By

Iheanacho “Acho” Orabuchi, Ph.D.

National Chairman of Pan Ndi-Igbo Foundation USA (PNF USA, Inc.)

Saturday, January 1, 2005

Compatriots: First of all let me give thanks to the Almighty God for His blessings and the forgiveness of our shortcomings through His grace. God is good to us! On this note and on behalf of Pan Ndi-Igbo Foundation USA (PNF USA, Inc.) and my family, I greet you wholeheartedly and wish you a flourishing and bravura New Year. I ask you to be your brother’s keeper while we strive for efficiency in unison.

I speak to you on this fresh day of 2005 with all humility and a great sense optimism that gives all of us hope that the new dawn would usher in palliative and enabling environment for the accomplishment of our individual and collective objectives. As we reflect on our successes and failures for the past year, may we use our failures as a driving force for future success. We cannot afford to be overtaken by our disappointments; the stakes could not be any higher at this period in our history. As a result, we must stay the course; we must have courage and be resilient in the pursuit of our objectives. Let me personally warn the Igbo that the Igbo as a people, especially Nigeria would be on the precipice if we vacillate in trepidation.

Recently, the clamor for the Nigerian presidency of Igbo ethnic extraction seems to reverberate in all corners of Igbo community and other ethnic groups’ domain for varied reasons.

Unfortunately, as the country’s need for transformational leadership and the eradication of corruption grows, other members of the tripod bathe in affluence while the Igbo seethe. It is a travesty for people not to realize the inequity in Nigerian body polity. They have failed to realize that by the year 2007, the north should have ruled Nigeria for 34.5 years, the southwest for 12.5 years, and southeast for about 6 months. Regrettably, it appears that these people have selectively forgotten that two Northerners, Chief Barnabas Gemade and Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, contested the presidential primaries in 2003 under PDP with two Southerners, Dr Alex Ekwueme and President Olusegun Obasanjo. Even with this revealing data, some people continue to claim that the Nigerian presidency is zoned to the North. In any case, everyone should be reminded that power is never given up voluntarily, especially in the Nigerian body polity; you have to wrestle power away from the “kingmakers”. The Igbo should not wait for the presidency to be handed over to them; they should work assiduously, relentlessly, and prudently to grab power. This exercise must be a coordinated effort by all groups in order to realize the goal.

The Igbo cannot allow others to determine their fate, their destiny in the Nigeria. We should determine our place in the Nigerian body polity. We may choose seethe in silence while Chief Tony Anenih and others chart our course.

No geo-political zone has an exclusive right to the presidency of Nigeria. In the same token, it is not the birthright of any ethnic group; the Nigerian presidency should not be used to pacify any group or tribe as long as the playing field is leveled for all. Equal opportunity and equal access should be paramount in the process. Anyone interested should work hard to emerge. However, my question to those who are now clamoring for or positioning themselves to be anointed as Nigerian presidential candidate of Igbo ethnic extraction is: would you support the cause if the people choose someone else as a candidate?

Unremitting Igbo problems in Nigeria and Igbo presidency perennially dominate the discussion whenever two or more Diaspora Igbo converse, but is the Nigerian presidency of Igbo extraction the finish line or is it on the path of the race?

As we ponder on the questions above, it is pertinent to be mindful of the fact that the Igbo continue to be plagued with selfishness, dishonest leadership, disunity, political miscalculations, marginalization, deplorable roads, political instability, and self-inflicted and identity calamity. Given these facts, there are things we have to do individually and collectively to help assuage our tribulations.

Individual Responsibility: It is our responsibility, both individually and corporately, to ensure that the generation after us will not suffer what we’re going through in the present day Nigeria. For posterity, we must not let our guards down for any reason. We must eschew bitterness, be honest to one another, and account for our stewardship. As we demand change in Nigeria, we must first change ourselves; we must get rid of all those traits that impede our collective success.

Unity: There seems to be grim hope of peace and unity among the Igbo, particularly in Anambra State as long as Ngige-Uba feud—tumor, persists. The disturbing phenomenon in Anambra State affects all of us. As long as we continue to be plagued with the Anambra enigma, our goal for the Nigerian presidency of Igbo ethnic extraction may be torpedoed.

The Igbo have no choice other than to be united if we intend to accomplish our goals. As a result, Igbo unity is paramount as we pursue our goals, including the Nigerian presidency of Igbo ethnic extraction. Remember that those in power would not relinquish it voluntarily. Unfortunately, human nature is undeniably insatiable; the people in power will always want more of what they have. It is only through unity of purpose and spirit that the Igbo could muster the courage and force necessary to realize the Nigerian presidency of Igbo extraction. I ask those in Nigeria and in the Diaspora to obliterate any divisive spirit in them. It would be magnanimous for each of us to replace chaos with cooperation, lethargy with courage, confrontation with compromise, and most importantly, hatred and bitterness with love and forgiveness.

Nigerian Presidency of Igbo Ethnic Extraction: I encourage everyone—individuals and groups to withhold their support for any other candidate until the emergence of a credible candidate or candidates of Igbo ethnic extraction. The Igbo must have a pool of people with credibility and individuals that represent the conscience of the people.

Marginalization and Equity: Individually and collectively, we should continue to speak out and fight against marginalization of Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria. We will continue to press for equity in federal employment, federal contracts, federal investments, etc. It is our responsibility to ensure that federal presence is adequately felt in the South East geo-political zone. We will continue to impress upon the federal government to increase the “infrastructural” development in “Ala Igbo”. For instance, the dredging of River Niger should have been a priority of the federal government. In any case, I personally encourage the federal government to speed up the dredging of Oguta Port since the money for the project has been released.

Federal Character Principle: Collectively, it is incumbent upon us to continue to press for the implementation of the federal character principle to the letter and spirit. The inequities and imbalances in the federal employment scheme are in contrary to the federal character principle. That must change! The change must be NOW!!

Policies of the federal and state governments: While I encourage everyone to support the policies that create enabling environment to our people, I will not hesitate to fight against policies that are detrimental to the well-being of the citizenry. I am assuring you that PNF USA will continue to educate policymakers and influence policies that will promote sustained economic growth, increase standard of living, improve amenities, etc. Though the allocation of DIG’s on a zonal basis has been completed fairly, yet the discriminatory imbalance in the allocation of AIG’s gives rise to worry. We are demanding that the IG should take a note of this imbalance and correct it immediately.

Igbo organizations: It is imperative that we will continue to collaborate with one another for the accomplishment of Igbo agenda. Also, it is to our benefit to work harmoniously and collaboratively with other ethnic groups for the common good. The most foolish phenomenon facing some organizations and their leaders in the Diaspora is not only ignorance of their shallowness, but also their abject lack of knowledge of their limitedness. Having said that, we do have some people in the Diaspora that are capable of leading Nigeria. I implore all Igbo organizations to strive toward convergence for posterity. The broad Igbo interest should be our common thread.

Igbo problems in Nigeria: We will embark on internationalizing the Igbo problems in Nigeria. PNF USA will educate the world about the plight of the Igbo in Nigeria. We’ll be holding a political Conference on May 6, 7, & 8, 2005 in Dallas, Texas to constructively discuss some of the major problems facing the Igbo in Nigeria today. The Igbo presidency will be pivotal agenda item and we will want all the potential candidates to attend the conference. It will be a defining moment for some the candidates. Also, we are inviting the stakeholders to join in the discussion of the pertinent issues facing the Igbo. After the 2005 Conference, PNF USA will plan to hold the next political summit in Nigeria.

My people, the Igbo should, at every layer and in all institution of her egalitarian culture, build a mesh of skilled individuals from all walks of life. The interlocking web “Igbo workers/servants” should comprise of strategists, financiers, managers, press, analysts, planners and evaluators, etc working in unison to accomplish the Igbo agenda. Collective Igbo objectives would not be accomplished individually or by any single group. Rather, they would be accomplished synergistically. As we enter the New Year, we’re faced with challenges and opportunities; we cannot meet our challenges or maximize our opportunities if we dispel the virtue of cooperative effort. If we want to make any headway in Nigeria, the era of Igbo elite leadership should be behind us; in its place should be servant leadership pool.

I am optimistic that if we do the basics, our objectives would be realistically attainable. We have to employ tools that would enable us reach our desired goal. We have to utilize eclectic approach in some critical issues to ensure success.

Well, there is a gleam of hope, however, for the Igbo presidency, if we could cut off the tumor in Anambra State and work in unison to accomplish the objective. However, the Igbo should not be narrow-minded. Igbo presidency is not the finish line by itself. It is rather on a path to the equalization of opportunities and resources. We cannot accept to be perennially subjugated to the third class citizen. In order for the logic of the tripod in the Nigerian body polity to resonate, equal opportunity must be enshrined and assured to members of the tripod. Most importantly, equal opportunity cannot come without redressing the past wrongs. It is the responsibility of the federal government to be bold enough to “unmarginalize” the Igbo with immediate effect in all realms.

Not only that we must be prudent and pragmatic in our approach, but also we must not be distracted no matter what our detractors say. We cannot surrender to fear. According to Thomas A. Edison, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” In any case, dawn of hope and optimism is here and we should not squander the opportunity.

Thank you and remain blessed!

Iheanacho “Acho” Orabuchi, Ph.D.

National Chairman, Pan Ndi-Igbo Foundation USA, Inc. (PNF USA)