EHIRIM FILES: The Igbo Presidency Debates

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Nnamdi Azikiwe interviewed by journalists on his arrival at the King's Cross Station, London, May 6, 1957. Image: Getty

BY AMBROSE EHIRIM
BNW MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 28, 2004

"Enyi, Obasanjo egbuele Nigeria. Enyi, Obasanjo wuzi diktator. Enyi, ahuhu no n'ulo. Ala anyi emebiele. Enyi, nsogbu nokwa. Odi egwu oh!" cried Dr. Edmund Ugorji of Los Angeles, carefully going through his ordeal and the extreme hardship people are facing during his brief visit to his native land of Mbieri in Imo State. "Enyi, ole mgbe iga abia ka anyi kpoo ndi mmadu zukoo mara ihe anyi ga eme gbasara obodo anyi? Enyi, ole ihe anyi ga eme? Ike agwulam nihi obodo anyi enweahu di mmekwata. Egwu di kwa!"

"So what do you think is the problem? And why is it not getting any better since Olusegun Obasanjo was handpicked by his military junta cronies to take over the affairs of state in the Fourth Republic? Do we really have to blame Obasanjo for all our woes even though I have consistently despised him in the past?"

That was my counter question-response to his clarion call for immediate action regarding the fragile state in Igboland. Nevertheless, Ugorji did toss a meeting of Igbo dignitaries and "homeward bound" new Igboist at his Los Angeles home, for a feasibility study in tackling voter apathy and fraud which denied honest and legitimate Igbo candidates from winning elections. Jimmy Asiegbu, Dr Julius Kpaduwa and many others honored said emergency. I did not attend for the call's lack of an agenda. When I spoke to Asiegbu about the outcome of the meeting, he did not tell me much other than it was an exploratory gesture. Kpaduwa did not say much either, when I ran into him. His counsel was we should keep fighting for what we believe in. That was the end of Ugorji's call for immediate action, I would guess.

Honestly, how badly I wish we could all agree that the ensuing Igbo presidency debates-along with many other issues having nothing to do with the well-being of the Igbo nation-is totally beside the point at this moment and then move on to substantive issues. Sadly, for the past few years, we've seen eruption of bitter battles between the pros and cons who have taken sides on the necessities and irrelevance of an Igbo president. It has become dangerously senseless in many ways especially at Acho Orabuchi's Yahoo Igbo Forum "bloggers". Every blogger at that site seems to be adding up to what matters and what doesn't, now that it's an Igbo thing. Orji Kalu, Achike Udenwa, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Kalu Diogu-what a line up-and a long list of variants had been suggested as better and potential candidates. Very soon they will add Arthur Nzeribe, which brings about the absurdity of one chasing a rat escaping from the flames while his house is being burnt down.

In another related incident and quite often, long time friend, Austen Oghuma and I, would get into a heated debates thematically about the sorry plight of a cursed state-Nigeria-in which Oghuma agrees exhausting his options but had insisted "there's no immediate replacement for Obasanjo," that for the moment, a sovereign national conference or a gathering of ethnic nationalities is the nations last hope for survival, suggesting it would be a starting point towards correcting the ills of the country since the Amalgamation of North and South. I have refused to buy the idea of a national conference for many reasons at which one is weary of pointing out, though, Oghuma disagrees with me. Perhaps. that is why Nd'Igbo are bent, or so much worried about 2007 presidency we all know has a bucket full of uncertainties, especially with the ongoing turmoil, the "political rat race" and tension, civil unrest and religious disturbances of all sorts resulting to the sack of Governor Joshua Dariye of Plateau State and dissolution of its state legislature. Oghuma, however, reflected on among other things, history repeating itself on the basis Igbo presidency may not arrive come 2007.

He further argued that in today's Nigeria, if an Igbo man should be president he must be of national interest in its totality, and not just an Igbo president. That he has nothing against Nd'Igbo and that he believes merit should apply to every political and government enterprise citing the beauty of hard work by way of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's top notch appointment at the Finance ministry. He gave more instances of hard-working Igbo men and women of industry who had paid their dues and had been rewarded, mentioning Fabian Osuji, Ojo Maduekwe, Kema Chikwe, ABC Nwosu and many uncountable others-some of which I totally disagree.

Meanwhile, I did not, never mind the subject-matter, give impression I was not comfortable with the names he specifically pointed out to make his argument since the focus of our discourse was Igbo presidency and 2007. For the time being, what bothered me most was the way the country, the Igbo nation in particular had been plunged into chaos by a relevant financier-oligarchic class-the Chris Ubahs, the Iwuanyanwus, the Nzeribes, the Offors and many uncountable "Barons" of the day. Which is why the bastardized Nigerian state lost its middle class to anarchic empire leaving every indigene with the idea of "get rich or die trying." This is a common characteristic enemy that must be defeated for any nation relying on economic well-being, progressive social reforms, upholding democracy and the rule of law.

But, then, the question is, why is Igbo presidency so hot these days? Would it just be a media hype or propaganda to distract the people from focusing on an inept and corrupt administration its priority has nothing to do with the people other than chaos? So what's all the haggling in the media about Igbo presidency? Why is it so important an Igbo must be president as a "balanced act," in other words, the rotation of the presidency come 2007? How's that going to bring about change? Why is the Igbo desperate? And why are Nd'Igbo worried they are not "shortchanged" this time around? Where is the hullabaloo for Igbo presidency project taking us to? And if one may ask: Igbo president for what?

In fact, no week has gone by since Obasanjo's "no sacred cow" vow of May 29, 1999 that commentators, analysts, newspaper editorials, internet discussion groups, email chain letters, barber shops, beer parlor, isi-ewu and nkwobi joints did not mention the need for an Igbo president. Too many articles have popped up. But frankly, in the great argument that has raged over the last four years based on fairness and equity, the discussions have been very exhaustive, the reviews and essays somewhat engaging, and the exchanges not simmering down for now. It has been a long and arduous struggle, cruel and nasty with the end not yet in sight, perhaps until the uncertainties of 2007 elections is resolved, that is, the 2007 elections in which an Igbo president is expected to emerge.

Not even myself could keep up with the flood of articles on Igbo presidency which began before and after Alex Ekwueme lost to Obasanjo at the Jos People's Democratic Party (PDP) primaries. And more commentaries are pouring in from writers, political analysts, editorials, etc. suggesting the need for an Igbo president with some pundits arguing against the much talked about, much debated and presumed controversial 2007 elections.

Again, what's all the excitement for and why is the issue so hot in the news media? Prof Ben Nwabueze committed himself for a must 2003 Igbo president when he gave us "Issues in the Igbo Presidency Project" followed by Dr. Okenwa Nwosu's "How Valid Is the Case for Igbo Presidency?" Obi Nwakama in his "The Orbit" column contributed his quota for the relevance of an Igbo president. Orabuchi posted his at Iwuanyanwu's Daily Champion. One Bolaji Abdullah penned "The Trouble With Igbo Presidency" charging that the 2003 presidential elections eluded Nd'Igbo on the ground they had fielded too many candidates from different political platforms lacking the consensus to produce a flag bearer on behalf of Nd'Igbo apart from party affiliation. There's Tunde Adenobi-whether he exists or not I have no idea-questioning the authenticity of Igbo presidency in his essay "Igbo Presidency: What Now?"

Vanguard Group of Newspapers' Abuja Bureau Chief, Sufuyan Ojeifo, in his eight-page political analysis asked "Who Are Southern Aspirants? Where Are They?" Governor Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom State when cornered by a wave of reporters at Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, on the topic of the presidency and zoning said: "Whether the North will keep it for two terms or one term and it rotates to another zone is another matter. But, I clearly remember that caucus meeting where it was agreed that we will let the president have a second term, but by 2007, it should go to the North." Ohanaeze stalwart and former Second Republic Speaker of the House of Representative, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke did not go without being noticed when he acknowledged …"what Ohanaeze has taken as a stand on behalf of the Igbos and that has not been controverted, is that come 2007, somebody from the South-East must be president of this country. And I think that is the only way we can have a permanent peace."

Even Ebenezer Babatope who lost his respect among his Awoist followers, and who had made a personal decision to join Sani Abacha's reign of terror made his own feelings about 2007 known when he encouraged opposition parties in the country to "invade" the nation's political scene with "adequate propaganda," to avoid another PDP daylight robbery of the elections, which increasingly so has turned Nigeria into a one-party state. And, of course, the ebullient governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, when asked of a potential Igbo presidency in 2007, had this to say:

"You must realize that Igbo alone can't make anybody the president and that is why we think that the time is now for us to start it and carry it through. The Igbo were battered in 1999, you saw what happened in Kaduna where there was also conspiracy and we finally lost out. At the end of it we were badly beaten. And again in 2002, we saw that the likes of Ewueme showed interest, Nwobodo, the late Chuba Oakdigbo, Ike Nwachukwu, Idika kalu, they all showed interest. And at the end of it they lost out. So it tells you that the Igbo have been politically wounded…"

Also, there's Elvis Agukwe, former PDP Director of Research and Planning rooting for "Atiku 2007" and clearly stating Igbo should forget the presidency project, that the North, by all accounts and party platform are the recipients and shouldn't be contested. He tells Emmanuel Aziken of Vanguard:

"I have made it clear that it is not our turn, it is the time of the North and we are discussing with the North and when the time comes we will start work together to realize our own turn."

Agukwe himself has faded away since he tried to sell 'Atiku 2007" ticket to the media and the people, claiming PDP caucus has tailored Atiku to succeed OBJ, and blaming Igbo politicians who insist Igbo must land in Aso Rock in 2007 as not being "sincere" and had blown it away when they had the chance to take the mantle of so-called leadership. Agukwe, the spoiler that he is, was used initially by a gang of PDP "stalwarts" to dissuade Nd'Igbo quest for the presidency has disappeared and no longer speaking out as he used to now that the PDP zoning system is on the crossroads.

But even though the ilks of Agukwe may have vanished, there have been inflammatory remarks and flattery on the road to 2007 and Igbo presidency. There have been, also, attempts to concretely put in place and confirm a Northern shift in terms of 2007 presidential elections. There has been, too, mockery of the Igbo on the basis they have no clue what exactly it is they want in the nation's polity especially in the much heated debate on the presidency and zoning. There has been, as well, a whole lot of contradictions, chicanery and double-speak for an overall genuine mandate concerning Igbo presidency on a national consensus by way of constitutional provisions which really doesn't exist. So what's all the fuss about?

The brouhaha, however, prompted Kaduna State Governor, Mohammed Markarfi to make caricature of Igbo presidency in question when he "warned" the presidency should come back to the North and shouldn't be an issue at all based on a done deal. Even Abacha's right hand men-Alhaji Shehu Malami, the Sarkin Sultan of Sokoto and Wada Nas, Abacha's Minister for Special Duties-contributed their own two cents, too. Malami in his own words:

"If you are talking about democracy, you cannot say anything good about democracy when you are already determining where the president should come from without waiting for the voters to decide. Let the voters decide who will be their leader; that is my position."

In that case, listen to Nas reacting to Alhaji Usman Farouk's rabble-rousing annotations:

"Igbo are among the most resourceful, intelligent, educated, imaginative and hard-working people in this country who are far ahead in invention and industry and therefore have the required brain to produce a leader who can rule this country. In terms of the attributes listed above, we must be frank to say the Northerners are not near Igbo, yet the North has been producing leaders for the country. In fact, going by history, the Igbo deserve the support of Northerners as of right to rule this country."

My problem with Nas' sweet talk and misrepresentation of the Igbo nation was the way Nd'Igbo in most discussion groups and the "media" welcomed a comment made by a full-blooded Northerner who decided to mess up with the brains of a people who had no more indication of what had happened to them. Ironically, Nas, just like that, became Igbo hero from his tongue-in-cheek comments endorsing an Igbo president for 2007. In several encounters of political discourse in most Igbo related forums about 2007, it had been suggested Nas adulation of Igbo presidency was an attempt to calm down the heated Igbo presidency debates which has caused an avalanche of distractions to more important issues required in addressing the frail state of the nation. But I don't think so. Udenwa and a host of others have been applauding Nas for what they termed an honest talk.

And of course, one cannot conclude the uproar of an extensive and nasty battle in the Igbo presidency drama without mentioning the Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum, Chief Sunday Awoniyi whose own version insisted power to the North in 2007 had already been discussed and resolved, and that anything less would not be acceptable. Which brings us to Awoniyi's ringing judgement:

"Many of those who talk against the slot coming to the North knew little or nothing about the tough discussions that nearly split the North on the issue, but for the typical Northern wise counsel that prevailed in the end. If the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo had been alive today, I am sure he would have spoken up and not allow the political goal post to be shifted in the middle of the match. The shift was to be North-South-North-South. There was no thought of a shift to any so-called zone in the South or in the North. This is the simple truth, when we were packaging it."

In brief, Awoniyi was arguing as a "Northerner," with the purest ideals of Arewa in mind and with the interest of the North in its totality. He wasn't arguing for the interest of the nation based on fairness and equity judging from the fact the North ruled and bastardized the nation since independence, save for January-July, 1966 (Maj-General J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi), and May 1999 to present (selection of Obasanjo by his military junta cronies). The Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan was a corrupt bargain and "pushover." Obasanjo's unwilling "lead role" from February 1976 to October 1979 was power controlled by the same Hausa-Fulanu military oligarchy. But, realistically though, what does the name Sunday Awoniyi mean or sound like? Hausa-Fulani or Yoruba? The last time I checked, the name Awoniyi has nothing to do with Hausa-Fulani.

Meanwhile, as the end of this heated debate is not coming to an end anytime soon, it's good to recognize the incisive answers and analyses given by Chuks Iloegbunam of the Vanguard Newspapers in a series he's not about to end in the near future. So far, he has written eleven parts and still counting. Illoegbunam's thesis "An Igbo for President" lectures that the problem of Igbo presidency is longstanding, that it has a single root cause, which is institutional. Iloegbunam includes references from federal allocation, population density, military enlistment on the basis of quota system, oil-revenue sharing formula based on the state with highest output, and why a massive discrimination against Nd'Igbo has persisted when proportional distribution of the above listed area under discussion is in question.

Iloegbunam is not alone in urging logic and fairplay to thrive in dealing with the Igbo presidency debates, or at least consider the fact Igbo has been "shortchanged" since the birth of the republic. But again, Iloegbunam expressed the fear Nd'Igbo are their own mischief makers on the ground saboteurs within would thwart any effort, say, a national consensus Okaying a green light for an Igbo president. And this boils down to exactly what happened in the Jos PDP Primaries of 1998.

The drama at Jos is worth telling for the fact it was a fellow ambitious Igbo politician who stood on Ekwueme's way, thus catapulting Obasanjo to Aso Rock. And when the former Governor of Old-Anambra State, Jim Nwobodo claims to be the architect and advocate of Igbo presidency, one is then poised to see there are a whole lot of problems within the Igbo nation. This makes the presidency debates senseless in many ways.

The past mistakes of Igbo presidency mandate which is more likely to elude Nd'Igbo again if history is allowed to repeat itself can be drawn from the carelessness and lack of political strategy to form a coalition of Igbo organizations/political parties with one common goal-an Igbo president in 2007. To produce an Igbo president on consensus, that is if it's really what Igbos want, Igbo leaders of thought would have to coordinate the enormously complex divide within the Igbo nation and bring about a one united Igbo front.

The troubled state of Anambra must be taken care of. The case of the MASSOBians must be generally accepted whether they like it or not. The state governors and legislators must be held accountable for misrule and misappropriation of state funds. And what that means is, Igbo must first resolve her polarized community which has been the core of its persistent turmoil. Take for instance, when Nwobodo spoke to the editors of Weekly Vanguard (May 08, 2004), asserting Ohanaeze Nd'Igbo came up short on who among Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Ike Omar Sanda-Nwachukwu and Nwobodo himself should be "considered as consensus candidate," little did he realize his political salesmanship and mastery of the Hausa language during the Jos Primaries would be the beginning of Igbo presidency demise in a new era of the nation's democratic founding. To prove his point and convince Nd'Igbo he wasn't running a show of his own personal interest, and that he walked the talk and took the initiative to lead, he had the following to say to a hyped media:

"In the last presidential election, our people made a good impact. They handled the camping very well in terms of sensitizing the awareness of others that they indeed want the presidency. You could see that from what happened during the presidential primaries of the political parties that people were disposed to the Igbo presidency idea. I am one of the people that promoted it. As far back as 1999, I started implementing the idea before others came to join the campaign. I was one of the presidential candidates who ran with president Obasanjo on the platform of the PDP. I and Dr. Alex Ekwueme. In 2003, I was again in the forefront of the struggle for the realization of the presidential project."

What a way of contradictions! But the bitter rivalry and perhaps the pursuit of personal goals which developed between Nwobodo/Ekwueme/Sanda-Nwachukwu on the one hand and Igbo in general, and Odumegwu-Ojukwu's All Party Grand Alliance (APGA) on the other, made the latter to carry out a tardy campaign. Indeed, APGA was no last resort if one should take a close look at the "political rat race" that ensued when every Dick and Harry mostly from Diaspora began to take a shot at "politics for change" in a self-centered ideology of running a show of their own personal interest. Nothing Igbo was in their agenda. They were all playing the same old following they've been known for since time.

For the fact Nd'Igbo were way off base in mainstream Nigerian politics and totally out of character in establishing its own political base, Chief Chekwas Okorie, whom I spoke with when he shopped around Los Angeles for support, pointed out it was about time Igbo gets up from its "state of comatose." As founder and chairman of APGA, Okorie, without a doubt, took up the initiative and gambled as in all gamblings. In a gamble you either win or you lose. APGA, the only Igbo base political party lost out, big time. In Imo State, for example, not even a seat was won by APGA in any contested slot. Before Okorie and his APGA knew what was going on, PDP's political destiny of a one party state had squandered an election that became a money game coupled with massive rigging.

This reminds me, and I still remember very well as a youth trying to connect with the real world and growing up when in 1978 the so-called Murtala Mohammed-Olusegun Obasanjo military regime lifted the ban on political activities with a likely Igbo president questionable when no Igbo came forth to form a political party. Nnamdi Azikiwe did not form a political party when the go ahead for political activities was ordered by the military juntas for a Second Republic coming. He had waited to be invited by Waziri Ibrahim's Nigeria People's Party. So where was the initiative to take up leadership as Pa Awo did when he wasted no time establishing United Party of Nigeria, an offshoot of Action Group based on Awoism and the principles of Egbe Omo Oduduwa? As usual, Igbo was tardy.

So why is the Igbo presidency a big deal as if it has not been attempted before? How did Ekwueme as Vice President during the infamous Second Republic address the plight of the Igbo nation? What difference would it make, though? What difference would an Igbo president make when as Governor of Imo State, Udenwa and his nefarious administration could care less if teachers were paid their salaries or not? What difference would an Igbo president make when Udenwa's administration in Imo State would sit on salaries of civil servants? What difference would an Igbo president make when money has been the object between Chris Ngige and Chris Ubah of Anambra State? What difference would an Igbo president make when a confused bunch of Igbo Diaspora supports the persecution and annihilation of MASSOBians while the deadly gangs of Ganiyu Adams OPC are walking the streets free of charge? What difference would an Igbo president make when basic education in Igbo-related states is now a luxury? Would an Igbo president make a difference when the present South East governors have done practically nothing in their respective Igbo states?

Maybe they've done a whole lot. Who knows? Well, the Igbo saying eshi n'ishi ahiri anu uto shi explains it all. It means when people like Udenwa becomes president, teachers and civil servants will not be paid their salaries. And it also means if Nzeribe can win an election under any party platform in Orlu Senatorial district, a rat with money can do the same as well including the presidency.

The saga continues!

This article was published exclusively on September 28, 2004 during the presidential debates at BNW Magazine