GROWING BEYOND IGBO TRIBAL POLITICS : A CALL FOR NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTICIPATION THE ORJI KALU'S APC'S EXAMPLE by
Benjamin O. Kalu
Founding Partner
SILK PARTNERS LLP


The hard truth I have told my self is that Igbos are fighting a baseless fight when they fight themselves , always faulting themselves while isolating their people from the center where real decisions are made. Little wonder they our understanding of politics is very poor.

Forget tribal politics we are not yet ready to play it, at least not for now. Who will lead us and who will fund the movement?Let us play national politics to help our people. A politics of inclusion not isolation or exclusion is what we need now to be able to raise our head nationally.

The more we alienate ourselves from the center, the more we are isolated from what will benefit our development. Complaints and claims of gross marginalisation as against proper lobbying and negotiations does not get the job, and does not stop the national cake from being shared.

Complaints are yet to release our brother Nnamdi Kanu, this means we need to do more than shout and complain. It is obvious these rantings are not working which calls for a new model to reposition the region politically and economically. The new strategy is what Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has adopted by joining the ruling party where decisions that affect our people are made. Only political neophytes will tag this move any other label but regional strategic political move.

Political ignorance has held us bound so much that sound political moves are now viewed as sacrilegious. What a divided political audience? While most are for the move a few a disgruntled because according to them Igbos have only one agenda now ; The Nnamdi Kanu's Biarfra or at most a regional political party like the South West political case study .

Is the South East matured and ready for any of these two options ? The writer fully doubts the region's preparedness to actualise regional development through these platforms, at least for now.

The above opinion is hinged on that ancient anti socio - political leadership philosophy of "Igbo Enwe Eze" ( igbo has no king)
Which daily digs the grave of their national irrelevance, yet ignorance has beclouded their vision and reasoning for proper national political analysis to know when to take the right step towards the center especially, in the recent times. Costly political misinterpretations and miscalculations has. Wen the bane of the igbos.

Igbos and the stereotyping of Political parties as belonging to the what ever tribe that produced the president is power has been an on going reoccurring decimal from the inception of our new political dispensation. Check out this labelling ; PDP was tagged a Yoruba Party when President Obasanjo from the Yoruba tribe was the president, suddenly it became an Hausa/ Fulani Party for the northerners once late President Yaradua took over the mantle. Immediately, President Jonathan became the president, PDP the ruling party of the day immediately became the Party of the Niger Deltans. Does the writer think that such labelling was a true reflection of the Party status? No.

Today another ruling party APC with President Buhari has once more been declared Hausa/ Fulani Party, it follows it would metamorphose into a Yoruba Party if Vice President becomes the president tomorrow or an Igbo party if Dr. Orji Kalu becomes the President at the right time. This is a wrong classification or categorisation of a national Party with national Spread.

Though the writer is not in favour of this Undemocratic political party classification, it beams some hope which the igbos have failed to see that they could be tagged the owners of a ruling party. The question is why is this too much of a dream for the igbos, why can't they see their expected massive participation in APC positioning them for a greater gain even if it is not for the "ownership of the party" . Since I. The writer's mind, no single man or tribe can own a party and still claim that such party is democratic in nature. Buhari does not own the APC neither is it owned by Gov. Tinubu the Great. APC is owned by all members of the party including Dr. Orji Kalu and Chief Benjamin Kalu who are members of the party and you the reader once you join us tomorrow.

Political Party participation is not only for elections but to create reasonable access to important decision making platforms for members to canvass or lobby the interest of their people in the democracy. Issues like the incarceration of our brother Nnamdi Kanu, the cattle men and their menace around the region, road construction or reconstruction etc.

Years have passed and these issues received no adequate attention. It means that all the noise making and series of complaints have not worked magic to our people and our place. This reasonably calls for a more diversified strategy for the ultimate goal of regional development. The writer with Dr. Kalu have seen that participatory observation within the ruling party is a better show of regional patriotism than our the non participatory stance we took in the last ten years with less result. This should be commended rather than condemned as the participators would make do with some motivation to continue in their current negotiation for full regional socio political and economic integration.

Igbos need this more than they need tribal political party. The South west Political case study engineered by the Jagaban worked because the Yorubas decided to go with one voice. The many voices of the igbos speaking condemnation, insults, baseless criticisms, superiority complex , an unbalanced competition will not allow the igbos to decide to go with one Political Party. While old Anambra believes they are greater and should provide the platform, the old Imo will call them bluff and while they fight to achieve one party, more Igbos will approach INEC to register more Political Parties.
This can only. E achieved with a deep reorientation over a reasonable period of time. Certainly, not an option at the moment. "A fragile region need the strength of each component and of the center to stabilise for a sustainable growth" Benkalu.
I want the critiques of my view on this writeup to successfully task the Governors in the region to facilitate a regional project funded and executed in their tenure which will add economic value to the region then we will. E convinced that the Igbos can come together with a common front politically.

While the regional political maturation is awaited for the ownership of a consolidated front, there are issues that need to be addressed immediately at the center. For example, the menace of the cattle men.

The writer is yet to see any formidable team set up in the region to address this hurtful embarrassment. One would have thought that the leaders of the Biafra would have provided a solution by now since the government of the " zoo" like they call Nigeria has " failed " to address it. Yet daily their father's farms are destroyed and their parents killed or sent to die in hospitals, all is seen is nothing but words of cowardice on face book or insults on real men who are solution seekers at the center.
All you do is insult your elder statesmen, call them names to feel important. Yes OUK is an elder statesman, if you think it is easy then go and govern a state for 8 years.

The question is what are you really doing about it? You do nothing but waste your time chatting on face book. No strategy, no grassroots mobilisation, no organisation, no funding, no planning, no good think tanks ( because you chase the well refined and educated ones away with your deviant approach to issues and bundles of your unreasonableness ), just uncoordinated half educated, un founded opinions just for the sake of a supposedly tribal correctness and applause. So after that then what?


Am sure you know the reason; our ugly anti socio- political ancient philosophy of "

Igbos will never agree to work as one, no trust, we sold out against one another during the civil war and they are yet to recover from that wound. They are afraid of each other, they are too afraid of their economic tomorrow that they sacrifice any one to secure it for themselves and their immediate families. There is no believe in a unified common goal, selfish interest wars against general purpose.

Their mouth work louder and patriotic their heart is cold and selfish on any thing political leadership. That's why recently they occupy the first roll of political stabbers. They even stabbed the famous IKEMBA THE GREAT. I was around when he returned from exile, with the loudness of the jubilation, one would have thought it would transform to real vote when he ran for president. Go check his score in that election and all the igbo candidates all put together. Igbos loved him so much that they voted less for him. It is important to note that Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, who you ridicule instead of repackaging for a greater gain, won the highest vote among all the igbo candidates in the elections.

It is very myopic to think that Biafra remains the only option to our regional development . If Biafra is the only strategy for regional development then our think tank bank is weak on strategic thinking and planning. It is one thing to achieve Biafra it is another thing to run a sustainable growth in a new nation where the participators do not believe in true leadership, where they do not believe in their own, where there is lack of trust etc. check how many units of Biafra organisations you have at the moment created by leadership problems within the circles and as the curtain to the achievement of the dream draws close more will spring up.

The writer's take is that as a people we should adopt diversified ways tied to time to realise the peoples' common goal. The ultimate goal should be regional development and economic empowerment.

Any strategy without an optional approach , in case time and chance affect the initial step is weak in composition. Outside all these uncoordinated noise and with all the money we have as a people, I need to see one, just one program either for the youths or the women that has been sponsored regionally as a formidable front which could be used to lobby or negotiate initiatives for regional development. None!

Ok so they clap for you for calling OUK names and insulting him , then what next? The train is moving and your insults can't stop it, wake up,do more than face book chat, join us now to increase our voice at the center or simply ignore it and allow the decider live with his decision.

Let's be wiser, talk less and think more.

Lovely Write-up....

But


I Stand With Tinubu





#Atiku2019

Only a man lazying around with a head of broom while his house is dirty says what Orji said. Hypocrisy is the summary of my comment.

.


I stand with uzor kalu

#OrjiUzorKalu2019

Food for though

Bros forget that thing...... Why didnt he decamp since Why suddenly when he had severe cases over him head with EFCC

They've been able to buy him over cos he's wealthy. They need his type (wealthy) because of their uncertainty over Tinubu......

Kalu is the only Ibo leader recognized nationally.

ImperialYoruba:
Kalu is the only Ibo leader recognized nationally.

1)I hate when we play revisionism...Facts are sacred...IGBO don't play ethnic politics...Igbo voted against an Igbo man in 1993, 2003, 2007 etc...

2)Orji Uzo Kalu & co can do whatever to make APC pleasing to whomever but never twist facts...How many regions or tribes recognized Osibanjo before his election? smh

3)What is wrong in playing opposition to central government? Igbo were in alignment to several governments including government of OBJ, Yar'adua, Jonathan etc...Igbo shouldn't sheepishly follow Orji Uzo Kalu to APC because he decamped there...Let him try correcting the errors and mistakes of leadership he and his likes has entrenched in Abia state...We don't need to align with anybody to do that...Selfish politicians!!!

4)Compare Igbo voting pattern to the attached;

The South-West zone has 14,296,163 registered voters, which represents 19.44% of the total number of voters nationwide. In terms of national electoral strength, the zone is number 2. Taking into account the electoral behaviour of the South-West since independence, the zone has proven itself, without exception, of incapable of voting anyone other than its own. In the 1st Republic, it voted mainly Action Group in favour of Chief Obafemi
Awolowo with about 69% voters’ turnout. In the 2nd Republic, it voted 78.75% of its total votes cast for UPN in
favour of Chief Awolowo, with 70% voters’ turnout. In the June 12, 1993 presidential election, the pattern was
repeated more or less the same, except that the total percentage of SDP’s votes in favour of Chief MKO Abiola
rose up to 84.5% in the zone. In the 1999 presidential election, mainly because the only two candidates for the
presidency were both from the South-West, the zone’s voters’ turnout was abysmally low (48.09%) with about 68% of the votes cast to APP in favour of Chief Olu Falaye. 2003 also recorded poor voters’ turnout with 71% of
votes cast for Obasanjo’s PDP. In 2011, with no Southwestern candidate fielded by any of the major parties, the
South-West voted PDP when a functional alliance with the CPC failed to field in Sen. Tinubu or his nominee.
Besides, with the vicious experience of AD in 2003 when the PDP Federal Government uprooted its governments
in five states of the zone, the South-West cannot now afford to risk having an opposition PDP government at the federal level again; certainly not after the hard pains and toils of forming the APC. It is therefore existential for the South-West to vote APC at the presidential election

http://dailytrust.com.ng/daily/politics/50349-2015-presidential-election-how-and-
why-pdp-will-lose

OUK you are OYO period.
A selfish politician like you can never lead the Igbo nation.

Ojiofor:
OUK you are OYO period.
A selfish politician like you can never lead the Igbo nation.

Stop that. Give him support. He will get a release for Kanu.

ImperialYoruba:
Kalu is the only Ibo leader recognized nationally.

Fayose is the greatest yoruba man ever, he is greater than Awolowo, Tinubu, Akintola and Abiola put together..

Awolowo drank rat poison, poor him.