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By Desmond Mgbo
Chief Chikezie Nwogu is the President – General, Igbo Delegate Assembly in the 19 northern states and Abuja. The Assembly consists of all the state chapters of the Igbo Committee Associations (ICA) in the North. In this interview, the community leader stressed the need for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2023. He also charged Igbo in the North to step up and get their voters cards, saying the dream for an Igbo Presidency starts with their voters cards.
Chief Nwogu, however, insisted that Igbo votes alone cannot do the miracle while counseling Igbo presidential aspirants to hurry to the North to sell their policies and endear themselves to the people of the region.
As a community leader, how would you assess the condition of Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria in the recent years?
Well, let me start by giving thanks and glory to God Almighty. It has not been easy for our people in the region, but speaking on a general scale, I will like to admit that our people, Ndigbo in the North, have done well for themselves and in the circumstances they found themselves. Of course, like all other Nigerians resident in this region, we are faced with the same challenges of hunger, high cost of living, spiraling inflation, absence of infrastructure in the place we predominantly live, insecurity, unemployment issues for our children, access to quality education and the rest of developmental challenges in Nigeria. But again, I am impressed at our courage, determination and our resolve to overcome. That spirit is always there. You must not forget that unlike the members of the host’s state who are supported by their state governments with different forms of palliatives, social welfare programmes, empowerments and employment opportunities, our people, who are not native to these states are left entirely to their luck and to their fate. Beyond the facelifts by these governors which are meant for the camera and headlines, there is nothing much that is happening in favour of the non – indigenes, especially Igbo people in terms of government attempts to help them out. Even the little they are able to achieve on their own is typically under daily threat from policy actors at the state and local government levels. On the brighter note, there have been less inter- ethnic or inter- religious tensions and disputes in many parts of the North of late, meaning that we have had more cordial relationships, more understanding with our host. I must appreciate the efforts of some of the Northern state governors like our own in Kano, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. He and his colleagues have been proactive and that has been responsible for the peaceful atmosphere we are all enjoying. Our general relationship with our own home -state governments, South- East governors could really, really be improved upon. We desire more support, more engagement and more communication from our respective state governments in the East and South –south states. They should not forget that we who are resident in the North, even though we live here of our own choice, we are not truly carried along in terms of the distribution of the benefits of democracy. What we have noticed is that the state governors identify their indigenes, separate them from residents and support them exclusively. And you can’t really blame them for that.
The impression is that Igbo, especially those outside Igbo land, have a carefree attitude towards politics. They feel that their votes do not count and therefore they do not even bother to register. How do you see this trend?
Well, again you are almost correct when you said that we essentially do not play our due part in the political process leading to the emergence of Nigeria’s President and governors and elective offices. But this is as a result of several factors beyond our immediate control, some of which you had started mentioning. Not going into the reasons of our poor political altitude, let me say that the trend has started changing. Our people in the North are now more and more conscious, more politically aware than they were before now. You were in Kano during the last 2019 elections. Those of us who did not travel to our home states, a majority of us came out and voted. We stood on the line and voted until it was counted. I believe that if there is no threat to peace in the North – which is usually the cause of our flight away from our base-, Igbo people would stay back in their respective states, register and cast their votes in the North. I want to assure you that we are already mobilizing our people from all corners of the North against travelling during the next elections. They should not leave their states of residence, where they are registered for the elections. We are talking to them.
I therefore want to use the opportunity of this interview to appeal to South Easterners and their brothers from the South- south resident in the North to get their voters card ahead of the elections. I also wish to appeal to our elite, the educated class to educate and enlighten the less educated ones on the need to register and be qualified to vote in 2023. Your vote is your power. This has been said again and again. Don’t wait till it is late, don’t wait till some other region has won the elections and produced the president of Nigeria before you start complaining. Don’t wait. Complain today with your voters cards. I know that we have over 11 million Igbo people in Northern Nigeria. This is a very huge population. We are second largest population of communities resident in Northern Nigeria; we are second to the host communities, be it in Jos, Kano, Maiduguri and even Kaduna. If we could pull our people together and convert our numbers into votes and cast the votes accordingly, Igbo people would produce the next President of Nigeria.
There has been an agitation for an Igbo President or a President of Nigeria, but of Igbo extraction. How do you see the struggle and the chances of an Igbo man becoming the President of Nigeria in 2023?
Everything has its time. I, for one, believe that an Igbo President in Nigeria is long overdue. Interestingly, the Igbo people have been supportive of other regions producing the presidents in the past. I sincerely hope the beneficiaries of the Igbo good turn would return this gesture in 2023. Apart from fairness and justice for all, which an Igbo man in Aso Rock represents, I think an Igbo Presidency would counter the claims of those who say that Nigerians do not want an Igbo president. It would help manage the agitations of our youths who do not understand why their own cannot rule Nigeria, and why they are made to be ruled by other Nigerians. We also cannot deny the fact that an Igbo man is very productive and enterprising. An Igbo man as President would favor Nigeria a great deal, it would end the troubles and the leadership problem that have been afflicting the country through the years. Let me use the medium to thank our Baba, President Muhammadu Buhari. We all know that he is a man of justice and fairness.
I want to appeal to him and his cabinet to support an Igbo President, to support an Igbo man to succeed him. I am satisfied that his body language has clearly shown that he would support an Igbo president. All that is left is for the Igbo man himself to single out himself. To those Igbo politicians striving for the presidential positions of their political parties, let me encourage them to come over to the North and relay their aspirations and in fact, beg the North for their support and votes. The North and its people are not as difficult as that or as many of us are thinking of them. They are understanding and cooperative people. We have been living with them over the years. What a typical Northerner wants from you is acknowledgement; he wants you to recognize him and respect him and his values. That is what the Yoruba people have been doing better than us over the years to win the heart of the North. Come over and sell your agenda and policies to the Hausa man and lobby him, assure him and his leaders. This would surely ease his doubts and douse his fear that the North would be disadvantaged under an Igbo Presidency. Come over and visit and sit with the Emirs, visit the Islamic clerics and celebrate their culture. My brother, let me tell you something that you may have noticed too. Do you know how many times Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has visited Kano of late? Tinubu has been to Kano several times. He comes to Kano for condolences. He comes over for wedding ceremonies. In fact, he almost celebrated his last birthday in Kano. Our number two man, Professor Osinbajo has been coming to Kano like his second home. He seizes every opportunity, official and non- official to visit Kano and many parts of the North. Apart from Pharmacist Sam and the other guy, Moghalu, not many of our Igbo presidential aspirants have been to the North to consult with the people here. For heaven’s sake, you cannot stay in Abuja and be consulting with the North and its people. Identify their political icons, their religious leaders and their media influencers and consult with them for power-shift.
We have just had an election in Anambra State, and Professor Chukwuma Soludu has been sworn- in as the governor. What are your expectations?
First and foremost, let me congratulate him on his elections as the governor of Anambra State and let me say this on behalf of Igbo people in the North. His election was one that captured our interests and imagination, not only because of the competitiveness of the election, but because of the unique position of Anambra State to the rest of the states in the East. So, with the election of Soludo, I will say that a majority of the Igbo people in the North, if you sample their positions, you will realize that they are happy the way the election went. It was peaceful, the transition from one governor to the other was successful and the choice of the people was not undermined in any way. There is this saying that, “To whom much is given; much is expected”. I know that Soludo understands the immense weight of the responsibility he is assigned to undertake and would not in any way betray his people. So far, he has started well by striving to end the sit –at- home stuff. He has also started well by his preference for made- in -Nigeria items; he has started well by identifying with the poorest of the people of Anambra State and he has started rather well by reviewing a number of tax issues in the state. But he has so much before him and I am sure that as the days turn to weeks, he would still be coming up with policies that would endear to his people. For us in the North, we are mostly traders as you know. If I am to meet Soludo today, what will I tell him? I will implore him to initiate and sustain policies that would enhance trade. That is where we are. Anambra is at the heart of trading activities in Igboland and I am sure that most of the businesses owned by Igbo men want to have strong branches in Onitsha or in Awka. We want to set up branches in the East and help generate employment for our people. But we also demand the setting up of an enabling environment to prosper our trade. That means that the present level of insecurity that exists in Anambra State must begin to drop. It means also that all obstacles to business development must be addressed, market infrastructures must be initiated, transparent tax system must be established and incentives must be put in place for traders and market people, especially for those of us who are returning from the North to open up our branches. Like I said earlier, Soludo will succeed. He has got all the experiences on his side, including the advantage of age and I believe that he cannot afford to fail at this point.
Only a few days ago, there was a terror attack on the Abuja- Kaduna train, resulting in loss of lives and abduction of many by the terrorists. What is your view on the rate of insecurity in the region?
Let me, on behalf of our people, Ndigbo in Northern Nigeria and Abuja commiserate with the families of the victims who died in the unfortunate terror attack. It is most unfortunate. I feel shocked, I feel a deep pain within me over the incident and I pray that our Almighty Father would console the broken hearts of the deceased family members.. I want to also pray that God would heal the wounded, who are currently on admission in hospitals and different medical facilities as a result of the terror -attack. On a general scale, the rate of insecurity, not just in the North, but to some extent, across Nigeria, is very worrisome. What is happening to us? Where did we go wrong? Daily, the horizon is filled with stories of blood, abductions of innocent Nigerians from their homes and on the streets. It is startling, it is bad, it is fearful..Both the host communities and we, the non- indigenes in the North, we are all in this uncertainty together. The reoccurring killings and chilling cases of abduction every day are overwhelming and we can only pray for the situation to be addressed as soon as possible. I am sure that President Muhammadu Buhari has done so much in tackling the problem of insecurity in the region over the years, but the fact that problem has persisted means that whatever that has been done or implemented by the government is not good enough. It is good okay! But it is not yet good enough. And we want it to be good enough. I wish to humbly appeal to the security agencies, who are directly involved in the operations, to redouble their might and efforts and flush out the bandits from the different forests of the North. They have been hard working and we are proud of them. But now is the time to end this nightmare. The members of the respective communities and towns and villages in the North should also do better to identify strangers in the midst and report to the security once they encounter these people by chance.
