Nigeria at crossroads

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” – Benjamin Franklin

Nigeria is still in the process of installing another government, following the successful conclusion of its general election. In just a few hours hence, the ninth National Assembly shall be inaugurated and we would have fully commenced a new regime of leadership, as another crop of leaders take positions to steer the ship of the Nigerian state in the next four years, as President Muhammadu Buhari took his oath of office penultimate Wednesday, May 29.

The first charge of the lawmakers after their inauguration is to elect their own leaders. No doubt, this has generated very intense interest for obvious reasons. Whereas the position of the Senate President, which the majority party, All Progressives Congress (APC) ceded to the Nort-East, has not raised much hoopla, except jostling among senators from the area, that of the Speaker of House of Representatives is in hot contention by the South-East,  South-West and North-Central.

People are baffled that the APC leadership could even consider South-West, which has already produced the Vice President, for the position since not all the zones, particularly the South-East, have got their legs inside the mainstream political leadership of the country yet.

It should, therefore, concern all sections and peoples of this country to rise up and say no to greed and selfishness and stop South-East’s exclusion from decision-making for the country. If they don’t, nobody should forget that both evil and good are cyclic in nature. It may be the turn of South-East today to be alienated, but  whose turn it will be next is buried deep in the womb of the future.

Though you may be ensconced in your cocoon, safe and comfortable, the evil you refuse to tackle today may well be your nemesis tomorrow. So, all true Nigerians who do not want to partake in the brazen bludgeoning of truth and conscience, should remember what Benjamin Franklin wisely pointed out above.

The leadership of the ruling APC should not prevaricate anymore but take a decisive stand on the side of equity and justice. They have no justifiable reason not to openly declare their support for the South-East to produce the Speaker of the Green Chamber.

In fact, the outcome of this contest will determine whether the South-East is still regarded as part of this country or not. It is unfortunate that a matter that should have been easily resolved was allowed to rouse such frenzy.

Only the South-East is yet to be in the top echelon of leadership of this country, going by the zoning arrangement of the APC, and people of good conscience are asking why.

Mr. President is from the North-West; the Vice President is from the South-West; North-East is slated to produce the Senate President while the South-South has been settled with the deputy Senate president, with the chairman of the APC, which is already in their kitty. Therefore, the Speaker should naturally come to the South-East, while the deputy Speaker should go to the North-central.

The South-East has even presented a rare breed as its candidate in the person of Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, fondly called HCN. This prodigiously endowed young man is what Nigeria needs at the moment. A pan-Nigerian politician with amazing network of friends across party lines and regions, HCN holds a doctorate degree in law. He was in the House between 1999 and 2003 before making an unsuccessful bid for the governorship of Imo State under Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). A Buharist to the core, Nwajiuba was chairman, Committee for Works, and excelled in his assignment such that the United Nations study singled him out for praise. Even in his present position as chairman of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, only garlands of honour have trailed his exceptional stewardship.

Nwajiuba has no ominous cloud hanging over his head, unlike some with perjury and fraudulent charges in court. He is free to travel to any part of the world, including the United States. His integrity is an open secret and he does not go about deceiving people that he is what he is not. These, certainly, are credentials befitting the country’s Number Four citizen.

It is laughable that some morally unreliable people are throwing blackmail into the mix, claiming that HCN is not a member of APC and so cannot lead the House where the party is in majority.

Arrant nonsense! HCN does not belong to Accord Party, as being insinuated. Even during the campaigns, when he was flying the Accord Party ticket, he never denied his roots. Nwajiuba is APC to the core and everybody knows it. It was only in a bid to beat the landmines laid by Governor Rochas Okorocha in Imo that led to his association with Accord Party, under special arrangement. Okorocha insisted on foisting all manner of cronies upon Imo people, which was stoutly resisted.

In Nwajiuba’s case, the former governor insisted that the incumbent lawmaker, Hon. Chike Okafor, must return to the House, against existing tradition in the Okigwe South Federal Constituency where the representation alternates among the three component local governments, Ehime Mbano, Ihitte Uboma and Etiti. The matter got so charged and when Okorocha and his cohorts contrived a scheme that was inimical to the yearnings of the people, Nwajiuba saw the writing on the wall and reached an understanding with Accord Party to fly their flag.

He never left APC. It was only a marriage of convenience for which one is very grateful because just as HCN feared, judging by how the governor and his gang were running and ruining the Imo APC, the courts eventually cancelled the candidature of Okafor, even after they had successfully manipulated the elections to declare him winner. However, God being ever alive, Nwajiuba got his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission, through the court, which threw Okafor out. In fact, Nwajiuba’s emergence is a divine intervention, which all men of conscience with the fear of God must not overlook. It is a lesson for godfathers and those who lap their evil deeds. It also clearly shows that those who trust so much in transient power are not wise. So, anybody saying Nwajiuba is not an APC member is either being mischievous or economical with the truth.

Nwajiuba’s campaign for Speakership is woven around the elegantly crafted slogan, “APC with One Accord,” which has won the admiration of most of the members-elect. Its creativity has drawn so much attention and boosted the immense goodwill, which the emerging Cicero of our time already enjoys across regional and party lines. The Accord Party is being thrown into the fray by jittery opposition, who feel threatened by he gale of Nwajiuba’s swirling acceptance.

Nigeria is at a crossroads and the course it takes today will impact negatively or positively on its nationhood. The Igbo have been consistently denied their rightful dues in this country and, as they say, egbe bere, ugo bere (let the hawk perch, let the eagle also perch). It is evil to deny either bird a place to perch. Indeed, but for greed and selfishness, Nigeria’s skyline is wide enough to accommodate all component units. Doing otherwise can only lead to crisis.