The miracle of the South East Economic and Security Summit (SEESS) held on 22 December 2016 was that enough Igbo leaders felt sufficiently concerned to come together to discuss the state of their region and to seek a way forward. Igbos are said to be notoriously incapable of coming together for common cause unless there is a clear and present danger, an existential threat or an imminent cataclysm.
That day, they filled the 500-seat venue at the Enugu Government House along with other guests including former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Alex Ekwueme, former Vice-President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Jim Nwobodo, former Governor of old Anambra State. Also present were an intimidating number of who’s who in Igbo land, including Lt. General Ihejirika, former Chief of Army Staff, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, former Inspector-General of Police, senators, governors, top bureaucrats, and traditional rulers.
President Muhammadu Buhari was billed to be present, too. But as explained by officials of the Presidency, “the President happily accepted (the invitation). The visit to Enugu was scheduled for Thursday 22nd as can be found on the weekly programme. After this was done, some other stakeholders from the South East came and advised him not to go in view of the closeness of the date to Christmas, that given the sensitivity of the period to the people, a presidential visit may come with over exertion and possibly be disruptive of Christmas.” The President’s decision must have come far too late since all the documents of the summit assumed he was present.
Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee, then gave an overview of the Summit. It is, he said, an effort to produce a South East Integrated Development Plan, devoid of politics, which will address the fundamental economic needs of the South East as a united sub-region and a key contributor in the economic well-being of the nation. It would develop and maintain the region’s database of member state’s productivity, mapping its natural resources, and enabling each state to manage its resources so as to be able to create industries and jobs locally. The summit would concentrate on key sectors: infrastructure and industrialization, agriculture, healthcare and health tourism, investment and development partnerships and security. He spoke of the urgent needs for the reform of the mind-sets of South East leaders to pool resources and adopt an integrated approach to development challenges.
The Chairman of the occasion, Chief Emeka Anyaoku expatiated on the summit which he said was for the economic well-being of the South East organized by concerned non-governmental, non-partisan sons and daughters of the South East. He drew attention to the state of the Federal roads in the South East and the general perception and a sense of neglect and marginalization of the South East in the governance of the country. The areas of need, he said, are infrastructure, manufacturing, food production and foreign direct investments. He urged the states of the South East to pull their resources in order to expand economic development of the region. He stressed the importance of peace as a necessary condition for prosperity. If the country is restructured into fewer more viable units, the Federal Government would no longer need to periodically bail out the states, he said. The Governor of Enugu State, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, welcomed the dignitaries and expressed appreciation for Federal Government’s support for the Free trade Zone in Oguta, Imo State, the international cargo flight from the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu, the granting of licence to Peace Airline to operate international commercial flights directly from the Akanu Ibiam Airport to China. He urged the Federal Government to reimburse the Enugu State Government expeditiously the funds expended in maintaining Federal infrastructure in Enugu State. The challenges facing the South East are many but the most pressing of them include soil erosion, the need to upgrade aviation facilities, the opening of seaports, and the building of more railway networks linking the region, the grave issue of the Fulani herdsmen, the second Niger Bridge and the need to revive the coal mines in Enugu.
The Abia State Governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu expressed happiness for the South East Summit initiative. He regretted the apparent neglect of the region in the distribution of infrastructure and sundry acts of hostility towards the South East by some other groups. But he argued that “there is nothing we can do about how people feel about us, however, we can do something about how we respond to them.” He invited the Federal Government to recognize the capabilities of peoples of different zones and ethnic nationalities. He observed that the adventurous spirit of Igbo in trade and commerce has led them to be huge investors in various parts of the country thereby making them also vulnerable. He urged the South East to make every effort to develop a deep sea port in the region since the majority of importers in the country are from the South East. The roadways in the South East require intense maintenance and special soil studies owing to the intense bombardment of the region during the civil war.
Ebonyi State Governor Engr. David Umahi praised the organizers of the summit and hoped it would give birth to the economic and security integration of the South East through a political summit and a socio-cultural summit. He underscored the need for the identification and mapping of natural resources, the pairing of states or region-wide co-operation and intense focus on infrastructure to drive agriculture and mineral resources exploitation. He recommended curtailing the role of politics in the development of the South East and the subordination of the “individual interest syndrome.” He regretted the inability of the Federal Government to fulfill its responsibilities in the state necessitating the Abia State Government to have to do so from its lean resources.
The Governor of Anambra State was represented by his deputy Chief Nkem Okeke who brought Governor Obiano’s good wishes and support for the integration of the South East. The Summit would enable each state focus on its area of comparative advantage. If the states can sit, plan, and run together, they can achieve a lot without Federal support. He explained that the challenges facing the state include soil erosion, which threatens many towns and is destroying farm lands and water supply systems. He spoke of the indebtedness of Federal educational institutes to the state government and the need to upgrade the Enugu Airport and the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri to international standards.
He also mentioned the need for a sea port and the development of a rail network and the deadly challenges posed by Fulani herdsmen which has caused the people to abandon their farmlands. He also mentioned the need for the second Niger Bridge and the revival of the Enugu coal mines for power supply and employment.