Anger from Abroad

President Umaru Yar'Adua

A delegation of Igbos in the diaspora meet with the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, and expresses anger over the deepening of the marginalisation woes of the South east
By Okechukwu Obenta, Awka
On Sunday, August 17, 2008, the vexed issue of the deepening marginalisation of the people of the South east, otherwise known as the Igbos under the current President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua-led federal government once again occupied the attention of a group of Igbo leaders. For several hours on that day, a delegation of the central leadership of the Igbo community in diaspora under the aegis of Igbo World Association (IWA), met at Nnewi, Anambra State’s industrial hub, with the President-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, where they dwelt extensively on how the current federal administration under Yar’Adua has treated the people of the area in terms of appointment into political positions, distribution of infrastructure as well as maintenance of the existing ones, and, other areas of critical importance to the political and economic development of the zone. Interestingly, the meeting was held only a few weeks after the governors of the five South east states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo,Theodore Orji, Peter Obi, Martins Elechi Sullivan Chime and Ikedi Ohakim respectively stormed the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the nation’s seat of power where in one voice they told President Yar’Adua that the people of the geo-political zone are unhappy with his administration and that they want a fair treatment from the government. Since after that historic visit, prominent Igbo leaders and associations have been more vocal and courageous in voicing out their disenchantment over the seemingly deliberate marginalisation of the zone in the scheme of things in the country.
The latest meeting by leaders of the Igbo in diaspora is one of such. At the head of the IWA delegation was the chairman of the association, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze, who is incidentally the presiding officer of the Council of Igbo States in America.
Others who made the delegation were Chief Udechukwu Onuorah, leader of the Council of Igbo Community in the United Kingdom and vice-chairman of IWA; Afamefuna Anawana, current secretary-general of the Council of Igbo community in the United Kingdom and Chief Chukwugozie Idigo, member of IWA’s Media and Publicity Institute.
Inaugurated on March 3, 2008, IWA is the apex leadership of all Igbo associations in diaspora, with such associations in about 23 countries, including South Africa, United States of America, and Britain, represented.
At the end of the meeting, the communiqué which speaks volumes of the anger of the Igbo in diaspora was read to newsmen by Onuorah.
The meeting was presided by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo President-General, Ikedife, accompanied by some other officers of the apex Igbo organisation, including the Administrative secretary, Chief Nnaneylugo Odunze Ani at the Nnewi hospital of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader.
The Igbo in diaspora expressed, without reservation, their anger and disappointment with the way the present federal government under Yar’Adua has handled the people of the area so far as according to the communiqué “ all Ndigbo in diaspora have condemned the current government of President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua) for not given enough federal appointment to Ndigbo in this dispensation,” noting further that “the marginalisation of Ndigbo by previous administrations in Nigeria have continued and we note that the crime has assumed disturbing dimension under the present government of President Yar’Adua.”
Other issues of national importance which the delegates noted were giving the Igbo in disapora a lot of sleepless nights include the last census exercise, which they noted does not reflect the numerical strength of Ndigbo and such has left the area cheated in the federal budgetary and national planning matters. Though they noted that the power situation in the country is generally deplorable, they viewed the situation in the South east as peculiarly worse, as according to them the federal government deliberately abandoned the Oji River power station in Enugu State which ought to have helped in boosting energy supply in the South east. This, in their view was because the federal government was not committed to aiding the growth of industrialisation in the zone.
They noted that the realisation of the dream to achieve industrial growth in the country would remain a mirage as the country continued to rely on small energy generation facilities, as is the case in the South east.
Also, the need to create additional state in the South east to bring the zone at par with other five geo-political zones in the country was addressed at the meeting.
Meanwhile, The Source learnt that delegates at the closed door meeting briefed Ikedife about the formation of IWA and its mission statement. The apparently elated Ohanaeze leader commended the enthusiasm of the Igbo in diaspora towards the happenings at home. He charged them to remain good ambassadors of the Igbo nation in their respective host countries.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo chieftain particularly commended the IWA leadership in their efforts to bring Ndigbo in diaspora under one umbrella. He, however, cautioned IWA to ensure that it worked in harmony with the World Igbo Congress (WIC) and such other Igbo associations in the diaspora to ensure that the welfare of Igbos living overseas is properly protected and advanced.
But more than anything else, IWA, from sources in the association, would pursue the political agenda of the South east zone, unlike most existing Igbo organizations. Already, the organisation has established various institutes to champion economic and political advancement of the South east. Onuorah disclosed, for instance, that the Security Institute of IWA is to basically pursue the agenda of realising the emergence of an Igbo as the president of Nigeria. The Igbo in diaspora are committed to this project more than any other thing, if for nothing else, the desire to rewrite the status of Ndigbo in Nigeria political history since after the civil war. Also on the agenda is the economic advancement of the zone.
Meanwhile, the mission of the IWA is clearly stated in its declaration thus: “Guided by the purposes and principles for which men enter into government, and faith in the belief that Nigeria will someday live up to the ideal of all her citizens, security in their persons and possessions, promotion of their welfare; and respect for their civil liberties,
“Affirming that all Nigerians are equal under the law, while recognising that Nigeria is an amalgam of ethnicities welded together by a European power, but which nonetheless should not diminish the right of any ethnic group to be different and to be respected as such;
“Affirming further that all Nigerian ethnicities contribute to the diversity and richness of Nigeria, and are entitled without discrimination to all human rights recognised in international law, and possess inalienable fundamental rights integral to our national compact, mindful that Ndigbo as a people do not brook any encumbrance to our civil liberties, which attitude was instrumental in breaking the yoke of Imperialism in Nigeria, and by spreading forth our traditions of egalitarianism and civic obedience while exercising our rights of Nigerian citizenship to live peaceably in any part of the country, have continued to sew together the amalgam called Nigeria, concerned that inspite of our contributions to Nigeria, Ndigbo have suffered historic injustices as a result of, among other things, incessant acts of violence continuously meted against our people in particularly Northern Nigeria; the mindless pogrom of Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria in 1966; genocidal civil war waged against our people for which starvation was deemed a legitimate tool resulting in untold hardship and misery to Igbo children and non-combatants, the said war predicated on our universally recognised right to seek freedom and security in a government that will secure our human rights; concerned further that since the end of that internecine civil war, successive governments in power have followed a policy of institutionalised political and economic discapacitation of Ndigbo, starting from the Indigenization Decree of 1970 conducted in the immediate aftermath of the civil war in a manner deliberately calculated to shut Ndigbo out of ownership of vital economic assets and to sow our descent to economic underclass status in Nigeria; concerned further that said discapacitation has become structurally embedded in the political corpus of Nigeria by inequitable state creations, inequitable resource allocation formulas, intentionally-skewed census figures calculated to pertray Ndigbo as minorities, premeditated disenfranchisement of Ndigbo residing ex-Igboland in Nigeria, and by same such structural designs consigned Ndigbo to perpetual economic and political underclass in Nigeria, recognising the absence of Federally-sponsored industrial complexes, power plants, refineries, hyperanemic energy allocation, dilapidation of Federal inter-state roads in Igboland, degradation of our federal schools and universities, severe unemployment, environmental decay, intentional misapplication of the federal character principle that totally ignores Ndigbo outside Igboland, resulting in disproportionate shut-out of Ndigbo from Federal Civil Service, Military, Police, Customs, and other Parastatals; further recognising the social, economic and political decadence of Nigeria, the disprobity of our public officers, the enormous ethnic hostilities welded into the Nigerian polity, the impunious waste of our common weal, abuse of power, subversion of authority, corruption in every segment of our society, and all such ills that have perennially put Nigeria on the brink of disintegration; further recognising that Ndigbo are one of the most itinerant people in all of human history and that the totality of Ndigbo worldwide exceeds or matches the population of any other ethnic group in Nigeria and by acting in concert and accord, Ndigbo possess a voice and political will more powerful and more richly endowed than that of any other ethnic group in Africa; convinced that Ndigbo must organise ourselves for political, economic, social and cultural enhancements and must have control over developments affecting us and our lands, territories and resources and must maintain and strengthen our institutions, cultures and traditions, and promote their development in accordance with our aspirations and needs and must deal decisively with Igbo proxies or anti-Igbo forces; bearing in mind that nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any person or group any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act contrary to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or construed as authorising or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of Nigeria, we, therefore, the representatives of Ndigbo in Diaspora, in global congress, assembled, do on this day, the 3rd of May, 2008, in the name, and by the authority of our great people within and outside Nigeria solemnly publish and declare, that globally Igbory shall be a new modality for political, economic, and social engagement for and on behalf of Ndigbo Worldwide, under the banner of Igbo World Assembly which shall have full powers to speak, with one voice and with one accord, on behalf of Ndigbo in Diaspora, to levy Ndigbo to do necessary battle, conclude peace with our adversaries, contract alliances with our friends and associates, establish and promote commerce, promote Igboism, and to do all other acts and things which free people may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with trust in God, we mutually pledge to each other our fortunes and our honour.”