The
inability of governors of the South-East to come together on issues
affecting the zone is now a source of anger to leaders and people of the
region. Since the 2015 election ended and new governors were sworn in,
the governors have not been able to gather together to forge a common
front on issues affecting the zone.
That has become a source of
concern to leaders and people of the zone as the South-East has been
left unattended to in critical matters affecting the zone both at
regional and national levels.
One of the sourest points to the
people of the area was the recent killing of over 30 people in Nimbo, in
Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State. Although, South - East
governors were in Abuja like their other colleagues for the National
Economic Council (NEC) meeting and other matters of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP ), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the
Nigerian Governors’ Forum meeting , it was only the Governor of Enugu
State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi , that met with President Muhammadu Buhari on
the issue.
Then came the burial of the victims, where Ugwuanyi
was the only governor present. There was no presence of other governors
in the zone to mourn the victims of the incident. Only a former Governor
of Anambra State and former chairman of the South- East Governors’
Forum , Mr . Peter Obi was present . Incidentally , many of the elected
representatives from the zone were also absent .
There is also
the issue of the killing of Igbo sons and daughters in the rallies
organised by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State
of Biafra (MASSOB), the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB ) and the
Biafra Independent Movement (BIM), among other groups . On May 30 ,
about 30 Igbo people were murdered by soldiers in Onitsha and Asaba
while hundreds were arrested in different parts of the South - East and
South-South.
They were marking the 49 th anniversary of the
declaration of Biafra by the late Igbo leader, Chief Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu - Ojukwu in 1967. Again, mum was the word from governors of the
South - East.
It was gathered that the inability of the South -
East governors to offer a united front on issues affecting the region is
rooted in their inability to meet regularly as was the case in the
past. Since a former Governor of Abia State and now Senator representing
Abia North District, Chief Theodore Orji , left office on May 29 , 2015
and vacated the seat as the Chairman of the South - East Governors’
Forum , the centre has refused to hold. Insiders say that there was
animosity between some of the governors of the zone , with in fighting
being the order of the day, making them not to sit together on issues
affecting the area.
Before Orji assumed the seat, Obi was the
chairman for about six years, owing to the insistence of the then
governors that he retained the seat. The constitution of the Forum
allows a rotation of the chairmanship seat between the governors of the
five states of Abia, Imo, Anambra , Enugu and Ebonyi. During Obi and
Orji ’s tenures, Enugu, the political capital of the zone , hosted the
meeting at least once in three months regularly.
At such
meetings, knotty issues affecting the region were ironed out . In the
hey days of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, when detained leaders of
ethnic groups such as Fredrick Fasehun and Gani Adams of the O ’odua
Peoples Congress (OPC ) and Ralph Uwazuruike of MASSOB, it was the South
- East governors and leaders of the zone that met with Obasanjo and
secured Uwazurike ’s release with a promise of good behaviour. “When we
met Obasanjo , he was angry.
We pleaded with him that this was
our son and that others were being released . That he should release
Uwazurike to us . He agreed after warning us . That was how the bail
bond of Uwazurike was signed by the late Senator Uche Chukwumerije .
He
was set free then,” said a source , who was at the meeting . He added
that he did not understand why the present governors are sitting and
watching events unravel dangerously in the zone.
Similarly,
during the time of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua , when he
threatened to close down the Onitsha Head Bridge Drug Market over
allegations of fake drugs, Obi had summoned the then governors of the
region , including Orji and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State, who went for
talks with Yar’Adua. At the end, Yar’ Adua ordered a cleanup of the
market instead of a closure. But that has not been the case recently.
For
instance, it was gathered that the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas
Okorocha, and his Anambra State counterpart, Chief Willie Obiano, do
not sit together in a meeting. They were both elected on the platform of
the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA ) before Okorocha took a
splinter group to the APC. At few times Okorocha has made attempts to
summon meetings of the group in Owerri, Obiano was not present.
As
a matter of fact, Obiano has strictly kept away from meetings of the
South-East Governors’ Forum whether it was held in Enugu or Owerri or
anywhere else . Obiano is not known to have associated with any governor
of the region since the last general elections. In the same vein, his
wife also keeps her distance from other first ladies in the region.
When
Dolapo Osibanjo, wife of Vice President Yemi Osibanjo visited Owerri,
the Imo State capital for the graduation of the first batch of 810 women
empowered through her skill acquisition programme last month, wives of
the governors of Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi states were on ground to host
her. Again, the absence of Obiano's wife was conspicuous. A former
governor in the zone told New Telegraph yesterday that there is so much
infighting going on that the governors cannot come together.
He
said that much as Okorocha and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State appear close
, Ikpeazu is weighed down so much by litigations that he hardly has
time for other things.
The case of Ugwuanyi and the Ebonyi State
Governor, Dave Umahi , is not clear. A leader of the zone, who preferred
anonymity , told New Telegraph yesterday: “ Look at the two receptions
held for Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Trade, Investment and Industry
from Abia State and Geoffrey Onyema from Enugu State, held in Abuja and
Enugu, did you see any representations of the South-East governors
there?
I am not talking of elected representatives of the zone at
different levels . Are they not Igbo sons? Whether in APC or PDP
government, are they not representing the Igbo there? What are we
looking for and complaining about when we cannot accord our ministers
respect ?
Have you heard the governors speak on MASSOB , IPOB or
even the lopsided appointments against our zone ? Every governor is on
his own while the zone’ s collective interest suffers. “Remember that
under Obasanjo, when he wanted to remove Ogbonna Onovo as the
Inspector-General of Police over issues of nonparticipation in the NYSC
scheme, it was governors of the zone, who protested in a Council of
States meeting and the matter was dropped. What are we talking about
now?
There is so much disunity. ” Reacting to the alleged rift
among the governors of the region, Sam Onwuemeodo , spokesman for
Okorocha averred that the purported division exists only in the
imagination of some people. “There is no law that dictates that all the
governors must attend every meeting when they are called . How you know
the true position of things is when there is an issue; their reactions
often show they are on the same page,” Onwuemeodo explained.
Okorocha’
s spokesman said it was not ideal to meet incessantly when there is
nothing of urgent importance at stake. He said: “Every state and
governor have their peculiarities and you do not expect them to meet
regularly without taking that into consideration. Whenever the need
arises, they will meet and when an issue of utmost importance arises,
they will address it as a united front. As far as I am concerned, there
is no sharp division in the forum. The governors of the region are on
the same page. ”
Since the beginning of this year, the governors
only met once in Enugu in April . It was only the governors of Abia ,
Imo , Ebonyi and the host governor, Ugwuanyi, that attended. Obiano
shunned the meeting and was represented by his deputy.
The forum
has not elected their chairman since Orji left. MASSOB yesterday
condemned the silence of South-East governors, National Assembly members
of Igbo extraction on issues affecting the zone and refusal to meet to
move the zone forward. In a statement by its national leader, Comrade
Uchenna Madu, MASSOB blamed the current state of the zone on imposition
of the Igbo leaders on the people during the last general elections. It
described the present crop of leaders in the zone as self- serving.
“South-East
has continued to suffer lack of good leadership because those our
people wanted to represent them at state and national levels as
governors and legislators were not allowed to emerge during the 2015
general elections. The wishes of the people were not allowed to prevail
at the polls and we have continued to suffer for that.
The people
were completely rigged out during the polls and the effect is telling
on them. “So, Ndigbo will continue to experience lack of good leadership
that will speak and protect them and their interests when it matters
most.”
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