ELECTIONS 2015, came with some realities that are difficult to be understood by many Nigerians. For example, while GEJ and his ruling People Democratic Party, PDP,may feel betrayed by many of their supporters in the North and South west of Nigeria, GMB even in his victory, would be surprised, if not shocked by the gale of defections from the ruling party to his own party, following the announcement of the March 28 results, and the godly concession of victory by GEJ.
GMB will soon realise also, that the people who can really be trusted in Nigerian politics are the Igbos, who have remained predictable in every election, since we started our walk with democracy after the civil war.
From the NPN/NPP accord in 1980s to the present day PDP, Ndigbo had voted en-block in support of the North, who has continued to exploit the suspicion between the Igbos and Yorubas on one hand, and between Ndigbo and the South -South on the other hand, to dictate the pace and beat of Nigeria politics and leadership.
You may call it divide and rule tactics, but the last elections has more than any before it, re-echoed that times have changed, the game of Nigerian politics have brought some stack realities, with it, which Ndigbo refused to accept all the while.
Some of these stack realities as unpleasant as they may appear , include first, that ethnicity, religion and greed are the three main pillars of Nigerian politics.
The North voted massively for one of theirs in an election that was manipulated badly by the umpire, INEC under the leadership of a northerner. Even, members of the ruling PDP in the North voted for one of theirs GMB, in Bauchi, Kaduna, Plateau, and Niger against GEJ who was a Christian and perceived as an Igbo man by the North.
Second, the North has remained in their fear of an Igbo man, becoming President, 45 years after the civil war, but the Igbos painfully, have failed to accept and face this reality.
Governor Rochas Okorocha,of Imo, the only Igbo APC Governor, who boasted, that GMB promised to hand over power to him come 2019, will have realised by now, that it is what APC decides as a party will happen and not any of those merry- go- round electoral promises by GMB. They are now in power, and the rest is history! That is change!
No northern President will hand over power to you as an Igbo man, when you lack any political base, because you have the organised South West and North Central to contend with, and more importantly, you were defeated in a civil war, and your existence today is by a concession owed to General Yakubu Gowon, a northerner, who apparently from recent reports, still has issues against the avowed Igbo leader, late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu.
As clear as these issues appear to be, Ndigbo will not accept, face and deal with the political reality of it all.
Third, is that no ethnic group really likes the Ndigbo in Nigeria. With every due respect, Ndigbo, to other ethnic Nigerians, appear like the proverbial house fly that has perched on the scrotum. If you hit it hard you hurt yourself, and if you leave it you bear great discomfort.
In the North they call us “Nyamiri” , which means Nyem Mmiri, “give me water” an unfortunate reminder of the pleadings of the victims of the 1966 genocide, in Kano, Kaduna and most northern states. In the South West, they call us “Aje okuta ma mu omi” meaning “people who eat stones without drinking water”, in acknowledgement of the survival spirit of the Igbo man!
No matter how long the mangrove stays under water, it can never become a crocodile. Just like the Jew will remain a stranger no matter how long he lived in Egypt, so will an Igbo man remain a visitor, no matter how long he lives in Yoruba, Tiv, Idoma, Urhobo, Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio, Igbira or Housa Land in Nigeria. Ndigbo are afraid to accept and face this reality.
Fourth,is that the feeling among Ndigbo, of betrayal by the South Southerners during the civil war has worked more to the loss of both regions than any other fact. It has remained a weak link, that has been fully exploited by the North and South west since after that war.
Elections 2015, have merged them together, reinforcing their bonds, and it is about time, they opened their eyes to the potentials in their working and walking together. A common political base among them will give them 11 solid states, and with oil as bedrock, no one will overlook them or push them around any more in this country. The questions remain;will the South East and South- south team up to stop their detractors from driving sledge hammers in between their relationships ? And who will bail the cat?
The South East, and South South can close their eyes and develop a deep sea port that will serve both regions in Bayelsa state, which has one of the deepest sea port potentials in sub-saharan Africa.
If United Arab Emirates could create a world class deep sea port from the desert in Dubai, why can’t we have same to serve the Lower Niger Area in Bayelsa? They can also muster the resources to standard rail lines and transportation systems, also, without the monthly federal allocations.
I do not yet see why the Ndigbo who refined their own oil during the war within one year, cannot wake up and build three or more refineries borrowing ideas from Singapore, that has no oil, but operate twelve refineries.
Why can’t Ndigbo close their eyes to this cursed oil money of Nigeria, and focus on reforming their agriculture, and industrial revolution, by a deliberate shift from importation to manufacturing?
Let Igbo land be the source of eggs and poultry, sheep, goats, piggery, and aquatic agriculture for the West African sub region.
We can surely do it, if we can shut our minds and doors, and call the bluff of the north, and all that.
Mr. Clement Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.
source:vanguard
Exactly...God bless this writer
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