“If Ndi Igbo decide to shut the South East down, Nigeria will not notice. Rather, the country will adjust and move on”…. Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo.
Few days ago, His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Anambra State gave a powerful lecture at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, he asked the Professors, what happened to the activism part of intellectualism in Ala Igbo?
He further enquired, why have Igbo intelligentsia kept quiet by refusing to rigorously subject the Biafran discussion and the Igbo marginalisation narrative to intellectual scrutiny?
Immediately I saw the video of the lecture, I informed a close aide of Mr. Governor that there are already some young Igbo intellectuals subjecting the Biafran topic to intellectual scrutiny. And, we even have an upcoming conference, Igbo Conversation Conference, come May 30th.
Surprisingly, we received an impromptu invitation to present ourselves before the Governor.
This was how a close to two hours marathon meeting, lecture and discussion happened between the cerebral Governor and the Igbo Integration Movement.
I must humbly admit, indeed, His Excellency is a professor.
The man we met inside The Light House, Awka, on Wednesday, the 29th of April was not the Governor of Anambra State. But, Professor Charles Soludo; the academician, a seasoned economist and a man with vast knowledge of history.
I pride myself as a good student of history. However, I must admit, I was completely flawed by Soludo’s hands on knowledge on past historical events in Nigeria and the world.
Prof told us Nigeria is the only place in the world where people who took up arms against a state where quickly rewarded nine years after the war with juicy political positions; Vice President, Senate President and Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives.
He went on to argue that marginalization is only a bargaining tool for the elites.
He said, there is no political position that benefits the people. Rather, it is to the benefit of friends and family of the positioned.
He insisted, it is time Ndi Igbo go for something deeper than political positions by looking for ways to turn Ala Igbo into an economic powerhouse.
According to him what Ndi Igbo should be demanding for are:
- South East being included into the National Gas Pipeline.
- Inclusion in the National Rail Master plan.
- Dredging of the River Niger to enable a sea port.
This is the argument Ndi Igbo should be having. A hunger to create a new Homeland Consciousness that is wholly economic.
He reminded us that Ndi Igbo are essentially economic minded. Therefore, we should be pursuing policies that will open up Onicha, Nnewi and Aba ( The ONA economic hub).
He pontificated, it is not by lacking political positions that Ndi Igbo or any other group in Nigeria are suffering.
In the issue of state creation, Prof argued thus, instead of pushing for more states to be created, what we should be discussing is how to turn the six regions of the country into federating units.
Prof. Soludo took us down the private arctic of his past as he recounted graphically the horrific manner his dear mother was mauled down during the civil war, and how his father escaped death with his body riddled with bullets.
The interaction which spanned over the past, the present and the future was actually a lecture. A schooling of a sort.
Listening and discussing with the Governor, a discerning mind will definitely see where his stubborn and courageous streak comes from.
It is from having an unassailable clarity of purpose.
His Excellency, Nwa Mgbafor, is clearly not confused about what he believes the problems of our people are. And, he is equally not confounded on what the solutions should be.
Therefore, no matter, how unpopular his beliefs and analysis might sound to the people, especially the Igbo masses, he is not shifting ground.
A man who believes he has done an indepth homework and have statistics to back it up, cannot, in reality, change his mind for people who obviously have not done theirs.
Nze Tobe Osigwe
Convener,
Igbo Conversation Conference.
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