[size=16pt]‘We can honour Ojukwu by uniting under APGA’[/size]

By OLA AGBAJE

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The greatest honour the Igbo people can give to the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu is to come under the banner of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to sustain his vision of respect and dignity for people of the  South-east  within the Nigerian nation.

Lagos-based lawyer and activist, Theo Nwaigbo, made the clarion call while speaking on the death of the Igbo leader and its implication on the political fortune of Ndigbo in the country. He also spoke on other national issues

Excerpts:

Why we must unite under APGA?

Over the years, the  south-east  have been content with politics of errand tea boys in the corridor of power, apologies to our father, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Eze Gburugburu of Igbo land. In the current political dispensation, it is only the Igbo that do not have any identifiable political platform of their own. And that is why they have been getting second fiddle treatment from the PDP. Nigeria by creation stands on tripod.

Only the  South-east  zone do not have their legs standing. [/b]The Yoruba have proved that their hearts and soul remain with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The PDP is predominantly a northern party. This is why Ndigbo must unite under the APGA umbrella so that they can have their dignity and a voice of their own.

[b]APGA in Imo state

Reflecting on the success of the All Progressives  Grand Alliance  in Imo state in the last general election I can conveniently tell you that the party won fair and square. It is however important to point out that the victory was not based solely on the capacity of APGA as a party but more largely on the charisma and popularity of Owelle Rochas Okorocha. If he had joined any other party the party would still have won election the state.

It was his personality and pedigree that attracted coalition of forces against the power drunk Ohakim government. Before he joined the party, APGA was virtually at zero level in the state. The party only existed in the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Now the welcome party is over, the government must start to develop and grow the party to a formidable political organization in the state and the entire Igbo land. This is the challenge before him now. And it is a serious one for that matter because the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) hawks are still hovering around in the state. It is by developing the party into a formidable platform that he can help himself and the entire Ndigbo in the political configuration of the nation. Hence he must embark on drastic surgical operation of the party to give a total reorganization.

The ACN experience

If you can recall, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) was the dominant party in the Yoruba land. Unfortunately the party entered into a pact with PDP through  former  President Olusegun Obasanjo who was desperately looking for a political base. AD suffered a huge betrayal and they lost the entire South West, except Lagos state where Bola Tinubu played a smart fox. The party was changed to AC and finally ACN.

Having learnt the bitter lesson, the leadership of the party went back to the drawing board. Party leaders such as Asiwaju Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, and Chief Osoba among others embarked on massive mobilisation and reorganization of the party. The result is there for all to see.

They recaptured the entire South-west except Ondo state. The lesson to be drawn here is that the Yoruba have bounced back as major force in the political equation of the country. They now have a solid political platform to advance the collective interest of the people. Other serious groups in other zones are now willing to collaborate and negotiate with the party on a larger scale. Hence, nobody can toy with the South-West people the way they will toy with the Igbo.

Ndigbo must learn from such rich experience and rally round in APGA as their authentic Igbo platform. Nigeria is a tripod so divinely created. Orji Kalu had that vision and was building something like that with the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA). Unfortunately, he suffered betrayal and he lost Abia and Imo in the process.

The challenges before Obi, Okorocha

Both Peter Obi and Okorocha has the responsibility to make APGA attractive to the people just the way Fashola’s performance made  ACN the right model for the people in the Southwest. I’m sure the people will have no choice than to come under the banner of APGA if they are able to deliver dividends of democracy to the people and demonstrate that governance is not just about sharing money to the godfathers and party cronies. Obi has really started well in Anambra and Rochas is not doing badly in Imo considering the enormous challenge he met on the ground. However, they must remain focus and steadfast in the service to the people.  They must make the two states model of good governance. If they are able to do that there would be no place for politics of  god fatherism and do-or-die in Igbo land.

Critics of Okorocha

It is quite expected that those who never wanted good things for the people, those who are still aggrieved over the sudden termination of the chop-chop politics will find it difficult to come to term with the dawn of light in the state and so will pick on anything to criticize him. While it is too early to start assessing his government, it is quite clear that he has been able to restore hope to the people. He has been able to arrest the ugly situation he met on the ground.

However, he must remain focus  and avoid the usual banana peel through periodic auditing and evaluation of the people working with him. A lot of  hawks,  wolves in human skin are trying to get closer to him.
Sustaining committed APGA members It is good to consolidate on the gains of the election. Yes,  I agree with that but we should not forget that during the April elections, some PDP warlords did everything to protect the interest of the man sent to prevent Owelle Rochas Okorocha from winning the election.

Also, some ACN chieftains did same for their candidate. However, the APGA faithful with the support of the people and God won the fiercely contested election. Some of them even staked their lives  in the face of intimidation and harassment. They refused to compromise APGA’s candidate even in the face of tempting offers. Therefore, it would not be fair, just and equitable to sacrifice the interest of such loyalparty men  to satisfy the interest of defectors  from other political parties whose loyalties cannot be guaranteed now.

This is where I want the governor to strike the balance between the new crowd and the tested loyal APGA faithful who were at the forefront of the war during the election. He  should not forget those who put their lives on the line at various polling stations. He should be mindful of those who fought against him to sustain Ohakim in power but who are now telling him that they love him more than they love Ohakim.

He should be wary of such political turncoats who are only interested in what they can benefit from his government. Such people are everwilling to jump to any available ship at any available opportunity.
APGA must be built on strong party discipline and loyalty, which must be cultivated at all levels. For  example, they have their internal policy which requires any newcomer to spend certain period of time before he could be considered ripe for certain positions. So, if you are an ACN, you should be committed to that party.

South-east and tokenism

[b]Yes, you may call it compensation. For example, when an Ibo man is appointed  Secretary to the Federal Government or Deputy Senate President but with due respect, I would describe such purported compensation as an insult to the collective sensibility of the Igbo people considering their  contributions  and sacrifice to the building of Nigerian nation.
The war ended 40 years ago and people are still talking about compensation. We are not strangers in this country. That is why I am advocating for a political platform on which we can stand and negotiate for power. We don’t stand on porous grounds and say we want to negotiate. [/b]The most clearly identified political party with undiluted Igbo antecedent today is APGA and this must be on the commitment of everybody that believes in the cardinal objectives of the party. It cannot be built on the shoulders of lily-livered adventurists who cannot be trusted on any principle or ideological stand.

As I  talk  to you, opportunists, adventurists and political turncoats have invaded APGA. This is where both Obi and Okorocha have a great task. They must walk together to build genuine loyalty among their followers. They must identify committed party faithful and make them the real pillars of APGA across Iboland. There is nothing wrong with an Ibo party. There is nothing wrong with a strong Ibo- based political party. You must be a good tribal man before you can be a good national leader.

Hmm, So ACN is worthy of emulation after all

Ok, here is my take.

My first target in my mission when I resume as Eze Ndigbo Nairaland, is to find a way to unite Ndigbo around one political party. Our success and failure as a people starts there.

I know that a lot of my Igbo brothers would attack this position and argue that we are free to join any party, and that it is strategically better to "spread our options". BUT the issue remains that we have a history in Nigeria, so it would be irresponsible of us to ignore our history as we plan our future.

Have we EVER made waves in Nigeria by following the so called "National parties"? Let's be honest.
NCNC was dominated by Igbo leaders and that was how we produced the first governor-general of Nigeria.
NPP was also dominated by Igbos, and that was how we got the speaker of the house of reps (even as non-national party per se).

However, that is not even the point.
The point is that if we ever really want to shape our destiny as a people, there is NO WAY we can do that while in a party of cacophony by the name of PDP. It can never be done because the party is very confused. Where everybody is talking, nobody is talking! FACT.  

We need to move to APGA en mass, if we want to be taken seriously in Nigeria.

Here I stand!

I noticed that some of the top Igbo men and women are in PDP.
Some say they are there because of the corruption in PDP which enriches them; but that is the problem.
We must start to look beyond money as we plan our rebirth.

It is very sad and unfortunate that some of the best Igbo men lost elections in Igboland because those of us who can think failed to vote for them! We closed our noses and voted some lower quality people who are in APGA. Sadly, we had to!

For instance, Prof Charles Soludo lost in Anambra state because he contested under PDP.
There is NO WAY he could have won. Anambra Igbos are die hard Ojukwu followers, and APGA would always win there. The same fate will continue to befall Ngige until he returns to APGA.
We Igbo youths will continue to campaign against those who put their personal interests ahead of our group interest! 

In Imo State, God intervened and conscripted Gov Rohas Okorocha to join APGA.
That is why Imo is under APGA today.
I have a SPECIAL love and admiration for Gov Rochas because he is looking to me more like our only hope in growing APGA.   
I'm sorry to say that Peter Obi has not impressed me. 

My preferred strategy would have been that Gov Rochas targets ABIA and Ebonyi states, while Gov Peter Obi targets Enugu state and may be Delta state.

APGA should also target Rivers State. 

BTW I will be a very partisan Eze!

^^ Nuture and grow tribalism more and more on one hand and claim to be taking it down on the other. Sigma(Work Done) = 0. In fact, -ve if you consider losses analogous to heat (hot air), friction (fight and loss of goodwill), etc

As the year 2015 approaches, I know that some of our people will be transfixed on an Igbo president under PDP.
The PDP might even pull a fast one and give it to us, but I am looking FAR beyond 2015.
Not that an Igbo president would be totally bad for us, however, it may delay our political emancipation.

Just my thoughts.

Please if you have any opposition to my position here, don't hesitate to state it here, or send me an email
at:

ezendigbo_nl@ hushmail.com

CyberG:

^^ Nuture and grow tribalism more and more on one hand and claim to be taking it down on the other.

I am not nurturing tribalism.
I am nurturing realism.

We are the only majority zone in Nigeria without any serious federal presence.
We don't even have a functional international airport!
Meanwhile we've been in PDP for 12 whopping years!
What do we have to show for it?

Why are we always the last in PDP's consideration?

Why is no one taking Ndigbo seriously in Nigeria?

The truth is now hunting you guys. It is known fact that, every political ideology/intrest should come under single plartform to achieve the desire goals and produce the desire force to be reckon with.

Just yesterday, i was chatting politics with my Igbo friend and he very was adamant to audacious conclude that the individualistic factor/strenght of Ndigbo shall cease when they are in a collective movement. That they can never have a single leader.
He went ahead to tell me that Igbos are too intelligent to come under single agreement or Igwe.

Rhino.5dm:

The truth is now hunting you guys. It is known fact that, every political ideology/intrest should come under single plartform to achieve the desire goals and produce the desire force to be reckon with.

Just yesterday, i was chatting politics with my Igbo friend and he very was adamant to audacious conclude that the individualistic factor/strenght of Ndigbo shall cease when they are in a  collective movement. [/b]That they can never have a single leader.
[b]He went ahead to tell me that Igbos are too intelligent to come under single agreement or Igwe.

The man is free to say what he wanted; he was wrong though. lol   
The only time Ndigbo acted in a way that earned them respect in Nigeria was before and during the civil war.
It is a no brainer.
Division can never lead to strength.

@Rhino.5dm

Did you manage to find out his political party?
I bet you he is in one of the so called National parties. lol

As soon as the Ikemba is buried, we should move to APGA, his party in his honor.
Let us put our political stakes in his party, the party he led and urged us to join.
If we love Ikemba, we should show that love by joining APGA en mass.

Let us do this in his honor.

Onlytruth:

BTW I will be a very partisan Eze!

Hello Ndigbo-Online voters!

Fresh Air 2012

I have always advocated this for anyone who cares to listen. No ones regional interest can be served under PDP

The article you posted directly reflect my position which can be backed by my pre-election posts. I postulate that SE need to come under one single party to have a strong bargaining power, but you shouted on me and called me names. Infact, your stewards argue that PDP was thier regional party and when i pointed the flaws in their assertion, they ignorantly made reference to G9, the founding fathers of PDP. They said Alex Ekweme was the originator of PDP and quoted all sorts of refrences including wikipedia

My little political knowledge tells me they are wrong, as the party was named PDP by late Abubakar Rimi in his Kano residence.
Any region that choose to remain in PDP should be ready to serve the northern political machines-FACTS. This came to light when a SEner was kicked out of chairmanship position of PDP without a cough, in a most troubled manner.

Tinubu was not a saint agreed, but he had the vision and sees the implication which the main-stream party can cause to SW, he pulled out and today he is celebrated all over SW.

Even the much touted Buharism couldn't produce the political positions ACN did under Tinubu.


The likes of Ken Nnamani, Rochas or Even Orji Kalu are very good and politically sagacious to direct the SE to her political promise land. A state where SE shall be allowed to feast on a single table with any other region and not this present crack of crunch thrown off the table.

Onlytruth:

@Rhino.5dm

Did you manage to find out his political party?
I bet you he is in one of the so called National parties. lol

We can honour Ojukwu by actualising him dream of Biafra: the "Japan of Africa".
Even if the Biafra of territories is delaying, we can start of with the Biafra of the mind whcih has no limits or boundries. Let us honour Ojukwu by pursuing "Made in Aba", "Made in Nnewi" etc. until someday when we can have the liberty to stamp "Made in Biafra".

We have stagnated enough.

noblezone:

We can honour Ojukwu by actualising him dream of Biafra: the "Japan of Africa".
Even if the Biafra of territories is delaying, we can start of with the Biafra of the mind whcih has no limits or boundries. Let us honour Ojukwu by pursuing "Made in Aba", "Made in Nnewi" etc. until someday when we can have the liberty to stamp "Made in Biafra".

We have stagnated enough.

I totally agree with all the bolded.
However, I still believe that a strong Igbo-led political party is perhaps the fastest way for us to push for whatever we want, whether to remain in Nigeria (certainly as one of the biggest stakeholders as God designed it) or secede successfully.
I don't want us to repeat the same mistake of not having a solid grounded political movement before we embark on any major moves in Nigeria.
I personally believe that PDP is almost anti-Igbo dreams and aspirations including possible secession.
It is a "come and eat" party with no known ideology. Sad but true.

BTW I believe that MASSOB is the strongest political party in the SE now. 
My definition of "party" is not the one Nigerians are used to, but a grassroots movement.
They were instrumental to APGA's first rise in the SE, before our governors started to be stoopid.
I don't like making comparisons, but both Boko Haram and OPC are getting tacit support from top politicians in North and SW.
It is time for MASSOB to get same support from our politicians. I don't even think our politicians have any choice about that, because MASSOB is growing and soon if the politicians don't embrace it, they would be toppled by the masses in SE. MASSOB is not disappearing anytime soon.
SE may even be the place for a revolution to begin in Nigeria.