By Mecha Udo
One of the renowned features of the Igbo nation is the republican nature of its people. This attribute has been mostly erroneously misinterpreted to mean an absence of leadership or the non recognition of leadership in Igbo land. In actual fact, this republican disposition of the Igbo connotes the involvement of the people in the determination of the affairs of the collective whole. This trait allows the expression of free will and personality of the individual. With this element it is therefore extremely difficult if not impossible to have everyone pull in one single direction. The practice therefore ensures that while the majority may have their way the minority would still have their say. This tendency brings quality to the process of leadership. It will then be safe to conclude that it is fallacious to state that Ndigbo wholly supported and voted for the PDP particularly for its presidential candidate during the 2015 general elections. This impression is grossly misleading.
There is no doubt that there was a large followership for the PDP in the south eastern home of Ndigbo as was the case in most parts of the country, so naturally it should be expected that the political party would have a good showing at the polls whenever elections were conducted. Unfortunately the misgovernance of some of the PDP political office holders and the obvious impunity of the party itself which led to the neglect of the people and the underdevelopment of the region, created a lot of anger amongst the people and cost the party the sympathy and support of the voting public. The people, in most of the states, were therefore very eager for a change in the way they were being governed and represented.
At the state levels, the PDP was only able to retain its relevance in Enugu state; on account of the good work done by Governor Chime and the presence of a lot of other political heavy weights from the state in the party, and Ebonyi state where there was a near total absence of any credible political opposition party. Imo state has become and is still an APC state, even as the people continue to express satisfaction with the performance of the governor there. Anambra state has been an APGA state for close to twelve years, apart from the short spells of Chris Ngige and Andy Uba, the state has been governed by APGA governors.
In Abia, the governor has so desecrated the office of the governor of the state, massively underdeveloped the land, callously misappropriated the people’s resources, heartlessly withheld the salaries of every caliber of worker in the state including aged pensioners, shamelessly destroyed every institution he met on ground and has attempted to pocket the political structures and resources of the people for the benefit of his immediate family only. Therefore the only thing that Abians wanted and at all cost was an end to the reign of the present out going governor and every tendency that identifies with him including his political party. Today the elections in Abia state have been internationally recognized as an abuse of not just power but everything that democracy stands for. It has gone down in history as the most brazen show of criminality, an unfortunate ghoulish display of fetish and diabolic inclination of some of the key political players, and a most bizarre display of crudeness and primitiveness ever experienced in our political democratic experiment! Instead of ballot boxes, they used coffins, instead of ballot papers, they used Naira notes (viciously stolen from the state coffers), and instead of campaigns, they had show of force by machetes, gun and cudgel wielding cultists, who paraded the streets to warn eligible voters against voting for any other political party other than the governor’s party. Where there was any form of voting, ballot boxes were eventually snatched by hoodlums and at the end of the day, the criminals were unable to even produce convincing fake election results. Most of the results as announced by INEC particularly that of the office of governor are now the subjects of legal examinations by an election tribunal.
At the elections for national offices, the people were more focused on the merits of each individual contestant than the political parties they represented e.g. in Abia state, the people of Abia North senatorial district wanted and voted for Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu of the PPA, in Anambra state, preference was for the candidature of Chris Ngige of APC and Ernest Ndukwe of APGA for Anambra Central and South respectively, while in Enugu state, the choice was for the return of Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP for Enugu west senatorial district. Essentially it was a mixed bag of choices. But the massive miscalculation was in the wholesome endorsement of the candidature of the PDP candidate, Dr. Goodlluck Ebele Jonathan, for the office of President, instead of the political parties particularly APGA fielding their own candidates at the presidential elections. There is no gain saying that the last elections offered APGA a lot of opportunities to make inroads into other areas given the fact that the PDP was in disarray and therefore presented a weak force and a divided house. The greed and selfish ambitions of the leaders of the party beclouded their sense of judgment and reason and they went into a blind endorsement without any concrete arrangements on how best to safeguard their positions. These amphibious and amorphous APGA/PDP candidates, instead of focusing on projecting their own party, expended so much efforts campaigning and identifying with the PDP candidature of Good luck Jonathan, with the believe that the power of incumbency would influence his and their own elections. The PDP candidates utilized this opportunistic gaffe to shove everything and everybody into their bags. We now hear lame complaints about Jonathan not protecting the interests of candidates of other parties as if it was his lot to also campaign and politic for them. Then again, most of the elections are now subjects of litigations at various tribunals.
The failure of the Jonathan’s administration in governance was not lost on Ndigbo so they also wanted a change in the way their affairs were being managed. Despite this genuine desire, the people allowed the PDP goons of Igbo extraction into hoodwinking them, believing that the only sensible choice was an Ebele Azikiwe. They so painted an anti Igbo and anti Christian picture of Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd.) of the APC, that the people were made to believe that it would be suicidal to vote for this obviously more astute and capable hand, the situation was made to have a coloration of the devil you know. Notwithstanding this wicked, unethical, immoral, parochial and misleading strategy, a good number of Ndigbo and Igbo groups were able to see beyond the hate campaigns and recognized the merits in the Buhari candidature.
Despite the harvest of endorsements by Jonathan in Igbo land, some individuals and groups were nationalistic and patriotic enough in their assessments and choices. One of such organizations is the Igboekulie organization; who conducted an independent research into the performance of the Jonathan Administration in its six years of being in power, particularly it’s level of service delivery in the south eastern states. This research revealed the shocking results that Ndigbo were ranked lowest in Jonathan’s scale of service delivery. This was one of the grave findings of that research: – it was also on the strength of the more worrisome picture of the prospects of a failed nation that starred the country in the face that led the Igboekulie organization to take a bold and firm stand by organizing a forum where it not only exposed its shocking findings but also publicly endorsed the candidature of Gen. Mohammadu Buhari. This was at a time when it seemed sacrilegious for an Igbo Christian to mention Buhari’s names. It is also on record that it was at that forum that Prof. Pat Utomi of the Lagos Business School publicly lent his support to the candidature of Gen. Buhari. Even before this event, members of Igboekulie; which holds the advancement of the general and public good over and above any other interest had been through different media and fora, pushing for the need for a review of the blind and baseless support that the Igbo seemed to have extended to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. As true professionals, the members and the organization itself based their position on the facts on hand and the interest of Ndigbo and the nation at large. The Managing Director of the Sun Newspapers; Mr. Femi Adesina has done a piece on Igbo heroes who supported the Buhari candidature, it is important to point out that some of those mentioned in that report were actually taking a cue from the bold move by Igboekulie.
It is also on record that Igboekulie did not hesitate to register it’s displeasure with the outcome of the presidential election in the south east which was massively rigged in favor of the PDP using the security agencies. This was done through an open letter to President Good luck Jonathan which was published in the Daily Sun of Tuesday, April 7, 2015.
It is however very sad that some of the Igbo champions of the Jonathan for life campaign do not seem to know that the train has left the station as it were. The undeniable fact that Gen. Mohammed Buhari (rtd) will be sworn in as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is revolting to them. They are programmed to criticize every of the President-elect’s moves or utterances, and it does appear that a vanguard charged with pulling him down has been established to ensure that he does not succeed where Jonathan failed.
There are all sorts of arguments and analysis as to the merits or demerits of Ndigbos support for Jonathan as if it was a wholesome support. That fact is that it is impossible to believe that Gen. Buhari (rtd.) did not score more than 25% of the votes cast in the various states of the south east, more so that the results from this region are extremely questionable. It defies logic and common sense given the state of affairs leading to and during the elections when it became glaring that the country was about to produce a president without the support of one of the major ethnic nationalities in the country.
Some Igbos are also stoking the embers of agitations for succession as if Ndigbo were done in by Jonathan’s loss at the polls. Jonathan’s acceptance of the results of the elections is a pointer to the fact that he accepted the decision of the majority and has enlisted with the spirit of change soothing the country. Prominent south south politicians (even the most vociferous Jonathanians) have since congratulated the winner of the elections and also pledged their support for the incoming government, it therefore appears that there have been no losers in the outcome of the elections, we all should therefore celebrate as winners.
Instead of eating sour grapes, indulging in self pity or being recalcitrant as some Igbo seems to be doing; Ndigbo should take advantage of the situation to turn things around for good. The results of the 2015 general elections indeed offer Ndigbo an opportunity to reappraise their political strategies, reintegrate themselves into the mainstream of the nation’s life, and review the quality and substance of those that they have been presenting as leaders. The President- elect has assured Nigerians that he will be the President of all and not just the President of those who voted for him. The campaigns and elections are gone; we are now expected as true patriots, to offer our best to nation building.
Nigerian history is replete with facts about Igbo leadership in just about every area of human endeavor. Our position became shaky and finally was compromised when merchants, contractors and the noveau rich (whose sources of income are questionable) assumed the leadership positions in Igbo land. From that point everything in Igbo land was given a price tag. These are the same types of persons that are again seeking audience and photo shots with the incoming President with the aim of presenting themselves as members of the Igbo elite. We must be wary of their cunning and their guile.
As much as the Igbo would have to miss out on key political positions especially at the National Assembly level, having presented no qualifying candidates for those positions, the Nigerian nation can ill afford to do without the critical input of the Igbo man. His drive, dynamism, doggedness, tenacity and commitment are key ingredients in our efforts at building a more egalitarian, responsible and equitable nation that we all will be proud of. However, it remains the responsibility of the Igbos to position their best for roles in critical sectors in the emergent nation. PDP is definitely not an Igbo party and the south south who some celebrate as our new found partners have already moved to reintegrate themselves into mainstream Nigeria, therefore the idea of swimming or sinking with the party does not arise. Those who will remain in PDP will and those in support of other political structures will also have their say, but what is important is that the Igbo must lend its support to the incoming administration by working with other nationalities and groups instead of this present attempt at creating an island of itself. The idea of Igbos going into opposition is nonsensical, the Igbo must do that which will benefit her people, advance their course and benefit the nation at large while, ultimately re- establishing itself as a dominant component of the country.
Nigeria offers Ndigbo the best opportunity to express their industry, exhibit their skills, pursue their bold visions, develop their latent potentials and make that difference that they very much crave to make. It is time for Ndigbo to abandon that vanquished mentality that those who want to mislead and exploit us play up. The reasons that led to the 1967 civil war really do no longer exist, we Ndigbo must join in the building of that Nigeria that Africa will be proud of, that the world is waiting for; this is the most honorable path for Ndigbo to tow given the turn of events in our nation today.
Mecha Udo
Is a public affairs commentator and the Secretary of the Research and Strategy Committee of Igboekulie Organisation