Magnus Eze, Enugu
Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Uche Okwukwu has been in the news since he disagreed with the President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Chief Nnia Nwodo, over the adoption of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, as preferred choice for Ndigbo in the just held polls.
He later led some other Igbo leaders to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa where they endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari.
Okwukwu in this interview talked about the Igbo Charter of Demands to be presented to Buhari; Senate Presidency for the South East, why the agitation for Biafra would not end soon and other issues. Excerpts:
How will you react to the allegation that you are a black leg to Ndigbo?
I have reacted severally on the issue and don’t see any need to belabour it. I learnt that one boy who said he’s the Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo was making some comments about me. But we made predictions; Nwodo said that Atiku would win and I said Buhari would win. Now, have I not been vindicated? We’ve seen the difference; and I said that Buhari will get 25 per cent of votes in Igbo-speaking states. He got 25 per cent in Delta, Rivers, Abia, Imo, Ebonyi, but he didn’t get 25 per cent in Anambra and Enugu. So, why would I be bothering myself? I also said that the Igbo should have the Presidency in 2023; but those who want Atiku are postponing it to 2027 or beyond. I am rational; whatever I do in life I do it out of principle. Nnia Nwodo asked Atiku to go to court; but traditional rulers in the country, including those from Igbo land urged him not to go to court. So, he has his own personal agenda that he’s pursuing which is not even in the interest of Ndigbo.
How would you react to the endorsement and counter endorsement of PDP and APC candidates in Lagos by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo?
You see, Nwodo caused all these. If Nwodo had kept quiet, this crisis would not have erupted. He started with endorsing Atiku, which I said would not fly and I had to save Ndigbo by saying that what he was doing was wrong. He has endorsed Jimi Agbaje of PDP in Lagos while the Ohanaeze Ndigbo there adopted APC’s Babajide Sanwo-Olu; even Ndi Eze Igbo led by Eze Nwachukwu also endorsed Sanwo-Olu. So, it’s not only Uche Okwukwu now; he is causing crisis everywhere. He should have remained neutral and blessed anybody that approached him for his blessings, but he went and took side. Now that he said he has disowned what Ohanaeze President of Lagos said; will he sack the man? Politics is local; you cannot stay outside Yoruba land and tell Igbo people who live there how to live. They wear the shoes and know where they pinch. If an Igbo man in Lagos said he would vote for Atiku and was harmed; what will he do? You can speak for the people all over; localities have their peculiar challenges. What I had expected from him was to be more diplomatic in this confusion. Have you asked Nwodo who he supported in 1979/83; did he support Nnamdi Azikiwe? He supported Shehu Shagari while the majority of Ndigbo supported Zik. That was how he became minister by sabotaging the Igbo.
Don’t you think that these endorsements and counter endorsements have really polarised Ndigbo?
It has not polarised anything; people must be courageous to take a stand. I always take stand based on principle. They think that Agbaje would win in Lagos; it’s not possible, Sanwo-Olu would be elected. Elections were held on February 23 and three senators emerged from the APC and they got most of the House of Representatives seats, so how will Agbaje win Asiwaju Tinubu’s choice?
Give some insight into the Igbo charter of demands that you would be presenting to President Buhari?
Ndigbo can’t be left of development. The other regions are having modern rail guage. Oil is a perishable endowment, so we want them to develop Igbo land too before the oil finishes. We want them to develop modern rail gauge from Port Harcourt to Elele-Owerri-Nnewi and Onitsha so that our people too can travel with ease and also move their goods and services. They should put our roads in order; the Enugu-Port Harcourt Road; they should put our seaports in order so that our people can import through Calabar or Port Harcourt. That’s the kind of demand we should be making. Under a democracy, the people should write to make demand. And even as Atiku has gone to court; this matter may not end in the next two years. He has the right to go to court, but he knows he would not win. How many votes will they cancel; four million votes to make Atiku president? They think they can deceive a race. He supported Atiku and his candidate lost. It shows he’s not a visionary leader. If I may ask; are the Igbo ministers with Buhari black legs – Chris Ngige, Ogbonnaya Onu and the rest? Are Orji Uzor Kalu, Emeka Offor, Arthur Eze and others black legs? If so, it means that anybody who does not agree with Nwodo is a black leg.
Since Buhari talked about inclusive government in his second term; would you support zoning of Senate President to the South East?
My brother, the APC has the majority in the National Assembly; they will choose their Senate President; Speaker, Deputy Senate President, Deputy Speaker and other principal officers. They have majority so they don’t need to go into alliance with anybody to produce officers of the National Assembly. Let me tell you; nobody is excluding anybody. The Igbo are the ones excluding themselves. We’ve been excluding ourselves, we knew that Buhari was going to win and we deliberately went to the opposition party because of the likes of Nwodo. They knew that Buhari was going to win that election; you didn’t even need a prophet to tell you, so all they need is to be realistic and the issue of Service Chiefs; nobody takes an enemy to make Service Chief. It’s not possible; there are three things you can’t joke with as a man. You cannot just take anybody as your security man, your driver and your steward because your life depends on them. If you’re in a position today; these aides must be people very close to you as a man. You could even go to your mother’s village to get a driver, steward and security man because these are things that determine your life. Politics is coming again in 2023, so, it’s important that we do the needful by playing our card well. To me, it’s the party that will determine the principal officers in the National Assembly; the National Assembly will take that decision based on the party leaning. I am aware that the Southeast so far has two APC senators – Orji Uzor Kalu and Rochas Okorocha. They are first time senators even though Orji had been to House of Representatives before (which makes him a ranking officer). So, they will go there and contest it. Let’s go there and lobby and fight it out; in politics, you lobby, you negotiate. You cannot really influence anything from outside, you cannot influence, I cannot influence; both of them inside will do the lobbying and can engage other groups and explain why the Igbo will want to be principal officers of the House.