Tuesday, June 28, 2011

[Emeka Ihedioha] Christian Okeke, in this report, examines what has variously been described as the political fortunes of the South-East in the current dispensation and questions if the zone has really succeeded in breaking the jinx of the age-long marginalisation by successive governments.



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One of the geopoitical zones of the country which could count itself as fortunate in the present political dispensation is, unarguably, the South-East. The fortunes of the zone were magnified by the fact that one of the other zones, the South-West, lost in all the bids to come to the front row in the political equation in the current Republic.

The South-West, in an unexpected political change, lost out in its bid to clinch the seat of the Speaker of House of Representatives and any other topmost positions for that matter. This political misfortune, which is widely acknowledged as, perhaps, the first in recent times when the zone has lost out in the frontline positions, came when Honourable Mulikat Adeola-Akande from Oyo State lost the speakership position to Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, who is from Sokoto State.

In a conspicuous, and what has been variously regarded as prodigal, defiance of the zoning principle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the House of Representatives members, in an open-secret voting arrangement, jettisoned the candidature of the 'anointed' Adeola and voted for Tambuwal from the North- West zone. That action, notably, dealt a blow to the zoning intrigues of the PDP, as the speakership seat went to the same zone which also produced the Vice-President, Architect Namadi Sambo, the North-West.

In the last National Assembly, the South-West had produced the Speaker of the House in the person of the embattled Dimeji Bankole. Arising from the loss this time, a lot of blame-games has been going on, with many pundits identifying the political elite and other gladiators from the region as being responsible for the woes of the zone through their alleged 'politics of excluded interest'. For now, no palliative has come to the zone.

The North-Central zone, on the other hand, has produced the Senate President, Senator David Mark. The Chief Justice of the Federation, Aloysius Katsina Alu, also comes from the zone, though his emergence, like that of any of his predecessors, were never known to have enjoyed any political consideration.

The South-South zone produced the president, Dr. Gooodluck Jonathan, while the South-East, the overall beneficiary in the present equation, produced the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; the deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremmadu and the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha.

[Ike Ekweremadu] From all indications, it is clear that the South-East smiled away with the three positions, almost within a twinkle of an eye. Prior to this, a section of the zone had, however, clamoured for either the post of the Senate President or the Speaker of House of Representatives, threatening that nothing short of the positions would be acceptable to it.

In fact, at a point, many Igbo groups alleged that plots were on to scheme the zone out of relevance. Notable among the groups was the South East Revival Group (SERG), led by Chief Willy Ezugwu. At a stage, the group said that it would do everything within its legal limit to defend the relevance of the zone. In separate statements issued by the body, it was clear that the region was very much committed, as never before, to speaking with a unified voice in defence of the common interest of the zone.

Prior to the rising of tempers in the region, apprehension had grown when the governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, disclosed, to the chagrin of the people of the zone that some representatives of the zone who had earlier met with President Goodluck Jonathan to negotiate what would accrue to the zone as a precondition to the South-Easterners voting for him in the last general election, never entered into any agreement with the president regarding securing appointive positions for the zone. He was quoted as saying that the issue did not even come up at all.

According to the governor, the leaders only extracted a commitment from the president to fix the decayed and evidently abandoned infrastructure in the zone. He said it was only such intervention that could benefit the generality of the people of the area, and not securing mere political offices, which he noted would not benefit the people in any way.

That, however, did not go down well with many in the area and, of course, explained why jubilations erupted in many quarters in the zone when the region clinched the three coveted positions.

Despite the huge political gain by the zone this time, many pundits doubt if such has succeeded in breaking the jinx of marginalisation of the zone and if it would douse the tension created over the years by the blip. In fact, it was feared that the gains could trigger off unequivocal rivalry, rather than providing the area with the foundation for its emergence as a new political force. The fear was heightened, last week, as insinuations rose that pressures were already being mounted on Senator Anyim to resign his appointment in order to pave the way for a new SSG from the South-West zone to emerge, as a means of placating the region.

Though the speculations lacked concrete evidence, it is certain that many south-easterners no longer hold faith in the country, as the push for a separate sovereign State of Biafra continues to resonate. The clamour for separation, being championed by the Chief Ralph Uwazurike-led Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has remained unabated, years after the group emerged.

[Anyim Pius Anyim] The hard stance of the members who were literally ready to lay down their lives in the face of the obviously clamp down by security forces, despite their maintaining a non-violent option, never waned.

Interestingly, the fearless Uwazurike did not give in to the countless threats, harassment and incarceration by the security agencies. Only last week, the MASSOB agitation took the centre stage once again when its leader, Uwazurike, was quoted as having alleged that the non-violent posture of his group, which was quite unlike that of the Boko Haram sect in the North, explained the constant mayhem unleashed on the loyalists of the group. From the outburst, it was obvious that the clamour for a sovereign State of Biafra was still rife and, by implication, it reinforced the belief that the zone was yet to be placated.

To many pundits, what will, in actual sense, give the people of the South-East a sense of belonging is not embedded in the array of political offices held by Igbo men, but rather how far the various levels of government in the country are ready to address the age-long dearth of infrastructure in the area.

It is argued that the region is yet to benefit from the previous high offices held by people from the region. Those who belonged to this school of thought, it was gathered, are yet to forget that not less than four Igbo men emerged Senate Presidents between 1999 and 2003, yet the fortunes of the zone did not change significantly. Many of those who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune expressed fears that the 'good luck' of the Igbos in this dispensation could expose them to increased animosity. To them, this could happen in spite the fact that the region had suffered relegation a number of times.

On the other hand, another school of thought believe that justice cannot be said to have been done to the quest for equity by the people of the South-East until an opportunity is created for an Igbo man to emerge president of the country.

In fact, pundits who belong to this school told the Nigerian Tribune that except the aspiration to be elected the nation's president in the nearest future, particularly in 2015, is actualized, all claims of justice to the South-East would amount to lip service and mere hypocrisy. According to them, it is atrocious that the South-East has never been given the opportunity to democratically rule the country since the days of the nationalist, Nnamdi Azikiwe.

Be that as it may, the question which has continued to linger is whether the push by the South- East for greater recognition in the nation's political landscape would attract support some day and be actualized.

Sensitive article

Ndiigbo are not clear yet. The issue is that come 2015 we need to produce the next President of Nigeria and the jinx would have been broken. Nothing more, Nothing less. Alternatively Jonathan does a second term for the south south region he is from.