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From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Chief Abia Onyike, a veteran Journalist, activist and politician is the General Secretary of Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF)- a frontline pan-Igbo organisation and Think Tank. He is a former Commissioner for Information in Ebonyi State and former Special Adviser on Media Relations to the Governor. In this interview, Onyike bares his mind on Ebonyi politics, the South East and other national issues.
You have been silent on happenings in the polity for sometime now. What happened?
The fact is that I just found myself getting somewhat reticent because Nigeria’s problems seem to be going haywire. Politicians, activists and social commentators like us also get tired because of the strange turn of events. But all the same, we cannot run away from our challenges. I have never shied away from interrogating pertinent questions on burning social issues. Let us hope that 2025 would be a more inspiring year than the last one, God willing.
We heard that you recently defected from the PDP to the APC. What led to your decision?
Yes, I moved back to the APC because that was my original party before October, 2020 when the former Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief David Umahi suddenly crossed over to APC. I was in APC when I supported Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji against the second term bid of Umahi in 2019. I was vocal in my criticism of Umahi’s style of leadership in the state which was based on his annexation and colonisation of the state which led to the destitution of the public service. So, when he went over to APC in October, 2020, I didn’t feel comfortable remaining in the same party with him. Moreover, in this part of the world, it is not the name of the party that matters. What matters is the make-up of the party-the individuals who are in the party. One charismatic leader can change the fortunes of a political party for good overnight. I left the APC to PDP on the promptings of some leaders I respected such as Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim, the former Senate President and Sen. Obinna Ogba. But unfortunately, the PDP ran into murky waters and its internal crises exploded to the point of no return. These leaders I mentioned left the PDP to APC. I later followed suit on November 13, 2024. I can say further that my decision to re-join APC was based on certain political calculations which are local in nature because every politics is local, as they say. Secondly, I decided to join APC to identify with the genuine people-oriented policies embarked upon by the current Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru.
As one of those who supported the struggle for the creation of the state and shared in the deep vision of the founding fathers, I can attest to the fact that Nwifuru has embarked on the restoration of good governance in the state. Peace and tranquility have returned to the state and the hitherto troubled communities.
The former American Secretary of State, Dr. Henry Kissinger once said that “qualitative leadership was fundamental in shaping the destinies of peoples, nations and communities all over the world.” So, the leadership factor should not be underrated in nation building.
2027 is miles away and some people are already talking about the re-election of Gov. Francis Nwifuru. Don’t you think it is too early for that?
To a large extent, that is correct. The masses are already talking of 2027. But I read in the news where Nwifuru himself stated that it was too early for anybody to start talking about 2027. I absolutely agree with him because we are still in the period of delivering the dividends of democracy to the people. However, you cannot stop the masses from expressing their candid aspirations because of where they are coming from. Considering the barrage of people-centred policies which Nwifuru has unleashed on the populace, there is that frenzy that such a man should be given sufficient time to be in the saddle of the people’s government. He has started delivering in the important sectors of health, education, human capital development, economic empowerment and youth employment. The opportunities denied the civil servants have been restored and people are in celebration mood. How many governors in Nigeria gave N150,000 to each civil servant for their end of year celebrations? Just on January 18 this year, 204 post-graduate students of Ebonyi State origin were on an Air Peace flight from the Ebonyi Airport to Lagos en-route Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom for their Masters and Doctorate degree scholarship programme. It was such a ground-breaking and inspiring ceremony which shows Nwifuru’s class as a man looking at the future of the state.
More than 540 others are to pursue the same programmes in the scholarship scheme in indigenous Nigerian universities. The backlog of unpaid gratuities of nearly N10 billion left by the previous government was cleared by Nwifuru. So, he has made Ebonyians to forget the terrible things they suffered in the hands of political carpetbaggers.
To say that Nwifuru is a cool and calculated realist is not rhetorics. He is not given to being bombastic. He is a man who believes in equity, fairness and justice. The APC in the state under his leadership is a home for all and the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Stanley Okoro Emegha has brought creativity into the management of party affairs.
There is decorum and members are treated with dignity in line with Nwifuru’s own prescriptions about the role of a political party in the sustenance of popular-democratic culture. Nigeria’s Vice President, Sen. Shettima was right when he referred to Gov. Nwifuru as Paul Kagame, because he has the upright physique and swagger of the Rwandan President. But beyond that, Nwifuru restored good governance in Ebonyi State the same way that Kagame restored democracy and good governance in Rwanda after the holocaust of the 1990s.
President Tinubu recently visited the South East. What benefits do you think that the visit could bring to the zone?
To me, the visit was an effort on his part to open up a Southern front as political permutations for 2027 presidency gather momentum. He has a legitimate right to forge a solid Southern alliance which encourages the unification of the old Eastern and Western blocs. This is not the time for Igbo-Yoruba political rivalry. There are only two power blocs in Nigeria today: the North and the South-West. Former President Goodluck Jonathan gained the presidency by sheer luck and circumstance. This two-power block theory replaced the tripod theory of Nigerian politics following the amputation of the third leg of the tripod (the East) as a result of the Nigeria-Biafra war and its aftermath. Northern political hegemony has not helped Nigeria to advance in a progressive direction. The elders of the East including the governors of the South East should close ranks and reciprocate Tinubu’s diplomatic gestures by going into negotiations with him. There is a feeling that the South-East should be in the mainstream of the Tinubu presidency but that has not been the case. The Igbo delegation should go back to Aso Rock to continue the dialogue. They should simultaneously table a well-researched development agenda before the president. The dilapidated road networks and abandoned railway network in the zone should be reconstructed, just as the abandoned gas deposits ought to be exploited for the development of the region. The need to open up the Eastern seaports and the enhancement of the international status of the Enugu Airport should be sorted out once and for all.
Homeland Security has remained one of the issues being pushed by Alaigbo Development Foundation(ADF) and insecurity has been on the increase in Igbo land, particularly in Anambra State. What is your reaction to these issues including the recent launch of Operation Udo Ga Achi Initiative by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo?
The current phase of insecurity in Anambra State is extremely bestial and animalistic. It is a dent on the image and integrity of Ndigbo. Whatever Soludo can do with the security forces to stamp out such monstrous and cannibalistic tendencies should be supported. The leaders of the South East must take the blame for the lack of integrated development blueprint in the region. It has been a case of wasted opportunities by a generation of myopic leaders. Imagine a situation where the youths were allowed to fend for themselves just like that. Since 1999, can we have a publication detailing employment statistics in the five South Eastern states. Some people would claim that employment is not important, that the youths should venture into business. But the same leaders would be looting the resources to run their own trading companies. I know of a former Governor in one of the South-East states who refused to employ a single person throughout his eight years reign in office. That was a very wicked, vicious and callous policy. Under the guise of promoting pseudo capitalism, all the social welfare schemes necessary for sustaining a peaceful and stable society were arbitrarily abrogated and embargoed by bankrupt and myopic leaders. What we are witnessing in the South East is the cumulative outcome of irresponsible governance since the commencement of the present democratic dispensation. We have bred a generation of monstrous youth elements who are neck-deep in criminogenic culture. Now the situation has turned bloody.
The South-East Development Commission (SEDC) has been fully constituted. What are your expectations?
Well, we expect the Commission to help in tackling the infrastructural deficit in the South-East. They should do something tangible in improving the quality of life in the region. Many citizens are skeptical about commissions of that nature, going by what had transpired in the case of the Niger Delta, but let us remain optimistic for now, hoping that the SEDC may usher in a new era of renaissance in the development of the South-East.
