Orji Uzor Kalu, the former Abia State governor, seems to be a lone voice now championing Igbo Presidency in 2015 while other Igbo politicians appear to have gone to sleep. What is responsible for this development?
From day one, Orji Uzor Kalu has been the one championing Igbo liberation in Nigeria. This made him to form the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) when he saw the tricks of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that the leaders do not want Igbo to be even Vice President of the country. He has been the voice of Igbo people crying out for the forgiveness of Ndigbo for any perceived wrongdoing. He found out that even with the declaration of ‘No victor, no vanquished’ after the civil war, Igbo have not been forgiven their roles in the war. But along the line, he fumbled, as he was not carrying the people along. It is a matter of synergy and not individual force or effort. We have to give him kudos for what he has done so far. It is the role he is playing that can bring the message of unity, which is what Nigeria needs. Other Igbo politicians are money mongers. When you give them money or a little position, they become quiet. They are just Igbo leaders and Igbo statesmen by lip service. If Kalu one day emerges Igbo President, they will begin to envy him although now they are not giving him the needed support.
But this attitude is not new. In the Bible, John the Baptist was the lone voice in the wilderness. But he prepared the way for the Messiah. I believe on the long run, something good will come out of Kalu’s efforts. If Igbo miss Presidency, it will be because of the weakness of Igbo leaders who are hiding, looking for small contracts or positions, who are being pessimistic instead of joining in the call for “Nzubu Nzogbu, Enyi Mba Enyi”. Kalu’s fight is not for selfish interests. He is fighting for the right of Ndigbo and should be supported.
At the House of Commons in London recently, former Governor Kalu revisited the issue of Igbo marginalisation. Do you think the President Goodluck Jonathan–led Federal Government has been unfair to Ndigbo?
What Orji Kalu did was to once more expose what is happening to Ndigbo, to attract foreign sympathy and to educate Ndigbo in Diaspora. But that was not the right platform. Like the past administrators, the present administration has been unfair to Ndigbo. In the protocol list, Ndigbo is about the sixth. The post of Secretary of the Government of the Federation (SGF) is by appointment. He, Anyim Pius Anyim, is accountable to President and not Ndigbo. When Ndigbo were number three as Senate President, the Presidency always sabotaged then to the extent that none of them had rest of mind due to series of impeachments and fear of impeachments. Even the current administration is the worst. In terms of infrastructure, they have not been fair to Ndigbo. The Second Niger Bridge has been on the drawing board. The project has not taken off. Igbo roads are still bad. Nigeria is making Ndigbo slaves in the nation. They lack justice, equity and fairness. People from other ethnic groups live peacefully in Igbo land. But in other places, Igbo are targets of discrimination and other attacks. Everybody took part in the civil war, but they have been unfair to Ndigbo. They have always sidelined Ndigbo, even at the PDP hierarchy. Whenever they bring in Ndigbo, they manage to bring stability to crisis situations. Then they are kicked out under one allegations or the other. Look at Prof. Barth Nnaji and the current efforts to smear Oby Ezekwesili, not minding what how they brought their expertise to serve the nation. I blame the Igbo political elite who betray their people. That is why we have so many abandoned projects in Igboland.
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