It Is Unlikely We’ll See An Igbo President In Our Lifetime – Okolo

Anthony Olisa Okolo

NEW TELEGRAPH INTERVIEW

NOVEMBER 9, 2021

Anthony Olisa Okolo is the President of Igbo National Movement (INM), a body of Igbo intelligentsia and entrepreneurs. In this interview with EMMANUEL IFEANYI, he speaks on issues concerning the Igbo nation in Nigeria and agitation for self-determination, among other issues

The Igbo National Movement (INM) has become more vocal on Igbo issue; what is responsible for this?

Simply put, the Igbo National Movement is a movement created to re-establish our Igbo nation. It is established for the progress of the Igbo national or as we call ourselves, ‘Ndigbo’ wherever we may be found on the earth, and also for the development of Igbo homelands (ala-Igbo), through the enhancement of our Igbo republican institutions.

The movement envisions the development of a nation of Ndigbo, arising into the world polity with a society that encourages justice, merit, equality and treats people with respect.

So, we’re simply doing what we are meant to do.

Are we looking at cultural awakening or reawakening of the Igbo nation?

Don’t get it twisted, Ndigbo meet all the criteria for nationhood. We have a common tongue, a common territory which is known to us and our neighbours, a common culture and now, a common purpose to regain that which the British took from us forcibly. We have been indigenous to our land for over 3,000 years and lived in peace with our neighbours all that time.

Why then should we look to the very recent past of the last 100 or so years as if that is the foundation of our identity? No, Ndigbo are far more ancient peoples than that, and as such, we are ripe for a re-awakening of who we are, and to seek to control our destiny in non-violent and constitutional agitation.

In this, I believe we are closely related to our brothers and sisters of other indigenous nations in Nigeria, who are also in the process of their cultural awakening.

We commend the Ijaw, the Yoruba, the people of the Middle Belt and the plurality of Nigerian indigenous people to take control of their destinies and to call for a real debate on the path for a new future, for the administrative entity that is the Nigerian federation.

This, we believe will be achieved through a sovereign national conference of the Indigenous people of Nigeria. It is one of our objectives to make this call and to support all Nigerian indigenous people to join this call. It may be the only way to save this federation, and re-create it into a system that the people can recognize and respect.

What’s your view on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), tge group’s agitation and the recent arrest of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu?

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is first and foremost an Igbo man and he is one of our own. In any family group, there are a variety of characters. Some are prudent and diplomatic, while others may be brash and confrontational.

A wise family will always align itself with the former and will at the same time seek to curb the excesses of the latter. But a wise family never abandons their child to an outsider’s discipline, lest they be viewed as uncaring and unwise.

So, while the family will always stand ‘with’ its own, it will not necessarily stand ‘for’ them where their ideology does not follow the wisdom of the family group. We stand with Mazi Kanu because Ndigbo do not abandon each other in adverse circumstances. We protect our own from the outsider.

We believe that discipline is best meted out within the family group, and Igbo justice is harsh indeed. But we do not stand for the ideology that suggests that all non-Igbos are our enemies. However, we believe that his recent abduction was unlawful and we have said so plainly.

But the Attorney-General of the Federation seems to stand that no law was broken in bringing Kanu back to Nigeria?

Unfortunately, the Attorney-General of the Federation pretends he does not know the law. He seems to believe that a warrant of arrest in Nigeria can be executed at will internationally without the process of extradition.

He thinks there is nothing unlawful in the Nigerian government kidnapping a British citizen who has renounced his Nigerian nationality in a foreign country, which he has entered legally with a British passport.

We believe he knows he is wrong, but we understand he must try to justify these illegal acts because it is what the government wishes him to do. But justifying illegality is not the job of the Chief Law Officer of a democratic country.

He must stand for justice and truth, even where it is against the instructions of the government he is part of. Not even Kenya will be so naive as to agree with him and certainly, Britain will not allow their citizen to be made a fool of as it is a poor reflection on them.

Is there a hidden agenda to the interest being showed on Igbo issues by INM?

The movement is being funded by love. Of what use is a hidden agenda?

What is the use of hiding a lamp beneath an opaque bucket? Our agenda is open to all and we are proud to share it.

We wish to reassert our rights as an indigenous nation and for the federation to recognize these rights as well as the rights of all indigenous nationals who are desirous to chart their course, whether within a re-negotiated Nigerian Confederation or in a clearly defined Commonwealth of Independent Nigerian States.

No Nigerian, who is Nigerian by birth, can be a Nigerian, if they were not firstborn to the nations indigenous to the land, upon the amalgamation by the British in 1914.

To be Nigerian is to be first Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Kanuri, Ijaw, Jukun, Tiv or any of the various nationalities that make up the Nigerian federation.

The promise of Nigeria lies not in replacing these identities, but in harnessing our diversity, allowing each to become the best version of ourselves.

How would you describe the Nigerian federation and how it is accepted by the people?

The government and Nigerians know that at present, Nigeria does not have the soul of a federation made up of the administrative units we have come to know as states, but is at heart, a federation of proud nations.

That is why most of the states created by the military have continued to fail to bring the people the development that they require. They have failed to energize the loyalty of the people and the people question the legitimacy of these units consistently.

How do you see the present political leadership in Igbo land?

With very few exceptions, the present political leadership in Ala-Igbo has failed to unite our people behind a common ‘post-war’ ideology that meets the dynamism of Ndigbo. We are builders, democratic and believe in merit.

Ndigbo would rather perish in the field of work than go cap in hand to beg for our supper. This monthly pilgrimage to Abuja to beg and scrape for our livelihood is un-Igbo. It has to stop. We have never really needed the support or interference of outsiders to develop our land.

After the war, we pulled ourselves out of the mire, with very little help from the victorious Federal Government who impoverished us. We rebuilt all we see in Ala-Igbo today from a pauper’s dowry of £20 per person.

Are you in support of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction?

It is unlikely we will see an Igbo president in our lifetime. The people who know Igbo for what we are and despise us because of it will never let that happen. If they do allow it, they will hope to force upon us, an Igbo man or woman of such flawed character, that we will all be ashamed to call ourselves their kinsmen.

We have some of them who have been rigged in as governors today to provide proof of such perfidy.

What we need is for Ndigbo to use the power of the vote and social activism to regain control of Ala-Igbo. We should employ the best of us to the work towards regaining our national pride and to focus our energies on building an economy that will be a force to reckon with globally.

Ndigbo are never contended with anything less than excellence, so why should we continue to settle for mediocrity to please those who choose to be indolent? We are very clear on what ideology we are for, and how to achieve that ideology.

When we are ready to do so, our people will direct an appropriate vehicle to achieve these aims.

Looking at Nigeria today, what do you think 2023 will look like?

2023 will bring Nigerian indigenous people closer and closer to their freedom. For the first time, the corrupt military establishment is running out of alteregos to set upon the throne that they have created for themselves within the Nigerian government for it is them we call the cabal.

Their generation is old, grow weak and dying. Their stronghold on the younger and vibrant generation is dissipating and their achievements will eventually evaporate in smoke. 2023 will bring us closer to the realisation that “We the People” mentioned in the constitution of Nigeria, must have our voices heard.

The choice for Nigerians will be whether to heed these voices or to continue to allow the oligarchy to suppress them in the hope that once silenced, they will go away. Our voices will not go away. We will grow stronger and stronger until the tipping point is reached.

Between restructuring and outright struggle for an Igbo nation; which one is INM in support of?

Restructuring without recognizing the independence of the indigenous nations which make up the Nigerian Federation, and basing the restructuring process on that recognition, would be akin to putting make-up on a pig and taking it as a wife in the name of a beautiful woman.

It will not change anything other than words and soon the realization will hit home that one has made an awful mistake. The Igbo nation will stand on its own or it may choose to subject its sovereignty to a different administrative entity.

But that can only be decided through the expressed will of the people, and by making each indigenous nation understand what benefits such a system will bring to each national. What are tribes if not nations? And what are nations if not tribes? Yet one connotes the negative, and another has a positive interpretation.

That is an unfortunate paradigm encouraged by a colonial mentality with an ulterior motive to subdue. Very similar to how some people are called ‘migrants,’ while some others are called ‘expatriates.’ It is all a play on words which at the heart of it contains racist ideology.

In Honor Of The Great Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike

Chukwuemeka Ike (1931-2020)

BY PRINCESS MIKKY ATTAH

I mourned within me late last year when I read of the death of Dr Ore Falomo, late Chief M.K.O Abiola’s personal physician. That was because I had a secret to share with him I would never again be able to. But concerning this demise now, I will not keep this secret so that, possibly, a grieving widow’s multiplied pains would be eased. In a most unsavoury way, I have stumbled on news that has led me to conclude that Professor Chukwuemeka Ike died from a grieving heart; one that was not only broken, but shattered by sorrows and pains of tragedies, in addition to family issues gone terribly wrong.

This is how it all went for me – upon hearing of the demise of one of Africa’s greatest novelists, Chukwuemeka Ike, as many people heard too, I ‘clicked online’ to sympathise with my lifelong “Big Brother” , Prince Osita Ike, the only son of Chukwuemeka Ike. As I was browsing, I was making mental plans to support Prince Osita and travel to Anambra, their homestead for his famous father’s burial, once he let me know the date.

The page on my phone opened and I was hit by what seemed like thunderbolt that struck me right in the forehead – Prince Osita Ike Dead! What? When? How? I was filled with grief, and was confused. I scrolled further down only to find out that he had even passed on since December 2016!

Where in the world have I been then? In the midst of my sorrow, my mind flew to his precious parents. Oh no, the trauma of losing your one son, I thought. And just three years later, Prince Osita’s mother now becoming a widow! It was simply tragic. However, I got thinking and, knowing that Chukwuemeka Ike was also an Igbo monarch, his burial would not be done in a hurry. My resolve to attend, whenever announced became even stronger, in honour of the memory of Prince Osita.

A few days back, I went browsing again in search of news of the great wordsmith’s transition arrangements. Firstly, I reckoned I should check for the Anambra airport, and flights going there. Big shock there – there is NO AIRPORT at all in Anambra – an old, old state, a state of renown; a bastion of national productivity! I was astounded. The nearest airport is Asaba Airport in Delta, state-built; even though that’s a federal preserve. Worse, it’s 32km away from Anambra, on federal roads that are notoriously dangerously dilapidated! Pressing on with my main task nevertheless, I got to discover a much sadder state of affairs with the Ikes, much worse than I ever imagined. In fact, reading through people’s responses on social media to the whole scenario, l saw one saying that it all sounded “more like a movie script”- Tookool (Nairaland.com). One pointedly asked why the Prince’s estranged wife would kill a son and also kill the father! I was reading from bottom up, so MORE questions came to my mind- estranged wife? Who is killing who, and killing who else?

But before all the mystery:

His Majesty, Eze Professor Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike OFR, Eze Ikelionwu XI, Ugwu Aro- foremost Nigerian novelist passed away in Nnewi, Anambra State on the 19th of January 2020 at 88. Chukwuemeka Ike was a distinguished scholar, renowned author, former Registrar of WAEC, university don as well as administrator; and visiting professor at the University of Jos. He was also the traditional ruler of Ikelionwu Kingdom of Anambra. Chukwuemeka Ike was a prolific novelist and author of: Sunset at Dawn, The Potter’s Wheel, Toads for Supper, The Naked Gods, Expo 77, and Our Children Are Coming, among several others.. He was married to Bimpe; Ugoeze Professor Adebimpe Ike, librarian emeritus. They met as students in the then University College, Ibadan. Chukwuemeka Ike later lectured at his alma mater. He was the first Nigerian to hold the post of Registrar of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). He was also the first indigenous Registrar of UNN. He co-ordinated the Nigerian Book Foundation for many years. His wife, a library scientist, has a doctorate degree. His grandson, Chukwuemeka Junior, is named after him.

Prof Ike was just three months to his 89th birthday when he passed on in January 2020. Reports say his health went downhill after the sudden death of his son, Prince Osita in 2016. It gets even more tragic. The Ike family had for over a decade been denied access to their only grandson! Chukwuemeka Ike died of the heartbreak of it all!

What really happened was that Prince Osita had gotten married to Princess Osaru, the daughter of Professor Emmanuel Emovon , and they had a son as earlier said. Prof Emmanuel Emovon – CON, FAS – is the Ogbayagbona of Benin Kingdom. I also know that his wife is the daughter of an Edo king, as well as being an academic herself. But Prince Osita’s marriage ended in bitter separation and he was in the process of getting a proper divorce before he died suddenly in 2016 of an asthma attack. When they separated, his wife took their son away to an unknown destination; this happened when the boy was 11 years old ( he is now 21). I never knew any of this till three days back when I made another attempt at getting any burial information, online and then through phone calls.

Attah can be reached via Twitter @mikky_princess

Imo: A State In Need Of Functional Health Facility

Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu.

BY STEVE UZOECHI

The immediate past administration boasted about building one General Hospital in each of the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo State. The projects could not be completed for the eight years duration of the Rochas Okorocha’s administration. Today, save for the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, Imo is in the dark, healthcare wise. STEVE UZOECHI reports from Owerri

The night was thick with trepidation and the feeling of helplessness, asphyxiating. From anxiety, it was utter gloom as loved ones waited with bated breath. Eventually, the long wait had come to an end with the shattering pronouncement by the doctors that Ndubuisi Emenike was dead.

Then, the wailing began; tears flowed freely as even men cried.

Men consoled men as women let down their hairs and wept inconsolably. It was a sight no one would wish to re-live in a long time.

It was a Sunday, January 26, 2020 and would for a long time be remembered by the political class in Okigwe senatorial zone and indeed the people of Imo State.

Between 6pm and 7.30pm of that night, the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri was literally ‘flooded’ by politicians of all shades, businessmen, high-equity individuals from different walks of life, stakeholders from Imo North and of course, the ‘everyday’ Nigerians resident in Owerri, the Imo State capital; all of who had dashed to the FMC, Owerri, in the hope that there may be some help they could render to save the life of Chief Ndubuisi Emenike, the renowned philanthropist and a senatorial candidate of the Action Alliance political party for the Imo North(Okigwe Zone) senatorial election.

In an alleged case of ‘accidental discharge’ or perhaps celebratory gunshots (friendly fire), Emenike had been shot by an officer of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and was rushed to the hospital, but did not make it out alive.

It was such a heart-rending way to die, for a man who had saved many lives, paid hospital bills for many, built houses, awarded scholarships and had in more ways than can be remembered, given value to humanity.

As sad as it is, not a few persons believe it was an avoidable death given the fact that it was not a head-shot or heart-shot that killed Emenike but a shot fired around the abdominal region.

They averred that what eventually may have killed the chieftain after all, may be the absence of a functional health facility around the area where the shooting took place, which is Isiala Mbano council area.

A senior medical practitioner, Dr. Hyacinth Emele, maintained that distance to the nearest medical facility may have been the undoing of the late Chieftain.

He said: “Most times, when people are shot, bleeding is what kills them. If a major vessel is hit by the bullet and it triggers torrential haemorrhage, the victim needs to be rushed to a hospital as soon as possible, not farther than five or 10 minutes from the place of incident. What needs to be done is to stop the bleeding fast. Usually when they are brought in as emergency, you see the medical personnel going straight to where the person was shot to put something there to stop the bleeding and that is how most of them are saved.

“But for a longer journey, perhaps with a major vessels affected, bleeding does a lot of damage. Usually, when they are brought in, most vital signs like the heart rate and pulse rate may not be obvious anymore and that may be indicative of internal bleeding. Such patients are wheeled straight into the theatre and opened up so that the bleeding can be stopped immediately depending on how much can be salvaged owing to the distance travelled.

“It is apparent that the distance travelled by the late Chieftain did not do him any good; the distance could actually be a major cause of his death because by the time they would have travelled to Owerri from Isiala Mbano council area, he would have bled into shock.”

As for abdominal shots, Emele said that victims of abdominal shots are often saved if intervention is timely.

“It is possible to survive abdominal shots. If it affects a major organ or vessel, then speed and timely intervention become expedient. For shots that affect the Femural vessel for instance; without swift and expert intervention, the patient will bleed to death”, Emele said.

When Ndubuisi Emenike was shot at Isiala Mbano, there was evidently no hospital within the vicinity or neighbouring community competent to offer basic medical intervention and stabilize him before onward journey to FMC Owerri for comprehensive treatment.

After the incident, Emenike was first rushed to the St. Mary’s Hospital Umunachi in Isiala Mbano but there was literally nothing the hospital could do for him and accordingly, they referred him to FMC, Owerri.

He was then ferried to the state capital, traversing at least two Local Government Areas before arriving the FMC, Owerri.

The question on the lips of every resident of Imo State is what became of the 27 new general hospitals for which budgetary provisions were made for several years.

The 27 new general hospitals were supposedly spread out across the 27 council areas of Imo State. What happened to the new general hospital supposedly built in Isiala Mbano and Ehime Mbano?

Ironically, for the eight years Senator Rochas Okorocha was in office as governor of Imo State, he did not complete the said general hospitals while perpetually listing them as one of his achievements in office.

The general hospitals became issues of political campaign described as an ambitious futuristic project by Okorocha’s loyalists while many other residents of Imo State, who were aware of the real status of the new general hospitals have dismissed same as a white elephant projects.

Okorocha inherited 11 general hospitals; the Imo State University Teaching Hospital and hundreds of health centres, yet for eight years, none of these were enhanced or improved upon to render the deserved healthcare services to the people.

From the records, Imo has a total of 1338 health facilities across the 27 LGAs; 805 of these are primary health facilities with 416 of the primary health facilities being publicly owned while 389 are privately owned.

The state also has about 531 Secondary health facilities with 19 being publicly owned while 512 are privately owned.

There was no evident effort from the Okorocha administration to improve on what he met on ground so that Imo people could access qualitative healthcare. Instead, he embarked on a fresh project of building 27 new general hospitals without, at least, standardizing one existing hospital to serve the Imo populace while his dream hospitals were underway.

Not even the Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu, got the deserved attention. Instead, according to Governor Hope Uzodinma, the MRI machines procured by previous administrations for the Teaching Hospital were removed and taken to the Ochiedike Diagnostic Centre, Owerri, which at the time, was allegedly being run by Okorocha like a private enterprise.

Without completing and delivering any of the said new general hospitals, Okorocha still claimed he had spent a whopping N27billion in all the 27 uncompleted hospital projects.

While on the 27 new general hospital adventure, Okorocha had leased the 11 general hospitals he met to a private firm, Messrs Lantech Solutions Ltd and shortly after, the general hospitals were virtually grounded and abandoned with workers owed as much as eight months salaries.

The former governor apparently saw more of profits in health care service delivery than the humane and compassionate service it is.

To further deepen the woes of the health sector in Imo State, Okorocha aborted a $32million ultra-modern hospital project, revoked the land for the project and reallocated same to a petroleum dealer for a Petroleum Filling Station.

A Neurosurgeon, Prof. Philip Njemanze said: “Many Nigerian medical doctors overseas, at home and other investors had come together to establish a state-of-the-art hospital in Imo which would be the first of eight hospitals proposed by the group, but former Governor Okorocha stood against the project while many states would have been willing to offer us land for free.

“By now, the hospital, a $32million investment would have been functional. It was designed a paperless hospital with capacities for complex surgeries including heart and brain surgeries. The hospital was also designed to have a helipad for an emergency response helicopter. We had procured the land, done all the survey and feasibility studies. In fact, we had spent money in the neighbourhood of $18million before Okorocha illegally revoked the land, and destroyed the structures already put in place. He went ahead to reallocate the land for a petrol filling station. Nevertheless, we have won the case in court and hopefully there will be the enforcement of the judgment.”

Commenting on the death of Ndubuisi Emenike, Njemanze said it was the lack of emergency response system in the state that led to the death of the Chieftain.

He said: “How could you drive an emergency case of that nature through our dilapidated road networks for that long and not end up doing more damage than good. What the young man needed at the time was swift response and timely medical intervention, and not a long journey. A helicopter would have brought him to safety in no time as his treatment would have started right inside the chopper. You cannot run a country or state without an emergency response system. It is not the fault of the FMC, Owerri that he died but the leaders that failed to do what is right and needful for its citizens.”

He added: “I drafted a bill on emergency response for the state and I remember I took the proposal to former Governor Okorocha who told me to meet with him in his country home, Ogboko and he just trashed the proposal. He simply told me it was not what he wanted to do, that he had bought 15 ambulances for emergency and that was all. I couldn’t believe my ears.”

Without further gilding the lilies, Imo still bleeds from a total lack of functional health system.

The sad reality is that the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, which is a tertiary health institution is the only competitively functional health facility in Imo State.

Consequently, the FMC is overtly burdened as it solely dispenses healthcare services for primary, secondary and tertiary health needs which was not the original intendment of its founders.

The reality is that the primary and secondary health care systems in Imo State have totally collapsed and rather than hasten to its intervention, the former governor spent eight years executing building contracts only to leave behind 27 uncompleted buildings as 27 general hospitals.

Since, after Okorocha’s eight years in office, Imo is yet to have a governor who has settled-in to design a new health masterplan for the state. This is largely due to the political controversy that has dogged the seat of power in Imo State. And this was the situation when Ndubuisi Emenike died.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines a hospital as “An institution that is built, staffed, and equipped for diagnosis of disease; for the treatment, both medical and surgical, of the sick and the injured; and for their housing during this process. The modern hospital also often serves as a centre for investigation and for teaching.”

Suffice it to say that if there were 27 new general hospitals built and functional in Imo State, Emenike would not have died.

The newly 27 general hospitals could not save Ndubuisi Emenike because they were non-existent.

SOURCE: NEW TELEGRAPH

Ebonyi Lawmaker Clears Five Undergraduates’ Fees

Chinedu Ogah, Chinedu Ogah Foundation. Image: Facebook

BY UCHENNA INYA

A member representing Ezza-South/ Ikwo in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinedu Ogah,yesterday paid school fees for five undergraduates studying across different universities in the country.

The students are Otubo Godfrey, a Department of Computer engineering technology, HND1, Oko polytechnics, Anambra State, Agwu Mmaduka Alobu, Computer engineering technology, HND2, Oko polytechnics, Anambra State, Nwafor Kingsley student of Ebonyi State University, faculty of law, 300 level, Igwe Chika, Student of Institute of management and technology, HND1 Enugu State and Nwonu Emmanuel Onyebuchi a graduate of Ebonyi State University who was given his clearance fees by the lawmaker.

Ogah handed the school fees over to the undergraduates in his Abakaliki residence while urging them to use it for the purpose it was meant for.

He, however, asked other students with OND to go to cyber cafe and apply for INEC jobs with their OND certificates for immediate employment.

He noted that the gesture was to increase literacy in his constituency and reduce youth’s unemployment in the area.

While addressing those he paid their school fees, the APC lawmaker called on them to use it for the purpose it was meant for, promising to assist other indigent students in the constituency and urged the undergraduates to be serious in their studies to make good results.

SOURCE: NEW TELEGRAPH

IMO GUBER: PDP's Journey From The Streets to Supreme Court

BY ONYEKACHI EZE

OWERRI (NEW TELEGRAPH)--After series of street protests and visits to embassies, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) finally approached the Supreme Court, seeking a reversal of the judgement that sacked Emeka Ihedioha as Imo State governor, ONYEKACHI EZE reports...

The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, was careful in his choice of words, when he addressed party members and supporters during a rally in Abuja on January 20, following the Supreme Court judgement that sacked Emeka Ihedioha as governor of Imo State.

The PDP national chairman had earlier disclosed the party’s intention to seek a review of the judgement. And he was careful not to offend the jurists when the party eventually files its petition for a review. That was why he told party supporters during the rally that PDP was only against the error observed in the judgement, but not the justices.

His words: “We’re not against you (Supreme Court justices), we’re against the error and by the special grace of God, I know you will revisit the error. All we are saying is that for you to review this error because the figures are not adding up.

“We, therefore, call on the leadership of the judiciary to please revisit and reverse the Imo State judgement because we believe that the figures are not adding up. That’s why we’re here, so that the world will hear us. We are a democratic nation, and therefore, all democratic nations of the world are hearing us – United States, United Kingdom, even the United Nations, the African Union and ECOWAS.

“We believe that people at the highest court of the land will hear our cry and revisit, review, and if possible, reverse, the judgement. This is time to show courage.”

The error in the judgement, according to the party was that the apex court inadvertently increased the number of votes in the March 9, 2019 governorship election, by 127,209 votes.

The number of accredited voters was 823,743, out of which, 739,485 was votes cast while 25,130 was cancelled votes, leaving 714,355 as valid votes. But with the addition of 127,209 to Uzodinma’s 96,458 votes (whom the Independent National Electoral Commission, said came fourth in the election), the total number of votes in the election increased to 950,952.

PDP said it “is highly irrational, unfounded, a provocative product of executive manipulation and a recipe for crisis, which should not be allowed to stand.”

The party added: “With the verdict, the Supreme Court executed a coup against the PDP and the people of Imo State as well as other Nigerians, and such must not be allowed to have a place in our democracy.”

On the heels of the judgement, PDP supporters had embarked on street protests. From Owerri, the Imo State capital, to Taraba, Anambra, Sokoto and others, the party mobilised its members and sympathisers to march against the judgement.

The party’s leadership, apart from staging the Abuja rally, also went to the embassies of the United States and France as well as the British High Commission, to submit a petition. It was equally at the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) headquarters in Nigeria for the same purpose.

But on February 5, the party and its candidate (Ihedioha) formally filed an appeal at the Supreme Court, asking it to review the January 14 judgement.

Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), Nigeria’s former Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, who filed the appeal on their behalf, prayed the court to declare as “nullity the judgement delivered by this Honourable Court on the 14th of January 2020, in Appeal No. SC.1462/2019 and Cross Appeal No. SC.1470/2019.”

Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, is the first appellant/respondent, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) and INEC are the second and third appeallants/respondents, respectively. Ihedioha and PDP are respondents/applicants.

Governor Uzodinma has as well, filed a cross appeal, asking the court to dismiss the PDP petition on the ground that it is status barred. He argued that the window allowed by law for election petition has elapsed.

PDP and Ihedioha, in their motion on notice, argued that the Supreme Court had no jurisdiction to declare Uzodinma as elected in “an election petition which was based on two inconsistent and mutually exclusive grounds, to wit, (i) that the 1st Applicant was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election, the implication of which is that the majority of votes cast at the election were valid; and, (ii) that the election was invalid for noncompliance with the Electoral Act, the implication of which is that the election be annulled.”

They further argued that the apex court “did not have the jurisdiction to declare the 1st Appellant/Respondent as elected in the absence of any proof that the votes ascribed to him met the mandatory geographical spread stipulated in section 179 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”

Further, the applicants contended that the Supreme Court “did not have the jurisdiction to declare that the 1st Appellant/Respondent met the constitutional geographical spread without providing in its judgement the reason(s) for that conclusion.

“The fraudulent nature of the additional votes was demonstrated by the fact that total votes cast as shown in the first appellant/respondent’s computation was more than the total number of voters accredited for the election and in some polling units more than the total number of registered voters.

“The fraud was also demonstrated by the fact that the result computed by the first appellant/respondent showed only the votes of the first applicant and the first appellant/respondent without specifying the votes scored by the other 68 candidates who participated in the election.”

To this effect, the applicants urged the court to hold that the judgement of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed Uzodinma’s petition as incompetent, continues to subsist as the appeal against that decision was not considered by the apex court.

The appeal was slated for hearing on February 18, but was later shifted to March 2, to allow both the respondents and applicants file their responses and replies.

The applicants are contesting the results from 388 polling units, which the Supreme Court relied on to declare Uzodinma winner of the March 9, 2019 governorship election. This amounted to 213,495 votes, which APC and Uzodinma believed, were unlawfully excluded from their votes during the election.

But PDP argued that exhibits 63RD1 to 63RD19 (which is INEC Forms EC40G) showed that there were no valid elections in the 388 polling units. INEC had told the court that the result from the 388 polling units did not originate from it.

The party’s argument on spread was that even if Uzodinma’s votes were allowed to stand, he did not get the spread in the required number of local government areas in Imo State.

To be declared governor of a state, section 179 (2) of the constitution stipulates that in addition to winning the highest number of valid votes cast in an election, the candidate must also secure 25 per cent of votes in two-third of the local government areas in the state.

Imo State has 27 local government areas. Two-third therefore is 18. PDP’s argument is that Uzodinma has spread in only two local governments, and could not be declared winner because he lacks the required spread.

But some advocacy groups argued that the court should rather order a rerun between the two political parties that have the highest number of votes (PDP and APC) since neither Uzodinma nor Ihedioha met the required spread. While Uzodinma has spread in only two, Ihedioha met the spread in 14 local government areas.

This is not the first time the Supreme Court is being asked to review its judgement. As a matter of fact, the apex court was approached on a number of occasions, asking it to review its earlier judgements. One of the most celebrated is the Johnson v Lawanson of 1970s. This was a case involving Kobina Johnson vs Irene Lawanson and others.

The Supreme Court, upon a request for review, regretted its earlier position that for a deed to be relied on by section 129 of the Evidence Act, it must be 20 years old at the date of proceedings. This was reversed to be 20 years old at the date of the contract.

Justice Coker who delivered the judgement, held that “when the court is faced with the alternative of perpetuating what it is satisfied is an erroneous decision which was reached per incuriam and will, if followed, inflict hardship and injustice upon the generations in the future or of causing temporary disturbances of rights acquired under such decision, I do not think we shall hesitate to declare the law as we find it.”

Consequently, the Supreme Court ordered that the appeal be re-heard by another panel of the justices of the Supreme Court.

PDP’s lawyer, in his final submission, reminded the jurists that “never in the history of this court have your lordships delivered a judgement which evoked the protest of the public. This one has. Therefore, we urge you, we appeal to you to take a second look at it.

“There is no doubting the fact that your lordships, being human, will from time to time fall into error. Prove to the world that when that happens, you will not lack the courage to correct yourselves. That is the unique opportunity that this case offers you.”

He further cited the case of Adegoke Motors v. Adesanya, where the Supreme Court stated that “it is far better to admit an error than to preserve an error.”

PDP is asking the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Tanko and six other justices, who delivered the January 14 judgement, to recuse themselves from the panel that would review the judgement.

The party said its demand was based on Section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which guarantees fair hearing to every citizen or entity in the determination of his rights or obligations.

“Furthermore, the time honoured and tested principles of natural justice, particularly that no man shall be a judge in his own cause is particularly relevant to this solemn request.

“Allegation of bias or likelihood of bias goes to the root of fair hearing. Denial of right to fair hearing is a logical consequence of bias in any proceeding before a court or a tribunal,” PDP argued.

ESSAY: Who Are The Returnees In Akwa Ibom?

Akwa Ibom map image via Research Gate.

BY NSIKAK EKANEM

John James Akpan Udoedehe has an impressive ex this and that in his political profile – former Uyo Local Government Chairman and former senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was also a one-time Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

In 2011 he was the governorship candidate for the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Akwa Ibom. Though he lost the election to then incumbent Godswill Akpabio, he gave the former a run for his money in what remains the most blood-spilled and ethnicity-tensed election in the annals of electoral contests in the state. Before defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the ACN he was the helmsman of Akpabio’s 2007 governorship campaign.

After his unsuccessful bid for the governorship position in 2011 he has been aspiring to fly governorship flag of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in 2015 and 2019 elections, to no avail. Though his consistency with the main opposition party in the state could be said to be unwavering, his dedication to electoral interest of his party after the 2011 election has been wavering just as he has been suspected to play a fifth columnist role for the party in power. Even so, he remains one of the top gladiators in the politics of Akwa Ibom.

Unlike many Nigerian political officer seekers, he is not good at hiring crowd, yet he can boast of sea of heads at any political event gathered at his instance. He may not have the gift of the gap to lure his audience with alluring words but he has the streetwise-ness to command mass movement, especially among the downtrodden. A cerebral young man called Ofonime Honesty honestly described him as “The man who braved the odds to breathe life into opposition politics in Akwa Ibom”.

So many others see him as having nuisance value. His street bravado, which his adversaries described as touting, is traced to his formative years in his father’s then flourishing transportation business in Uyo, which might have deposited a sizeable sociological gene in him. May be it has more to do with his biological gene than the environmental influence or combination of both.

Whether it is to his advantage or disadvantage, most of Udoedehe’s teeming followers often voluntarily, willy-nilly, charlatanry and in a riffraff-like manner amplify his intentions and actions with distortions, beyond the proportion of the doer of the action. It does not occur to them that overzealous or madcap drive to give a niche to a brand, especially a political brand, when it is unneedful, without subjecting it to ratiocination, with the belief that the brand will be embraced hook, line and sinker by the public, is often packaged higgledy-piggledy, resulting in high propensity of being counterproductive.

When Udoedehe, recently at a public event in Uyo, traced the political history of Akwa Ibom to the fact that the state “always have Lagos returnees coming to become governors” and that time has arrived “to have a home grown person as governor” he probably did not mean to ostracize, inculpate and alienate any segment of the Akwa Ibom populace or cause aspersion on any individual person with a view to drawing artificial fault lines and narrowing 2023 political space in the state.

Unfortunately, what the former senator might not have meant have been making rounds in the state through messy marketing by his minions in any available public place. In attempt to market the message on the need for “home grown person” to be governor, Udoedehe has been inadvertently portrayed as a politician with a complex problem, intimidated by mere speculation of a person or persons with certain connection with Lagos. One who goes to a race with inferiority complex on account of the physique and profile of other contestants meet defeat from the starting line and it would take millennial magic for the person to reach finishing line, let alone winning the race.

As a one-time senator, and later, a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, provided his character and worldview align with his political status, Udoedehe has what it takes to be called a statesman, therefore, going to the market place with pedestrian and parochial postulation aimed at castigating Akwa Ibom indigenes residing in Lagos is unbecoming and condescending of a person that has attained such position in the public.

The keywords in Udoedehe’s message are “home grown” and ‘Lagos returnees”. Whereas the phrases, on the face of it, are simple enough for comprehension by even pupils in the primary schools, ambiguity has crept in through innuendoes deploy by the amplifiers in the course of expatiating the call for change. If where one is brought up has to do with a person’s formative stage, which is from childhood to adolescence, how come someone who was born around the vicinity of his nativity, grew up there and had his primary to tertiary education there before getting a job in Lagos, from where he constantly shuttle to his village, is given a separatist tag of “a returnee”?

With Lagos as a case point, one of the contradictions of the Nigerian federation, which is against the spirit of an ideal federations, is that while a citizen’s hands are busied every day for a living in the city his heart remains in his village. That accounted for why a person living and working in Lagos goes to his village to enroll in the voters’ register. If a person residing in Victoria Island for decades is asked to choose a road for construction he would rather mention with alacrity roads in his village and not anyone around the neighbourhood of his residency.

In the late 1980s or thereabout, Ray Ekpu packaged a fundraising programme for his village in Akwa Ibom and brought Arthur Nzeribe, who announced a scholarship foundation for indigent students of the community to study in universities. Recently, when Udeme Ufot of the SO & U advertising firm clocked 60 all roads for his friends across the country, the de crème de la crème, were leading to his village at Etinan in Akwa Ibom for a thanksgiving all because he wanted “to draw attention” to deplorable roads passing through his village.

Granted that the meaning of “returnee” is as assumed by those making a taunt of it, what is wrong in a country like Nigeria, where high premium is placed on state of origin over residency for an indigene who intends to join politics in his country home?

From antiquity to contemporary time, history abound of leaders that return to their nativity and assume some sort of deus ex machina role. Think of the biblical Moses in the liberation movement in the ancient Israel! In the same vein, two most prominent and powerful Igbos, in my estimation, are legendary Nnamdi Azikiwe, known across the globe as Zik of Africa, and Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The two of them were born in Zungeru, in the present day Niger State in November 1904 and 1933 respectively. Zik was educated in the United States. On returning to Nigeria, he lived in Lagos, where he had his major exploits in politics. Ojukwu, who was fluent in Hausa and Yoruba before speaking his native Igbo, was also brought up in Lagos.

Though, Zik’s pan-Nigerianness and pan-Africaness have been a subject of criticism among a segment of the Igbos, owing to Nigeria’s ethnocentrism, the fact remains that the Igbos were unalloyed in their commitment to being loyal and ever committed to following Zik while his robustly engaged political career lasted. In the case of Ojukwu, the fact that 50 years after, the disastrous relics of the Nigerian Civil War still remain a sore to the Igbos in Nigeria, yet the Igbos remain unregretful for faithfully identifying with Ojukwu, who was the main prosecutor on the Biafran side of the war. Their Zungeru birth place did not count while their cosmopolitan orientation was considered a plus for the Igbos to get to their envisaged place in the Nigerian nation.

Who really is a returnee in Akwa Ibom? Let us take a look at those who eke out a living through their toils in Lagos or elsewhere and at the same time have filial identification with the plight and aspirations of their native community. Let us compare the former with those that attain prominence through mandate given to them to render service to the public and at the end of their service they relocate to Abuja or elsewhere outside Akwa Ibom because they have fed fat and elevated to status no longer fit for habitation in the Akwa Ibom environment. Let us also take a glance at a politician with serial record of profiteering in elections after elections in Akwa Ibom, who leaves to unwind elsewhere, leaving his followers in the lurch, only to return for next election.

All Akwa Ibomites anywhere in the world should be unapologetic in condemning any attempt by any individual or group persons to smear certain people and spew exclusionary rule in the pursuit of their personal political ambition. If at all, there is anything edible in a pack of unconstitutional exclusionary rule, it is only its momentary palatability in the mouth of those spewing it. It is a trouble to the stomach since its indigestibility lead to a vicious complex ailment.

Exclusion is an anathema to democracy. It promotes narrowness that democracy antagonizes and kills the ennobling essence of all-ness and openness that democracy epitomizes. Since democracy offers a market place for diversities let all sort of people – fake home grown and real home grown, returnees and the runaway – flock together till harvest time.

SOURCE: NEW TELEGRAPH

NEWSROOM: S’East Leaders To FG: Declare Herdsmen Terrorists

Map of South East

Plans ‘Operation Ogbunigwe’ to fight insecurity
Govs adopt community policing
It’s the way to go, says IGP

BY KENNETH OFOMA

ENUGU (NEW TELEGRAPH)--South-East leaders, comprising members of apex Igbo body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, traditional and religious leaders, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to declare killer herdsmen terrorists and tinker with the constitution to allow digbo to establish a regional security outfit to be known as “Operation Ogbunigwe.”

The Igbo leaders made the call during a security summit, with the theme: “Strategic partnership for defective community policing in the South-East,” organised by the Nigeria Police in partnership with governors of the five states of the zone.

The event was attended by police hierarchy led by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu; Governors Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), David Umahi (Ebonyi), Willie Obiano (Anambra), Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia) and the deputy governor of Imo State, Prof. Placid Njoku, who represented Governor Hope Uzodinma.

Also in attendance were a cross section of Igbo leaders, including Ohanaeze President General, Chief Nnia Nwodo; religious leaders and prominent traditional rulers.

Nwodo, who decried rising insecurity across the country, called on the Federal Government to allow the South-East to establish a security outfit to be named “Operation Ogbunigwe” to tackle the menace.

“Section 14 of the Constitution gives the governors as chief security officers, the power to provide security for their people. If the governors are not fully integrated in the processes of community policing, including recruitment of the special constables among other things, then it is dead on arrival. What our people want is to own our domestic security. There must be a way our law will allow us to have our own Ogbunigwe,” he said.

Also decrying a situation where no police commissioner of Igbo speaking state was posted to any state of the region and posting of one State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) of Igbo extraction to one state in the zone, the Ohanaeze President General wondered how people with a different language, religion and culture can effectively police other people with opposing features.

He consequently called for dismantling of excessive and oppressive security check points within the region, saying that he personally counted 17 of such roadblocks along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway and they all serve as toll gates for financial extortion.

The Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, who spoke on behalf of other religious leaders, called on the Federal Government to declare killer herdsmen as terrorists.

“The Federal Government should declare Fulani herdsmen as terrorists. Our men and women don’t go to their farms any longer. Government should reduce the number of roadblocks in the South-East and reduce the number of policemen attached to politicians. Some politicians have 20 policemen, while we don’t have enough,” he said.

However, governors of the South-East in their submission resolved to adopt the Community Policing Programme of the Nigerian Police Force to solve security challenges in the zone.

Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Umahi, who stated the position of the governors at the summit, said they were satisfied with the Inspector-General of Police strategies for the implementation of the community policing programme in the zone.

Umahi, who noted that the governors had earlier had a closed door meeting with the police boss at Enugu Government House before coming to the Base Event Center, Enugu, venue of the summit, stated: “We reached satisfactory and acceptable decisions and agreement. We can assure you that all the concerns of security challenges we have here in the South-East as presented here by the President of Ohanaeze, our religious leaders and of course our traditional fathers was not different from what was handed to us and we went through that with the IGP without letting you know the details. We assure you that all the challenges are being addressed.”

The governors noted that explanation and details provided to them by the IGP gave them the confidence to assure the people of the zone that community policing is not different from the neighbourhood watch, vigilante operation and forests guards as well as the herdsmen and farmers peace committees.

Umahi further said that the governors resolved as follows: “We decided as your governors to embrace the initiative of community policing, which is an official endorsement in line with the Police Act as part of what we are doing to safeguard the lives and property of our people. We commend the IGP so much, he is a man that is committed to professionalism. Even the roadblocks, we have discussed it and you will begin to see a lot of changes from today.

“Taking into cognisance the existing security initiative instituted by governors of the states in the South-East geo-political zone at the various local level such as vigilante group, the neighbourhood watch, forest guards among others which are in conformity with the community policing strategy, the state governors have accepted and adopted community policing as an effective tool in bringing policing to the grassroots.

“Community policing committees made up of traditional rulers, community leaders, town union leaders, religious leaders etc., within the locality will be charged with the responsibility of selecting and recruiting community policing officers that will work within the communities.

“The governors of states within the South-East geo-political zone are to reinforce and provide improved capacity for the police and other security agencies in their respective states in support of the community policing programme. This is as the states within the South-East zone will individually and periodically undertake operation against crimes and criminality in synergy with the police and other security agencies.

The Chairman of Enugu State Traditional Rulers Council, HRH Amb. Lawrence Agubuzu, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers in the zone, said the royal fathers stand with the position of the governors.

The IGP had earlier stated that the community policing model being envisioned for Nigeria under the current dispensation is one that will draw on the legal opportunities provided by the Police Act for the engagement of special constables, who in this instance, will be engaged as community policing officers under the coordination of the Nigeria Police towards evolving a community-focused policing architecture.

His words: “Provisions for the establishment and utilization of Special Constables is provided for under Section 49 of the Police Act and they are appointed in accordance with the provisions of Section 50(1) of the Police Act.

“In view of these provisions which approve them to serve particular purposes and which also confer upon them, the powers, privileges and immunities of police officer within their localities, special constables will be trained and used as Voluntary Community Police Officers to drive the Community Policing initiative at the grassroots level.

“This event is convened within the framework of our community policing initiative and as part of the strategies of the Nigeria Police to employ an all-inclusive strategy toward aiding us in the achievement of our internal security mandate, particularly in the South-East states.

The IGP said the summit was the sixth in the series and that all ended with very successful outcomes and the strategies jointly developed as well as partnerships built have so far been effective in addressing the security threats that are peculiar to each zone.

INTERVIEW: Onuigbo: Nigerians Won’t Deny That Igbos Have Capacity To Govern The Nation

Samuel Onuigbo, House of Representatives, Ikwuano/Umuahia North-South Fed Constituency, Abia State. Image: Twitter.

BY PHILIP NYAM

Hon. Samuel Onuigbo represents Ikwunano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives and is the Vice President (Africa) Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE). In this interview with PHILIP NYAM, he speaks on a wide range of climate issues and the contentious agitation for a president of Igbo extraction in 2023

You were recently elected the Vice President (Africa) of an international environmental organisation known as GLOBE. What does the organisation stand for?

GLOBE stands for Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. What is it? It is an international association of national parliamentarians in well over 99 countries of the world and the aim is for these parliamentarians to take interest in sponsoring bills and also supporting policies of the executive arm that are geared towards the preservation and protection of the environment.

The environment covers ecology, deforestation, agriculture, climate change, petroleum resources etc. All these are supposed to be done in a sensible and sustainable way; in a way that preserves the environment and leaves something for generations yet unborn. So that when you are carrying out your activities to make profit from your business, you also consciously know that you have to preserve the environment and by so doing, your actions are done in such a sensible, sustainable way to avoid taking from the environment and destroying it. So, globally, this association has grown phenomenally, it started with G8 countries asking their legislators to take interest in the environment, knowing that a lot of damages are taking place across the world from those either looking for timber, who cut down trees without replanting same.

Ideas like these gave rise to something like Great Green Wall of the Sahara and Sahel Initiative, which of course came from the African Union (AU). So, an organisation like GLOBE champions bills such as the one I sponsored recently on climate change. You can also sponsor on other aspects of the environment such as agriculture, petroleum and all these are geared towards ensuring that when you are taking from the ground, forest or ocean, you have to do it in a sensible and sustainable manner bearing in mind generations yet unborn.

GLOBE came to Nigeria through the efforts of the former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, in 2012 and the Nigeria chapter came into existence 2013 when the immediate past President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki was Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment. In the 8th National Assembly, the President of GLOBE was Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim while I was the Vice President and today I am the president of GLOBE Nigeria, and the Vice President (Africa) of GLOBE International.

You chaired the House Committee on Climate Change in the 8th Assembly and now you are Vice President of GLOBE. How are you mobilising other lawmakers on issues of environment?

I must say that in my first term in the House of Representatives, I made verifiable achievements both in terms of my cardinal mandate, legislation and facilitation of projects in my constituency. I am looking forward to further making solid contributions in this Assembly like I did in the 8th Assembly by facilitating laudable projects in my constituency.

My re-election, the first time an honourable member was re-elected in my federal constituency, which is an acknowledgment of my towering achievements in my first tenure and what my people did was to say; ‘we are happy for what you did in the development of our constituency’. In that way, to who much is given, much is expected.

So specifically I am going to pursue those things like the climate change bill, which I sponsored in the 8th Assembly. Fortunately it has gone through the second reading and has been referred to the committee of the whole. And what does that hope to achieve? It hopes to bring to the fore those issues that are involved in the bill. For instance, it is proposing the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change to be chaired by Mr. President and that Council will be peopled by so many ministers whose mandates are crosscutting in nature.

Apart from the focal ones as far as climate change is concerned there are others such as agriculture, environment, finance, transportation, education, petroleum, industry, Niger Delta, water resources, mining, etc., that their activities are climate change related. The Council is also expected to have in its composition the National Security Adviser, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), President of ALGON, a representative of the private sector (especially the manufacturing and extractive industries), youths, etc.

This broad representation is important because if you pass a law at the national level without involving all these stakeholders who are expected to enforce it, its implementation becomes very difficult. Some persons asked me why I want the National Security Adviser in the Council and I explained to them that the effects of climate change are far reaching. It is crosscutting. It is not only limited to those component parts of environment like petroleum, deforestation etc. Therefore, those negative impacts, those devastating effects now affect the security of the nation and I can give you a good example; the Boko Haram saga.

The Boko Haram saga was actually made worse by the fact that a place like Lake Chad that provided means of livelihood for well over 40 million people, who depended on it for animal husbandry, fishing and other forms of agriculture eventually found that the lake had shrunk to less than 10 per cent and therefore they could no longer perform those things they used to sustain themselves. What they did was to move into the city where they have no skills to survive. Unfortunately since their skills which are fishing, farming, and animal husbandry have been denied them they quickly became easy tools in the hands of those recruiting hungry but able-bodied youths for Boko Haram insurgency.

Another saga that we have in our hands is the herdsmen/farmers clashes. So, when we had green areas around Lake Chad, around some parts of the North where people were rearing their cattle, they did not bother to push down South or the Middle belt in a violent manner. But today, you see there is no green vegetation in most parts of the North, rather there is desertification and therefore the herdsmen are everywhere looking for pastures for their cattle. So that is why it is important to have someone like the National Security Adviser in the Council to provide advice. I am focused on this bill because of its importance to the nation and I am hopeful that this time around it would be assented to by the president. Once that is done, it would attract investors in renewable energy and other aspects of the economy, while checkmating the devastating effects of climate change. But this cannot happen if there is no governing law on climate change in the country.

The need for a president of Igbo extraction in 2023 has continued to dominate national discourse to the extent that while the South-West is insisting that it would produce the next president, the North is also plotting to retain power beyond 2023. As a lawmaker from the South-East geopolitical zone, what is your take on this?

It is difficult to predict now because the parties as far as I know today are significantly fluid and a lot of the party members have been moving from one party to another. You have pieces of evidence to support my assertion. On the issue of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction, it is not out of place to believe that yes we can get a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction if Nigerians in their wisdom look down and say okay.

Well, this country is built on a tripod; forget whatever reconstruction or restructuring that has produced the six geo-political zones of today. You should also remember those who made contributions to the federation gaining independence in 1960. I remember that most of them were of Igbo extraction then. After reviewing these scenarios, you will convince yourself to expect that Nigeria can happily and satisfactorily get a president of Igbo extraction who will fit the bill and who will do extraordinarily well.

You will recall that in the 60s the eastern region was the fastest growing economy in the world. It is documented; it is not a baseless talk. And I also remember that the eastern region was also the first region to build a full-fledged university by first passing a law on May 18, 1955 for the first university to be built and they did not stop there. The 1955 law provided that the Eastern Nigeria Marketing Board should set aside £500,000 annually for the successful development of the university. That long term planning was what led to the successful take-off of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, on October 1, 1960.

You were recently elected the Vice President (Africa) of an international environmental organisation known as GLOBE. What does the organisation stand for?

GLOBE stands for Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment. What is it? It is an international association of national parliamentarians in well over 99 countries of the world and the aim is for these parliamentarians to take interest in sponsoring bills and also supporting policies of the executive arm that are geared towards the preservation and protection of the environment.

The environment covers ecology, deforestation, agriculture, climate change, petroleum resources etc. All these are supposed to be done in a sensible and sustainable way; in a way that preserves the environment and leaves something for generations yet unborn. So that when you are carrying out your activities to make profit from your business, you also consciously know that you have to preserve the environment and by so doing, your actions are done in such a sensible, sustainable way to avoid taking from the environment and destroying it. So, globally, this association has grown phenomenally, it started with G8 countries asking their legislators to take interest in the environment, knowing that a lot of damages are taking place across the world from those either looking for timber, who cut down trees without replanting same.

Ideas like these gave rise to something like Great Green Wall of the Sahara and Sahel Initiative, which of course came from the African Union (AU). So, an organisation like GLOBE champions bills such as the one I sponsored recently on climate change. You can also sponsor on other aspects of the environment such as agriculture, petroleum and all these are geared towards ensuring that when you are taking from the ground, forest or ocean, you have to do it in a sensible and sustainable manner bearing in mind generations yet unborn.

GLOBE came to Nigeria through the efforts of the former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, in 2012 and the Nigeria chapter came into existence 2013 when the immediate past President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki was Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment. In the 8th National Assembly, the President of GLOBE was Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim while I was the Vice President and today I am the president of GLOBE Nigeria, and the Vice President (Africa) of GLOBE International.

You chaired the House Committee on Climate Change in the 8th Assembly and now you are Vice President of GLOBE. How are you mobilising other lawmakers on issues of environment?
I must say that in my first term in the House of Representatives, I made verifiable achievements both in terms of my cardinal mandate, legislation and facilitation of projects in my constituency. I am looking forward to further making solid contributions in this Assembly like I did in the 8th Assembly by facilitating laudable projects in my constituency.

My re-election, the first time an honourable member was re-elected in my federal constituency, which is an acknowledgment of my towering achievements in my first tenure and what my people did was to say; ‘we are happy for what you did in the development of our constituency’. In that way, to who much is given, much is expected.

So specifically I am going to pursue those things like the climate change bill, which I sponsored in the 8th Assembly. Fortunately it has gone through the second reading and has been referred to the committee of the whole. And what does that hope to achieve? It hopes to bring to the fore those issues that are involved in the bill. For instance, it is proposing the establishment of a National Council on Climate Change to be chaired by Mr. President and that Council will be peopled by so many ministers whose mandates are crosscutting in nature.

Apart from the focal ones as far as climate change is concerned there are others such as agriculture, environment, finance, transportation, education, petroleum, industry, Niger Delta, water resources, mining, etc., that their activities are climate change related. The Council is also expected to have in its composition the National Security Adviser, Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), President of ALGON, a representative of the private sector (especially the manufacturing and extractive industries), youths, etc.

This broad representation is important because if you pass a law at the national level without involving all these stakeholders who are expected to enforce it, its implementation becomes very difficult. Some persons asked me why I want the National Security Adviser in the Council and I explained to them that the effects of climate change are far reaching. It is crosscutting. It is not only limited to those component parts of environment like petroleum, deforestation etc. Therefore, those negative impacts, those devastating effects now affect the security of the nation and I can give you a good example; the Boko Haram saga.

The Boko Haram saga was actually made worse by the fact that a place like Lake Chad that provided means of livelihood for well over 40 million people, who depended on it for animal husbandry, fishing and other forms of agriculture eventually found that the lake had shrunk to less than 10 per cent and therefore they could no longer perform those things they used to sustain themselves. What they did was to move into the city where they have no skills to survive. Unfortunately since their skills which are fishing, farming, and animal husbandry have been denied them they quickly became easy tools in the hands of those recruiting hungry but able-bodied youths for Boko Haram insurgency.

Another saga that we have in our hands is the herdsmen/farmers clashes. So, when we had green areas around Lake Chad, around some parts of the North where people were rearing their cattle, they did not bother to push down South or the Middle belt in a violent manner. But today, you see there is no green vegetation in most parts of the North, rather there is desertification and therefore the herdsmen are everywhere looking for pastures for their cattle. So that is why it is important to have someone like the National Security Adviser in the Council to provide advice. I am focused on this bill because of its importance to the nation and I am hopeful that this time around it would be assented to by the president. Once that is done, it would attract investors in renewable energy and other aspects of the economy, while checkmating the devastating effects of climate change. But this cannot happen if there is no governing law on climate change in the country.

The need for a president of Igbo extraction in 2023 has continued to dominate national discourse to the extent that while the South-West is insisting that it would produce the next president, the North is also plotting to retain power beyond 2023. As a lawmaker from the South-East geopolitical zone, what is your take on this?

It is difficult to predict now because the parties as far as I know today are significantly fluid and a lot of the party members have been moving from one party to another. You have pieces of evidence to support my assertion. On the issue of a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction, it is not out of place to believe that yes we can get a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction if Nigerians in their wisdom look down and say okay.

Well, this country is built on a tripod; forget whatever reconstruction or restructuring that has produced the six geo-political zones of today. You should also remember those who made contributions to the federation gaining independence in 1960. I remember that most of them were of Igbo extraction then. After reviewing these scenarios, you will convince yourself to expect that Nigeria can happily and satisfactorily get a president of Igbo extraction who will fit the bill and who will do extraordinarily well.

You will recall that in the 60s the eastern region was the fastest growing economy in the world. It is documented; it is not a baseless talk. And I also remember that the eastern region was also the first region to build a full-fledged university by first passing a law on May 18, 1955 for the first university to be built and they did not stop there. The 1955 law provided that the Eastern Nigeria Marketing Board should set aside £500,000 annually for the successful development of the university. That long term planning was what led to the successful take-off of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, on October 1, 1960.

It was after that, that other regions followed suit: the Federal Government established the University of Lagos in April 1962, while the Western Region established the Obafemi Awolowo University in 1961, and the Northern Region, Ahmadu Bello University in October 1962, while the law establishing the University of Ibadan as a full-fledged university was signed in December of 1962.

Under the leadership of late Chief Michael Okpara as the Premier of the Eastern Region, an agreement was signed with Sir Kenneth Hutchinson and Mr. C.C Filstead of Conch Methane Services Ltd for the 18,000,000 gas production plant in the then Bonny Province. Then you think about the Obudu Cattle Ranch, the Hotel Presidential in Enugu and Port Harcourt, Trans-Amadi industrial layout in Port Harcourt, Golden Guinea Breweries and Ceramics Industry in Umuahia, Steel Industry Emene, Nigeria Glass Industry and Eastern Michelin Tyre Factory, Port Harcourt, were all built by Okpara. These initiatives came early and I do not think you will find such initiatives from those who lack the capacity and training to be able to exercise leadership up to the presidential level.

It is a known fact that the Nigerian presidency is not won on a platter of gold, that you have to work for it. Now that the South-East is neck deep into the PDP, under which political party is the region going to contest and win the 2023 presidency?

My dear friend, I told you from the outset that the political structure of this country today is fluid. Today you have APC, which is a conglomeration of so many other po litical parties, the CPC, ACN, ANPP and all that. You would recall that many opposition parties fused together and metamorphosed into APC, which is the ruling party today. Four years prior to that time, if anybody told you that this would happen you wouldn’t have believed. So, when I said this is a fluid political environment, I expect you to speak with caution. The PDP is there now, yes it has survived the test of time having been pushed left, right and center, yet it’s still standing strong. The space is open. You cannot say this is strictly an APC or PDP affair because this is a fluid political environment.

Today, President Muhammadu Buhari has provided leadership for the APC and we must acknowledge that and give him credit. Perhaps you have also heard someone like Senator Rochas Okorocha and others speculating that APC would probably go the way of PDP when President Buhari leaves the stage in 2023.There should not be any fear regarding who is in PDP and who is in APC when it comes to occupying that seat. Again there are no strong ideological differences between these parties. So, if you accept my analysis on this argument then you will then know that there is nothing to worry about.

If Nigerians agree with the contributions of the Igbos from how we got independence to when the Eastern region was the fastest growing economy till now and some other contributions we have been making and then acknowledge that the Igbos have demonstrated good faith and that they truly believe in this nation called Nigeria, they will then acknowledge that the Igbos deserve to lead this country. By the way, who else invests outside of its region more than the Igbos in Nigeria? No other tribe in Nigeria invests in this country outside their own region more than the Igbos. So, the South East can produce a president of Igbo extraction who has the potential to turn things around, reposition this nation, and restore confidence and trust in all Nigerians.

The House of Representatives has in the last few weeks being issuing resolutions on rehabilitation of infrastructure in the South-East. What are you doing in your own way to attract development to your constituency and South-East?
I have been able to facilitate many projects within my federal constituency; so many of them have been completed while some of them are ongoing. I do not intend to look back or stop. So, I want my constituents to really know that I will redouble my efforts to make sure that I continue to serve them well. You know funding constituency projects has been a big problem like the one I did in my place, the government has not been able to fully fund it. It was funded less than 40 per cent and it was abandoned and I had to look for money to complete the reconstruction of our hospital that was built in 1984 but was allowed to decay.

I will continue to facilitate projects that impact on the lives of the people. I will focus on hospitals, schools and training (human capital development). These are the things that I will continue to do and to the glory of God I think I have done things that are verifiable – things that are there for people to see in terms of projects that have been successfully executed. Without being exhaustive, let me mention just a few but impactful projects that I have successfully facilitated in my federal constituency.

When in 2016, the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikot Ekpene Federal Road which was cut into two in many sections and consequently became impassable, I vigorously pursued the request for urgent palliative work to be done to restore the road. I received support and encouragement from Senator T.A Orji, to actualise that project. Also, I facilitated the erosion control work at Ukwudara, Amachara, Umuopara in Umuahia South LGA; erosion control work at Okwe-Obuohia road in Ikwuano LGA; construction of a block of classrooms at Afo Ugiri Girls Secondary School and a water project at Ohuhu and Avonkwu Ibeku in Umuahia North LGA; a massive skills acquisition centre at Apumiri Ubakala; blocks of classrooms at Umutowe Olokoro and Nsirimo Ubakala; hospital projects at Obuohia Obi-Ibere and Ahiaeke Oloko; electricity projects in all the Local Government Areas. I also facilitated the award of the total reconstruction of the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikot Ekpene Federal Road.

I am currently working with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing on an interchange at the Abia Tower to end the perpetual traffic gridlock and to achieve a proper dualization of the federal road from the Tower to Amawom Oboro in the first phase. There are many more federal projects that I am working on that are at the initial planning stages, including the building of a federal secretariat in Abia State.

Whereas democracy has become a globally accepted form of government with a leadership recruitment system built on candidates’ popularity and people-friendly political manifestoes, indications are rife that this system of government and indeed political stability on the African continent is under threat.

SOURCE: NEW TELEGRAPH

100 Days In Office: Ikpeazu Has Nothing To Celebrate – APGA

Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State Governor

BY STEVEN UZOECHI

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Abia State, has lambasted Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on the first 100 days of his second tenure accusing his government of celebrating backwardness and failures in his first tenure that include projects abandonment, non-payment of workers emoluments and pensions.

The party, in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Ebere Uzoukwa, chronicled some of the governor’s failures to include: “The abandoned Osisioma Fly-Over, an alleged conduit pipe with which the governor and his surrogates have allegedly misused about N5 billion from the treasury of Abia State, the destruction rather than construction of Obikabia-Umuobiakwa-Ururuka Road (the road leading to the governor’s house/village), the invisible Enyimba Economic City, the non-existent Abia Shoe Factory and the destroyed and abandoned Abiriba-Nkporo road.”

Also listed as some of Ikpeazu’s “sins” are: “The 8-month salary arrears owed to secondary school teachers, the16-month salary arrears owed to Abia workers, the 30-month arrears owed to Abia pensioners, contracts inflation, alleged money laundering and the neglect of the Ukwa East and Ukwa West council areas as well as the disregard to oil producing communities of Abia State.”

While describing Abia as the least developed state in the country, the party further described the situation as ‘disheartening’ especially when governors of some neighboring states in the South East particularly Ebonyi and Enugu states are consolidating gainfully, on the numerous achievements recorded during their first term in office.

SOURCE: NEW TELEGRAPH