The chairman, United Nigeria Airlines Company Limited, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, has unraveled the reason behind Nigeria’s current economic woes.

Professor Okonkwo stated this in an interview with Vanguard. He advised politicians to work with bright minds before implementing their policies, noting that the disregard for education and intellectual issues keep the country fumbling.

“The political class cannot separate itself from the intellectuals. You must have some people somewhere who do the thinking, and then the politicians, working with bright minds, can then implement. Because of the disregard for education and intellectual issues, we keep fumbling as a nation”, Obiora submitted.

Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, an Officer of the Federal Republic, OFR, is a professor of business studies at the University of Abuja Business School as well as a visiting professor of entrepreneurial studies at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Business School, Awka, Anambra State.

He is the Chairman of The Dome Entertainment Limited, the prime entertainment hub in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

A Russian-trained academic cum business mogul, Prof. Okonkwo is also the spokesman of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the umbrella pressure group of the major operators in the airline industry which has been at the forefront of pushing for seamless operations of the sector as the fulcrum of the economic growth of Nigeria.

On the marginalization of the Igbos, Prof Okonkwo noted that the unity of Nigeria can be achieved based on equity, justice, and fairness.

He said: “The counterpoise would seem to suggest that the Igbos have been doing something wrong all along. Yes, we may not have been calculating well politically; we may not have been getting it all right. But the fact of the matter is that if this is our thing and you accept that I am part of it, you have to be equitable in the process of sharing.

“So, the blame should go to those sharing and deliberately depriving that other person. Igbos are everywhere, and they are working hard, but they are being marginalised. Even the constitutional appointments are given to those who are not true representatives in terms of choice.

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“The people who share must be fair. When you favour others more, you should expect people who are being deprived to complain. One of the things being done to weaken people is to deprive them of their rights.

“Meanwhile, these people give their best in every area where you have appointed them. But what I have seen is that people in political positions think they know everything, so they lump politics and knowledge together. The political class cannot separate itself from the intellectuals. You must have some people somewhere who do the thinking, and then the politicians, working with bright minds, can then implement. Because of the disregard for education and intellectual issues, we keep fumbling as a nation.

“We have great minds from the southeast, but when you see the quality of some of the appointments, you’ll wonder whether these are the best Igbo people can offer.

“In my view, the misreading of the political barometer appears to have conflicted some Igbo leaders in such a way that whereas there are charlatans (as you have in every tribe in Nigeria), some who appear to even be genuinely pursuing Igbos interests within the praxis of a bigger Nigeria are sometimes pilloried or scoffed at by their fellow Igbos. This has not also been helpful because even those who are genuine are seen as enablers of the oppressors. So, how would you situate past efforts of leaders in trying to get the centre to do right?

“You know these things are never done in secret. Every individual has antecedents and records. Igbo people are intelligent enough to know leaders who genuinely want their progress, regardless if it is a government they want or they don’t want. When they see that person, they will rally around the person without inhibitions.

“But when they test some people, they see the pretence when people pursue their own agenda while pretending to be pursuing Igbo interest.  Or when you see the appointment of somebody by the centre as further deliberate action to weaken the Igbo nation. When the people see those things that you know will not work well, the people resent that.

“Some people thrive by scandalising their own people to get favour from the centre. It will also not be out of place to posit that the centre does it sometimes to sabotage the Igbo nation by empowering untrustworthy people just so such individuals will go back home and become a thorn in the flesh of the people. Igbo people know their own, and the people know genuine leaders when they see one”.

However, one of the reasons the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, is struggling for the restoration of the defunct Republic of Biafra, is because of the marginalization of the Igbos in Nigeria.

IPOB was created in the year 2012 by its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to protest against the extrajudicial killings in the South-East, political alienation, inequitable resource distribution and ethnic marginalization.

Vanguard Newspaper