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Ohanaeze Ndigbo and 2023 presidency

After the 1999 election that threw up Chief Olusegun Obasanjo from prison to power, the politics of the South-East took a new dimension. A lot of the political actors from the South-East extraction were scrambling for positions under the new administration, abandoned Dr. Alex Ekwueme who, many believed was shortchanged in the Jos national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Most of the contributors to the PDP vault were businessmen from the South-East: Chief Emeka Offor and Orji Uzor Kalu led the pack. Dr. Ekwueme, now of blessed memory, had to wait till 2003 before he could show interest in the presidency especially when the internal cold war between President Obasanjo and VP Atiku Abubakar almost altered the permutations.

Some power players wanted an Atiku and Ekwueme to pair up to dislodge an Obasanjo that was trying to be his own man. Unable to sail through, Obasanjo had to settle for Atiku in continuation of a ticket that was consummated in 1999. When they both returned elected in 2003, Obasanjo showed his anger by removing the earlier powers he had ceded to Atiku, which made the latter to be powerful amongst the PDP governors.

He was literarily cut to size and the rest, as they say, is history. In 2000, the PDP took a decision to re-organise the party structures across the country, to strengthen it, and fill the positions that were left vacant following political appointments that were made in 1999. Committees were set up at the national headquarters to handle the assignment to ensure that every position was filled.

I served as Secretary of the South-East committee under the chairmanship of Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, to amongst other things, ensure a proper composition of all the executives at the state level. It was a national assignment across all the six geopolitical zones. The South-East zone became a more tortuous exercise and assignment.

Imo, Enugu and Anambra were the hotbeds. That of Imo State was a tussle between the then Governor Achike Udenwa and then Minister of Transport, Kema Chikwe. While Chikwe felt she should be allowed to feature one P.C. Onuoha as state chairman, the governor had plans for a different candidate. Two weeks after we had submitted our report, the South-East zone was still in turmoil. Different political camps were exercising their political muscles to outdo one another.

The Ubas dominated Anambra, the Ebeano political family, led by the Governor Chimaroke Nnamani dominated Enugu, the Orji Uzor Kalus dominated Abia and the Sam Egwus took charge of Ebonyi. The point I am making is that, it is often difficult to arrive at a political consensus of any sort in the South-East whenever opportunity presents itself. Everybody is a lord in the South- East. Every household is a king unto itself.

The political contestations in the South-East are often boisterous, just like other zones in the Southern part of the country. I remember the meeting that was held by South-East leaders at Nike Lake Hotel sometime in 2000 over the desire to agree on a consensus National Chairmanship candidate between Chief Ralph Obioha and Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, who was the foundation National Secretary of the PDP. That meeting ended in a fiasco, as gun-shots took over proceedings at the Nike Lake Hotel venue.

The people never minded the fact that their revered leader Dr. Ekwueme was present. It was a reign of terror and that meeting had to be abandoned. Whether as a result of their republican nature, the South-East as a homogeneous political group hardly speaks with one voice, reason why it will be herculean a task to actualise a presidency of an ndigbo mind. The signs of those peculiar divisions are already rearing their ugly heads.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a socio-cultural and political association which ought to be a rallying point for all Ndigbo, has been embroiled in leadership tussle. Before the tenure of Chief John Nnia Nwodo, which recently lapsed, there were often crises of legitimacy at the leadership level, a situation that gave birth to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and MASSOB respectively.

It is instructive to note that Nwodo’s tenure helped to stabilise the association and brought some bite and grit into the association, the current division in the group has suddenly put spanners in the works.

Two presidents of the association are already parading themselves. One, a seasoned diplomat and former ambassador, Prof. George Obiozor, my good friend, whose intellectuality is not in doubt. Aside from being a brilliant mind, his exposure to the vagaries of Nigerian politics would help him to build on the achievements of his predecessor, John Nwodo. But the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu has reportedly aligned with another president, Chidi Ibeh, who represents another faction of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo. According to the IPOB run-away leader, the leadership of Prof. Obiozor may not suit its own modus operandi of seeking a Biafran republic.

He accuses the Obiozor-led Ohanaeze of being pro-Northern oligarchy and rather opted for Chidi Ibeh-led Ohanaeze. Against the backdrop of the popular clamour for a presidency from the South-East extraction, divisions within the Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s fold would have their telling impact on speaking with one voice. The political walls in the South-East are already cracked. Too many political tensions are building up, from Enugu, Anambra to Abia, from Ebonyi to Imo; there are several contestations that may not augur well for a zone that seeks to preside over Nigeria. The Ndigbos need to speak to the Ndigbo. There must be meeting of minds and interests.

The political temperature from the South- East is getting to a boiling point and the earlier the political leaders find a common platform to push for their political empowerment, the better for a zone that should be supported to birth presidency. In 2019, when one of their own, Peter Obi, was chosen by Atiku as a running mate, tempers went bunkers. That decision partly affected the outcome of the election in the zone.

Some of the political leaders who had thought of being running mate, felt disappointed in the singular decision of the candidate to handpick Peter Obi, one of the cerebral minds in the country, from the South-East zone. It took the PDP hierarchy some precious time to appeal to the zone’s leaders during the campaigns, to sheathe their swords and forge ahead. The votes later exposed the hidden anger. And only recently, the PDP lost one of its governors, David Umahi, to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

That, on its own, has affected the earlier permutations for the 2023 presidency, rightly or wrongly. And the current internal wranglings within the Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s leadership, is another sore thumb that may fritter away the slim opportunity of a 2023 presidency.

Secondly, the activities of Nnamdi Kanu have the capacity to convey a different impression in the minds of other Nigerians. A country that is presently haemorrhaging as a result of fragile peace and leadership atrophy, cannot contemplate handing over the country to a zone peculiar with campaigns of “insurrection”. While some political leaders in the zone like Orji Kalu, Rochas Okorocha, John Nwodo, Jim Nwobodo, Chris Ngige, Peter Obi and many others have been reaching out to other parts of the country, the role of IPOB has continued to obliterate whatever gains that have been recorded.

Political power acquisition, especially under a democracy in a heterogeneous society, has to do with negotiation, constructive engagement and collective bargaining. Since democracy talks about numeric strength which favours the majority, the minority would have to negotiate for power through moral suasion and not threat, as the leadership of IPOB is wont to do. The South-East surely deserves presidency, but the approach must be one that is devoid of outright threat, or one that may tend to wake up or activate the relics and nostalgic feeling and memory of the civil war.

For the union to work, every political zone must be properly integrated into the scheme of things at the centre to birth a sense of belonging into a country that is obviously troubled with many challenges.

The leadership in the South-East must engage, must dialogue, persuade, convince and build endearing and enduring relationship amongst her neighbours and other parts of the country. In asking for the presidency, it must take into account the national interest and not the interest of the South-East alone.

The South- East zone parades some of the brightest minds; Nigerians who have travelled far and near to contribute to our national history and achievements, but they must get their politics right to strike the right chord. Politics could be very interesting if only we follow through the process with equanimity of purpose. To network around the intricate logic of Nigerian politics, one must understand the centrifugal and centripetal forces and strike an equilibrium that would make the nation-states comfortable within the union.

The nation-states must also buy in to the national ideologies that are at play at any given time. The ongoing leadership tussle within the Ohanaeze Ndigbo leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The political leaders in the South-East must make it a point of duty to rally round all the elements within the zone, dialogue with them, achieve a common ground and forge ahead as a group driven by interest common to all.

If IPOB is seeking a country of its own with renewed vigour, and the others are seeking a presidency of the Nigerian nation, it will only ridicule the overall objective. The leaders from the zone must run away from using IPOB as a striker, in its renewed effort to assemble a winning team for the presidency. It must derive courage to call IPOB to order, reach a common ground and pursue same political agenda without equivocation.

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