- Says Igbo politicians not errand boys
From Stanley Uzoaru Owerri
As the controversy of the zoning of the leadership of the Upper chamber of the National Assembly rages on, Igbo youths under the aegis of the Coalition of the South East Youth Leaders,(COSEYL) have insisted that the position be zoned the South East.
Addressing a world press conference on Monday, President General of COSEYL, Goodluck Ibem maintained that the zone will not accept anything less than the senate presidency.
COSEYL, while giving reasons on their stand said Ndigbo has long been relegated to the background, especially in the politics of the nation, and asserted that they can never be shelved around like errand boys
He said “Giving the Igbo the 7th position at a time when after 8 years in office, no Igbo person had been in the principal positions of the Ninth Assembly, or had been appointed to the top position of the military and other security agencies nor in the NNPC and elsewhere under the APC-led federal government is exclusionary.
“This represents an insult and affront to the Igbo and what we represent as a group.
Emphasising on the slot of the deputy speaker the All Progressives Congress (APC) has zoned to the southeast, and the youths described it as embarrassing and an insult to the zone.
Ibem stated, “In the history of Nigeria, the Igbo have never been consigned nor relegated to irrelevance as is being done now, and it beats our imagination that some faceless group will accept this for pecuniary gains”.
“It has come to the notice and knowledge of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the apex sociopolitical youth group in the South East, that a phoney, little-known group by the name “Center for Excellence and Performance in Governance, CEPG is parading itself as a watchdog and avant-garde of the crusade to make the Igbo settle for less in the so-called zoning of the APC National Assembly principal positions.
“This was evident in a release where they argued, among other things, that having moved a specific number of motions and sponsored some bills, Hon Ben Kalu, who was proposed as the Deputy Speaker, should be considered as a reward due the South East in terms of zoning of political offices.
“We ask CEPG which of the bills Benjamin Kalu personally sponsored, have been signed into law, And how many if any, have improved the lot of the Igbo race or the South East?
“COSEYL has standards, and has continued to pursue these in line with justice and inclusion as they may have to do with the South East in the Nigerian political landscape, and will therefore not join issues with some faceless dissemblers who are mostly uninitiated of history operating in opaqueness.
“We make bold to remind this group, whatever name called, and whoever is supporting them, that the Igbo are and have always remained larger than the number six or seven position if it comes to sharing of spoils – regarding offices.
” Population nor spread did not make us, and so nothing makes that permutation workable if in the scale of justice. For one, more than many ethnic nationalities in Nigeria, the Igbo are a homogenous group occupying a geopolitical zone (the entire South East) spanning other regions and should be given priority along this line.
“Giving the Igbo the 7th position at a time when after 8 years in office, no Igbo person had been in the principal positions of the Ninth Assembly, or had been appointed to the top position of the military and other security agencies nor in the NNPC and elsewhere under the APC-led federal government is exclusionary. This represents an insult and affront to the Igbo and what we represent as a group.
In the history of Nigeria, the Igbo have never been consigned nor relegated to irrelevance as is being done now, and it beats our imagination that some faceless group will accept this for pecuniary gains.
“Nine years after the civil war, an Igbo son, Dr Alex Ekwueme, was elected as Vice President under the NPN. In 1999, upon the return to democracy in the current republic (Fourth Republic), the Igbo were awarded the third position as a senate president and have continued to hold offices like that of the army chief, manning the economy and finance of the nation until the current APC government.
“Even recently, during the APC primary election, Dr Ogbonnaya Ọnụ recalled how he got nothing as a reward after registering for APC with his money. This is how a region, if recourse to history is not taken, can be relegated and a majority made minority”. Ibem said.
He continued “This is a huge embarrassment to Igbo sons like the great Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe who fought so hard with his NPP to relaunch the Igbo into the political orbit of the Nigerian state after the war; Dr Sam Mbakwe, who fought the “abandoned property saga” through pro bono service; even Dr Michael Okpara, the premier of what used to be Eastern region, and Dr Akanụ Ibiam, the former governor of the old Eastern Region.
“That all these men fought to reposition the Igbo before, during and after the war, yet a faceless group, just because of “a mess of pottage” and crumbs, will leave the bigger picture to chase narrow blurry vision means a slap in their faces.
“Of what significance is the post of the Deputy Speaker to one of the most populous ethnic nationalities in Nigeria whose contribution to the nation’s independence, liberation and even emergence is not in doubt? We call on all well-meaning Igbo to join their voice in the campaign for the leadership of the Tenth Assembly.
“We move that the position of the Senate President be zoned to South East and we urge all Senators to support us to achieve this ambition at the Tenth Assembly; it is not beyond the Igbo, and it is not too much to ask for because as a region the South East has continued to get little after giving much.
“We are aware of a senseless corrigendum making the rounds in the media signed by one Okwu Nnabuike entitled “Tenth Assembly: We are not Ingrates.” It is such a shame that some Igbo youth had been bought over or have sold their souls like the proverbial Faust.
“We make bold to state that this faceless and fake Ohanaeze Youth group does not and can never represent the South East agenda because of their parochial goal to support Hon. Benjamin Kalu.
“The role of a legislator has three areas: representation, lawmaking and oversight, and so nobody can educate COSEYL on which legislator has bettered the other as a lawmaker when already we know the indices. The goal is collective, not personal,” Ibem stated.