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The South East geopolitical zone has, for several decades, continued to carry the toga of the most marginalised region in Nigeria, a perception that has persisted across successive federal governments, including the All Progressives Congress (APC) administrations that preceded the current one.
The marginalisation, which has assumed an alarming dimension for an average South Easterner, has reflected in the neglect of the zone in appointive and elective offices at the federal level and in the deplorable, impassable and deathtrap state of the roads in almost all parts of the zone.
For several years, unending complaints about collapsed roads and bridges, continually claiming hundreds of innocent lives, and several projects abandoned after elaborate ceremonial flag offs, fell regrettably on deaf ears. It became even more worrisome with the deliberate distancing of the region from the main corridors of power, despite being populated by persons of high intellectual capacity and competent industrialists.
The bitterness deepened when some South East state governments avoided federal infrastructure projects, majorly due to differences in party affiliation and alignment. The hostility reached an intolerable level when South Easterners threw their full weight behind former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, as the Labour Party presidential candidate during the 2023 general elections, in desperation to actualise the long awaited expectation of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction.
The narrative, however, appears to be shifting, at least in part. Reports from some states in the geopolitical zone confirm federal government presence, particularly in ongoing or completed landmark infrastructural projects, suggesting that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led APC administration is making some effort to address the long standing deficit. Yet analysts and civil society voices within the zone caution that the jury is still out on whether what is unfolding represents genuine and sustained federal commitment to the South East, or a politically motivated charm offensive designed to win votes ahead of the 2027 general elections.
From Ebonyi to Enugu to Abia, evidence of federal and state government activity is visible on the ground. A recent inspection tour by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors’ National Media team visited three South East states and documented a range of projects at various stages of completion.
In Abia State, the projects inspected include the 67.6km Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Akara-Ohafia road, the Ohafia-Umuahia federal road, the Omenuko bridge along the Ohafia-Umuahia corridor, the Renewed Hope Housing Estate in Umuahia comprising 1,200 housing units, the Nnenna Oti Bus Terminal in Umuahia, and the Abia section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.
In Enugu, the team inspected the concessioned Akanu Ibiam International Airport, the 40km Owo-Ubahu-Amankanu-Umualor-Ikem dual carriageway, the Tractor Assembling and Servicing Plant, the Smart Green School, Technical and Vocational Education Training College, the Enugu International Hospital, Command and Control Centre, and the International Conference Centre.
Governor Peter Mbah acknowledged the support the Tinubu administration has extended to the state, noting that improved FAAC allocations had enabled his administration to undertake projects that would have been impossible for his predecessor. “I can boldly say that some of the achievements we have recorded would not have been possible without those supports from President Tinubu to the sub nationals through his courageous and bold policies,” he said.
However, some analysts within the zone counsel that the momentum needs to be sustained beyond the election cycle if it is to translate into the kind of transformative development the zone has long awaited. They note that improved FAAC allocations, while welcomed, also reflect the higher revenue yields that followed the fuel subsidy removal, the economic impact of which continues to be felt by ordinary Nigerians across all regions.
In Ebonyi, both the federal government and Governor Francis Nwifuru have undertaken several projects, including the Vanco Junction Flyover and Tunnel Bridge, an ICT University in Izzi, an Aeronautic and Aerospace University in Ezza South, a housing estate, the 24km Umuogudu Osha-NIGERCEM road, and the redevelopment of the International Trade Centre into a 182-bed hotel.
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Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, described the Calabar-Ebonyi-Benue Trans-Saharan Superhighway as a colonial era dream revived by President Tinubu, and noted that several road projects long abandoned or unconceived had been initiated under the Renewed Hope Agenda. “The road is an investment corridor that will catalyse trade in agricultural produce like cassava, yams, cashews and palm oil from Cross River, Benue and Ebonyi, while also connecting Nigeria to Cameroon,” he said.
Umahi also highlighted the N35 billion Onueke Flyover in Ebonyi Central Senatorial District, designed to decongest the Enugu-Abakaliki highway, standing 90 metres high and flanked by a 2.2km road on both sides.
The presidency’s communications team was unequivocal in its endorsement of the president’s efforts.
Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, argued that the evidence on the ground makes criticism of the administration’s record in the South East difficult to sustain. “Governance is about evidence, and the evidential processes have shown clearly that the federal government is delivering,” he said.
Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, added that the scale of FAAC receipts flowing to South East states under the current administration had liberated state governments from dependence on bank borrowing. “The president is actually doing well, especially in the area of road infrastructure, which has never happened in this country,” he said.
Some residents in parts of Ebonyi and Abia, while acknowledging the visible federal presence, note that the pace of work on certain roads has been slow, and call for sustained attention to ensure that projects currently under construction are completed within a reasonable timeframe rather than added to the long list of abandoned federal initiatives that have historically characterised the zone’s experience.
There is also the broader question of continuity. Political analysts in the zone note that with the 2027 presidential election approaching, the renewed federal attention to the South East presents both an opportunity and a test of sincerity for the administration. If the projects under way are completed and maintained regardless of electoral outcomes, the Tinubu administration will have gone a long way towards rewriting the South East’s history of federal neglect
Senator Umahi made the political stakes clear when he declared that Ebonyi electorate would support President Tinubu in 2027, describing Obi’s victory in the state during the 2023 presidential election as “an accident of history” that would not repeat itself.
What is beyond dispute is that infrastructure projects are being executed in parts of the South East under the current administration, and that the scale of federal activity in the zone is more visible today than it has been in many years. What the people of the region now hope is that the pace, scope and sustainability of these interventions will prove commensurate with the depth of the zone’s long standing infrastructure deficit, and that the projects being executed today will outlast any electoral season to deliver lasting value to the communities they serve.
The South East, which has waited decades for genuine federal attention, has reason for cautious optimism. The projects on the ground are real. The test will be in their completion and the commitment that follows.
