Chuks Onuoha
Former Commissioner for Environment in Abia State, Chief Okechukwu Osuoha believes that 2023 general elections provide the best opportunity for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction to emerge. In this interview, the lawyer and human rights activist said the South East should be supported for the number one seat in Nigeria.
Do you think that the emergence of an Igbo man as a Nigerian president can make a difference in the political and economic woes of this country?
It is very proper for an Igbo man to become the president of this country. Nigeria as a nation was given birth when Lord Lugard, the first colonial Governor we had, amalgamated all the nations, who were hitherto doing their own things in their own ways in 1914. He brought them together to form this one country called Nigeria and after independence, we had regions, which came together to form the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The three major ethnic groups then were the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Today, we have the South-South, North East, North West and South West, and all of them have tasted the presidential seat at one point or the other. It is the South-Easterners, that have not been enthroned in that position as head of the Nigerian state, yet, they were the ones who were at the forefront to achieve independence. We had people like Dr NnamdiAzikiwe, Dr Michael I.Okpara, Chief Mbonu Ojike, Chief Kingsley O.Mbadiwe and many others, and they all sacrificed to achieve independence for Nigeria.
But today, other sections have governed Nigeria as Head of state; it is only the South-East, the Igbo that have not. I want to state here that this time, it is the turn of the Igbo and we should not make any mistake about it.
The Igbo have what it takes to run this country and make positive changes economically, politically and otherwise; we have the potential in Igbo land in all ramifications. We have academics, intellectuals that can match any other group in Nigeria; even in commerce, we are there and so, if we have opportunity, we will surely make a difference, positively.
Commercially, the Igbo man was the first to become a multi-millionaire in the whole of West African Sub region. Sir Louis Ojukwu, the father of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was that man. In law and other fields of human endeavour, the Igbo man is there.
You know very well that power is not given to any group on a platter of gold; if the whistle is blown now, you will see many Igbo coming out to contest; do you think the Igbo will be able to speak with one voice this time?
Even as I talk as an Igbo man, I will also suggest that we the Igbo should go back to the drawing board and put our acts together, because presidency is not something that is given; it is not a tea party, it is something that one has to wrestle for before you get it. The only way out is to align with other components of the country -North, South West, South South, and others; you romance with them so that they will see the need for an Igbo man to become the president of the country. But I know that it is our own turn, we are ripe for it.
However, one of the things you see in politics is the jostling for positions, because there is a common wealth being shared, so everybody shows interest to get it, but then, there is always a common front. Politics is about personal and collective interest and you cannot exclude or preclude anybody from contesting, it is their constitutional rights. But the Igbo should know that there should be a common front, that when you are talking about presidency, we know that it is our turn and that we need to get it, let every other Igbo man who is interested come out, and from there, we hold a family meeting and look inwards to dictate and select someone we believe can deliver the goods. We should, among ourselves, select the right candidate, whose pedigree, when weighed, cuts across all the ethnic boundaries.
Do you think the Igbo are truly marginalised, or are they the ones that are creating problems for themselves?
The Igbo are truly marginalised; it is apparent and obvious that they are marginalised in all ramifications. This is a country where all of us are citizens that work hard to the development of the country, but I think that the issue that led to that marginalization is when we recall the issues of the Nigerian Civil war.
From1930 to 1960, the Igbo had the highest number of educated people in Nigeria, had the highest number of elite and occupied many important positions in the civil service and public service. This brought a lot of envy from other ethnic groups and it led to the planning of the first military coup which ushered in the civil war, which the Igbo fought. Other parts of the country fought against the Igbo, during the civil war and we were defeated, even though it was declared no victor, no vanquished. When we came out of the war, from 1970, there was this programme of Gowon to rehabilitate the Igbo. Ever since, the Igbo have not been allowed to get what is due for them. They have not been allowed to get what other sections of the country are getting. Since after the war, no Igbo man has occupied the highest position in the Customs, as the Comptroller General of Customs, none in the immigration, etc. It was only during the tenure of Goodluck Jonathan that Ihejirika was appointed the over all head of the military as the Chief of Army staff. Talk about other areas including Federal institutions, you can hardly see an Igbo man at the helm of affairs. The Igbo are marginalized in all sectors. Even in the recruitment of police or army officers, you cannot compare what is recruited in the North with the South or South East. That is why the Igbo are agitating, they are not happy. To pacify and make them happy, they should be carried along, especially, in the number one position in this country, the presidency,they should give it to the Igbo in 2023.
Nigeria recently celebrated her 59th year anniversary, has the nation actually done well at 59 years?
If Nigeria were to be a man, progressively, one could be forced to say that Nigetia has come a long way, having attained such age. A human being, born 59 years ago, is no longer a child. That person would be presumed to have attained adulthood, having matured in age. But then, in terms of performance and the expectations of our forefathers who struggled to see to the independence of the nation called Nigeria, we are still very backwards. In terms of the development of the nation, up till this time, a nation that is supposed to be a nation that the world should look up to particularly in Africa, a rallying point in Africa, we have not achieved what is expected of us due to certain constraints and factors. We as a nation are blessed in human and material resources by the Almighty God.
There is abundant wealth here in Nigeria, but to convert that wealth to develop Nigeria as it pertains to the welfare of the citizens, and other infrastructure, we are yet to reach the place we are supposed to be, because to whom much is given, much is expected.
Our forefathers like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dr M.I. Okpara, Tafawa Balewa, ObafemiAwolowo and others cannot be happy when they look up from their graves to see what is happening in this country because this was not what they planned for this country. They achieved independence with lot of lofty ideas in mind, but today what are we seeing, if not disappointments all over the place.
What is the way out of the situation?
If there is love, unity and harmony, it will produce a lot of development because Nigeria has not been able to get to where it is expected to be as a nation that has clocked 59 years in terms of development. If we are actually patriotic, every Nigerian should be proud of our country, contribute their quota to the development of our country, but you see people fleeing the country to seek solace in other nations that are not even as endowed resource-wise like our nation, in an effort to get greener pastures. When apartheid policy was on in South Africa, we accommodated them as fellow Africans, but what is our rewards today, being hunted down like animals by the people we protected. This nation did so much for the emancipation of South Africans from apartheid grip and strong hold. Today, the mouth we fed have bitten our fingers. If our leaders had done well and there are job opportunities here, not many who fled this country would have done so. We have what it takes here, our challenge is just to develop here, and we would not go to the outside world to look for anything.
Nigeria is facing a lot of security challenges, what brought about this and what is the way out of it?
It is very important to note that our country is facing a lot of security challenges, which has never been before, but there are factors that are responsible. Looking at this, we will understand that as a country, there are basic things that can be put in place. When one talks about insecurity, we are talking about restiveness, because most times, our youths are the ones involved, when you don’t attend to them, or put things in place that will develop them positively and meaningfully, you see them take on unwholesome activities and when they do this, the country will suffer; there will be insecurity. Security is very important because without it, you cannot do anything in the country. Government should rise up and overhaul the security apparatus of this country; since the government of APC, the Chief of Army staff, Chief of Defense staff have remained one man. So, there should be an overhaul of the security apparatus, because you cannot do one thing many times and getting the same result and you keep doing it every day and keep complaining about this thing not being better. There should be a paradigm shift to see if we can make a positive change.