From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The lawmaker representing Abia South Senatorial District, Abia State, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has claimed that the South East is the most disenfranchised and marginalised in Nigeria.
He argued that his submission stemmed from the constant threat of eviction of Igbo by other ethnic groups and the fact that the region has the least number of states compared to other regions.
He stated this at a book launched entitled: ‘The Power of Nothing’ written by Ikem Okuhu, a journalist, in Abuja.
The leader of the South East Caucus in the National Assembly expressed worry over the spate of nepotism and favouritism over merit and competence in the appointment of office holders in the country.
He said positions of authority should be given to people with the right qualifications and technical know-how for the development of the country.
Represented by the lawmaker representing Aba North and Aba South federal constituency of Abia State, Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, Abaribe said there was imbalance within the political environment.
“I am only pleased that the imbalance is beginning to be corrected because we have, to a very reasonable extend, I must applaud Mr. President for even handing over the position of the minister of works to someone from the South East, who has the technical qualification to hold such a position.
“We have to tell ourselves the truth. After the Igbo nation was ravaged in the civil war, the South East has been struggling politically and in every facet in the scheme of things.
“So, it would be slightly unintelligent to think or to assume that the South East has not been marginalised. Look at what happened during the #Endbadgovernance protest, the South East, as an endangered species, decided not to participate because we understood that if anything goes wrong, our shops would be burnt, our houses would be burnt and we would be asked to leave. Many of our people would be mobbed.
“This goes to show you that we are an endangered species. We need to do everything possible to support one another. The Igbo believe so much in the concept of nationalism, patriotism and progressivism.
“The Igbo man is the only person that can go to Bauchi (State), buy a piece of land, build shops, believing that Nigeria is one nation and we ought to protect our people.
“We also need to thank our brothers from the North, West, South for being receptive and accommodating to the Igbo. We must come together to believe in the Nigerian State.
“We must not appropriate positions based on ethnic or prebendal sentiments. We must appropriate positions based on meritocracy because when you do these things the person will have the essence of thinking and living.”
The Author, Ikem Okuhu, said he was inspired by optimism and outcome of the 2023 governorship election in Enugu State, which he claimed that the Labour Party (LP) won squarely.
“The book was first inspired by optimism. But it was sustained by a sense of unfortunate loss because I keep saying that we should not be where we are today.
“We embarked on that project because we were going to win it in Enugu State, and unfortunately, what happened happened and then I thought that the best way to do justice to history was to record history itself by telling the story as much as I experienced it to make sure that may be, it might help in correcting some of the anomalies and serve as information and knowledge purposes. But I needed to put it out there so that the truth and only the truth was spoken as far as my own experience was concerned.
“The truth is that the Labour Party won the governorship election in Enugu State. If you open the book, you will see the polling material results where obviously it was written by one person.
“You do not need a forensic expert to let you know that one person wrote the results and submitted it. The truth is that in the Nigerian legal system anybody who did not do his NYSC is not supposed to hold an elective position.
“The advice I am going to give INEC and the legal body is that whatever error they commit is suffered by you and I and other Nigerians on the street. Because when you have aggregated your hopes and put it on one person it becomes a travesty to have that thing harvested and handed over to somebody who did not deserve it,” Okuhu said.