos are famous just like the Chinese and Israelis in terms of structured portable governance which ensures that no matter where they are in the world, their strong communities take care of each person, we tend to replicate Igbo communities everywhere so leadership is better if it is inclusive. There must be a way to accommodate the input of women in the socio-cultural organization for a better and more progressive regional development. The men are the heads culturally but then the women are the necks, the head gets dysfunctional without the neck and vice versa.
The women too have their own problems, the bitterness and apathy must be handled proactively. The women are fragilized too. Before the colonialists women led in their own associations, the women were leaders of the of their own and younger ones were groomed, taught followership, obedience, team spirit, skill acquisition, humility, trading were all learnt at this socio-cultural structure.
Those at the rural communities have more solidarity and the elite must learn from them. We have lost the sisterhood solidarity and capacity for deft negotiation skills and ability to truly politick unlike the African American women that have formed real advocacy blocs for political inclusion. It has worked out well for a Kamala Harris.
On the other hand, the men enjoy internal solidarity and mentorship, they track the progress of their mentees and reap the benefits on retirement. The trappings of modern governance can be seen in the issue under discourse. So now we can recreate that sense of solidarity for better regional and national growth.
She recalls battles of the OAU transition into AU and how African women including her fought for 33% affirmative action but with a very deft political lobbying, eventually got 50% and the result is evident in the activities of the AU and their status in global politics. Her advice is more to the men to be more accommodating of a return to the good old order and for the women to actively fight for their lost leadership positions.
She advises is men to be more accommodating of the renaissance of the win-win traditional gender partnership between men and women for the women to rebuild their sisterhood solidarity that helped their foremothers negotiate and share governance power and leadership with the men, bearing in mind that men and women leaderships are different yet complimentary and progressively viable.
The Roundtable Conversation has been following the media discussions and debates involving the Ohaneze candidates and almost all of them seem to agree that female inclusion is long overdue given the global leadership dynamics and the values thereof.
The Roundtable Conversation spoke to Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene, an Art enthusiast/collector and entrepreneur who is the Lagos state President of Ohaneze and asked him about the female membership of the association. He said that there are women wings in all the seven states that make up the Ohaneze Ndigbo. So the women are the leaders of their women wings.
Curiously, he said that the women can only be members of the electoral committees but they cannot vote at elections. So women only vote for the women leadership. So the women can only be under the state male chairpersons and all of them are under the national leadership headed by the President General.
He says some Igbos seem to have lost their sense of culture and tradition. Respect and language go together. He believes that culturally, we all know that women organize themselves and mobilize. To him any male child born automatically becomes Ohaneze member and so we must not deviate from our culture and tradition. Anyone from the region must know that Ohaneze is a socio-cultural group that pilots the affairs of Ndigbo anywhere in the world.
To him, culture and language unites. The association must work on the progress of the region and they seek the cooperation of everyone including the media. The people must be united and plan to progress in general terms. Ohaneze has both women and youth wings and their roles are the traditional roles of mediating between the various leaderships and the people. Women leaders in Ohaneze are similar to all women groups in every other socio-political sector functionally. They liaise between male leadership either formally in government or community associations.
Chief Solomon believes that the culture and language of a people can enhance cooperation amongst the people and so must not be tampered with or allowed to be divisive. Progress of the association must be paramount in everyone’s mind as the people must feel the physical presence of leadership.
The interesting conversations with these individuals are as revealing as they are thought-provoking. The Roundtable Conversation however feels that the debate about leadership at all the regional levels nationally must move with the times. The world today is ruled by ideas and technology and the acquisition of these through education is not gender sensitive. If women like Madam Ellen Sirleaf-Johnson could become president of Liberia, if an Okonjo- Iweala can make the global contributions in varied fields globally, all regional organizations like Arewa, Afenifere, Ijaw National Congress etc. might just be like a plane flying with one engine when it can alternate between two or more engines. A people according to UN studies are as developed as the level of inclusiveness in education and leadership at all levels of both genders.
The dialogue continues…
