Back in the village, there was this pathetic story of a woman in a polygamous family who was despised by her husband. The disdain was obvious and got to the point that, at a certain Christmas when eating rice was for the privileged, the husband, a rich man by the standard of the time, provided the item for the second wife. In a bid to catch up, the alienated wife, settled for garri and boiled it as if it was rice.
Her fellow wife and neighbours, of course, mocked her for the naivete. When, eventually, her son, who was on apprenticeship in the city, returned home with a bag of rice, among other goodies, she went into wild ululation, singing in typical Orlu dialect, ‘Ihe di woro Ogori, a gbaala n’ahia” (that which a husband denied the wife can be procured, after all).
This true-life story, is usually recounted to encourage the oppressed; to teach that every act of cruelty has an expiration date. It is an admonition of sort that, no matter how long the wheel of injustice and official conspiracy turns, there comes a time when truth, like the immortal Phoenix in the Greek mythology, will rise from the ashes of death and take its appropriate place.
You can only appreciate the analogy if you had followed the tortuous course it took the bill, which was recently assented to by President Bola Tinubu, creating the South East Development Commission (SEDC), to become a reality. We may need a little bit of flashback to situate the coming of the Commission. Until the 1967-1970 civil war, the South East, which was a component of the larger Eastern Region, had led the pace in all aspects of national development. In terms of infrastructure, human capital development and good governance, the zone provided the template for others to copy. The late Prof. Chinua Achebe captured the people in his concise book, “The Trouble with Nigeria,” as though not having advantage of early head-start, ‘wiped out their handicaps in one fantastic burst of energy in the 20 years between 1930 and 1950.” The result was phenomenal. By 1964, the zone was rated the fastest growing economy in the world by Harvard Reviews.
The meteoric speed in development was halted by the war, which ravaged the region, wasted the indigenes and left the survivors with scars of defeat. At the end of the war in 1970, the Federal Government had proclaimed the principles of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation (3Rs), which aimed at reintegrating the region to the rest of the country.
Unfortunately, none of the principles had been faithfully implemented. The South East has, rather, been facing serious marginalisation in terms of admission of indigenes to Unity Schools, higher institutions, employment into federal establishments, recruitment and advancement in the armed forces and paramilitary institutions as well as infrastructural development. To say the least, the zone has been left unattended to.
Fifty-four years after the war, the scares of the hostilities still exist in the region. Even in the politics of the country, the South East has not been favoured. Since the commencement of the present dispensation, the zone has not been found worthy to produce a President of the country.
This is the ground upon which the agitation for the SEDC can be understood. The clamour for the initiative had been long, having been introduced in the previous National Assembly but was not assented to by the then President, Muhammadu Buhari. The latest bill that culminated in the Act was sponsored by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu. And in a move at ensuring equity and fairness, the President Tinubu signed it into law on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
The Deputy Speaker was right in his remarks that “The South East Development Commission is a healing balm from President Tinubu to the region.” Tinubu deserves commendation for the action. Kalu, the arrowhead of the bill, is equally worthy of celebration. So also his colleagues from the South East and other parts of the country who made the law a reality.
The SEDC is to cater for the five South East states of Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Enugu, and Anambra. The commission will be charged with the responsibility to receive and manage funds from the allocation of the federation account for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, houses and other infrastructural damage suffered by the region as a result of the 1967-1970 civil war and other challenges.
The commission will also tackle the ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental shortfalls in the states. SEDC’s primary aim is to provide essential infrastructural facilities such as roads, bridges, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions. It is also to stimulate economic activities in the Southeast region by addressing historical neglect and disparities.
It won’t be out of place to argue that the coming of the SEDC is long overdue, given the existence of similar bodies like the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), in other regions of the country. All the same, its approval by the President is a welcome development. It is thus, apposite to chant; “Ihe di woro Ogori, a gbaala n’ahia” That which has been denied the region all along has finally come to it. But that also calls for more action from the Deputy Speaker, who initiated the bill, and the President, who signed it into law. The necessary financial enablement to back the enactment must be deployed to make the SEDC work. Kalu may need to do further work in ensuring that this happens.
He needs to pick from the immortal reflections of legendary Nelson Mandela, former South African President, in his great work, “Long walk to freedom”. Madiba wrote, “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb…I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.”
The Deputy Speaker needs to ponder on these words. His work has not ended. There are still many pains to be eased in the South East. He has started on a good note. Other leaders from the zone should join him in the noble efforts. Let the SEDC serve as a turning point in the story of the region, for good.