The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Southeast

  • Southeast states plan economic integration

    •Ohanaeze leadership endorsed •Umahi leads forum

    The Southeast Governors’ Forum yesterday agreed to work on an economic plan to integrate the region.

    The governors endorsed the executive of the socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Chief John Nnia Nwodo.

    The governors picked Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi to lead the forum.

    Umahi, who spoke on behalf of the governors, urged Ndigbo to support the present leadership of the socio-cultural organisation.

    Umahi, who was introduced by Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, said the governors met with the Ohanaeze leadership and the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on issues affecting the welfare of the region.

    He said they agreed to work together on economy and security, particularly kidnapping.

    “We decided to have proper economic integration of the Southeast zone.

    “And in this regard we have instructed the economic commissioners  of the various states to come out with a blue print, “ Umahi said.

    Governors of the five southeast states were in attendance.

  • Obiano, Okorocha in proxy battle for Southeast

    Obiano, Okorocha in proxy battle for Southeast

    Despite political differences, the relationship between Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State and his Imo State counterpart, Rochas Okorocha, used to be cordial. Not anymore. Observers believe there is more to the recent face-off between them than meets the eye. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI looks at the development and the growing political prostitution in the Southeast, ahead of elections.

    IT is more easily understandable, within the context of Nigerian politics, when governors quarrel with their predecessors over the running of the affairs of a state or the sharing of the spoils of office. But it verges on the ridiculous when the governor of a state begins to slug it out with his counterpart from another state and decides to make it a media affair. This was the feeling of many observers recently, when Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Willie Obiano of Anambra State decided to wash their dirty linens in public, rather than face the responsibilities of governance in their respective states.

    War of words

    Okorocha, 54, inadvertently started the verbal war with the statement credited to him during the Southeast stakeholders meeting of the APC in Owerri, to the effect that three out of the four other governors in the zone would soon defect to the APC. The assertion did not go down well with Obiano and he strongly condemned it. Obiano, who responded through his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. James Eze, said Okorocha had not provided the kind of leadership that would make Igbo people to join him in the APC.
    Equally angered by the Anambra State governor’s remark, Okorocha reacted through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, saying: “That kind of motor park language was unexpected from a governor of a state…” From that point, it became an ego battle between the two sides, as their media aides threw caution to the wind and started throwing brickbats at each other.
    Okorocha’s claim has also been debunked by other governors in the region. In his reaction to Okorocha’s claim, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State affirmed that he had already pledged his allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that he is no plans to change his stance. Umahi, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Emma Anya, said Ebonyi is a PDP state and the party to beat in any election in the state. He added: “The person who made the statement should give us the names of the governors in question.”
    Similarly, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State denied Okorocha’s claim, saying through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos, that he is not one of those in talks with the Imo State governor. Only Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State chose to remain silent on the matter.
    Irrespective of the party differences, the relationship between Okorocha and Obiano had been cordial until the recent face-off. Apart from the two governors, their other three colleagues belong to the PDP. Observers believe there is more to this face-off than meets the eye. For instance, why did the Anambra State governor take Okorocha’s claim personal? It was the disparaging remarks he made on the leadership style of his Imo State counterpart that started the media war.
    In his reaction, Okorocha launched a blistering attack on Obiano, describing him as a clueless person who would do better as a militant than as a governor. Pointing to his achievements in business, economy and politics, the APC chieftain described Obiano as an analogue governor who is unfit to rule a state like Anambra, with its stirring political history.
    The statement from Okorocha’s Chief Press Secretary said: “Governor Okorocha’s claim was a healthy one, expected to provoke sound debates, which is the beauty of democracy. Governors with ideas and the right exposure gave their polite reactions, but the one without ideas (Obiano) took to insults. Only men with nothing to offer in terms of ideas take delight in insulting others. Men of ideas do not insult others.
    “Leadership is all about ideas and service. Luckily enough, Obiano has been governor for almost four years while Okorocha has also been governor for five years now. Let Obiano publish his achievements in Anambra State, even with high internally generated revenue (IGR), and let Governor Okorocha also publish his achievements in Imo. Then, we take off from there.”

    New political bride

    The Okorocha/Obiano media face-off, according to political analysts, must have been motivated by the impending governorship election in Anambra this year and the 2019 presidential election. It is not a secret that the APC has been wooing notable politicians of Igbo extraction in recent times as a strategy to break into the Southeast, which remains one of the last strongholds of the PDP. The recent defections of some notable politicians from the Southeast to the APC are a pointer to this. Since the 2015 general elections where the APC defeated the PDP, it has continued to savour the benefits of being the ruling party, judging from the number of politicians that have joined the fold.
    Some other notable politicians who have joined the APC after the defeat of the PDP are: the former governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo; former Senator representing Enugu North, Chief Fidel Okoro; former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji; ex-Controller of Customs, Mr. Tony Mba; former governorship candidate, Chief Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu; former Senator Uche Ekwunife; former governorship candidate of the PDP in Anambra, Tony Nwoye; and former Labour Minister, Emeka Wogu. Others are: former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, Emeka Offor, Senators Ifeanyi Araraume, Andy Uba, proprietor of Peace Mass Transit Ltd., Chief Sam Onyishi and former Speaker of Enugu House of Assembly, Eugene Odo. The APC also has in its fold today, former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, who defected from the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) in November last year.
    From every indication, the Southeast zone has become the new bride of the ruling party. It was perhaps this gale of defections that prompted Okorocha to say that at least three governors from the region would soon be defecting to the APC. This sort political prostitution is the norm among the political class in Nigeria and the Southeast is not an exception.
    Coming at a time the Igbo race is trying to reassert itself in the mainstream of national politics, the conduct of the two governors has reaffirmed the belief that selfishness, lack of cohesion and political naivety are the undoing of the Southeast. Many respondents from the region described the development as unfortunate.

    Show of shame

    An Owerri, Imo State-based socio-political commentator, Ferdinand Ekeoma, believes the verbal war between the two governors is unnecessary and a dent on their personality. He said: “I humbly advise Governors Rochas Okorocha and Willie Obiano to respect the pride and integrity of the Igbo nation, if they can’t respect themselves and the exalted offices they both occupy.
    “As far as I’m concerned, the ongoing verbal war between the duo is unnecessary, uncalled for, childish, and embarrassing to all of us who believe that it’s disgraceful, insensitive and disrespectful for two governors from two sister states, and from a zone that’s having serious political/leadership challenges to engage in this destructive and destabilising verbal warfare at this critical moment, when we should be striving to reorganize, unify and reintegrate our people into the mainstream of Nigerian politics and leadership.”
    The Association of South East Town Unions (ASETU) described the conduct of the governors as a shameful outing undeserving of their positions. It said the governors had drawn the attention of the public to some critical issues of governance in their states and urged them to do a sober reflection on how they have exercised the mandate entrusted to them. In his reaction, the ASETU chairman, Chief Emeka Diwe, said his group was worried that Okorocha and Obiano chose to cast aspersions on each other, and thereby bringing Ndigbo to ridicule.
    He said: “It is unfortunate that the two governors chose to throw caution to the wind by casting aspersions on each other, bringing Ndigbo to ridicule. As a grassroots organisation in Igbo land, we are worried that our governors chose to descend too low. We are the highest risk bearers. If there is good governance, we are the greatest beneficiaries; if there is bad governance, we are the most affected.
    “Now, we are forced to ask, does the South East Governors’ Forum still exist? Who is the chairman? Is there any form of cohesion or cooperation among Southeast governors? This is where our governors are not getting it right. Instead of our governors to cooperate to make life more meaningful to their people, they are quarreling over who will defect to this or that party. Why can’t they learn from their counterparts in the North and Southwest who aside party affiliations have always met to discuss issues of common interest of their blocs? We talk of Igbo presidency, is this how we are going to rule Nigeria?”
    Human rights activist and Board Chairman, International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety), Emeka Umeagbalasi, was even more succinct in his response. He attributed the development to the failed leadership in the two states.

    Failed leadership

    The Onitsha, Anambra State-based Umeagbalasi said governance has so failed in Imo State to the extent that Owerri is the only accessible city, out of the 27 local governments in the state. He said: “This is not to talk of mountains of abandoned key infrastructural projects littered across the state. The Orlu Road dualization project, for instance, which started as far back as in 2011, is still not completed. It is an act of impossibility in the state today to access and connect its 27 local government areas by road. The state’s inter local government/communal road network is a death trap and gets worse during the rainy season.
    “The free education programme of the state is also a ruse, owing to dearth of teaching staff, poor and unpaid remunerations and massively dilapidated primary and post-primary school classrooms. Mango trees and others have now been converted to classroom blocks. Imo State is also the most indebted state in the Southeast… Remuneration arrears of serving and retired workers in the state are either halved and paid through bailout borrowings or owed for several months and concealed.”
    The human rights activist said the situation in Anambra State, under the present Obiano administration, would have been noticeably different, if not for a saving grace enjoyed by the state in the areas of vast amount of massive infrastructural development, healthy civil service management and sound fiscal state bequeathed by the former administration of Peter Obi. He said: “Yet, in practical terms, the state has slumbered and stunted in its economic growth and development ratio and ratings under the present Obiano administration.
    “Today, a vast majority of the said key infrastructures, particularly roads, drainages and waterways are begging for maintenance and sustenance. The Anambra State’s debts stock is also on steady increase from its lower level of N11 billion as at March 2014.”
    Umeagbalasi said the Intersociety has also identified political elitism as the major reason behind the slow pace of governance under Obiano in Anambra and Okorocha in Imo. He added: “The two states are also bedevilled by governance by prototype, pretence and falsehood. In electoral democracy, nothing is hidden under the sun. A saying still goes that ‘a fowl with broken legs is not sold at homestead, but in a distance market or community’.
    “The totality of the forgoing has deeply saddened us and explained why we singled the two governors for condemnation, for having the effrontery to wash their dirty linens in the public instead of facing the governance responsibilities in their respective states.”
    The Intersociety board chairman said modern states usually mobilise and deploy their development resources in a manner that would not mortgage their future. He said: “Government indebtedness or borrowings have been out-fashioned and replaced by government and private sector partnership (PPP). Government also boosts or stimulates private sector growth by way of provision of industrial layouts, good road network, security, electricity and investment-friendly policies, including tax holidays and effective environmental-impact and safety management and standard controls. It is an indisputable fact in the world over that the private sector is the largest employer of labour and bulk of government revenues.
    “But, in Anambra and Imo States under Nigeria’s present democratic dispensation, the reverse is grossly the case. These explain why we are not surprised as it concerns the ongoing war of words between Obiano and Okorocha. The dispute is nothing short of noises from the two locomotive governors of the present time at disastrous expense of public governance and collective citizens’ security in Anambra and Imo States. If the two governors have really focused on the governance of their states, they would have little or no time engaging in open altercations and washing their dirty linens in the public.”

    Politics Nigerian style

    Okorocha probably knew what he was talking about when he told his audience gleefully that three Southeast governors are on their way to the APC. As a politician that has been active since the return to civil rule in 1999, Okorocha is well versed in the art of switching political alliances. He was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1999, when civil rule was restored and competed in the party’s governorship primary for Imo State. But when he lost the ticket to Achike Udenwa, he moved to the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). After he contested for the presidency on the platform of the ANPP in 2003 and equally failed, he returned to the PDP and former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as Special Adviser on Inter-Party affairs.
    In 2005, Owelle as he is fondly called floated a political party, the Action Alliance (AA), under which he contested the 2007 presidential election. Following his second unsuccessful attempt to become president, he returned once again to the PDP in September 2007 and sought to become the party’s National Chairman. Okorocha remained in the PDP after the failed bid, even though he had become uncomfortable once more, following his tussle for the leadership of the party in Imo State with the then Governor Ikedi Ohakim. Ohakim had returned to the fold in 2009 after contesting and winning the 2007 governorship on the platform of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA).
    Okorocha finally dumped the PDP in 2010 for the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to run for the April 2011 governorship election, which he won. In 2013, he left to become a founding member of the APC. Since the advent of the APC as a formidable political entity, he has been positioning himself as a national figure within the party in the Southeast. He has been consistent in his advocacy to reposition in APC in the region. Neither Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the Minister of Science and Technology and former National Chairman of one of the legacy parties that formed the APC, the ANPP, the charismatic Minister of Labour Chris Ngige, could compare favourably with Okorocha, when it comes to promoting the ruling party in the Southeast. Thus, if anyone is in a position to know about politicians intending to jump ship in the region, the Imo State governor is probably the one.
    Obiano, the banker-turned politician on the other hand, entered politics in 2013 when he contested and won the Anambra State governorship election. The 61-year-old governor from Aguleri, Anambra East Local Government Area, received a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the University of Lagos in 1979 and a Master of Business Administration from the same institution. He began his banking career in 1981 at the First Bank of Nigeria before he left to join the services of Chevron Oil Nigeria Plc as accountant and rose to the position of Chief Internal Auditor. In 1991, he joined the Fidelity Bank as Deputy Manager and head of Audit unit and rose to the position of Executive Director on October 2003.

  • Uproar in Southeast over Igbo presidential ambition

    Uproar in Southeast over Igbo presidential ambition

    WITH the mass defection of some political juggernauts in the Southeast to the All Progressives Congress (APC), a defection partly shepherded by the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, the question on everyone’s lips is whether in the months ahead anyone in that unprincipled region would be left anywhere else. Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu,, now heading a shrinking army, has sworn to keep the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) banner flying in the region despite his Senate post being threatened and he himself assailed on all fronts by avaricious APC stalwarts and opportunistic Southeast politicians casting wary and envious glances in his direction. When Mr Okorocha gleefully announced two Saturdays ago that three governors would be defecting to the APC, thereby courting heated controversies, he was fixated on the big prize of the presidency. Whether that big prize can now be secured in the face of the uproar the defections and controversies have generated is hard to say.
    But the ebullient Mr Okorocha, regardless of the abuse he has suffered in the hands of the pugnacious Anambra governor, Willie Obiano, is not an ordinary politician. His oratory, though it often lacks substance and backbone, is hugely striking. Given the chance and the pedestal, he can talk nineteen to the dozen. In fact the more important the occasion, the higher Mr Okorocha’s oratory soars. And as everyone knows, when oratory is in full flight, no one, least of all the ordinary voter, questions its relevance or lack of profundity. Oratory is but a stone’s throw from demagoguery; and demagoguery, historians have aptly noted, brought the mighty and enlightened Germany to heel in the 1930s, and can hold any people enthralled not only for moments but for longer duration than is god for their health.
    No one of course says Mr Okorocha is a demagogue, for that would be belittling his fine accomplishments over the years, his unquenchable philanthropic zeal, his bold political permutations, and his general prescience. But he loves to hear himself speak. So, when he took the microphone during the Southeast political stakeholders’ meeting recently, he easily forgot, in his exuberance, the prudence of weighing his statements well before inflicting them on his animated audience. If it was true that three governors were in talks with him to defect to the APC, except he had mastered the Nixonian amenity of secretly taping his guests and subverting their privacies, there was no way his word would weigh higher than his guests’ in the court of public opinion. Yet, it was difficult to imagine the Imo governor telling a lie against the hypothetical three, nor that having misread the enthusiasm of his guests, he exaggerated the import of their discussions and intentions.
    With the coming into the APC of virtually every Igbo politician of consequence, including the dour and ageing politician, Emmanuel Inwuanyanwu, and others like the publisher Orji Uzor Kalu, Jim Nwobodo, Ifeanyi Araraume, Emeka Offor, Tony Eze, George Moughalu, and Ken Nnamani to whom Mr Okorocha flippantly ceded leadership, it is not certain that any stouthearted politician remains outside the fold. After all, the enigmatic and level-headed Ogbonnaya Onu has been with the APC from the beginning, though not well appreciated or rewarded in a way that is commensurate with his effort to legitimise the party in the Southeast when it mattered. So, too, is the charismatic Chris Ngige, a sturdy politician and medical practitioner trapped in the unyielding and unexciting ministerial portfolio of Labour. And despite renouncing the APC with so much pageantry, nothing says that Senator Ekweremadu, nor any of the so-called hypothetical three, will not defect to the ruling party on a fortuitous tomorrow should the stock of President Muhammadu Buhari defy gravity and begin a relentless rise to the stratosphere.
    To be sure, there are still enough men of clout in the other parties in the Southeast to give the APC a run for their money in 2019; but at the furious rate of defection at the moment, it is hard to see many resolute politicians remaining inured to the ruling party’s talisman. The Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) may rail all they can, but the casual and carefree inducement thrown to the Southeast by ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is probably the most enticing bait the region has happened upon in a long time. Coupled with the Okorocha razzmatazz aforesaid, the noisy and almost tumultuous defections to the APC engineered by incredible circumstances in recent months, and the general lack of enthusiasm for opposition politics in the region, an avalanche may soon occur.
    But first the uproar. Chief Obasanjo’s bait to the Southeast cannot be dismissed out of hand. Once nature gifted him the leadership of Nigeria in 1976, he brusquely shoved nature aside and took over the fortunes that came his way since then, and it seems also, the fortunes that came the way of most of his successors. He is himself neither a principled politician nor even a brilliant leader. He is in fact the perfect example of an average leader, a classic underachiever whose only redeeming feature is his inordinate love for hard work unrestrained by his well-known health challenges. Yet, this same proud and unfeeling and visionless leader has managed by dint of good fortune and unfathomable circumstances to crown himself the most successful kingmaker of this era. He badmouthed Ibrahim Babangida out of power, enthroned Umaru Yar’Adua as well as subverted him in the same ceaseless and reckless breath, emplaced Goodluck Jonathan and also ruined him with emphasis and completeness, and contributed immensely to returning the ossified and permanently disenchanted President Buhari to office. If the same man could therefore mention, no matter how glibly, that the Southeast should take a shot at the presidency in 2019, the region is likely to pay more than a cursory attention to his sweet nothings.
    There has been much talk of whether Chief Obasanjo meant 2019 or 2023 when he admonsihed the Igbo to take a shot. Hear him, as quoted by a newspaper, and draw your own conclusions: “But, irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that the Southeast should have a go at the Presidency, too.” There is no other way to interpret that statement. He meant 2019, but probably without much or any reflection. The group inspired by Mr Okorocha would prefer to take the shot in 2023, having servilely endorsed President Buhari for re-election in 2019, of course irrespective of whether the president possesses the stamina to continue or whether his policies ameliorate the stifling conditions of the people. Like the Southwest, the Southeast may never be clear who should speak for them: the governors and powerful political groups or the socio-cultural and partly political organisation, the Ohaneze Ndigbo. But it does seem overall that the regnant wisdom in the Southeast is for the region to support President Buhari in 2019 and to take a shot at the presidency in 2023, perhaps with a coronation in view.
    In short, the Southeast is gambling on the APC retaining its relevance and dominance in the foreseeable future, when in fact there are no objective conditions to suggest the bumbling party can manage to do so. Worse, by their sheepish and slavish mentality towards President Buhari, as exampled by their endorsement of his re-election when he has himself not said a word about his future electoral ambition, the group purporting to speak for the Southeast is taking a much huger and probably humiliating gamble. Who tells them that even if the contentious and fratricidal APC manages to keep its chin up till 2023, and by some celestial intervention President Buhari also holds out against his political and health challenges, that both the party and its truculent president would endorse a Southeast candidate? Do his present appointments, as skewed as they obviously are, indicate that admirable, equitable bent? Or is it simply because Chief Obasanjo suggested it could be their turn?
    The Southwest may be fractious and regicidal, as stereotype suggests, but given the behaviour of Southeast politicians and the bewildering choices they often make, not to say their loathing for opposition politics and the tough discipline and overbearing regimen it imposes, the Igbo obviously need far more tutoring and ear pinching to get their priorities right than the other regions in the South. Those in the Southeast who endorse President Buhari for re-election in 2019, and who shun the value of staying strong and building a powerful, principled and ideological national party, give no consideration to ethics or historical examples. The region has obviously not learnt from others that where the president comes from is not as important as his capacity to rule, nor as his judgement and his sense of fairness and justice.
    The Igbo must change course and deepen their politics. Apart from producing and nurturing a great politician with a pan-Nigerian outlook, the Igbo candidate must possess the sophistication these times call for, the ideology that can be sold by the aspirant and bought by the electorate, the charisma that will endear him to his immediate people and the rest of the country, and an admirable sense of justice that will shame that of President Buhari. In addition, the candidate must understand the geopolitical dynamics of Nigeria and get his permutations right. Nothing will come automatically. And unlike 2015 when there was a desperation to force out the more enlightened Dr Jonathan in place of the inscrutable candidate Buhari, that mistake will not be repeated, not in 2019, and not in 2023. The next president will be a democrat, and he will earn every vote that comes his way. The nonsense about ethnicity will be de-emphasised. So, too, will religion. Nigerians have seen where both superficialities have got them. And let the Southeast ponder what dilemma would confront them should the PDP, by a stroke of good fortune, start to rise in influence, ethics and appeal in the months ahead, as implausible as that might sound at the moment. For after all, there is a limit to how far rhapsodising the ruling party or the president can get a people.

  • Pro-Trump rally: Southeast Senate caucus condemns ‘killings’

    The Southeast Senate Caucus yesterday condemned the alleged killing of members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) during a rally in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    Members of the group were said to be holding a rally last Friday on the inauguration of American President Donald Trump when security agents alleged shot some of them.

    The caucus urged the Federal Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations of deliberate use of excessive force by security agencies to contain peaceful assemblies, particularly where groups from the Southeast were involved, with particular reference to the latest action.

    In a statement at the weekend in Abuja through its Chairman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, the Senate caucus noted that since the security agencies allegedly applied excessive force in a peaceful rally, there were questions about an emerging pattern in the containment of peaceful assembly in the country.

    The senator said the 1999 Constitution, as amended, provides for the freedom of association and the right of the people to freely assemble to express their common interest.

    The statement said: “The last time I checked, that section of the constitution was still intact and has not been amended. It is, therefore, worrisome that the rights of a section of Nigerians would be so wilfully denied with such extra force.

    “If the report of killings by the security agencies were to be confirmed, it would no doubt leave a gaping hole in the unity of this country.

    “This is one regrettable action too many, coming against the backdrop of the recent report of the Amnesty International (AI) of mass killings of people from the same section of the populace in Nigeria.”

    The Southeast Senate Caucus called for a stop to such acts, which it said had embarrassed the country.

    It also urged the Federal Government to investigate the alleged high-handedness of its security services in handling civil protests with particular emphasis on the latest action by the security agencies in Port Harcourt.

  • $30b loan, not a dime for Southeast

    It’s just as well that the Senate shoved aside the proposed plan by the federal government to borrow about $30 billion. It is hoped that a lot more diligence would be brought to bear on the document. And of course, it is expected that a little more sensitivity and political wisdom is applied in allotting the projects especially as concerns the Southeast zone.

    The president’s expenditure plan to the National Assembly seems patently shoddy and ad-hoc in nature that the only good about it may well be the methodical exclusion and sidetracking of the Southeast. Here are the big ticket projects: Mambila power plant (Northeast); Coastal Railway at the Calabar- Ph deep sea segment (Southsouth); modernisation of Lagos-Ibadan-Kaduna-Kano railway (Southwest-Northcentral-Northwest) and Abuja mass rail transit phase 2. Not even a tangential mention of the Southeast; it surely cannot be an accident.

    This attitude; let’s call it malevolent inequity will eternally set back any country and indeed damage its soul. We will return to it.

    When the federal government announced its intention to borrow such a huge chunk of dollars from multilateral institutions recently, not a few Nigerians were apprehensive. A whirlwind of debate was immediately set off with the house divided down the middle.

    And when the breakdown of projects was released later, the dialogue only gained momentum. One was not moved anyhow by the loan quest because one never thought that Nigeria’s problem was a dire shortage of cash more than a paucity of ideas and the energy to get results in quick time.

    One had said it here several times that even though we have about 50 per cent revenue shortage today, that does not make Nigeria broke and prostrate to the point of frantically scrounging for cash. The refrain from the managers of our economy is: ‘spend ourselves out of recession’. This is the same antidote deployed by the US and her allies way back in 2008 when the West was hit by a violent recession.

    But we ask, though the symptoms may be the same and the problem may bear the same appellation, the prognosis may well differ.

    The US, Japan and some developed countries of the West pumped trillions of dollars in their economies to reflate it all right, but it is basic knowledge that these are well-developed service and production economies that can absorb trillions of dollars in their massive shop-floors and expand their exporting frontiers.

    But Nigeria’s economy is still about 90 per cent import dependent. Again, when you borrow billions of dollars in a state of fiscal indiscipline, the chunk of it would be vired to workers’ emoluments and overheads, importing petroleum products, staple foods, home appliances, service parts for presidential jets, travel allowances, school fees and foreign medical bills.

    Yes, we have outlined projects to be embarked upon, but even this will involve huge importation of materials and machinery. Worse is that most of the so-called projects are not likely to be realised in five years and perhaps another five years to begin to yield revenues if any. Result: we will remain in recession for a long time yet and probably sink deeper because we are not doing the right things.

    Again, I say Nigeria is not broke and liquidity-starved but that government is pursuing the wrong policies. We only need to move aggressively from an import-dependent country to a service-driven and highly productive country.

    Let us start from the very simple and the most basic. President Muhammadu Buhari in one of his pre-inauguration statements promised to revive Nigeria’s national airline upon resumption. But few months in office the story changed to something like flag carrier not our priority, meaning that there was no think-through before the initial pronouncement. More irksome, who worked out the economics of it to determine that it wasn’t priority or cost effective?

    Today, government is bugged down with and must cough out over $600 million foreign currency flight ticket revenues of foreign airlines. If Air Nigeria was flying, this amount will surely be far less plus attendant jobs and technology transfer opportunities. Over 30 African countries have carriers including minnows like Rwanda, Botswana, Mauritania, Gambia, Namibia and Burkina Faso. Among Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Maroc and South African Airlines, the federal government probably has about $200 million unremitted ticket earnings.

    Air Nigeria could have got half of that. And the good news is that it would have cost the country next to nothing to set up if she knows what to do. The African countries running airlines don’t have anything over Nigeria. Now instead of Nigeria becoming a hub for air transport in Africa and taking the best advantage of the sector, we are today stuck with how to pay out huge ticket dollars to other countries’ airlines.

    This is just one example. One can list 12 other strategic interventions this government would have consummated quickly since May 29, 2015, which would in concert, have kept this economy stable if not buoyant. But what we have had and still have are wasted opportunities, inertia and a general lack of a grand vision.

    Are we serious about stopping the massive importation of petroleum products? We could have achieved 50% of that six months ago. Are we focusing the proper attention on agriculture with a target to stop food imports? Are we methodically revamping cocoa, rubber, palm oil and cotton industries? What are the target dates?

    Which serious government borrows money to build power plants, railway lines and roads these days when international concession funds are out there and can be accessed? Nearly all these projects listed for the loan can be built and operated by foreign consortia with private capital. Did anyone around here ever considered international open bids for these projects?

    Finally, on the small matter of excluding the Southeast of Nigeria from this loan bazaar, it must be depressing, if not agonising to people from this part of Nigeria that their zone do not deserve any major project in a loan they would partake equally in paying back. What a pity? What can we say than to conclude that it only reinforces the cast-in-stone mindset we know too well of PMB towards Ndigbo. And as we have said here several times, this most un-presidential behaviour would hound his presidency all the way to the end and impugn his persona even long after his time.

     

    Callousness at Min. of Defence

    With the recent news of mind-boggling malfeasance in the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and what we are still hearing, shall we say that callousness has met corruption? We hear that in Command Schools which are under the Military Education Corps, more than half of their teachers are temporary workers who are paid only about N20, 000 to N30, 000 monthly.

    We also hear that most of these teachers have been in this temporary position for between 10 to 20 years without conversion. Again, we hear most of these teachers are master’s degree holders.

    And how about this? In the past six years, there has not been promotion for teachers in the directorate cadre of Military Education Corps. But this may not be strange except that each year MoD invites hundreds of qualified candidates to Abuja for a four-day phoney promotion interview. And every year for the past six years, the story has been the same: NO VACANCY.

    And the question is: if there was no vacancy to promote to the directorate cadre, why does MoD invite teachers to Abuja from all over the country without one kobo of estacode? In whose interest is this annual jamboree and who is getting rich by it?

    If the Ministry of Education (MoE) conducts the same annual interview and promotes every year; if MoE pays candidates estacode for the Abuja trips why is it different with MoD? Are military schools’ teachers being treated like slaves because they are civilians? Will MoD treat uniformed men this way? Will they withhold military officers’ promotions for six years?

    Apparently, MoD is still not completely clean of corruption yet; it seems to require a further clean sweep.

  • Herdsmen seek harmony with Southeast communities

    Herdsmen seek harmony with Southeast communities

    Seeking harmonious cohabitation, herdsmen have appealed to Southeast states to allow them graze their cattle in their communities, reports NWANOSIKE ONU

    Cattle breeders in Anambra State have pleaded with Southeast communities to accept them as genuine and law-abiding professionals, not violent criminals pretending to be herdsmen.

    The cattle breeders under the auspices of Miyetti Allah Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) were speaking during a meeting at the Amansea cattle ground in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

    Chairman of MACBAN in the zone, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki commended Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano for having a cordial relationship with members of the community in the state. He also hailed Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s positive response to the security challenges in the state, while pleading with other governments in the region to lend sufficient support to eliminate rancour between host communities and cattle breeders.

    Siddiki said, “We wish to state that Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria is unarguably the most recognised organisation that superintends over the activities of herdsmen across Nigeria. As Southeast Zone members of this group, we wholly submit to the injunctions of the national body as much as benefit from the shelter the umbrella readily provides us.

    “We represent the Fulani stock of herdsmen who are genuinely engaged in the business of shepherding cattle across the country, particularly here in Southeast Nigeria. By this we mean that every herdsman of ours who steps into the Southeast immediately becomes our concern. We seek to make herdsmen compliant with our underlying codes and practices for plying the trade across the zone.

    “This is the utmost responsibility we strive to attain and sustain in the Southeast; indeed we strive to export our successes in this regard to other geopolitical zones in, Nigeria. We counsel our members in the Southeast to quickly report any unpleasant encounters to me or any other leader who will notify relevance authority for prompt. They are advised not to resort to self-help or seek any form of revenge.

    “We also insist that other members who are coming from our neighbouring states should obtain clearance from the chairman of MACBAN of the state they are coming from. This will validate their identity, put them under our authority and avail them of privileges of our membership. We also implore some indigenes of the Southeast not to eject the cattle herdsmen from their communities so that MACBAN may have representatives for easy coordination. But if you eject all the herdsmen in the area someone may come under the guise of herdsmen and cause atrocity at the area and  it will be very difficult for us to find out what happened because we don’t have representatives in the area.

    “We   hereby   enjoin   our   members   coopted   into   the   security subcommittees in the local governments in Enugu State to show maximum commitment to their assignments. While we recognise the possibility of itinerant criminals parading themselves as herdsmen to unleash havoc on people and communities, we plead that those who embark on such criminal acts are properly designated as criminals and be so treated.

    “Given the challenge of containing the increasing menace of these criminals who disguise as herdsmen and given our in-depth knowledge of the fields and the jungles we plead that the governments of the Southeast give us logistic support in terms of rugged off-road vehicles and communication gargets to facilitate effective check against camp infiltration with the attendant hazardous security possibilities.”

     

  • Southsouth, Southeast lawmakers reject Grazing Bill

    Speakers and members of Houses of Assembly in the Southsouth and Southeast yesterday kicked against Federal Government’s proposed Grazing Bill.

    The lawmakers met in Owerri, the Imo State capital, for the first parliamentary session of both regions’ assemblies on the proposed Grazing Bill.

    They urged their counterparts in the National Assembly to also reject the bill.

    At the joint session, the lawmakers insisted that the proposed bill would undermine the nation’s unity.

    They also brainstormed on the renewed militancy in Niger Delta and proffered solutions to end hostilities in the region.

    The host and Imo State House of Assembly’s Speaker Acho Ihim said the Southsouth and the Southeast states had many things in common, including the challenges facing them.

    He said this necessitated the first joint parliamentary session to address the challenges.

    On the militancy, the lawmakers urged the Federal Government to have an effective dialogue with critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta to resolve the dispute and operate the rule of engagement without causing collateral damage.

    They also advised the Federal Government to revisit the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report and the Hydrocation Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP) to strengthen grey areas and improve their implementation.

  • Southeast students protest herdsmen attacks

    THREE HUNDRED students, under the aegis of the Federation of Association of Nsukka Students (FANS) and Southeast Students Association (SESA) have protested the killing of 48 persons in Nimbo, Enugu State, by herdsmen.

    The students marched on major roads, displaying placards with inscriptions: “We don’t want Fulani herdsmen in Southeast again”, “Federal Government should disarm herdsmen and call them to order”, “If herdsmen kill all our parents, brothers and sisters, who will feed and pay our school fees” and “We say no to killing in Southeast”, among others.

    FANS national president Hilary Omeke said  the demonstration was necessary to draw attention to the atrocities being committed by herdsmen. He condemned the Nimbo killings where more than 40 people were killed and property worth millions of naira destroyed.

    Hilary said: “What happened in Nimbo was an unprovoked attack on the people of the community by herdsmen. We embark on this protest to tell the herdsmen and the Federal Government that enough is enough. If the government and relevant security agencies fail to call the herdsmen to order, we will retaliate if such killing happens again.”

    Kenneth Odo, a student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), said the youth were not happy with the incident, saying Nimbo killings should make the government address the menace of herdsmen.

    He said: “The herdsmen attacks have affected our colleagues whose parents were killed in the incident. Injury to one is injury to all. Herdsmen should either live in place peacefully or leave the Southeast completely.”

    Linda Nwagu, who spoke on behalf of students from other Southeast states, condemned the activities of herdsmen in the region, urging the Federal Government not to treat the incident with kid’s glove.

    “It is unfortunate that herdsmen move around with dangerous weapons, such as AK-47, without any question by security agents. Students from the Southeast want the government to cut the excesses of herdsmen before they become deadly insurgents,” she said.

     

  • ‘Why Southeast should embrace APC’

    ‘Why Southeast should embrace APC’

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Senator Chris Adighije has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with FRANK IKPEFAN, he speaks on his defection, Abia State politics and APC’s prospectin the Southeast.

    What is the political situation in Abia State?

    As you know, I was a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and I was the National Treasurer of the National Republican Convention (NRC). When I was the national treasurer, Theodore Orji was nowhere near politics. So, you can call me an elder statesman of Abia politics and never before in my political history have I seen party politics personalised by the last governor of Abia State. The PDP in Abia State became a private affair and every effort to bring them back on track failed. that and so many other things discouraged me. More worrisome is the manner with which contestants hijacked the primaries that held.

    The process that threw out Ikpeazu could not stand and I had to bow out of the PDP. I tried to see which other way one can maintain his political image. There was a total siege on politicians in Abia where people could not express their views freely. people like me lost their position as national delegate. at that stage, I became the only national officer of the party denied the national delegate of my local government (Umuahia South), which I built.

    These people used their positions to try to run down politicians. Having bowed out and gone into the APC, being that its members are those who are determined to show something for it. In Abia, for instance, the APC did not win a seat, either at the House of Assembly; the gubernatorial and even at t national, the APC in Abia and indeed the South East requires an injection of resourceful politicians to be able to make the party stand and compete in subsequent election. That was why I left the PDP for the APC. I don’t believe in politics of bitterness, so I am not interested in running down people but I wish Abians will learn. There is a revolution going on now in Abia, you could see that out of the six constituencies who for seats, PDP and APGA in quote, PDP won only two constituencies while the APGA took four, this is to tell you that the PDP has lost it.

    Are you not worried that the APC is not popular in the Southeast?

    The right word may not be ‘not accepted’ because if you look very carefully, you will see quite a lot of seasoned politicians from the regions are beginning to join the APC, initially, the parties that metamorphosed into APC were not strong in the East, even APGA, which was the only party then where Rochas belonged opted out of that union, but all that is changing now.

    It is better for us in the East to play national politics and be able to compete with other regions. Naturally, the Southeast cannot be excluded in national politics; if you don’t have the South East in national politics, then, it is not stable. I always believe that we have to do our best to convince our people that, that is where to go, the PDP having disappointed the South east in all its entirety: promises that have been made; bridges that were to be built; roads that were to be constructed, the PDP failed to fulfill those promises. I think we need to find our progress and development in a national party like the APC.

    Do you think that the South east is being treated fairly enough by the APC Federal Government?

    If you ask me, I will tell you that something is missing. we have not gotten to where we ought to get to. The Southeast appeared to be totally endeared at that time to the PDP, but like I said, having been disappointed, promises that were not fulfilled, you could see the change. people like Jim Nwobodo, people like Gbazuagu Gbazuagu, people like Senator Emmanuel Agboti, Senator Ararume, and so on  have all joined  the APC  to take what belong to us.

    With the new people coming into the APC, we should be able to take more states in the incoming elections. With regards to the appointment, I must tell you that I admit it should have been better than what we have; the problem is that we have been away from the APC and now, we are by the fire side and we have to watch our yam and make sure it is well cooked.

    I believe that the APC government will have to review appointments in the Southeast to make it at par with other regions. We are looking at 2019. We have just one state now, but I just told you that, in Abia, in the last election, you could see that the PDP has lost grip, even though there is a sitting PDP government. If you go to Anambra State, you can also see the confusion in the PDP. If you observe very well, you could see that the Igbo leadership is beginning to come together to review the entire national politics.

    Do you see the APC winning more states in the Southeast in 2019?

    I have just told you that. The work to win more states in the South East from the PDP has started already.

    You talked about a siege of top politicians in Abia State. could you please explain better?

    A people can have their mentality under siege when you see something white and another person will tell you that what he saw was black. The past PDP government in Abia State, led by Theodore Orji, for whatever reason made elder statesmen in Abia look like novices in politics. It became very difficult for elder statesmen to express themselves fully, when it became very clear that stakeholders did not make any input in the choice of candidates. Majority of Abians were not carried along in the PDP. There was mass movement of people from the PDP to other parties. that is what happens when people are pushed to the wall.

    You said the APC in the Southeast needs injection of men and resources. are you expecting the party at the national level to do anything special in the region?

    Clearly, I want to say that the APC officials at the national level have all done their best, given the way people view the APC at that time. They have tried to build, but as you know, they have their limitation; the state chairman of the APC in Abia, for instance, is an experienced young man but, he has  his limitations. I believe that if we rally round him now that we have other stakeholders coming in, we should be able to galvanize the party, and we should be able to change people’s opinion as to the fact that the APC is a national ruling party irrespective of religion, tribe or ethnicity.

    These stakeholders are coming into the party with their massive followers. The party at the national level ought to also see this and begin to review the party in the Southeast to ensure they empower people to develop the party. The appointment should be spread to encourage growth of the people. The APC seriously needs the Southeast in 2019. Almost all the oil-producing states are PDP, whether we like it or not, the party cannot be run without fund. we need stakeholders that are strong enough to carry the party and the people along in the South East.

    It is obvious that Nigerians are suffering and wallowing in poverty. how can we explain that?

    When people of my age look at what is happening, perhaps, the rot in the fabric was really deep. it is like somebody who is living above his means and you are not conscious of the fact the root have been removed. The country got to a point where people were just living false life but the reality is there now. We need to go down before we can rise and that is what is happening now. I believe that the government of Buhari is trying to unravel how badly we have fallen, this is no longer fake life, and it is real life especially with the fall in oil price. If we want this change that we voted for, there has to be a new style of living, everybody is feeling the pinch now and we are gradually adapting to the situation. I don’t see Nigeria surviving without going through this pain we are going through now.

    People should be patient with the present administration. Before you send your children abroad for school, you must check your purse to ensure you can afford it. Money is no longer cheap and life is rough. we have to start remodeling our lifestyle, Nigeria must survive, though it comes with a lot of sacrifice. it is very painful, but, sacrifice is the word, if we support the government,

    I believe in another two years, we will begin to appreciate the effort of the present government and things will begin to go in line. For the first time, a president is apologising to Nigerians over the epileptic power supply to Nigerians. I never heard that before. It is a sign of good things to come. Are we going through serious pains? Yes! Are Nigerians starving? Yes!! Is there hope? Yes!!! And once there is hope, I believe we will get there.

  • APC battles for relevance in Southeast

    APC battles for relevance in Southeast

    The coming of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013 did not generate grassroots excitement in the Southeast as it did in the Southwest and the North. The perception was that given the calibre of those who spearheaded the merger that it would not serve the interests of the Igbo at the national level. The loss suffered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in last year’s presidential election has put the region in a quandary. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI and SUNNY NWANKWO examine the prospects of the ruling party in the region, which remains one of the last strongholds of the opposition party.

    From outset, political stakeholders in the Southeast shot themselves in the foot by not embracing the All Progressives Congress (APC) when the merger was being consummated in 2013. The region did not feature prominently in the negotiation that brought the APC into being. Aside from Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige, many politicians from the region did not give the then emerging mega party any chance of making any impact in last year’s general elections and they refused to have anything to do with it.

    Okorocha displayed courage and foresight by successfully leading a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) into the merger, in spite the stiff opposition he encountered. Onu took part in the negotiation in his capacity as the National Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a party that had its base in the Northeast and part of the Northwest. Ngige was already in the progressive bloc as a card-carrying member of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In fact, he was the only politician from the Southeast occupying an elective position on the platform of the party.

    By the time the APC formally came into being in February 2013, the generality of Southeasterners already had a negative perception about the party. The PDP is partly to blame for this negative perception. In its propaganda, it portrayed the APC as a party dominated by Northern elements in alliance with the Yoruba of the Southwest. In effect, it dismissed it as a Moslem party that would not serve the interests of the Igbo nation at the national level.

    According to analysts, it was the failure of the APGA leadership to agree on the merger that shut out the Igbo from the party. The ANPP and the ACN were regional parties that had their base in the North and the Southwest respectively. So, Onu, a former governor of the old Abia State and an indigene of Ebonyi State, and Ngige have been facing an uphill task carrying their people along. Only APGA, which has its base in the Southeast, had the potential of carrying the Igbo people along to embrace the then emerging political party. But, owing to the disagreement between the Chief Victor Umeh-led National Working Committee of the party and the Okorocha-led radical elements within the fold, the Igbo nation lost that opportunity. Only the faction led by Okorocha eventually merged with other parties to form the APC.

     

    Regional stronghold

     

    As the only APC governor in the region, Okorocha has been the arrow head for the expansion of the party, not only in Imo, but also in other four neighbouring Southeast states. As already indicated, the coming into being of the APC did not generate the kind of grassroots excitement in the Southeast, as it did in the Southwest and the North generally. This was why the PDP initially insisted that the party did not exist in the region, including Imo State, even though Okorocha dumped the APGA for the APC. Their argument was that the governor was elected in the first instance on the ticket of APGA and that he and other party stalwarts cannot win any election on the ticket of the APC. Their claim was reinforced when the PDP recorded a stunning landslide victory during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    But, the result of the last governorship election has since debunked the claims as Okorocha emerged winner in the contest that was decided after a supplementary election. At the supplementary polls, Okorocha won in 20 out of the 23 local government areas, polling a total of 31,326 votes; compared to the 13,325 votes scored by Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP, his closest challenger. Ihedioha trailed Okorocha with 79,525 votes in the substantive election, the result of which was declared inconclusive by the Returning Officer, Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, two weeks earlier because the margin of victory between the top two contenders – the APC and the PDP – was less than the number of registered voters in areas where elections did not hold or was cancelled due to irregularities, thus necessitating a supplementary election, as required by the electoral law.

    At the end of the day, the APC flag bearer polled a total of 416,996 votes, out of the total 806,764 votes cast in the election; leaving the PDP’s Ihedioha at the second slot with 320,705 votes and Emmanuel Ihenacho of the APGA trailing behind with 28,434 votes. Prior to the election, Senator Ifeanyi Ararume defected to the APC with his supporters.

    Thus, without doubt, Imo State is the stronghold of the APC in the Southeast. This is not just because Okorocha is a foundation member of the party, but also due to his performance as governor in the last five years.  Okorocha emerged victorious at the end of the day because observers believe he has transformed the state in the last five years. According to Deputy Governor Eze Madumere, the Okorocha-led administration, which came into power in 2011, is “a rescue mission government” that has been in a hurry to develop Imo State. He said: “Due to the state of decay of the infrastructure in Imo, Owelle Okorocha quickly declared a state of emergency on infrastructure.”

    Madumere, who started out as Okorocha’s Chief of Staff, added: “I can tell you that there is no local government area that does not have a minimum of 20km-asphalted road. There is no local government in Imo State that does not have state-of-the-art General Hospital that is 75 per cent near completion and that brings them to a total of 27 Hospitals. Each of the 305 wards in Imo State has modern primary schools, which are 80 per cent completion. When you come into the city of Owerri, you will see tremendous infrastructural work; we have international conference centres. Apart from the Conference Centre at the heart of Owerri, there is another conference centre at Oguta Blue Lake of Leisure that has long been completed with A Class Motel.  Again, we have Concorde Hotel, which has been massively renovated. Anyone who visits Owerri will testify the illumination of the city with stainless solar streetlights.”

    Besides, Okorocha has been able to stop certain evil practices like godfatherism, which had kept past governors in bondage. He has also tackled in security. In the past, kidnapping and armed robbery were very high. All that are gone now because of the measures he put in place, including the setting up of Community Watch, a security network of locals.

    Provided the party manages its primaries well in 2019, the Okorocha legacy is likely to endure.

     

    Anambra

     

    The situation in Anambra State also looks promising. Owing to the antecedents of former Governor Ngige, the state nicknamed “Home for All” is another fertile ground where the APC stands to reap in future elections. Even when he contested the Anambra Central senatorial election in 2011 on the platform of the defunct ACN, which was a regional party with its base in the Southwest, Ngige triumphed against all odds.

    Indeed, it was Ngige that announced the arrival of the APC in the Southeast, when he flew the party’s flag in the 2013 governorship election. In that election, the APC was a major contender, in spite of the odds against it, as a relatively new party then. According to observers, Ngige’s performance in that election was a foretaste of what the party later achieved at the national level.

    The initial strategy of the founding fathers of the APC was to use the APGA as a gateway to the Southeast. The strategy backfired when prominent leaders of the APGA refused to go along with Okorocha and his radical faction. Nevertheless, the APC is still expecting some Southeast governors, including Willie Obiano of Anambra State, to defect to its fold. Even before President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration last year, Obiano, the only governor on the platform of the APGA, had been touted as one of those Southeast governors eying the APC.

    When Obiano visited the then President-elect on April 24, 2015, it was regarded as a confirmation of the allegation that he was on his way to the APC, though the Anambra State governor himself denied it while speaking to reporters outside Buhari’s Aso Drive residence after their closed-door meeting. The governor said his mission was to congratulate Buhari.

    The APC family demonstrated the importance of Ngige and Anambra State to the fold during the recent burial of the late Pa. Pius Okonkwo Ngige, the father of Senator Ngige. Alor, Idemili South Local Government, stood still at the occasion, as the crème de la crème of Nigerian politics stormed the town to pay last respects to the man who died at the ripe age of 105. President Buhari was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal. Former Governor of Lagos State and the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, led a team of party dignitaries from outside the state that graced the ceremony.

    But, how far the APC will benefit from the groundwork of Ngige and other stalwarts of the party in the state remains to be seen; the picture would become clearer in 2017, when the state is due for the next governorship election.

     

    Battle for supremacy

     

    The Igbos overwhelmingly voted for the PDP at all levels during the last general elections, which brought the Buhari-led APC administration to power. Though the PDP lost the election, events playing out in the region in the wake of the development suggest that its people are unapologetic about the way they voted. Despite not benefitting much from the 16-years of the PDP administration, the region decided to back former President Goodluck Jonathan and other PDP candidates. For instance, there are speculations that the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) protest, which is dominated by youths, is being sponsored by the PDP to frustrate Buhari’s government. Indeed, a commentator, Onyedimmakachukwu Obiukwu, in an article written for Ventures Africa, is of the view that many IPOB protesters calling for Biafra are not really motivated by the idea of the Southeast region seceding from Nigeria. He said the main reason why the activists are protesting is to undermine the government of President Buhari.

    His words: “They may be draped in its flag and chanting its songs of liberation, but Biafra is not what fires the protests in Southeast Nigeria. It is only the smoke. The fire is President Muhammadu Buhari. Apart from their hackneyed demand for secession and the racist diatribes of their leader Nnamdi Kanu, the pro-Biafra agitators in the Southeast are not propelled by any coherent ideology or comprehensive plan to form a sovereign Biafra.

    “What they share is an intense loathing of the current president of Nigeria. It is this deep dislike for the man, the frustration with the fact that he became president and the wish to make the country ungovernable for him (as they believe “he and his people” did the Jonathan’s regime), that drives the pro-Biafra protesters.

    “While there has always been a strong sentimental attachment to the idea of a sovereign state of Biafra among the Igbo people of Nigeria’s Southeast, it has never been this vocal since the end of the Nigerian Civil War four decades ago. And while the infamous Nnamdi Kanu has been spewing his vitriol for several years now, it has only gained traction after President Buhari’s victory at the last presidential election.

    “It is this sense of political isolation, the perception that a northern hegemony has seized power with the collusion of the Yoruba-dominated Southwest (an allusion to their Nigerian Civil War coalition) and the desire to avenge the northern struggles of former President Goodluck Jonathan that incenses the pro-Biafra protesters on the streets. Of course, their reasons are heavily bigoted and their campaign misguided, but they are largely fueled by the political insensitivity of the party in power. The APC selected a divisive flag bearer and continues to remain silent as Buhari fails to attempt to address this alienation.”

     

    Defections to APC

     

    Nevertheless, the defections of some prominent politicians in some states in the region since the general elections suggest that the APC is gradually making inroads into the Southeast and may become a force to be reckoned with there in the near future. But, our investigations suggest that a good number of Southeasterners are not impressed with the defections, because they perceive the politicians involved as greedy and self-centred. An Aba, Abia State-based trader, Emeka Okafor, puts it this way: “The general term for them is, ‘food-is-ready’ politicians; many of them are switching allegiance to the APC to avoid being probed, while others are simply scheming for positions and appointments. It is true that many people are now showing interest in the APC, but there is this general perception that the APC-controlled Federal Government under President Buhari is marginalising the Igbos. So, it will take a lot more than defections for the party to win the support of the people.”

    Following the negative comment that trailed one of such defections, the Southeast zone of the APC had to dissociate itself from the statement credited to a chieftain of the party, Osita Okechukwu, who made derogatory remarks about the entry of Chief Jim Nwobodo into the party. In the rebuttal, the APC said Okechukwu, who made the remarks as spokesman of the party, was speaking his mind and not that of the party.

    The statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Hyacinth Ngwu, said: “The attention of the APC, South East zone has been drawn to comments credited to a certain Osita Okechukwu, wherein he purported to be speaking as spokesman for the APC South East Leadership Caucus. The said Osita Okechukwu in the statement under reference took the liberty to cast aspersion on the action and person of eminent citizen and statesman in the person of Senator Nwobodo, who joined our great party recently from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “Perhaps there would have been no need to revisit his personal opinion, if he had not claimed to be the “spokesman of the South East Leadership caucus of APC,” a position clearly nebulous and structurally non-existent in APC’s Constitution (October 2014 as amended).” He added that the APC is a big party and can “conveniently accommodate everyone”.

    Former Minister of Labour and Productivity Dr Emeka Worgu and former House of Representatives Speaker Agunwa Anakwe, were among those who dumped the PDP for the APC in Enugu recently. A former National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, was also included in the list, but he has since denied leaving the PDP. Others include: Senators Emma Agboti, Chris Adighije, Nkechi Nwogu and Ifeanyi Ararume. Senator Jim Nwobodo, Gbazuagu Nweke Gbazuagu, former Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Benjamin Uwajumogu, and Dr. Ezekiel Izuogu had earlier joined the party.

    In Abia State, mother of former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu Mrs. Eunice Uzor Kalu, who is the leader of the Reality Organisation in the Southeast and other members had also joined the APC earlier. Also, former member of the House of Representatives and brother to the ex-governor, Hon. Nnanna Uzor Kalu and ex-Chief of Staff to Governor Theodore Orji, Mr. Mascot Uzor Kalu, were also among those who joined the APC.

    An APC chieftain in Abia State and former Board of Trustees (BoT) member of the PDP, Prince Benjamin Bernard Apugo, believes the APC is already making inroads into the Southeast and that the party will capture the region in 2019. Speaking about how the party will go about taking over the Southeast in 2019, he said the party is ready to talk to anybody who will like to listen and that personally he is prepared to go to the existing governors to talk to them about joining the APC. He added that it would be an easy task, “because the president has come to correct a lot of wrongs that will gladden the hearts of generations to come”.

    While welcoming the defection of Mrs. Uzor Kalu, and two of her children, Apugo said the party is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the former governor, saying he has what it takes to deliver the Southeast for the APC in 2019. He said: “These are the types of people we need in the APC to capture the Southeast. Kalu has the charisma; he respects integrity and people love him for that. He is a grassroots man, who mixes well with even his enemies and I respect him for that.

    “Yes, in the 2019 election, people will come out to massively vote for the APC. We will surely win, provided we field good candidates for the governorship position in the five states of the zone. For now, we are working towards bringing some of the good PDP governors in the Southeast to join the APC before it’s too late for them. Our governors should join the APC now that the door is open than when they will come begging and cringing.”

    Similarly, Okorocha has been wooing prominent members of the PDP in the region. They include former Governor Achike Udenwa and the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. The governor urged the Igbo leaders to join forces with him in the APC to fight the common cause of the Ndigbo. Okorocha, who made the statement at an interactive forum with reporters at the Government House recently, enjoined Igbo leaders to shun ethnic sentiments and support the administration of President Buhari. He said: “now that the power has returned to the North, there is a better chance for the Ndigbo to produce a president in the nearest future”.

     

    Uncertain future

     

    Abia State APC Chairman Hon. Donatus Nwankpa said the process of taking over the Southeast by the party in 2019 had begun as the party is seriously garnering support and building structures at the grassroots. He added that the recent and anticipated defection of people to the party in the  Southeastern states is a clear testimony that the party have been accepted by politicians in the region. Though observers agreed that politics and human beings are dynamic, they are unanimous in the view that a lot of work is needed by the state and national leadership of the APC, if the party is serious about its intention to capture Southeast in 2019 general elections. According to a political science lecturer at the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Mr. Okey Okereke, and another commentator, Mr. Reuben Ononiiwu, it would be a herculean task for the ruling party to penetrate a region that has been dominated by the erstwhile ruling party in the country (PDP) and APGA; a party with Igbo coloration.

    Ononiiwu said the APGA is a party that has come to stay in the Southeast and should be seen as the party to contend with in the region during any election by the ruling party at the national level. He added: “It is like what the ACN used to be for the people of the Southwest, the ANPP for the North. It is a party bequeathed to the Igbos by the late Biafra warlord and Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu. For the party to die a natural death or allow other parties to thrive in the Southeast amounts to Igbos losing their identity.

    “If not for the rigging, which runs in the blood of then ruling PDP and the use of state might to rig elections, I am sure that, apart from Anambra, which has produced successive APGA governors, states like Imo and Abia should have been under the control of the APGA. Another indication is what happened in the just concluded election between the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and Dr. Alex Otti. Don’t also forget the will by Ojukwu that he should be brought to Enyimba Stadium before being buried. This shows you that the people of the state and indeed, the Southeast have a bond with the party and its founder.

    “Don’t also forget in a hurry that Owelle Rochas Okorocha became the governor of Imo State for the first time under the platform of APGA. It was an election that forced the then Ikedi Ohakim’s regime out of power because of his incompetence. Remember what happened at Oguta, where Imolites came out enmass to defend their votes. They did it because Okorocha made the citizenry believe that for APGA to lose the election amounts to wiping Ojukwu out of history and that gingered the people to stake their lives for APGA and not for Okorocha. It is not impossible for the APC to take over the Southeast, but I don’t see it happening.”

    The political scientist, Okereke, believes it is not easy to predict the future. He said: “Based on events that we have seen in the recent past, it is quite obvious that politics in the Southeast generally has been activities between APGA and the PDP; that is to say that the APC does not have a foothold yet in the Southeast, including the Niger Delta area to a very great extent. But, you know that life is dynamic. Human behaviour is also dynamic and you know that it is human beings that constitute these political parties and that means that the activities of these parties have to be dynamic too. So, what I want to say is that right now the chances of the APC dominating the Southeast in the near future are far-fetched. I want to take an instance from the recent elections in Rivers State and Bayelsa State, but we cannot conclude that it shall be so forever.”