•They should first of all come together, work as a team— Enugu resident

•Provide welfare and security to win back the hearts of the people— Okenwa

•Ebubeagu should be fully launched in all the states to tackle insecurity in unison as in South-West — Awka-based retired police officer

•They should address rising unemployment in the region — ADF

•Must stop selfishness; begin to run inclusive governance to allow many bring ideas to the table — Cleric

•Govs should be committed to agriculture — I NC

•The govs should focus on Igbo Presidency, youth empowerment— Obasi

•They must insist that soldiers be removed from streets of the zone; zone not at war

By Anayo Okoli, Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Ugochukwu Alaribe, Chinedu Adonu, Chinonso Alozie, Ikechukwu Odu & Emmanuel Iheaka

From every indication, the year 2021 was not generally good for the people of the South-East and indeed, Nigeria. In fact, for the South-East, it was a very rough year with the advent of many sit-at-homes and later activities of unknown gunmen.

All of these have their toll on the people of the region. And the governors of the region, being the leaders, received bashing for the ugly plight of the people. Indeed, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, which literally became the de facto government in charge in the five states of the region, accused the governors of not working for the interest of the people who elected them.

The governors virtually came under the attack of many people in the region, especially the youths. In the remaining time these governors have in office, what are the things they should do to better the lot of the people of the region and create harmony between them and the people?

Igbo elite body, Alaigbo Development Foundation, ADF, said they must change their strategy of governance, particularly in the provision of security for their people as well as address the issue of growing unemployment among the youths.

According to Hon. Abia Onyike, the spokesman of ADF: “The governors should re-examine their security strategy for the South-East region. They should address rising unemployment in the region and play a more active role in the campaign for the reconstitution of the wobbly Nigerian federation.”

Concerned Igbo Stakeholders Forum, an emerging powerful group in the region, said the governors are far from the people that elected them and urged them to consciously bridge the gap to enable them regain the loyalty of the people.

According to the leader of the group, Chukwuma Okenwa, the governors of the South-East are conspicuously distanced from the people and that accounts for the loss of loyalty from the people.

“That distance between the governors and their people is what accounts for the compliance with the sit-at-home order issued by non-state actors, while a few attempts by some governors to issue a counter instruction were grossly neglected. That’s a case of being in position but not in power.

“More so, the lack of collaboration between governors on South-East issues placed the region at a disadvantage in tackling common issues of insecurity and regional agitation.

“To bridge the obvious gap between the governors of the South-East and the people, the governors need to win back the hearts of the people by demonstrating commitment to the welfare and security of the people of the region.

“The issue of attacks by marauding herders has been one that has affected the region badly, though with the ban of open grazing by some states in the region, there was a breath of fresh hope. Howbeit, the inability of the South-East governors to make functional, the proposed Ebubeagu security outfit and leaving the issue of enforcement with the Nigeria Police Force which obviously does not take last command from the governors, is worrisome.

“In the raging argument of achieving a better Igbo nation if the South-East region secedes from Nigeria, the governors must market a better off Igbo nation under one Nigeria by massively engaging the youths through Youth Employment and funding opportunities for startups. The empowerment model for young people must go beyond empowerment by political appointments, to more sustainable income models.

“Women are not to be left out in this scheme as giving more women opportunities to become economically viable makes for healthier families, and consequently, a better society. Skills acquisition programmes for women are recommended.

“Also, the government of the states of the South-East must explore the ability in disability by creating safe spaces and more legal frameworks for People Living with Disabilities, PLWDs, to thrive.

In his contribution, the traditional ruler of Iggah Ancient Kingdom in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Herbert Ukuta, urged the South-East governors to give security votes to traditional rulers in the region for proper security of lives and property of the people in the various communities.

The monarch who said that traditional rulers have become endangered species in the region judging by the number of casualties they recorded in 2021, called on the governors of the region to equally provide security for them to forestall further loss of their lives.

The monarch argued that there cannot be adequate security in villages without proper involvement of the monarchs who know the elements with questionable dispositions.

He also enjoined South-East governors to establish ICT centres across major points in local government areas in the states to harvest the youths’ untapped raw talents.

Also, coalition for South-East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, tasked the governors on the issue of security, urging them to provide security for their people.

“We expect the governors of the South-East to provide adequate security for the people of the zone and also ensure that corruption is tackled head on. The insecurity in the region has destroyed means of livelihood of our people.

“For instance, on Monday of every week, people sit at home because of criminal elements who rob our people in the name of trying to enforce the sit-at-home order which IPOB has already cancelled. These criminals are operating freely because the governors could not provide security for the people. The situation is too sad.

“We want the governors to build industries that will employ our teeming youths; construct quality roads for our people. We expect the governors to speak with one voice on national issues.

“We expect the governors to put the interest of the people first before their own. We want them to understand that the opportunity given to them to serve as governors is a rare privilege and it should not be abused. They should, therefore, defend the interest of Ndigbo at all times.

“So many of our people were killed extra-judicially by security agents because our governors are not living up to expectation. They kept quiet without doing much to stop the senseless and unlawful killings of Igbo youths and women. Too sad,” President-General of the coalition, Goodluck Ibem, lamented.

For the Igboezue International Association, Nigeria and the Diaspora, IIAND, the governors must do everything to run an inclusive government in their states as their system of non-inclusiveness is one of the reasons the youths of the zone have been attacking them.

The President-General of the association, Chief Pius Okoye urged the governors not to allow that to continue.

“We expect the South-East governors to come closer to the people and listen to them to know their problems, worries and what they expect of them. They cannot continue to assume that all is well with the people they are governing when the people are wallowing in penury and lack.

“The youths of South-East have been the greatest victims of the mis-governance of the South-East governors. They have refused to be outspoken with most of them turned sycophant, praising the governors even for what they did not do. They do this because of the crumbs they get from them and other political office holders. Some of them even became thugs for the politicians for stipends they receive from them.

READ ALSO: South-East sit-at-home: Which way to go?

“This time, however, we want that to change; the governors and other politicians in the South-East should use the remaining part of their tenures to address the many problems of the youths which include unemployment, lack of skills and other problems that have made them to turn to drugs.

“They should encourage mechanized agriculture so that many unemployed youths can engage in agriculture. They should also establish skills acquisition centers where youths can be trained and empowered to engage in private businesses. During the time of Peter Obi as  governor of Anambra State, such skills acquisition were available to many youths in different areas and at the end of the training, they were given N100, 000 each as startup, and I know many youths who started with that and today, they have established good businesses and have even become employers of labour. We have the people to train them.

The governors and other politicians should also listen to the agitation of the pro-Biafra groups and help to guide them better and present their cases better instead of using them to play politics and improve their relationship with the federal authorities like some of the South-East governors are being accused of.

“The Igbo need very little from the government to survive; they do not need much because 90 per cent of what keep them going are their personal creations, all they need from government is very little enablement such as infrastructure, security and regular supply of electricity; that is all the Igbo – both young and old need,”  Okoye noted.

The President, Igbo National Council, Comrade Chilos Godsent, said the governors should be committed to agriculture and must draw an economic development blueprint for the South-East. Godsent mentioned livestock business as an area the governors should not overlook in 2022.

According to Godsent, politics and insincerity of purpose which have been the bane of the zone, must be jettisoned by the governors.

“The governors need to draw a strategic plan for economic development and our political self- determination. They need to engage in peace building and industrialisation of the zone.

“The governors should not see themselves as being extraordinary people in an attempt to demonstrate their loyalty to their political masters. They should look at the challenges critically.

“The governors politicize our development. If you are an industrialist and you want to invest, they believe you want to run for an election, so they frustrate the investment. That is the reason why all you have all over the place are hotels.

“They tour countries of the world claiming to be wooing investors because they politicize investment. You don’t need to crisscross countries in the name of wooing investors. All you need to do is to create enabling environment, investors will come. Investors are capitalists and capitalists are more interested in where ever they make profit. Even if it is the kingdom of the devil and they are making their profit, they are ready to go there. There are local investors but because there is no enabling environment, they can’t invest.

“The governors have to be realistic; they pretend a lot, and that is what we will not take in 2022 which precedes an election year. There will be a lot of deceit; promises that cannot be fulfilled.

“We need to begin to think of our programme for agriculture. We need to be involved in livestock business. When you look at the money we spend in importing livestock produce, you realise what the South-East zone is losing. Many people are ready to go into the business, but they need support from government.

“Many farmers we have contacted are ready to be involved, but there are issues government needs to sort out, like land and aid. So, there must be an economic development blueprint,” he explained.

On Imo State in particular, the INC leader called on Governor Hope Uzodinma to reconcile with the various Igbo groups in the South-East zone in order to draw closer to his people.

He was of the view that failure to do that, his government would continue to get its policies and programmes wrong; saying that it is only effective and genuine reconciliation that would help them move forward. He also called on the government to focus more on delivering of quality projects.

According to INC: “Uzodimma should, first of all, transform his mode of contracts, especially in the area of infrastructure development. Some of the works he  is doing now  are not too good.

“At the same time, he should reconcile with the many  pro-Igbo groups, the reconciliation must be effective and genuine. That can at least draw him closer to the people, otherwise, people will continue to see him as anti-Igbo and you know Rochas and his group are putting up a lot of propaganda. So, with genuine reconciliation with the people, he can bounce back. More importantly, he should focus on quality projects.”

An Igbo leader, Chief Jerry Obasi, in his opinion, tasked the governors to work on how to actualise the emergence of a Nigerian president of South-East extraction.

Obasi also asked them to create skills acquisition and empowerment programmes to make the youths of the region independent.

“The South-East governors should negotiate and seek support for the emergence of a Nigerian President of South- East extraction. The issue of the emergence of a son of the South-East as president has been heating up the polity in Igbo land and Nigeria at large. Even in the North and other parts of Nigeria, people are saying that the agitation for presidency by the South- East should be addressed to ensure justice, peace and equity. The South-East governors should make this a priority by reaching out and seeking the support of their colleagues across the federation.

“The issue of youth unemployment should be looked into. The South-East produces the highest number of graduates annually, yet, most of them are jobless. The governors should think out of the box to create skills acquisition programmes and job opportunities for the youths to make them independent,” Obasi noted.

He urged the governors to reach out to the military authorities to withdraw soldiers, stressing that the South-East zone is not at war to warrant such heavy deployment of soldiers on its roads.

“Soldiers should be withdrawn from the South- East zone because there is no war going on in the zone. However, the soldiers posted to the zone behave as if they have scores to settle with the citizens of the South-East. They mount road blocks where they use small boys to extort money from motorists. They also engage themselves in civilian disputes like land disputes and humiliate people. They have taken over the core duties of the Police. The governors should demand their withdrawal,” Obasi further said.

An academia, Prof. Obasi Igwe said governors should focus attention on development and industrialisation to engage the restive youths and ensure peace and warned them against working against their people just to achieve selfish interests. He also urged them to deliver good governance and run inclusive government.

“In 2021, the central Igbo states called South-East, bore the brunt of the disasters imposed on the Nigerian peoples since mid-2015. The agitations for Biafra were not special, but the Federal Government made it special, and purposefully used it to trigger a unilateral war against the Igbo and widely believed to have allegedly authored the unknown gunmen saga.

“AK-47-bearing Fulani terrorists were everywhere in the South and Middle Belt, seizing and renaming territories and pushing the indigenes into IDP camps, burning communities, claiming rights and ownerships, destroying farms and killing off their owners to their hearts’ desires.

“The response of the Federal Government to all the peaceful agitations in the East, ethnic cleansings in the Middle Belt, peaceful demands in the West, was to single out and declare the IPOB a terrorist group, wage a full-scale war on the Igbo, allegedly with more than 20,000 unarmed and innocent Igbo youths, men, women and children extra-judicially murdered in openly issued and advertised shoot-at-sight orders. The governors must learn to speak for and protect their people. If they paid any serious attention to development instead of corruption, there would have been little or no agitations by the youths,” Igwe said.

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