The future of Ndigbo in the new government

From the election results announced all South Eastern States
except Imo voted for Pres. Jonathan and the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in the Presidential and National
Assembly polls.
In order words, Ndigbo are perceived to have voted
themselves out of relevance in the APC govt except if they
manage to integrate themselves into the system by some
miracle.
However, as bad as it seems, many are still optimistic that
there is a place for them in the new government, at least, as
provided by the constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
Chekwas Okorie, one of the presidential candidates in the
last general election said that although the voting pattern of
Ndigbo will make it difficult for them to make claims in the
APC government, there are certain things that are the rights
of Ndigbo as guaranteed by the constitution.
“It is the constitutional provision that every state must be
in the Federal Executive Council, FEC, every state have a
Minister and that cannot be denied. “
However, it will be to Buhari’s political benefit that some
key positions be allotted to the South-East because he is
the president of Nigeria and not the president of APC.
South-East is part of the Nigerian state and therefore
should not be sidelined because they voted mostly for
PDP. From records, he got a significant number of votes
from the South-East too and that should not be
disregarded. “
The new president should also know that anybody in
government wants to be there in the next government.
I’m sure that he would want to continue in 2019 and it is
the way he handles things that will determine the future.
If he ignores Ndigbo now because they didn’t vote for
him, what happens in 2019? Will he come back to
campaign? APC should have their eyes in 2019 and
therefore, should not disregard Ndigbo because of their
bloc vote.
“The new government should also realise that in 2015,
more than 50% of traditional Igbo votes did not go to
Jonathan or to Buhari. The truth of the matter is that
many Igbo were aloof. They didn’t vote at all because they
were not with Jonathan and they were suspicious of
Buhari. So, Buhari should not give Ndigbo cause to
believe they were right in their suspicion of him by
ignoring them. He is Nigeria’s president and should
therefore focus on the future and what determines the
future is what happens now.”
On reference to statements credited to Oba of Lagos, Oba
Akiolu and Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka on the
politics of Ndigbo, Chekwas Okorie refrained himself from
commenting on what the traditional ruler said.
According to him, “ He is not a politician and therefore I
don’t want to talk about him. As for Soyinka, let me give
give him benefit of doubt especially as he denied ever
saying what he was alleged to have said.
“My concern more is the attitude of the South-West in the
whole issue of APC and their purview that they are the
ones that gave Buhari the victory. That is not true and
that is not right. Even if they did, I think they should be
more accommodating especially in the way they portray
themselves in the new government and stop talking down
on others.”
A former governor of Anambra state, Dr Chukwuemeka
Ezeife however didn't see any problem for Ndigbo in
Buhari’s government. Ezeife opinion is based on the fact that
Nigeria is operating a political party system and whoever
wins at the end of the day becomes the people’ president.
“ General Buhari is Nigeria’s president and not APC
president. He contested on the platform of a political
party as established but having won election, will he now
become the president of APC? He is the peoples president
and should therefore be a man of the people”. In his own
submission, Chief Nduka Eya, the Secretary-General of
the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze
Ndigbo said that whatever becomes the fate of Ndigbo in
the new administration should be blamed on the much
desired change. “ We must know that this is a democracy.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ruled for 16 years.
We talked about change but nobody defined the change
we talked about. Now, the reality has dawned on us. In
the whole South-East, only Imo is APC. So, a lot depends
on the government. They should realise that they cannot
run the country without the South-East. Buhari is the
president of Nigeria including those in opposition. So, the
opposition should organise themselves because without
Ndigbo, there will be no Nigeria. This is a pointer to any
government . You cannot ignore someone because he is
in opposition. This country is run with a constitution and
therefore Ndigbo should not lose confidence. “
The South-East is not alone here. There is also the South-
South. All South -East States are PDP except Imo which is
APC and Anambra which is APGA. The entire South-South
is also PDP except Edo state which is APC. So, what are we
talking? Buhari must appoint a Minister from each state
of the federation. It is for him to choose statesmen as
ministers and not praise singers.
“ Let me also tell you another thing. APC is as good or as
bad as PDP. Nigerian politicians play politics of their
pockets. Buhari is already in. Let us see what he will do
differently. We must hold him to task on his promises
because he must fulfill all and we want him to prove that
APC politicians will be different from PDP politicians. He
must keep to his words because that is what change is all
about. And so, we must keep him on his toes on the top
promises he made to Nigerians while campaigning such
as : reducing fuel price to N45.00 per litre ; giving N5000
per month to every unemployed youth; creating
3,000,000 jobs per annum; providing free meals for all
elementary/primary/almajiri schools; giving one year
allowance for youth corps post NYSC members; promise
of free and qualitative education up to SSS 3 ;. building 2
million houses yearly for the next four years; generating
48,000 megawatts of electricity within four years; applying
zero tolerance for corruption, wiping out corruption by
the force of his personal example; banning medical
tourism by our politicians from May 29, 2015, annihilating
Boko Haram within two months, equating N1.00 to $1.00
and stabilising the oil price .
We want to see Buhari ask questions about peoples
wealth especially those of his party men. People should
be able to account for the stupendous wealth they flaunt
all over the place. I want to see change in all its
ramifications, not selective change or abusive change.” Dr
Chinweoke Mbadinuju, another one-time governor who
recently defected from PDP to APC opines that the way
things are, the position of Ndigbo in today’s political
calculation is highly pathetic. “Igbo have not had it worse
than this, from the time of Zik, to Okpara, to Ojukwu and
a few others. It has been like from fire to frying pan. But it
is entirely not the fault of Ndigbo. It was circumstantial.
For whosoever loses war goes on the receiving end which
is where the Igbo now are on the receiving end apart
from Zik whom the British awarded the office of
ceremonial Governor of Nigeria and this was the highest
political office an Igbo ever held. Even when Chief Alex
Ekwueme became Vice President under Alhaji Shehu
Shagari, still the Vice Presidency was without political
powers except the much Shagari assigned to him.
“Anyway, the constitution could grant a VP power like
Chairmanship of Economic Council, but Dr. Ekwueme will
know whether such power was good or ephemeral. “So
since the end of the civil war, subsequent leaders did not
see it good to integrate the Igbo into the mainstream.
Abacha did not. Obasanjo did not. Even Mallam Yar’ Adua
and Jonathan did not. All they did was to pick up one Igbo
man or woman and give them little, and they would be
parading them as Igbo leaders. “ But now, I know that
political power is not given, it is taken. Igbos must learn
to earn power and to exercise it. For now, it is not easy to
know how President Muhammadu Buhari will pattern his
methods. He was a soldier and former Head of State.
He knows his onion, and within this short time he won the
Presidential election, he is showing capacity to lead
Nigeria into prosperity. Nigeria will surely prosper.
Nigerians will surely assist President Buhari to end
corruption; build security around our people; employ the
unemployed; build power and energy; reduce cost of
governance; he will handle the electoral reform or confab
as occasion warrants. “Whether we are Igbos or
Nigerians, we must all embrace the Buhari’s concept of
“change” for Nigeria. If Nigerians, and indeed the PDP,
had allowed Chief Ogbulafo and Dr. Nwodo to go on with
their job of being Chairman of the Party (PDP) there
would have been no collapse of the party which had
wanted to rule for 64 years but stopped at 16 years. When
some friends ask if I really defected to PDP which I
helped to nurture, I told them I did not defect rather PDP
defected.
“At the end of the day we must all embrace the concept of
“change” , not just “change”, but “positive change”.
Nigerians will see that the hunger for food and drinks are
not that alone, but we must deal with physical hunger;
spiritual hunger; monetized hunger’ waste and wastages;
and life of ostentation. “The Igbo people are not asking
Muhammadu Buhari for many appointments.
It is enough that the South-East people knew or ought to
know the adage that “He whose bread I eat, his song I will
sing”. So since the South-East did not vote for Buhari, it
means that Igbo cannot complain if Buhari did not grant
them appointments commensurate with other zones
which got more and who worked harder and got more
offers. “Good politics under Buhari will further enhance
the neighbor to neighbor approach that will bridge any
gap of good relationship. It is not God that will unite our
people in understanding each other. This is the job
Nigerians will do by themselves and it shall be well for all
Nigerians.
It is true that there are so many ethnic groups competing
among themselves for preservation, but good education
will help in ceiling the gaps created by politics and
politicians many years past. Today we still can re-capture
the Nigerian factor if we work hard for it and one day we
will see the North calling the Igbo “my brothers.”
Vanguard