President Muhammadu Buhari long-awaited cabinet is now complete.
As in any political endeavour, there are winners and losers.
Socially, similar to the Yorubas in 2011, the Igbos appear to be on the
losing end thus far in 2015, particularly with representation to the upper
echelon of the government. The underlying rationale is that the positions
of the President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker, Chairman of
the ruling party, and the Secretary to Federal Government were hailed in
the past 16 years as the main enchilada of the party in power and thence
rotated among the six political zones of the country.
Of course, there is considerable merit in Buhariâ argument that trust
earned from the yore is an important criterion for sensitive positions.
There is also no gainsaying that the president is set to bequeath to the
entire Nigeria a lasting legacy. Quite frankly, any
person disclaiming the prevailing boon of the manâ aura is viewing the
history from a blind spot. Yet, the principle of federal character cannot
be wished away at this stage of national development. It goes without
saying that the theory of Taxation without Representation was well tested
before Nigeria opted for national independence over British rule.
Politically, there is the need for caution. Both the All Progressive
Congress (APC) as a party and the president himself are not impolitic.
Every discerning mind is aware that any attempt to marginalize any zone in
a country of belligerent ethnic groups is a premature death sentence for
our hard-earned change. This is even more so when considered that the 2019
election is likely to feature two strong presidential candidates from the
North. The veiled implication is that every breadth and depth of Southern
Nigeria guarantees to be a battleground for votes, come that year. The
gist is that President Buhari is committed to his pledge to carry every
zone along before long.
Strategically and economically, the Igbos stand to gain big time under
Buhariâ government regardless.
First and foremost, no degree of amnesia can erase from existential memory
the fact that Nigeriaâ problem in the past 16 years was never the lack
of political positions or projects being attracted to any zone. It was
definitely not the lack of the funds to execute the projects. The bitter
truth is that the funds were commonly looted with impunity by those in
positions of power.
But if the truth is told in full, which this piece is set to accomplish,
nowhere was the problem of looting project funds more prevalent than
Igboland. The major reason is simple: While the North and West have been
consistent with strong opposition activities in the national politics in
recent years, which in turn help for a measure of checks and balances for
projects in those regions, the reverse has been the case in the East.
It is not a new story that South-East and South-South zones were
predominated by the then ruling party, the Peopleâ Democratic Party
(PDP), a party penchant for conferring immunity to the activities of its
members, however feigned. To this end, Igbo politicians were always
spoon-feeding the helpless masses with vain rhetoric on dividends of
democracy. And any attempt by independent citizens to crosscheck the
projects they claim to attract was seen as an unclad sin. But that was
then. The now is where the elixir of Muhammadu Buhari comes in.
For a change, a leader is poised to demonstrate that there is a day of
reckoning in the earthly Nigeria. For a change, a cabal whose entire
raison d’être of being politics is to loot project funds is rattled.
For a change, a leader is determined to recoup the funds looted from vital
projects in Igboland towards completion. Needless to say, the list
includes the dateless rallying cries, such as 2nd River Niger Bridge,
Dredging of River Niger, Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu-Port
Harcourt Expressway, Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, and Owerri Cargo
International Airport, among others. It is worthy of note, however, that
these projects were reduced to mere money-spinners for individual bank
accounts while Igbos manned the positions of Senate Committee
Chairmanships on Works and Aviation, Ministers of Aviation and
Finance—with the Secretary to the Federal Government as well as the
adopted son in then president, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan—all in
tow.
Further, given that the shenanigans with the aforementioned projects are
common knowledge, the Igbo civil society can now be emboldened by the
regnant ‘Fear of Buhari’ to petition the anti-corruption agency on
many other phantom programmes fully funded but abandoned in different
parts of Igboland. Notable among them are the constituency projects said
to be attracted by members of the National Assembly and, of course, other
state and local government projects.
The second major area the Igbos stand to witness ultimate succour from
Buhari is newer government undertakings. Besides the revitalization of
Coal-to-Power severally promised by the president, the political climate
is warn to resuscitate the abandoned gas pipeline initiative across Igbo
hinterland and to develop the huge gas deposits in the South-East. Suffice
to say that these power projects received zero attention despite the fact
that Igbos produced consecutive ministers of Power in the last regime with
that of Petroleum Resources at a stone throw.
More importantly, the political climate is clement to explore Buhariâ
new equity mantra with the view to truly demand creation of additional
states and local governments in Igboland through Constitutional Amendment.
What is more, the whole hoo-ha on political appointments becomes pointless
once it dawns on us that the very Constitutional Amendment was funded to
the brim by successive governments but cobwebbed in the past eight years
at the den of a senator from the South-East.
Finally, due to intrinsic knack for the Diaspora, the Igbos are bound to
benefit regardless of the direction of the different policies and
programmes. But the appointment of an austere personality as the
Controller-General of Customs is cast with good tidings. Forget the
selfish few that thrive on smuggling! A dutiful implementation of extant
policies within the Customs has reasonable prospect to reduce the volume
of contraband goods flowing into the country. This move will spur the
much-needed economic diversification, industrial revolution, and mass
employment. The obvious whisper is a Christmas in June for the vastly
overlooked Igbo-made products primed to replace fake goods flooding the
marketplace from Asia.
Now, for all intents and purposes, consider that Muhammadu Buhari can be
accused of many things in his political life, including lopsided
appointments, but breaking promises has never been near the top. Then
throw in the fact that fulfillment of his promises to the Igbos, including
completion of the abandoned projects, will not only boost employment
opportunities for the teeming masses, but will also stem the wave of
kidnapping and armed robbery common in South-East and South-South Nigeria.
Thereafter, reckon that displacing PDP at the national level plus the
presence of vibrant APC ministers now from Igboland have the potential to
engender the elusive dynamic opposition activity in the region. Best of
all, combine it with the common consensus that dynamic opposition
facilitates the checks and balances central for effective democratic
leadership, by consequence. True.
Confronted with these realities, the Igbo masses cannot help but embrace
the second coming of Buhari. For instance, in view of the fact that
Nigeria is currently enmeshed in the throes of economic woes, what is a
better consolation for the cries of marginalization, unless heavenly, than
recovering the looted funds and putting behind us ageless but prime
projects, which would never come to pass without the presence of a
messianic figure? Even if the looted funds are not recovered, does it
require a regal town crier to publicize that it is no longer business as
usual for projects attracted to Igboland? What else epitomizes a silver
lining than the very point where the era of impunity in Igbo politics is
finally seen to be coming to an end, thanks to the fear and hope of
Buhari?
The questions above adequately answer themselves. The paradox has exposed
the decadent canopy of PDP and its proxies in the East. Having succeeded
in the last election with a witless canard that APC would Islamize
Igboland; the opposition elites must not hide behind the melodrama of
Buhariâ style of appointments to hoodwink the gullible masses again.
For sure, any quest for equity is always a welcome idea, but coming this
soon from PDP portrays a picture similar to Abubakar Shekau of Boko Haram
posing as a keynote-speaker on Western education.
It is incumbent upon Ndigbo, therefore, to place the blame exactly where
it belongs. Given that President Buhari has promised to right the wrong in
due course, let the current debate serve as a teachable moment for those
grandstanding as our leaders. This moment demands that we remind them
that, even as political appointment remains important, enduring service
delivery matters most. It is imperative to echo with every cadence that,
like any other zone or ethnic group, the Igbo people of South-East and
those of South-South received their fair share of political positions
since the 4th Republic. This should have ordinarily translated to mass
development, but that has not been the case. In fact, the records show
that the South-East in particular boarded dead last in capital projects
despite a commanding presence of appointees from the zone. Today, there is
nothing concrete on the ground even for the few projects that came its
ways apart from cascading tears of marginalization.
Clearly, the nature of the Igbo problem is difficult to explain. But there
is no better way forward at this historic moment than a paradigm shift in
perception to vitalize the full sphere of the widely acclaimed Igbo
ingenuity. The time is now to admit that the distrust in the polity is
deeply rooted in the past, where each ethnic group and generation patently
shares blame. The time is now to eschew selfishness and find common
grounds where ideas could converge for practical solutions instead of
amplifying the echoes of a lifelong pattern of tribal rivalries. Now is
the time to recognize that curbing institutionalized corruption is a
win-win for all. The posterity beckons on us to turn the page to the
future and take an unbiased look at the open buffet of opportunities
presented by the current change movement.
*Ogbonnia, a leadership scholar, is the chairman of First Texas Energy
Corporation+