The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Igbo’

  • Igbo deny endorsing Ize-Iyamu

    Igbo deny endorsing Ize-Iyamu

    Igbo unions in Edo State have dismissed claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the Igbos have endorsed its candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

    The unions said they will support the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) because it will reduce taxation make life meaningful for them.

    The spokesman of the group, Ambrose Aniele, told reporters in Benin City, the state capital, that Igbos have no business with the PDP and they have never endorsed Pastor Ize-Iyamu.

    He said the PDP did nothing when it was in power in the state.

    Aniele added: “As I speak to you we are campaigning for APGA. Instead of supporting PDP we will support APC because whether you like it or not Benin is beautiful today because of Oshiomhole and the APC.

    “I am aware that some of our people have met with APC candidate Godwin Obaseki and Oshiomhole, but I can tell you that majority of us will vote for APGA because it is the party for the Igbos. The only problem APC has is the taxation problem.

    “Oshiomhole has worked to be honest. You cannot compare PDP with APC, the PDP people have big men who share the money, they don’t care about we Igbos so why will we vote for them?

    “We are calling all our people to come our next week Saturday and vote for Osaro Onaiwu who is the APGA governorship candidate. He will help us cut taxation and make life better for everybody living in Edo State.”

     

     

     

     

  • Igbo, Ngige and Buhari’s government

    Recently the story went viral on social and traditional media alleging that the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige was booed while trying to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged lopsided appointments at a Town Hall forum organised by the Federal Ministry of Information in Enugu.

    Now, who booed Ngige and why – if true? Why not the other ministers at the Forum which included Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who is from Enugu or Minister for Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who is the image maker of Buhari’s government? This question underscores the purpose of the sponsored story against the personality of Ngige, a man who has never shied away from the truth and what he believes is right no matter the circumstances.

    There is no doubt that among the wailing Igbo political elites today who were majorly responsible for the political and economic woes of the south-east zone in last 16 years, Ngige stands shoulder high above them, with his unprecedented track records in political leadership and vision. Politically, Ngige has always carved a niche for himself and avoided bandwagon syndrome like a plague.

    Dissecting Ngige’s foray in Nigerian politics after an outstanding public service career that spanned over a decade, he took off as a foundation member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998. Becoming the governor of Anambra State in 2003, Ngige redefined governance and leadership through his verifiable and unparalleled infrastructural development in the state. At the risk of his personal life, he dared and conquered political godfatherism, liberated the state from the stronghold of the notorious political godfathers that held the state down for years. That singular action of Ngige marked the beginning of new, responsible and responsive leadership in the state and the rest of the country.

    Defecting from the PDP to co-found the defunct Action Congress (AC) in 2006 alongside the likes of Ahmed Bola Tinubu, AlhajiAtikuAbubakar and others, Ngige never looked back at the PDP led-government throughout its locust years that benefitted majority of the South-east PDP elites at expense of the rest of the Igbos. Within this period, Ngige remained steadfast, focused, patient, and dogged, despite several efforts by these elites and their cohorts to pull him down by all means.

    To prove his popularity and acceptance in the South-east, Ngige won Anambra Central zone senatorial election in 2011 on the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria, defeating the candidate of the ruling APGA government in the state, late Prof. Dora Akunyili. His party also won five House of Assembly and one House of Representatives seats in the state to the surprise and disappointment of the PDP and APGA apologists in the zone. While in the Senate, he attracted infrastructural and manpower developments to his state and the zone in general.

    Ahead of the 2015 polls, the South-east PDP elites who lacked political sagacity to read the country’s political barometer, and for their own selfish interests deceived the Igbos to put all their eggs in one basket, by voting for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, against Muhammed Buhari and the APC.

    It was the same Ngige who never hid his unalloyed support for the APC and Buhari that consistently appealed to the Igbos to reconsider their stand and avoid putting all their eggs in one basket, because the odd favoured APC and Buhari. But nobody believed him, instead some sponsored and disgruntled Igbos called him all sort of names.

    Again, when these political jobbers and merchants who have continued to parade themselves as Igbo political leaders heard that APC has zoned the Senate President to the South-east ahead of the elections and Ngige was the favourite, they deployed everything at their disposal to ensure that Ngige did not win re-election to the Senate. That was a typical Pull-Him-Down political practice that has held the Igbos down since 1999 till date.

    Immediately after the 2015 presidential poll, which was won by Buhari and the APC, it dawned on the Igbos and their merchant PDP leaders that they have misfired politically.

    These were the same leaders who have occupied all the positions in the PDP led-government for 16 years, won all the contracts, cornered all the funds meant for the zone without any tangible thing to point at as their achievements for the Igbos. But instead of keeping quiet and re-strategize for a better political alignment with the APC-led government to attract federal presence to the south-east zone, one of the PDP leaders, who is also a ranking senator, now embattled, once boasted that Igbos have no regret voting for Jonathan and the PDP in the 2015 elections, stressing that if the opportunity comes again, Igbos would vote the same way.”

    As if that was not enough to show the southeast zone’s belligerence to Buhari’s government from the onset, NnamdiKanu and his sponsors commenced the nefarious activities of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) in the zone without any caution from the merchant leaders of the zone, all in a bid to distract the Buhari’s government. Not long, IPOB members became allies of the Niger-Delta Avengers members making it obvious that they are working together to bring down Buhari’s government by all means.

    Instead of the continued lamentations over alleged lopsided federal appointments by Buhari’s government, the Igbos should ask their leaders who have been appointed and awarded contracts in the last 16 years of the PDP rule to account for their stewardships. This is the time for the Igbos to take stock and hold their merchant leaders responsible, because they have always been the bane of progress in Igbo land. They have neither shown nor provided leadership for the people of the zone. Rather they have continued to exploit the gullibility of an average Igbo person using the Biafra sentiment. That is why the lamentations should be more on the terrible state of basic infrastructures in the zone, than federal appointments, considering that past appointees from the zone have always cornered public funds for their personal use without rendering account.

    Has any Igbo man asked who embezzled Enugu-Onitsha road contract fund during Jonathan’s administration? What about Enugu-Port Harcourt road and other federal roads across the south-east zone that have become death traps? They are the same people who are today sponsoring media attacks on the likes of Ngige and Buhari’s government. Their major motive is not about the well-being of the Igbos or development of the zone, but for them to be appointed into government positions to continue with their looting spree. But unfortunately for them, they have met a brick wall in Buhari’s government because of its pragmatic and transparent style of governance that has made easy money difficult to come by.

    It is not too late for the Igbos to have a rethink, do away with their merchant leaders who have misled and held them down before now, support their genuine leaders and constructively engage Buhari’s government for the development of the zone. Igbos should not cry more than the bereaved now or throw away the baby and the bath tub again as it is becoming obvious that the Niger-Delta region, whose son was defeated in the last presidential election is already engaging the Buhariadministration for their betterment. Enough of political deceit, self-aggrandisement, political jobbing, greed, vindictiveness and political differences among the Igbos for 2019 is fast approaching. Once beaten, twice shy. A world is enough for the wise.

     

    • Dr. Ezeh, a university don wrote from Ogui, Enugu State.
  • Why Igbo leaders met in Owerri, by Okorocha

    Why Igbo leaders met in Owerri, by Okorocha

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday said the recent gathering of Igbo leaders in Owerri, the state capital, under the Igbo Unity Forum, was not a launch pad for Igbo Presidency.

    The governor said the meeting was to rekindle the spirit of resilience and determination among the Igbo.

    He added that the continued outcry of neglect was alien to the Igbo culture of hard work and industry.

    Okoroch, who addressed reporters in Owerri, noted that the greatest challenge holding down the Ndigbo was disunity.

    He said: “When we come together, we can solve all our problems as a people. This is because we cannot continue to cry about marginalisation but we should rise up and build our place.

    “The essence of the gathering of Igbo leaders in Owerri was not to talk about or prepare for Igbo Presidency but to mobilise our people to come together and build an Igbo nation that is economically viable.”

    Okorocha added: “When people talk about Igbo Presidency, I don’t get excited because I believe that anybody who has something to offer should lead the country, irrespective of where he comes from. This is because we may have an Igbo President who may turn out to be a disappointment.

    “Just like when our people keep crying about marginalisation. But there was a time we had everything, like the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senate President, Chief of Army Staff, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), among others. But today, we have nothing to show for these positions. So, our priority now is to build our place and attract development. But at the right time, we will have a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction.”

  • Igbo are co-owners of Nigeria, say Southeast governors, leaders

    Igbo are co-owners of Nigeria, say Southeast governors, leaders

    Igbo leaders yesterday restated their commitment to Nigeria’s unity and insisted that the third largest ethnic group is a co-owner of this country and cannot be put down by any other ethnic group.

    They called on Igbo who have invested in other parts of the country to replicate such investments in Igbo land to create employment and develop the zone.

    These are part of the decisions of the meeting of the leaders organised by the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo. It was tagged Igbo Unity Forum.

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha hosted the meeting held at the Imo International Convention Centre.

    Governors, former governors, prominent citizens, including former Chief of General Staff in the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida military regime, commodore Ebitu Ukiwe

    Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Okorocha, Enugu State Deputy Governor Cicilia Ezeilo, former governors of old Anambra State Jim Nwobodo and Chukwuemeka Ezeife – Imo State Deputy Governor  Eze Madumere and industrialist  Pascal Dozie attended the session.

    Also there was former Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Alison Madueke (retd.).

    The leaders said the Igbo have what it takes to solve any problem that might arise in the region.

    Ohaneze President-General Gary Enwo Igariwe, described the meeting as critical to the rebuilding of Igbo land.

    He said: “We should come together and solve our problems. We are known for our resilience and industry. Thirty per cent of investments in Lagos and Abuja is owned by Ndigbo but now we are calling on our people to think home and build another Abuja in Igbo land.

    “We should invest at home to create jobs for our people. So, today is a special day because we have decided as a people to close ranks and proffer solutions to our problems.”

    Guest speaker Prof. Anya O Anya, called for a reorientation among Ndigbo. “The solutions to our problems can only be found within and not outside. We are the only ones that can solve our own problems,” he admonished.

    He added: “We are preparing to rebuild Igbo land to meet with the Nigeria of the 21st Century. We have gathered because the time is critical so that we can chart a new course for our people. There has never been a time we are faced with a barrage of problems like now so we need our past to find solutions to our problems.”

    Commodore Ukiwe urged the Igbo to forget the past and look forward, “We should forget about the past; there is nothing to regret about and we cannot be intimidated by anyone”

    The meeting was still ongoing as at 9pm when this report was filed. A communique was being expected.

  • Is Igbo marginalised?

    Is Igbo marginalised?

    As far as the Igbo are concerned, the Southeast geo-political zone is marginalised in many respects. They say the situation has changed from bad to worse under the Muhammadu Buhari administration and that this may not be unconnected with the fact that the zone did not vote for the President in last year’s election. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the two sides of the argument.

    SINCE the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the Igbos of Southeast have stepped up the protest over the continued marginalisation of the zone under the current administration. They accuse Buhari of sidelining the zone in major appointments so far and of assigning less-juicy portfolios to ministers of Igbo extraction in his cabinet Indeed, since the emergence of Buhari as the President, the Igbos have resumed agitation for secession from the Nigerian federation. The militant group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is spearheading the campaign, with support from the Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

    The Igbo claim of marginalisation precedes the Buhari administration. Analysts recall that the major reason Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu gave to justify the declaration of Biafra in 1967 was that the Igbos had lost faith in the union, because they were being treated as second-class citizens. The proclamation of the Republic of Biafra led to a civil war that lasted 30 months. The Igbos lost the war with heavy casualties.

    An Igbo elder, Robert Obioha, said Igbos have always complained of being marginalised by the successive governments. His words: “The history of the marginalisation of the Southeast started with Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s creation of 12 states, purposely to weaken Ojukwu’s resistance to his regime in 1967, prior to the declaration of Biafra and the commencement of the Nigerian Civil War. Though Gowon’s  12-states structure had a sense of equity between the North and South of Nigeria at six states per zone,  it denied the Southeast majority states in the defunct Eastern Region as was the case for the Hausa and the Yoruba in the Northern and Western Regions respectively.

    “Gowon’s 12 states ensured that the Southeast, the heart of Biafran revolution, was lumped into one state called the East Central State, while minorities in the region were carved into two states; Rivers State and South Eastern State. This was the beginning of the marginalisation of the Southeast. Gowon did not stop there; he ensured the ceding of some oil-bearing Igbo areas to Rivers State.

    “When Gen. Murtala Muhammed split the country into 19 states in 1976, the East Central State became two states of Anambra and Imo. Thus, Muhammed gave the Southeast one out of the seven states he created. It was Gen. Ibrahim Babangida that rose to address the Southeast marginalisation, by giving us additional two states of Enugu and Abia out of 11 states he created. At that that time, the zone needed three states to level up with others. The late Gen. Sani Abacha also gave the zone one state, Ebonyi when he created six states.

    “Therefore the Southeast has suffered undue marginalisation in the state creation structure of Nigeria. Under the present 36 states structure, which ought to give each zone six states apiece, only the Southeast has five and the Northwest seven.

    “In the arbitrary distribution of the nation’s 774 local governments, the Southeast has the least. The entire North has 419 local governments, while the South as a whole has 355. The zonal distribution of local government is as follows: Northwest 186; Northcentral 115; Northeast 112; Southwest 137; Southsouth 123; and Southeast 95. Why was the Southeast given 95 when other zones got over 100?

    “What is the name of this lopsided structure of Nigeria if not marginalisation? Since appointment of ministers, recruitment into the civil service and security agencies and admission into unity schools, federal higher institutions and revenue sharing is based on states and local governments, the Southeast has been overtly marginalised due to having the least number of states and local governments. How many Police Commissioners and Military Commanders are from the zone?”

    A cleric, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, does not believe that the Igbo are marginalised. He premised his argument on the fact that the Igbo have occupied every political, economic and military position in the Nigerian nation.

    As far as Adelaja is concerned, the fact that Nigeria was able to assimilate the Igbo nation back into the Nigerian entity after the civil war faster than most nations that go through civil war is a demonstration that they have been fully welcomed back to the union.

    He said: “The Nigerian government did so much to remove any trace of segregation from all Nigerian peoples immediately after the civil war. The Igbo people were quickly absorbed as part of the Federal Government of Nigeria. In the western part of Nigeria, the properties of Igbos who left to join Biafra were kept intact and later returned to them.

    “In most countries that had experienced civil war, the vanquished are always oppressed and marginalised for many years after. Usually, these people don’t enjoy the privileges of equal citizenship for decades after the civil war. Even most of the countries that we look up to as epitomes of democracy today, things did not go smoothly with them after their civil war.

    “Immediately after the civil war in 1970, the Federal Government forgave the Igbo leadership that plunged the country into civil war and re-integrated them into a united Nigeria, rather than imprisoning or killing by firing squad. In the words of the then Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, there was ‘no victor no vanquished’. Meaning Nigeria would not treat the Igbo people as defeated enemy, but as brothers and sisters. That was the height of magnanimity displayed by the Nigerian nation.

    “Just 10 years after the civil war, Nigeria did something that had hardly been recorded in the history of civil wars in the world. The Nigerian state decided to forgive the initiator of the civil war itself, the late Odumegwu-Ojukwu. He wasn’t just forgiven, he was granted political pardon, so that he could participate in the nation’s political process. Ojukwu contested for presidency. Again, 10 years after the civil war, the second most powerful person in Nigeria was an Igbo man. Dr. Alex Ekwueme was Vice President in the Shehu Shagari administration.”

    But, Senator Shehu Sani believes the Igbos have a case. He opined that the marginalisation of the Igbos in federal appointments should not be dismissed with a wave of hand. According to him, “It’s wrong to appoint people based on merit without recourse to Federal Character; it’s wrong to appoint people into public office on the ground of Federal Character without merit.

    Sani, who represents Kaduna Central in the Senate, emphasised that merit without Federal Character leads to marginalisation; Federal Character without merit leads to incompetence and ineptitude. He said: “A cry against marginalisation is a legitimate cry for recognition, for equity, for justice and for sense of belonging; only those who believe in the unity of Nigeria will demand to belong.

    “Marginalisation is a crack on the beams and columns on a nation’s spirit of unity and its covenant for togetherness. Marginalisation only feeds the baby monster of violent dissent; marginalisation is a fertile soil for the germination of the seeds of discord; marginalisation is apartheid.”

    A political scientist, Professor Ayo Olukotun, said the word marginalisation is relative and contextual. To him, it is deployed from time to time by political elites to redraw the national map of political rewards in their favour.

    Olukotun said: “The Igbo were more privileged in terms of appointments under former President Goodluck Jonathan than under Buhari, which makes them a natural opposition group. They of course overwhelmingly voted for Jonathan. The current agitation for Biafra may be a bargaining chip by Igbo political elites frustrated by their current status in a federation where they recently held star positions.

    A legal practitioner, Malam AbdulKadir Abubakar, shares Olukotun’s view. He said the Igbo are not the only ethnic group that are marginalised. According to him, the Igbo had the best of time during Jonathan’s administration in terms of appointments and political influence; most of the juicy positions were occupied by them to the detriment of other ethnic groups.

    He said: “The question is if Jonathan had won the last election, would the Igbo be complaining as they are doing today? They will not. They should know that they are in opposition; they should not expect the kind of political patronage they had under Jonathan. Look at the Southwest? This is the first time that the mainstream of Yoruba politics will be on the same page with the government at the centre. All the years they have remained in opposition and they didn’t threaten to secede or make the country ungovernable for the ruling party.

    “Our brothers in the Southeast should put the nation’s interest first; pursuit their demands in a peaceful manner. They should stop crying wolf when there is none. Tell me which zone of the federation that is not marginalised one way or the other? Most northern states are at the lower rung of ladder of revenue sharing formula. No one has monopoly of violence. A living dog is valuable than a dead lion.”

    Civil rights activist, Comrade Mashood Erubami, said Igbos should be civil in demanding their rights from the Federal Government. He added: “There is need to be vigilant and cautious, in the way we agitate against our not getting material things, positions and opportunities the way we want it, so that it does not create unbridgeable separation among ethnic groups that make up the country.

    Erubami, who heads Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTASS), said: “Today, almost the whole of Southeast and Southsouth are clamouring that their citizens are being marginalised in the scheme of things, but they fail to know the implication of using war to make demands. War is not the best option to correct any perceived marginalisation. In a war situation, as was the case during the Nigeria-Biafra war, the wife could not locate where her husband was, children were separated from their parents, yet many were living in hunger and deprivation, sleeping but unable to close the two eyes, subsisting in perpetual fear and social economic discomfort.

    “For me, the loud agitation against perceived marginalisation as currently being channelled seems to be a product of fear of and expectation that President Buhari might want to punish those who did not vote for him. Hardly was President Buhari able to score 100,000 votes in each of the states that constitute the former Eastern Region.

    “The fact of the matter is that it might appear the zone has not benefitted much under the Buhari administration as it did under the Jonathan administration where not a few believed the zone dominated and benefitted all round, more than any other zone in Nigeria. What needs to be understood is that the electorate from the east have expressed their wish for Jonathan; their failing to get him back to office is not enough to deny the race of its constitutional rights to share from our commonwealth.

    “The allegation of marginalisation against the Buhari administration is presently not realistic as he is just settling down from the crisis that greeted his ascendance of power in May 2015. His anti-corruption war is facing a lot of opposition from those who looted the treasury during the immediate past administration.”

    On the way forward, Sani reasoned that the unity of the country cannot be sustained by just oral or written proclamation or by force, but by observance and respect for shared and binding principles of justice and equality. “We can only sustain national unity and peace when all Nigerians are treated with equal representation and respect,” he added.

    The senator said indeed that the Jonathan administration was the epitome of the politics of marginalisation.  According to him, Jonathan personalised and ethnicised governance in the shape of his tribal circle. He asked Buhari administration to resist this temptation by addressing the perceived marginalisation of the Southeast.

    Olukotun also advised the administration to “keep managing these issues as there will always be insider ethnic groups and outsider ones in every government. In his view, Erubami also admonished the Buhari administration to consider addressing inequality of states, by creating an additional state in the Southeast.

  • MASSOB, APGA berate Igbo leaders for ‘nonchalance’

    The Movement for Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) yesterday blasted Igbo leaders for their silence on issues affecting the Southeast.

    It described them as selfish and disunited.

    The movement especially berated governors and National Assembly members of Igbo extraction for allegedly keeping silent over issues affecting the zone.

    A statement by MASSOB National Leader, Comrade Uchenna Madu, said Igbo leaders were responsible for the current poor state of the zone.

    It described the zone’s current leaders as self-seeking.

    The statement reads: “The Southeast has continued to suffer a lack of good leadership because the people our people wanted to represent them at state and national levels – as governors and legislators – were not allowed to emerge during the 2015 general elections. The wishes of the people were not allowed to prevail at the polls and we have continued to suffer for this. The people were completely rigged out during the polls and the effect is telling on them.

    “Many governors and National Assembly members in the zone were imposed on the people by their godfathers. So, Ndigbo will continue to experience a lack of good leadership that will speak and protect them and their interests when it matters most.

    “We in the MASSOB are saying we will no longer allow such to happen again because the people who will represent Ndigbo politically are those we are fighting for in the struggle. Today, our brother, Nnamdi Kanu, has been abandoned. All the senators, House of Representatives members and governors of Igbo extraction have refused to speak out on the incarceration of Kanu.

    “The governors are not united and have not had any meeting to discuss the affairs of Southeast. This is worrisome.”

    Also, the Deputy National Secretary of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Jerry Obasi, blamed the situation on the alleged imposition of Igbo leaders on the people.

    The politician urged Igbo leaders to close ranks to remedy what he called the battered image of the zone.

    He said: “I wonder the kind of politicians we are breeding these days: self-seeking politicians. I don’t blame them because they are products of flawed elections. They are products of elections that do not reflect the wishes of the people. I am not happy about their behaviours.

    “I watched the burial of the victims of the Nimbo massacre (in Enugu State). There was no any Southeast governor who was there with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi except Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, who came to the programme.

    “It is unfortunate that other Southeast governors and lawmakers have refused to speak out on the welfare of the people of the zone.

    “The Igbo should use the 2019 election to chart a new political course. Nobody is saying anything as regards the Igbo man, even though they are the voice of the people elected to represent the people.

    “The Igbo have continued to dwindle politically. Look at the way Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu is persecuted. No Southeast governor has said anything about it. Today, he is the biggest political office holder in the zone. We are supposed to protect that his office and guard it jealously.

    “The Igbo man is now a sheep without a shepherd. Yet, they want to strike down the only shepherd we have so that the sheep will scatter.

    He said: “The Igbo should begin to come together; they should begin to think wise politically. I saw the way Metu was battered until he accepted to return the N400 million they said he stole.”

     

  • Igbo businessmen kick against kidnappings in Cross River 

    Igbo businessmen kick against kidnappings in Cross River 

    It started like a joke in Calabar, the Cross River State capital. A random kidnapping here and there – a phenomenon, which reared its head about five years ago in the state, said to be the most peaceful in the country.

    It was hoped the issue would be nipped in the bud, if just to ensure that the state still retains its enviable status. This has not turned out to be so. It would be recalled that father of former deputy governor of the state was kidnapped while he was still in power. News of children being kidnapped once in a while always made the headlines. Also just recently, the kidnap of three people on campus of the University of Calabar, was the talk of the town.

    The situation has over the years, gathered momentum and snowballed into a monstrous situation, as many believe security has grown lax in the state. However, it has been learnt that a good number of such kidnapping have never gotten to the news. Most worried by this dimension, which has gotten to a head in the past one year, are Igbo businessmen, who strongly believe they are targets as many of them have been kidnapped and released quietly, because they fear for their safety or that of their loved ones abducted.

    Cross River State is generally believed to be a civil service state and majority of the businesses in the state belong to Igbo who have injected a lot of spirit into the economy. To a great extent, the economy of the state depends on their endeavours. From spare parts, electronics, building materials, clothing, to transport companies among a host of other businesses, their presence is well established.

    In the past month only, it is on good authority that at least three of such Igbo businessmen or their relatives have been abducted by unknown gunmen and heavy ransom paid for their release.

    An Igbo trader, who begged not to be named, said to Niger Delta Report: “Things are not well. The government is just pretending they are. They don’t want to hear these things but they are true. They don’t want people to know these things because of the tourism status of the state, but people have to know, so that something can be done urgently about it.

    “In the past few weeks, they have kidnapped the wife of a popular electronics dealer in this Calabar and millions of naira was used to secure her release. Who knows if the husband even had to borrow money to pay in these hard times?

    “Not long after that, they kidnapped the owner of a bakery and demanded several millions also. A businessman along Hewett Road was also kidnapped and I think about N20 million demanded for his release. These kidnappings have been for a long time, but have just been quiet. They have kidnapped a lot of people in Calabar collecting up to N10 million or N20 million. It is now the order of the day here.

    “They feel we have too much money to throw about. What many people don’t understand is that sometimes, we borrow money to do our businesses. That we are enterprising and carry on come rain or shine does not mean, we have money to throw about. A lot of people do not understand what we pass through doing our business. I only wish they knew.”

    Worried by the developed, Igbo traders and businessmen have planned to close their businesses for two days in protest, a move which to an extent would cripple the state’s economy.

    Briefing newsmen on the development, the coordinator of Igbo Unity Forum, Mazi Okechukwu Ebubedike, said the decision for Igbo to shut down business for at least two days in Calabar metropolis was reached at after an extensive emergency meeting with all major stakeholders and town unions of Igbo extraction to protest this ugly trend.

    Ebubedike, who is also the chairman of Igbo professionals in the state, disclosed that over 35 prominent sons and their wives have been abducted so far in the state in the last one year with hundreds of millions paid out as ransom.

    According to him, most of the victims pay between N5m and N30m as ransom to secure their release from the kidnappers even when injuries are inflicted on them.

    Ebubedike said: “We have been made victims of kidnap in the state in the last one year and made to pay dearly as ransom to these hoodlums in the last couple of months. Unfortunately, nobody cares about our plight at this excruciating circumstance.

    “I can tell you that the Igbo traders and businessmen who are victims of these hoodlums have been paying through the nose to secure their release. And to protest against this ugly trend we are embarking protest by closing our shops and other business outlets for two days.

    “We have, therefore, directed that all shops owned by Igbo should be closed on a day to be announced so as to attract attention and to see how this security lapse can be tackled. We will enforce the closure to press home our demand to stop the kidnapping.

    “We have been made targets of kidnappers. We are now preys in the hands of criminals and everybody seem not to bother because it is Igbo. But we will resist it because we are here to do business and assist in developing the state sincerely. So, we can no longer fold our hands and watch our people being used as money-minting machine by kidnappers,” he stated.

    The coordinator, who claimed that government has paid deaf ear to the plight of the Igbo in Calabar in respect to kidnapping, said most Igbo have been subjected to undue treatment and harassment by these criminals even when they pay their taxes and other levies to the state.

    He said Igbo contribute positively to the development of the state and therefore deserve protection to enable them carry out their businesses in a more conducive atmosphere.

    The coordinator, who enjoined the government to step up security surveillance within the metropolis, said the state is noted for hospitality and therefore should do everything possible to protect investors as well as lives and property.

    The President Igbo Community, Calabar, Cross River State, Chief Albert Enya, said they have been talking to the government over the matter. He however, did not support the plan of the traders to close shop.

    He said: “We have been talking with government. We are not fighting the government. What we are saying is that this kidnapping should stop. And also the issue of closing of market, was not discussed in our last meeting and today we had an executive meeting too over the issue and we have resolved that there should be no strike, but rather we should dialogue with government and security people to see what we can do about the kidnapping because it is getting out of hand. This kidnapping does not only affect the Igbo but the whole Cross River State, but 80 per cent of those kidnapped are Igbo. We are here to business and if every time they kidnap one of us it is not good for us and we don’t like it. That is why we are saying that government should do something. They have been trying because we are meeting with them, but they should put more efforts. We are not part of the strike arrangement but rather we dialogue with government to see how we can stop the problem.”

    Also speaking, past chairman of the Igbo Community in the state, Chief Fidelis Onyebueke, said: “We condemn in its totality, the kidnapping exercise going on in Cross River State. Particularly, the victims have been Igbo. About 80 per cent of them have been Igbo. We are not fighting the government but we are saying is that government should put more efforts in the security, because it is the priority in any government. We know that Governor Ben Ayade is doing his best. But we urge him to more effort, particularly where our ethnic group is involved in this kidnapping exercise. We know that other ethnic groups are also victims, but majority are Igbo. It would seem as if Igbo are not wanted in the state. But also we know the government is favourable to us Igbo to do business here, but the problem is the few individuals having selfish commercial interests to use Igbo as baits to make money which is very bad. This is affecting the tourism status of this state. We appeal to all the security agencies to sit up, because it would seem as if there are lapses. They should put more effort to make sure that Igbo feel more secure in this state. A situation where 80 per cent of the victims of kidnapping are Igbo, it is not in the best interest of this state, because it would seem as if Igbo are targets, whereas they are not. It only seems so. We appreciate the efforts of the government and security agencies. But in the end, result is what we need.”

    The Secretary of the Igbo Community, Prof Rufus Okoro, also said: “The issue of kidnapping in Nigeria today is not new. We know that government, even at the Federal level, is doing a lot to see how they can curb it. But in Cross River State, it is becoming too rampant and the targeted groups seem to be the Igbo. If 80 per cent of the kidnapping is done and an Igbo man is involved, ordinarily one can say they are only kidnapping Igbo people. So the government of the state has to beef of security and have a good security network.”

    The President of Abia Communtity Cross River, Prince Raphael Atulomah, added:  “I am calling on the state assembly to make laws that would prescribe capital punishment for kidnappers so it would drastically reduced. The thing is not helping the Igbo here. If Igbo are affected here, everybody knows that they help the state economically to move forward. If they close their shops and businesses, it would affect the economy of the state and we don’t that to happen. So, we want the state government to do something about it.”

  • Imo not owing workers salaries, dismisses ultimatum

    Imo not owing workers salaries, dismisses ultimatum

    The Imo State Government has denied owing workers salaries as claimed by a group, Ndi-Igbo Unity Forum and dismissed the ultimatum issued to Governor Rochas Okoroacha to pay.
    Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sam Onwuemeodo in a statement on Sunday said “the truth, and the whole truth is that, Governor Okorocha or the Imo State Government has paid workers in the state upto February, 2016, and that of March is about to begin.”
    ” Anybody or any group that worths being called a group that has any contrary claim to make based on facts and figures should come up with it. In Imo, the government of Governor Okorocha does not tell lies.
    ” We tell our audience the truth at all times, to the glory of God. We sympathize with these enemies of good works and ask God to have mercy on them,” Onwuemeodo stated.
    While stating that the group that issued the statement was as fictitious , the Chief Press Secretary said it was not able to convince their audience on their genuiness by stating their stake and the particulars of the salary arrears and allowances they had talked about.
    He said it was ironical that the group made its allegations after the State Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) , Comrade Austin Chilakpu while making his speech during the Workers’ May Day Celebration commended Governor Okorocha for not owing workers in the state salary arrears like it is the case in some other states.
    ” Those scratching Governor Okorocha have always ended up displaying their weakness both mentally and spiritually. They are always petty because they have no valid claim to make against Governor Okorocha and the Rescue Mission Government he superintends.”

  • Igbo group rejects grazing reserves bill

    A group, Igboekulie, a body concerned with good governance and the uplift of the economic status of Igbo people all over the world, has called for the stepping down of the National Grazing Reserve Commission bill in the National Assembly.

    According to the group, the bill, which has passed the 2nd reading in the Senate, portends grave danger for the peace and unity in Nigeria, adding that the bill, if passed, will create many other problems.

    In a statement, signed by Prince Ben Onuora and Mr. Benjamin Obidegwu, the group’s chairman and secretary respectively, Igboekulie said the bill has the potential of creating more tension and ultimately more violence, adding that the bill is unconstitutional, wasteful, self-serving, retrogressive, discriminatory and deceitful.

    “In the Senate, there is a bill for the creation of a National Grazing Reserve Commission, and it has passed the second reading. Though the bill had been proposed in the past and was thrown out for good reasons, there is an attempt to resurrect the bill and rush it through the legislature.”

    Analysing Section 17(1) of the bill, the group said, “There is an element of compulsory acquisition power granted to the Commission once “it appears” to it that the land is good for grazing to seize the land of peasant and other farmers all over Nigeria for the use of the herdsmen for whose benefit the Grazing Reserves are to be created. This is unacceptable. Otherwise, we should expect violent resistance across Nigeria.

    “This bill seeks to violate the Constitution of Nigeria by authorizing the Commission to merely give “due notice” in Section 18(1) to any state governor in whose state land is to be acquired.

    “It follows that the Commission has the power to seize people’s lands for the benefit of Fulani herdsmen who conveniently fall into” any class of persons”. This bill must fail on account of this alone.

    “Which Nigerian would permit his land to be seized by the government and given to another ostensibly for a public purpose which is indeed private? Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a recipe for disaster and ethnic crises.”

  • Nigerian communities where delicacies are taboos

    Nigerian communities where delicacies are taboos

    Nigeria is blessed with rich cultural values that have endeared her to the international community over the years.  Part of  the natural endowment of the country is its sumptuous variety of delicacies which have at various times been applauded by visitors to the country.

    The delicacies which come in different forms abound in every part of the country and are said to contain high nutritional values that help the development of the body. In spite of the good health benefits that can be derived from eating these delicacies, findings revealed that many communities across the country abstain from eating them for various reasons part of which include upholding the ancestral beliefs of their forefathers.

    For instance, in  Asaba, the capital of Delta State, the sale and eating of ogbono, a protaineous seed  used for making sumptuous soup across the country is considered a taboo.

    “It is a taboo for us to eat ogbono soup because our mother goddess, Onishe uses it for spiritual purification. This in our local parlance is known as ife-ahu. If you check the mouth of the River Niger  you will find that it is the sacred abode of the deity, Onishe. She is the spiritual mother who holds the destiny of Asaba people. Big ogbono trees line up both sides to the groove of the mother goddess.

    “The mystery behind these trees is the belief that for the past 250 years, neither the leaves nor the ogbono seeds have ever fallen on the ground. The day I tried eating it in defiance to our culture, I had myself to blame. My mouth and part of my face was swollen. When I told people what I did, they said I was lucky to have suffered mild repercussion. They said some people tried it and never lived to tell the story. It is a true life story and  not a fairy tale,” Vivian, a native of the area said.

    Checks also showed that in some parts of Agbor, an Igbo speaking part of the state, the people forbid eating ram. Not only do they forbid it, it was learnt that they must not stay close to where it is being cooked.

    Florence, a hairdresser shares her experience with our correspondent. “ It is a serious matter in our place and on no ground do we allow the temptation of  what people say about it push us into tasting it. When I was coming to Lagos, my grandfather specifically warned me not to have anything to do with the meat of ram.  Even if that is the only source of protein  in the whole world, I would rather lack protein than eat it because the consequence is worse than not having protein in the body. A relation dared the tradition out of greed and paid dearly for it. Her tongue pushed out and had to be taken back home to appease the gods of the land before she became well again.”

    The Nation also gathered that  in Orokpo, an Urhobo community located in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State,  the people  do not hunt nor eat the meat of  Lynx popularly known as “Awawa” in the local parlance.

    Explaining why the hunting or eating the meat of the animal which provides cheap protein for the people is prohibited, a native of the community who simply gave his name as James: If any member of the community should eat of the meat of this animal, he will develop severe and throbbing pains in the part of his body which corresponds to the part of the animal that he ate. So if it is the leg part of the animal that he ate, he will have severe unexplained pain in his legs. He will only get cured only by presenting himself to the priest of the deity who would tell him the e sacrifices that he would do to appease the gods.

    “If he doesn’t do exactly what he is asked to do for any reasons, he will continue to live with the problem and may ultimately die. That I am a Christian does not have anything to do with this. It is the tradition of the land handed over to us by our forefathers. It is not a pagan practice as some people will be quick to describe it. It is the culture of the land and even pastors and  believers in other religions don’t toy with it.

    Various communities in Igboland, it was learnt, also have various food taboos. In Nnewi, one of the largest communities in Anambra State, killing and eating of ewi (bush rat) known to be a good source of meat and protein for the people is forbidden. The Nation gathered that the  practice  was borne out of the belief that ewi played a great role in saving the founders of Nnewi during wars.

    In Ehime Mbano area of Imo State, rearing and eating of dog meat is said  to be against culture of the people.

    Tracing the history of the observance, Chief Okeke, a native of the community, said: “It all started several decades ago when dogs believed to have rabies caused the death of their owners by infesting them with the disease. Our people don’t also eat native cows. This is simply because we look at them as home pets.If you do what is contrary to what the tradition says, you will suffer for it. No orthodox treatment can cure the problem. The treatment lies in the native practice.

    Coming to the south western part of the country, sale of roasted yam seen by many as a delicacy that can be eaten in different ways is deemed a taboo in Ikorodu area of Lagos  State.

    “ Sales of roasted yam is not permitted in any part of Ikorodu. It is believed that doing such will bring a lot of trouble into the society. The community frowns at it and it is in the interest of the people and the entire land,” Ajibade, a resident said.

    Yam, though not the roasted one also enjoys some respect in Edo State, Ishanland to be specific. “It is forbidden to sit on a yam in our place. This is because we hold it dearly as a child. We give it that respect,” said Omonsuzi, a native of Uromi.

    The consumption of snakes hat is highly cherished in different parts of the country, according to findings is utterly prohibited in parts of Obanliku, a suburb of Cross Rivers State.

    Blessing, a native of the area explained why this is the practice in the area. She said: “Our people don’t eat snake because history has it that there was a time our forefathers were having a social gathering where they treated themselves to a good time. In the course of dancing, a snake was said to have jumped down from a tree and joined them in dancing. This made them to begin to see the creature as something that should be preserved.”

    Debunking the beliefs surrounding the taboos, Margret Ubeku, a nutritionist said:  “Many people in the society are unaware of what  constitute their nutritional needs . Food taboos can cause nutritional deficiency in people, most importantly, the children. When a pregnant mother is forbidden from eating egg on the ground that it can cause the baby to be a thief, or a situation where a pregnant woman is not allowed to eat liver because it can cause bleeding during delivery, what becomes of nutritional value to such woman?

    “There is another that says a pregnant mother should not eat okro or snail because it will make the baby salivate. All these are baseless and unfounded beliefs. They will only lead to one not eating food of high nutritional value which automatically reduces their nutritional status.”

    Some sociologists who spoke with our correspondent said taboos, especially food taboos are essential part of the society as most of them came into existence after the food in question must have caused something to happen in the  particular environment it is forbidden . They noted that the taboos are meant to bring about social order in the society.

    There has not been any established link between snail consumption and sluggishness and grass cutter consumption with prolonged labour. On the contrary, the giant African snail has a rich source of protein, trace elements and minerals which are needed for proper growth and development in human beings. In the same vein, the grass cutter or cane rat is also a source of rich animal protein. These foods are cheap and can serve as commonly available sources vital nutrients for a balanced diet in developing countries. Their consumption could therefore reduce maternal malnutrition if utilised fully.

    Mr Jawando Jubril, a lecturer in the Sociology Department of Lagos State University (LASU)  has this to say about food taboos: “You call these practices taboos but they are ways of bringing order into the society.  Roasting of yam or selling of broom in the south western part of the country is believed to be something that brings bad omen. They are believed to cause diseases like Small Pox, Chicken Pox because they denote looking for the wrath of the gods. But because Lagos State is a cosmopolitan society, the values attached to these beliefs have been eroded. The people that are charged with the responsibility of protecting these cultures have overlooked them.

    “In Lagos Island for example, When the late Oba Oyekan was alive, people were not allowed to sell roasted yam  or hawk broom. Every community has taboos that the natives and even the non natives must respect. There are consequences for disobeying these taboos and they are always very grave. There are health reasons attached to the observance of some of these taboos while some have spiritual reasons for observing them.”

    He however pointed out that  it is not all the taboos that hold water, adding: “There are some of them that are ordinary myths because they have no empirical back up. They are merely handed over from one generation to another and are derived from using mere common sense. For example, it is believed that it is a taboo for one to eat by the side or in front of a door because if you do, you will not be filled.

    “This is just a common sense thing that is meant to prevent people from not eating to their fill because when you are eating by the door side and people have to go in and out, you will keep standing up and not concentrate to eat the food as you should thereby causing your stomach not to be filled. Another one is the idea of blowing whistle in the afternoon. It is also a commonsense thing because when you blow whistle in the afternoon, you will disturb the people that are resting in their homes.”

    Examining why some of the food taboos have continued to exist despite the influences of civilization and religion,  Mr Adedeji Oyenuga who also teaches in the same department of the institution said: “ Some cultural values are easily eroded while others don’t. Some cultural traits can be easily ignored while some others will take a very long time before they can be changed. The ones that can easily be changes are referred to as folkways while the one that cannot easily be changed are what we call mores.

    “These two  represent the norms of the society. I am not from Ikorodu and cannot explain why they forbid roasting of yam in the area but I do know that Ogun (god of iron) worshippers are in the area and that they do roast yam. What probably is the issue here is that people in the area are not expected to roast yam for commercial purposes. It could mean that roasted yam is expected to be shared to people free of charge.”

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