RAPHAEL EDE writes on the just concluded South-east economic and security summit, which provided the platform to underscore unity against individualism. Expectedly, it was a political gathering with issues of restructuring as a recurring decimal
The quest for socio-economic emancipation of Ndigbo in an unjust federal system in Nigeria, saw the Enugu State Government lodge surge with who is who in Igboland on 22nd December, 2016 at a Southeast Economic & Security Summit to brainstorm on how the private sector could work with the public sector to achieve infrastructure influx into the South east region.
Usually, those in government both elected and non-elected under the platform of the ruling All Progressive Congress APC; didn’t attend. The lone APC governor from the zone was conspicuously absent without representation. Instead, they advised the President Mahammadu Buhari to not attend the summit even when the president had consented to attend and fixed 22nd December to enable him attends.
This did not with usual excuse, as the presidency reacted that ‘in view of the closeness of the date to Christmas; that given the sensitivity of the period to the people, a presidential visit may come with overexertion and possibly, be disruptive of Christmas’.
Speaking on the essence of the summit, the Chairman of the planning committee of the summit and former Minister of Power, Prof. Bath Nnaji, said it was to brainstorm on how the private sector could work with the public sector to achieve infrastructure influx into the South East; which areas he said they are looking to work on include gas pipelines, railway, sustainable agriculture, among other areas.
Nnaji frowned at the incessant, unwarranted and unprovoked attacks on the people of the South East in parts of Nigeria and even right here in Igboland, especially attacks that are carried out by herdsmen, noting that was part of the challenges to be redressed.
The ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his key note address asked Ndigbo and their governors to take their destiny in their hands by developing the South-East geographical zone instead of waiting for the government at the federal, stressing that there was no need for the governors to wait for the Federal Government to develop South-East when they already had the instruments already.
According to Obasanjo, economy and security were two sides of the same coin, that none could be achieved without the other; even as he asked Igbo elders to intervene in the on-going agitation for Biafra Republic to bring the situation under control.
Describing the Igbos as unique people, Obasanjo said their entrepreneurial and communal efforts were driven with the spirit of adventure.
He said the aim of the summit was on how the industrious people of the zone could do things for themselves other than relying on government’s intervention, noted that “insecurity in any part of the country affects the other. The instruments of doing the jobs are already with you.
“The South-East had been known from time for entrepreneurship, community effort services and their spirit of adventure. The papa Okafor has been there in my village right from when I was growing up and nobody has taken those traits away from the Igboman, but how do we use it to achieve economic prosperity and security?
“You can’t have security when the economy of your people is not well taken care of and you can’t have security without economic prosperity. What we need to do here is to harness what we have. The people of the South-East are extremely unique and need to be harnessed. We should work together and that is the purpose of this summit”, he alluded.
The former president told the gathering to look in the ways of their fertile agricultural land, the Aba industrial cluster; other minerals both on the surface and beneath the earth to grow their economy. “Whatever we can do for ourselves, let us do it for ourselves. If I could go to Maiduguri when Boko Haram was raging and I had to try to reach out to them in the interest of the country, I don’t think I have to be eulogized for being part of the initiative of South-East summit.
“Security is all inclusive. If there is no security in any part of the country, there is no security in the entire country. All the governors have spoken. I am delighted. They said ‘we have things we can do if given the instrument’. You have the instruments already.
Obasanjo who stole the show listed traits of Ndigbo: “We knew South-east for enterprise, entrepreneurial ability, communal interest and spirit of adventure. Nobody can take it away from them. What can we do with it in area of economy and security? The symbiotic relationship between economy and security has been mentioned by the governors and the chairman. You cannot have good economy when the security of your people is not taken care of. If security is not taken care of, the economy will diminish.
What we have, how can we use it? “The people of South-East are extremely unique. That uniqueness of the South-East must be used to your advantage,” Obasanjo said; citing the Aba-made shoes and Ebonyi rice as examples.
He described the potentials of the South-East region as legendary, saying that the South-East could be the food basket of the nation.
Justifying the agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra, Obasanjo described the challenge of youth restiveness in the region as understandable as the agitators had education and skills and yet they do not have jobs.
“There should be agitation by the youths but should we leave them with the agitation? There is this saying that where youths are cutting trees in the forest, the elders should caution them because they are the people who know where the tree will fall,” he added.
In his brief remark, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, lamented the unjust system of government run by President Buhari stressed that the South-East zone was not represented at the apex level of either the military or the police even as he asked federal government to obey an earlier court order compelling her to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
On the rule of law and fundamental human rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended, Ekweremadu who was displeased that, Kanu is still in detention insisted that he must have his day in court and if court orders his release, he must be released.
He said that without the inclusion of Ndigbo in governance, “there is no way there will be peace in Nigeria.”
While calling for the restructuring of the country, noting that if Nigeria’s democracy should thrive, the citizens should be ready to subject themselves to the basic rules of law.
“So long as we have unified economic structure, it cannot work. It is also important that all parts of the country are represented in the affairs of government. As we talk now, nobody from the South-East is among the security chiefs in Nigeria.
“I must say my mind because any part of country anywhere in the world that feels marginalized, that country cannot have peace and it is time for us to rethink and address the issue of marginalization and include all part of this country in the governance of this nation”.
The DSP who complained bitterly that his picture was not contained in the brochure for the programme disclosed that he was not at war with President Buhari, citing recent meetings he had had with the President.
“Put me in the programme. Nobody is going to arrest you. I have no problem with the president,” he said.
In his submission, former Secretary General of Commonwealth and Chairman of the occasion, Emeka Anyaoku, reiterated his call for the restructuring of Nigeria to have fewer and effective federating units for this country to have stability and faster pace of development.
“There is no need for Federal Government to periodically bail out any of the 36 non-viable units from dire financial conditions,” he said
Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State in his goodwill message lamented sorry state of the Federal Roads in the South East which he attributed to the devastation of the Civil War because earth tremors caused by the war equipment affected the texture of the land, thereby making it impossible for the roads to last.
He advised that good contractors should be invited to work on the roads in the South East for them to withstand the test of time before they deteriorate.
On his part, Gov. Ugwuanyi called on the federal government to make haste and repair failed federal roads in the South-east and re-imburse the states for embarking on the rehabilitation of the Federal roads in the zone.
Ugwuanyi lamented that his state is lacking revenue that should accrue from federal institutions like UNN, Federal Government College, Eha- Amufu and Orthopaedic Hospital which he said were owing tax returns to the tune of over N12. 9 billion.
The summit was attended by dignitaries such as the former vice president, Alex Ekwueme, Jim Nwobodo, Emeka Anyaoku, Frank Nweke jnr, Gen. Ihejirika, Ogbonnaya Onovo, Ken Nnamani, governors of Enugu, Ebony and Abia state, among others.
