Ndi Igbo, Emotions And How Not To Play Politics -By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

Over the years, ndị Igbo have battled to get involved in national politics but unsurprisingly, they keep shooting themselves in the foot in each electoral season. In a region where five states are governed by four political parties, it is shocking that the residents are yet to realise that they are promoting a political culture that will forever hinder their chances of involvement in national politics. It is more confusing that some residents of the South-East still refuse to align with a national Ruling Party with no valid reason. Majority of the opposition in Alaigbo hate to associate with the All Progressives Congress (APC) without a clear reason and despite the fact that the party had, within a period of eight years, executed laudable projects like the second Niger Bridge construction which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a favourite party of the usual suspects, refused to execute after holding power for sixteen years.

Reliance on emotions and baseless sentiments by ndị Igbo played a crucial role in the embarrassment of the wild goose chase embarked upon by the Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the 2023 Nigerian Presidential Election, Mr Peter Obi. Despite the fact that it was clear that Obi had zero chance of winning the election, ndị Igbo refused to join the moving train but rather, relied on their self-hype on social media to takeover presidential power. Many political thinkers who advised that taking such a myopic decision would further narrow the chance of an Igbo man to occupy presidential seat were bullied, insulted, and even threatened, and the situation was worsened by the ethnic and religious-based campaign embarked upon by the Labour Party Candidate. As projected and expected, their favourite candidate did not only lose the election but came a distant third.

The embarrassing outing of ndị Igbo in the 2023 Presidential Election should serve as a huge lesson to the South-East residents who regularly accuse the Nigerian State of marginalisation and at the same time, refuse to align themselves with a national movement that will fasten the execution of policies that will promote their interests. The South-East needs to do away with all forms of sentiments and give maximum support to the centre, especially when some of the sons and daughters of the land are key appointees of the Federal government. Ndị Igbo should understand that it will be difficult to work closely with the centre if they continue to sideline themselves from national political machineries.

If ndị Igbo really want an Igbo man to occupy the Villa as President, they must promote the national ruling party in the grassroots and encourage politicians in the South-East to join the party and contest elections on its platform. That will motivate other compatriots in other geopolitical zones to trust an Igbo man with power and will also convince them to believe that ndị Igbo know what they want. The five states of Alaigbo should not be governed by four different political parties when we expect unity of purpose in governance. It should be noted that each political party comes with its own programmes and when different parties are in charge, there will be confusion in regional policy formulation and implementation. It is also a fact that Ebonyi, the best governed Igbo state in the past eight years was able to achieve that milestone because the State’s governor at that time, David Umahi ignored the ethnic and religious champions, and joined the National Ruling Party, and that provided solid support for him to push the state to that level despite its limited resources. Moreover, he was a former Senate Deputy Leader and a Minister of Works today because he did the needful and brought his state closer to the centre. You can imagine the level ndị Igbo will be placed in national politics if they stop deceiving themselves and provide necessary support to the National Ruling Party.

It can be argued that the South-East provided huge support to the PDP which was a national Ruling Party for sixteen years but let us bear in mind that such support was not provided on the basis of patriotism but was provided because the South-East adopted the PDP as an Igbo party because it appointed Igbos into juicy political positions and that made them to follow the party as if it was a cult despite the fact that it did nothing tangible for the development of Alaigbo. The execution and completion of the second Niger Bridge, Zik’s Mausoleum and other key projects in Igbo land by the APC after the PDP refused to do same but rather preferred playing politics with them showed that ethnic centred politics will not do ndị Igbo any good.

Moreover, it is a fact that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which is also seen by ndị Igbo as an Igbo party has been the ruling party in Anambra for about sixteen years but unfortunately, there is nothing to show that ndị Anambra really deserve APGA. The only time Anambra witnessed a focused administration in the present fourth republic was during the regime of Chris Ngige who despite his short stay in office, executed tangible projects based on the ideology of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which later through merger, metamorphosed into the present APC. Since Ngige left office, ndị Anambra have faced propaganda based administrations championed by APGA. In fact, the state became the epicentre of propaganda overdrive under the watch of Peter Obi. In his tenure, Obi deployed highly deceitful propaganda machine to mislead the State’s residents and made his successor look like an Ineffectual Buffoon before ndị Anambra and sadly, the Obiano’s administration did little to change that narrative. It is also unfortunate that the present governor of the State, Prof Charles Chukwuma Soludo who decamped from PDP to APGA has focused more on speaking enticing English and relying on moribund theories instead of being practical with governance, and it is obvious that the state needs a stronger political party that will be bold and focused to execute policies like the Ngige administration did.

Until ndị Igbo decide to do away with emotions and play politics that will be based on facts, their ambitions in national politics will remain a wild goose chase. The time to join the National Train is now. Remember, if you are not at the centre table, you will be left out of central discussions that will protect your interests.

© Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu