OPINION: Anambra gubernatorial election 2021 and the quest for purposeful leadership in Igbo land

At Nigerian independent in 1960, the Igbo nation was in control of every sphere of national life. There was Igbo dominance in academics, business, military, civil service and all these were achieved by merit. The Igbo lost their dominance since after the war. And ever since it was as if there was an official policy to keep Igbo land desolate and undeveloped, an issue that has not been officially confuted. In appointment and in siting of critical development infrastructure, Igbo land has been grossly and criminally marginalized by all Nigerian governments except one or two since the civil war era. It was as if allowing progress in Igbo land would rob other areas of development. Perhaps the worst form of criminality and onslaught against Igbo land is the crude machination designed to prevent the right leadership from emerging in the region. Unarguably, Ndi-Igbo have the best brains in the land with track records of performance in every sphere of human endeavors. People with ingenuity, creativity, innovation and incredible capacity for work abound in very high proportion in Igbo land. It is on record that since the advent of Nigeria’s current democratic dispensation in 1999, those who have acquitted themselves creditably well in office are indeed the very few Igbo professionals that were given the opportunity to serve—Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Prof. Dora Akunyili, Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Frank Nwaeke (Jr), Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Peter Obi etc.

It is opined that right from the time of Ukpabi Asika the erstwhile Administrator of East Central State that the powers-that-be in Nigeria have made sure that political appointees from Igbo land with the exception of very few are people though Igbo by parentage but have no Igbo content in them. And that is why when they assume office the thought of developing Igbo land seems not to surface in their minds. And that obviously explain why some of the traducers of Ndi-Igbo are always quick to ask: what did your leaders do for you? And interestingly, those who ask such hypocritical questions were usually those that would also attack every Igbo political figure that initiates good development program in the region or advocates for better deal for the region. Informed observers were aware that the reason behind the media assault on Stella Oduah in the immediate past regime was not because of any wrong doing but because of the upgrade of the Enugu Airport to International Airport which she did. Ukpabi Asika the one Gowon chose to govern East Central State never concealed his indifference to the plight of his beleaguered people. No sooner had he emerged than he began to insult the great Zik of Africa calling him ex-this and ex-that. Ukpabi Asika’s lack of interest in purposeful leadership was encapsulated in his “onye ube ruru oracha” philosophy which was clearly an inept, corrupt and nonchalant attitude of a puppet. The charade in Imo State at present is a typical example of how they use subterfuge to subvert the will of the people for effective leadership. And we see it playing out blatantly especially in this regime. Today, Igbo land that used to be the most peaceful part of the country is embroiled in security crisis foisted on it because the surrogate leaders governing the Igbo states are doing the bidding of the powers-that-be in Nigeria.

Apart from Chief Sam Mbakwe and Dr. Peter Obi and one or two others, the governors foisted on Igbo States since the end of the civil war in 1970 have never met the aspirations of the people. When Dr. Chris Ngige came with the zeal to work for his people Obasanjo made sure he was shooed out of office by empowering touts and political renegades to fight him. Ngige’s offence was that he opted to work instead of using the state revenue allocation to settle pettifoggers posing as political godfathers in the state. In 2003, a detachment of police men led by AIG Ralph Ige of Police Zone 9 Umuahia stormed Government House Awka, abducted Chris  Ngige on the “orders from above” and forced him to sign a letter of resignation. But strangely, as treasonable as that very act was, nobody was arrested, tried or queried or reprimanded for that. President Obasanjo dismissed the issue as a family affair alleging that Ngige failed to honor a gentleman’s agreement. After Ngige was reinstated following the intervention of the then Vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, mayhem was unleashed in the state all in a desperate bid by the do-or-die politicians to declare a state of emergency on the state in order to forcefully remove Ngige. And when all that failed, Ngige was finally ousted through a supreme court judgement.

It is self-evident from all of these that the intention of the traducers is not just to keep Igbo land in disarray but to create the erroneous impression that Ndi-Igbo cannot lead or cannot govern themselves. But the truth to discerning minds is that those who cannot be trusted with leadership are those who have been in charge of the affairs of this country since the civil war; those who have imposed insecurity, disease, hardship and misery on the people; those who have elevated injustice, impunity, mediocrity, corruption and nepotism as national ethos. Zik, an illustrious Igbo son was an archetype of a selfless patriotic leader. During the colonial era, the Eastern Nigeria had the best administration that produced the best in the land. Eastern Nigerian government had the best economic and development blueprints because the leaders knew what the people wanted and invested in the right direction to enhance the peoples’ productive capacity and not on unproductive white elephants. For about ten years until the beginning of the fratricidal war, the economy of Eastern Nigeria was ranked one of the fastest growing in the world. They were not interested in building beggarly economy where people grovel at the feet of their supposed leaders for freebies. The Otu Onitsha Market was the first modern mart in Africa that attracted patronage from as far as Congo, Cameroun, Gabon and other African countries. This is a model that Dubai seems to have copied. This was why Ndi-Igbo had the head start in business activities in Nigeria. For instance, as at 1963, Nigeria had a total of about 76,000 registered businesses out of which 68,000 were in the East and 5,700 and 2400 where in the West and North respectively. In 1957, the East had a total of 1,209,000 primary school enrolments while the West that had free education had 983,000 and the North 206,000.

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Today, the issue on the front burner is the Anambra State Gubernatorial election 2021. There is the insinuation of official terrorism in the state to create voters’ apathy and low turnout. It is alleged and it has not been refuted officially that APC is planning to intimidate others and forcefully take over the government through a manipulated electoral process using IPOB sit-at-home order as a ruse. But it is on record that in 2017, there was similar order of election boycott by IPOB but the election still held so why is this one different? Why the heavy deployment of armed security officers if not to scare the eligible voters preparatory for rigging and electoral malfeasance? It believed that by this development, they want to make sure that the right leadership: people with requisite experience, pedigree, qualification and professional training, people that have the blueprint and the desire to work, people with capacity and international connection to attract investment and development did not emerge in Anambra State. Thus, the induced security crisis in the state is a ploy to ensure the installation of another Abuja surrogate governor in Igbo land.

Apart from the obvious revanchist policies against Ndigbo by the Nigerian State, there are many reasons to believe these grave allegations. The dictatorial tendencies, the arm-twisting tactics of APC government, the inordinate desire of the party bigwigs to turn the nation into a one-party state as seen in the gale of defections to the ruling party in spite of its woeful performance lend credence to these allegations. Since coming to power in 2015, APC has been everything but democratic. They have exhibited flagrant disregard for the tenets of democracy as thuggery, hooliganism, impunity, rigging, ballot box snatching, intimidation, violence and vote buying have all been elevated to the next level. And most recently, the syndrome of “inconclusive election” has been added to our political lexicon. The controversial Trader Moni program seen by the opposition as financial inducement for voters, suspended since the last general election, has suddenly commenced in Anambra State.

Without doubt, the forth coming Anambra gubernatorial election is a test case. Nigerian authorities should reappraise their relationship with Ndi-Igbo and stop their punitive policies against the region. Separatist agitation cannot be suppressed with the sleight of hand or coercion but by purposeful leadership, dialogue and effective stakeholders’ engagement. The Nigerian authorities should stop its unwholesome meddlesomeness in the affairs of Ndi-Igbo. The interference is creating bad leadership and political crisis and insecurity which in turn are stoking the fire of separatist agitation. Ndi-Igbo know what they want. The sympathy which Mazi Nnamdi garners among the Igbo is a clear testimony that they know what they want and desire purposeful leadership and not puppetry.

Furthermore, the federal government should rein in on its security agencies and allow INEC to be truly independent. They should allow the people to exercise their franchise without let or hindrance. And on that score, I also appeal to IPOB to rescind its sit-at-home order in order not to give the APC government the excuse to subvert the will of the people. Ndi-Anambra should shirk off political lethargy and come out en mass to vote the type of leadership they deserve. The political gladiators in Anambra should close ranks and shun external interferences and petty personal gains for the interest of the state and Igbo land in general.

Author: Gozie Irogboli

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Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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