|
KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future |
|
THE IMPARTIAL OBSERVER
Ndiigbo, again Outmaneuvered and Ill-served
Hank Eso
In
Nigerian politics, Ndiigbo have become a nation of outsiders… As painful as it
is to admit, collectively, Ndiigbo are for now, politically irrelevant.
Jonathan-Sambo.
Buhari-Bakare. Ribadu-Adeola.
Shekarau-Oyegun. In these
configurations of four presidential tickets, one of which will emerge and lead
In
Ndiigbo know well their fate and that their political
marginalization is no longer a figment of their supposition or rhetoric. Other
Nigerians know that too, but could care less. What this reality and a deep sense
of hopeless resignation points to, is the deep-seated illusion by Ndiigbo that
political power is given or gained, in the absence of a grand strategy or hard
line negotiations, as well as the equally deep-seated hypocrisy, weakness, and
nonchalance in Nigerian politics.
Over the past eight years, I have in this space, dwelled extensively on the
obvious shortcomings of Igbo politicking.
I have said a lot, and painfully, most my views remain pertinent, and
largely vindicated. (see,
The
Redefining Calculus of Zoning
,
Ohanaeze and Overcoming the Limits of
Igbo Vision and the Tragedy of a Gifted People,
Igbo quandary,
The paradox and
blithe cruelty of Igbo individualism ,
Cold reality: "Igbo
presidency" in 2007 elusive,
When some Igbo leaders become clever by half
and
Permutations of an Igbo presidency
).
That I am once again, grappling with the confounding aspects of Igbo politics,
as a critical component of the vagaries of Nigerian politics, means that things
have not changed but, indeed, worsened.
Some may not care or admit it, but the challenges Ndiigbo face in Nigerian
politics is not just theirs; it is Nigeria’s.
For Ndiigbo, it is escapist and easy to blame others for their fate.
Yet, the prevailing disconnect, is a damning indictment of the Igbo as
well as the Nigerian intelligentsia, but one for which the rest of Nigeria are
unwilling to accept any culpability. That is the crux of the Igbo dilemma.
In the eddy of the Several months back, several of us (Okonkwo,
Ene, Eso, and Maduabum), all
pundits on Kwenu.com, received a joint missive
from a concerned Igbo, named Dean.
He had several concerns, mostly about the political marginalization of Ndiigbo.
He believed that as pundits, we could influence Igbo leadership elite
into toeing the right path for the sake of the Igbo nation while educating our
readers. Dean also asked a critical
question: “Given
the above realities in
The situation does not call for declaring right or wrong for south or north,
zoning or no zoning. The situation calls for cold clear political
calculations for the interest of Ndiigbo.
We should not be caught dead or alive with the loser. Every time we
support the loser, we are set back 8 years. It is better to make friends
with a victorious devil than a losing angel. We must not be so divided and
scattered in our opinion that the opponent begins to perceive us as
inconsequential. We must not allow the opponent to sense that we can be
Balkanized. We must not cut our own throats and hand it to the enemy on a
platter. We need to tone down the
discordant voices reaching our opponents at this time. Even the Spartans
knew when to close ranks and repel the enemy. We must stop the strident support
for Jonathan or the north and talk more about what the Igbo vision for
Well, the trajectory and place of Ndiigbo in Nigerian
politics is predicated on two facts:
Loss of Igbo vision, core values, and adherence to the maxim of
collective interest -igwebuike- and
on the flip side, a “conspiracy of
silence” by other Nigerians not to forget fully, or forgive fully the
arrogance of the Igbo in their attempted secession in 1967.
That singular historical fact, defines how Ndiigbo are treated and
perceived, even as I suspect, that hardly any non-Igbo leading politician would
have the courage to publicly admit so.
Also, that singular act, has shaped most post-civil-war
policies and politics directed at Ndiigbo: be it political appointments, the
expropriation of schools that has resulted in great setbacks and the mis-education
of Igbo youths, the introduction of preferential admission policies in
universities or the location of
federally funded industries and institutions that contribute to enterprise and
enabling environments. Even with
the current arrangement that calls for geopolitical zoning, the Igbo heartland,
the south-east zone remains economically, politically and otherwise, the most
disenfranchised. Southeast is the only geo-political zone comprised of five
rather than six states. So, where
is the equity?
Aside from their Babelian tendencies, Ndiigbo fit well into the realm of Karl Popper’s doctrinal on retrogressive and dysfunctional politics orchestrated by the “enemies within”. There is no need to rehash how the Igbo wasted the opportunity to leverage their holding of the Senate Presidency, the number three national slot, in the eight years of Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 to 2007.
Similarly, when the leadership of the ruling PDP party, was
zoned to the Igbo, neither Prince Vincent Ogbulafor nor Okwesilieze Nwodo,
grasped the enormity of the office to hold it long enough to leverage it to the
benefit of Ndiigbo. For Ndiigbo, poor strategic thinking and handling of the
so-called presidential zoning arrangement has left them once again, in the lurch
and ill served. The truth is that Ndiigbo never placed themselves well, to be
relevant or to play a deciding role.
Neither did they understand the pertinent alliances they needed to forge,
in order to stay relevant. If
indeed, zoning within PDP is dead, Ndiigbo are the sole losers, since it died at
the critical juncture, when it was the turn of Ndiigbo to benefit from it.
The crux of the Igbo political conundrum, however, is that
Ndiigbo no longer have politicians, the caliber of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Mbonu Ojike,
Dennis Osadebey, Nwafor Orizu, M.I. Okpara, Akanu Ibaim, K.O. Mbadiwe and even
in the latter days, Sam Mbakwe. What they have now, is a slew of egotistic
businessmen, who aspire to use politics to enhance their personal interests
rather than use their business influence to enhance politics and serve the Igbo
nation. For the average Igbo
politician, the bottom line is profit and loss, and essentially, what is in it
for me politics. Furthermore and comparatively, of the three major
ethno-regional political forums such as Ohanaeze, Arewa Consultative Forum and
Afenifere, Ohanaeze if the most fractious, and does not constitute a formidable
lobby, rallying political fulcrum or archetypal negotiation bloc. In this
context, it is less effective than the others are.
Similarly, the south-east governors have not bargained collectively, not
with the rest of the south and not with the rest of the nation.
Their disposition is incongruous with the influence wielded by their
northern counterparts. In fact, Ndiigbo stopped holding their politicians
accountable long ago. The choice not to punish them for not representing their
people faithfully, has translated to the Igbo nation paying an enduring and
painfully epical political price.
The Igbo have a rather earthy but truly pertinent saying:
“It is the kind-hearted woman that gets
screwed to death”. That,
politically and literarily speaking, is the fate of Ndiigbo.
If others take undue advantage of them, it is because they continue to
manifest obvious malleability, and political and collective self-interest
weaknesses and taken their self worth and clout for granted.
Moreover, the Igbo politicians shy away from hard bargains
and take seeming compromise by other for benevolence. This could hardly be in It is inconceivable to think of one Igbo politician that
could vouch or claim the ability to deliver Igbo votes to any political party.
Whereas, the incumbent governors have become powerful political brokers,
the five Igbo governors, essentially belong to three political parties, PDP, PPA
and APGA. Singularly, or
collectively, none of them could give assurance of rallying the Igbo electorate
to vote for a presidential ticket.
Other Nigerians know this, and therefore, feel less threatened and much so, less
obliged to factor in the risks of offending the Igbo electorate in their
considerations. Now, let me return to where I started.
In the end, and as we search for answers to Igbo quandary, our
interlocutor, Dean concluded his missive with these words:
A time will come when it will be necessary to choose sides. Again, I
believe that you have a big role to play and your opinion will carry more
respect and influence. I believe that the time to choose side will come
when all aspirants have declared and formalized their agenda for That time is now, and as in the past, the political train for
2011 has more or less pulled out of the station and the Igbo nation is not on
board, except for a few Igbo political stragglers, who think they are in because
they parrot the master’s voice.
These Igbo politicians, who have never sought to create a peaceful, secure and
structured enabling environment in their homesteads, but would rather run off to
reside in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, or Asaba, in order to avoid the blight in
their respective states, represent at best, a retrogressive force.
Try as much as they do, they do not
represent Igbo interests beyond considering their personal interests as being
synonymous with those of Ndiigbo.
Here is my take:
The disenfranchisement and political marginalization of Ndiigbo have lived on in
With neither anger nor partiality, until next time, keep the law, stay
impartial, and observe closely. --------
Hank Eso
is a columnist for
Kwenu.com.
His observations on Nigerian, African and global politics and related issues,
has appeared in various print media, journals and internet-based sites.
© Hank Eso,
|
| Simply surprise yourself yonder |