Emma Agu<\/p>\n
\nFor far too long, the conventional wisdom in Igboland has abhorred playing
\nopposition politics. The argument is that belonging to the centre, or what
\nis usually dubbed mainstream politics guaranteed a better place for
\nthe Igbo race in the scheme of things. Thus, in the First Republic, the
\nNational Council of Nigeria and Cameroon, NCNC formed an alliance with the
\nmajority Northern Peoples Congress, NPC so that the Igbo would belong
\nto the center. Ditto for the Second Republic; the Nigeria Peoples
\nParty, NPP went into an alliance with the National Party of Nigeria, NPN
\nto give the Igbo a handle on mainstream.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the Fourth Republic, once the Peoples Democratic Party,
\nPDP, won, prominent Igbo political leaders jumped ship from the All
\nPeoples Party, APP, again, to get the Igbo a place in the mainstream.
\nThus, prior to the 2015 presidential elections, four out of the five Igbo
\nspeaking states of the south east geo-political zone all belonged to the
\nPDP, the mainstream! But with the routing of the PDP at the presidential
\nand governorship elections, talks of realigning, to join the mainstream,
\nhave again taken centre-stage. In fact, notable politicians have already
\nstarted migrating to the victorious All Progressives Congress, APC. The
\nmain reason adduced for this movement is, ostensibly, the desire to
\nprotect the interest of the Igbo ethnic nationality.<\/p>\n
A fall-out of this is the entreaty to the electorate in Imo State, to
\ninstall an APC-led government in Owerri. Nothing can be more dishonest
\nthan that. The people of Imo State have nothing special to gain by playing
\ninconsequential roles in the APC, a party that was formed to the exclusion
\nof majority of their political leaders. Nor would Buhari accord Imo State
\nany preferred status in revenue allocation. On the contrary, there will be
\na net outflow of resources from Imo State as contract and rent seeking APC
\nstalwarts from all over Nigeria would descend on the state for contracts
\nand other welfare considerations. Therefore, commonsense dictates that Imo
\nState should stick with the PDP which has been reduced to an opposition
\nparty. This is without prejudice to some illustrious Igbo sons such as
\nChris Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu and the dynamic Osita Izunaso (Kpakpando) who,
\nas foundation leaders of the party, deserve key roles in Buharis
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
My thesis in this piece is that the Igbo should, for once, jettison the
\nmainstream option and go for opposition which is the only logical
\ninference that can be drawn from the outcome of the 2015 polls. I resist
\nthe temptation to suggest that advocates of the mainstream argument are
\nself-serving. To begin with, I am surprised that anybody should be
\nbemoaning the speculated sharing formula for political positions at the
\nfederal level. Why do our political leaders want to deceive the Igbo into
\nbelieving that the reward for losing is compensation with any strategic
\nposition? At any rate, when did political exclusion become a death
\nsentence? Didnt the subsisting political arrangement between 2011 and
\n2015 exclude the Yoruba of the south west geopolitical zone from any of
\nthe prime political positions in the country? And what was their response?
\nThey went into their political laboratory and came up with the anti-dote:
\nalign with the north, produce a cult figure as presidential candidate and
\nshare in the spoils of the political victory.<\/p>\n
To my fellow Igbo compatriots, we should see the 2015 election as a
\nblessing in disguise; a clarion call to honest self-searching. Consider,
\nfor instance, these posers: Why should the region that, by World Bank
\naccounts, was the fastest growing economy by 1967, now lag so behind that
\nits indigenes now scrounge for meals in subservient conditions in other
\nparts of Nigeria? Why must the region that produced scientists who,
\nwithout external support, were able to develop a war machine that held the
\nnear genocidal federal forces at bay for all of 30 long months now live
\nbeggarly in a country where, until Jonathan came, successive regimes were
\nincapable of breaking the power sector cabal and launch the country on the
\ndifficult yet assured road to efficient power supply? Why should a region
\nthat, for many years, post-civil war, set an astonishing pace in education
\nand sports now descend to the nadir of illiteracy?<\/p>\n
When people talk about mainstream politics, they either forget or ignore
\nthe fact that in the second republic, the mainstream NPN states never
\ncompared favourably with the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, NPP and
\nUnity Party of Nigeria, NPN states on any human development index. We are
\ntalking about the glorious years of the Sam Mbakwe Administration in Imo
\nState, Abubakar Rimi in Kano State and Lateef Jakande in Lagos State. So
\nwhat nonsense are we postulating by deluding ourselves with a dubious
\nmainstream mentality?<\/p>\n
What the moment calls for is not emotional ranting or hasty realignment
\nbased on the fear of exclusion. To every Igbo, this is the reality:
\nexclusion is here with us, no more, no less! What do we do? Adopt a policy
\nof withdrawal from the mainstream; suffer exclusion; plan for the future.
\nThat future, I dare say, is strictly in our hands. We should begin by
\ninsisting that no state in the southeast should be controlled by the APC.
\nIzu ka nma nneji you see what I mean? For a better appreciation of this
\npoint, consider the ease with which the Yoruba were able to articulate and
\nadvance their socio-economic and political interests under the platform of
\nfirst, the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and later the Action Congress of
\nNigeria, ACN all the while in opposition to the almighty PDP-controlled
\nFederal Government. And see how they quickly shook off the PDP aberration
\ninto which they had been hoodwinked, in 2003, under the pretext of
\nconsolidating OBJs administration.<\/p>\n
The Igbo have a lot to learn from the politics of Nigeria. This has become
\nurgent, now that the victorious federal arrangement that defeated Biafra
\nhas now metamorphosed into a victorious political arrangement. The only
\ndifference, this time around, is that our brothers from the south-south,
\nwho had deluded themselves with the existence of a natural ally, have been
\nleft in the lurch. But unknown to them, that is where they have always
\nbelonged. This is a matter for another conversation. But for now, we must
\ninsist, that the grace era for political gamble in the former eastern
\nregion has ended. The land of the Orient must wear a new look: a new
\nreality dawns on the region; to return to the days of Michael Okpara,
\nImoke, N.U. Akpan or be consigned to the boys quarters of Nigerian
\npolitics forever, oil or no oil.<\/p>\n
To advance this thesis, the likes of Dr. Peter Odili, former Governor of
\nRivers State, can be trusted to play a leadership role. Though an
\nuncompromising Nigerian nationalist, Odili had, long ago, exhibited the
\nrequisite credentials to spear-head a regional renaissance. His role in
\nPresident Jonathans re-election bid and the election of Nyesom Wike as
\nGovernor of Rivers State all show that he retains the spark to lead this
\ncampaign. In proposing him, one is also mindful of the fact that you need
\na leader who can be trusted other parts of Nigeria. Thankfully, there are
\nalready existing platforms to progress this dream, most notably, the
\nassociation of south-south and south-east professionals led by the dynamic
\nEmeka Ugwo-Ojo.<\/p>\n
For now, as we prayerfully await the consummation of the election of Hon.
\nEmeka Ihedioha as Governor of Imo State to consolidate the opposition
\nplatform being canvassed, let the Igbo, as a brilliant and industrious
\nrace always remember that the challenge before us is that of AHAMEFULE.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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Emma Agu For far too long, the conventional wisdom in Igboland has abhorred playing opposition politics. The argument is that belonging to the centre, or what is usually dubbed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n