The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has urged the governors of the South East to reactivate the South East Governors Forum. The group has also observed that the inability of the South East governors to judiciously use the platform has negatively affected the development of the region. According to the Vice President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Damian Okeke-Ogene, as long as the governors allowed the Forum to remain inactive, they must take responsibility for retarding the progress of the region.
He advised the governors to reactivate the South East Governors Forum and use it to work for the general good of the people. He also enjoined them to lay the foundation for bringing the people home naturally, instead of them being forced to return to South East like refugees.
The Ohanaeze chieftain’s timely advice is commendable. It is coming at a time when there is a growing clamour for the Igbo to think home and develop the South East region. The recent attacks on the Igbo in Lagos State during the March 18 Governorship and State Assembly polls has rekindled such a clamour. The poor leadership in the region has contributed to its further underdevelopment. Since October 2021 when the governors had an expanded meeting with other political leaders in the region in which they announced moves to end the Monday sit-at-home in the region, not much has been heard from the Forum. The weekly sit-at-home has continued unabated as well as the orgy of violence and bloodletting. Apparently, every state governor in the zone has been on his own, without bothering much about what happens in other parts of the region. Consequently, there has not been a conscious effort to streamline development agenda in the region.
Apart from being linguistically homogenous, the region is also commercially viable with small and medium enterprises. The zone produces yam, cassava, rice, cocoyam and other food crops in large quantities. The South East is known for palm oil and cashew nut and bitter cola production. It also produces solid minerals, such as crude oil, natural gas, bauxite, iron ore, limestone, lignite, clay, coal, tin and columbite. With adequate motivation, the region can become a major exporter of palm oil, cassava, and other agricultural products in the world.
Regrettably, since 1999 when the present political dispensation came into existence, the South East region has stagnated in terms of development when compared with the South South or the South West regions. Politically, the zone has not been so much blessed with visionary and people-oriented leaders. Youth unemployment in the region is among the highest in the country. Without federal presence in the region in terms of industries and infrastructure, it does not attract the expected rate of foreign direct investments. Its ease of doing business is not one of the best in the country. The separatist agitation in the zone has not really helped matters. It is sad that the region which used to be secure is now grappling with high level of insecurity. The violence in the region will gradually escalate to anarchy if nothing is drastically done now to curtail it. While some villages have been deserted on account of the raging insecurity, many citizens from the region no longer go home during festive seasons or attend burial ceremonies.
The region’s economy has been crippled by the weekly forced holidays. Anambra State alone loses about N19billion every Monday the order is enforced. Similarly, other states in the region also lose billions of naira. The development has led to shutdown of factories, low productivity and high cost of living.
The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), relying on figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) 2021 survey reports, indicated that micro businesses in the region lost an average of N4.618 trillion or $10.495 billion in one year to the sit-at-home order. It added that within seven months, 15 officers were killed, 21 police stations attacked in the South East.
The insecurity in the region can be blamed on the inability of the South East governors to speak with one voice as well as not having a common development agenda for the region. Their brand of politics has further impoverished the people of the zone.
Therefore, the Ohanaeze counsel is a wake-up call on the governors and leaders of the zone to arrest the underdevelopment of the region. There is need for them to jointly prioritise the development agenda of the region. The South East governors can take advantage of President Muhammadu Buhari’s liberalisation policy to jointly generate electricity, build railway lines across the region and set up a joint economic committee to develop the region. A regional development agenda driven by the five South East governors will create more jobs for the youths, curb insecurity and make the region attractive for investors.