By OKEY IFIONU

Any lengthy discussion of the political future of the Igbo of Southeast of Nigeria and their southern neighbours is likely to arouse a cynical curiousity among those who would rather that such co-operation never happens. Yet to many it is a matter that couldn’t be more topical than it is now given the leading role the Igbo played in the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 presidential election.

In his latest book, Uche Nwankwo is on top of his game.A socio-political and economic writer with incredible research and analytical skills, Nwankwo has written more than seven books, most of them eligible to be described as bold disquisitions on Nigeria’s pre-independence and contemporary socio-economic and political challenges. In all his works, he has demonstrated the rare ability to identify problems and their major causes, and to proffer practical solutions.

In his current book, the author delves into the unique roles and leadership qualities of some of the nation’s better known politicians. Although it is titled “Zik, Ndi-Igbo & Their Southern Neighbours” the book is largely an analytical look at the leadership qualities of many pre- independence Nigerian leaders. Whatever one’s political ideology or sympathies may be, there is something to draw your attention in this book. To say that it is bound to provoke controversies will be an understatement. There is so much new or at least re-examined information in the book to grab your attention.

The author takes a critical look at many historical epochs in the political development of Nigeria. He Xrays the forces that have shaped the political condition of the nation. These forces are multi-pronged. While acknowledging the uncompromising nationalism of the founding fathers, the author nonetheless equally puts the spotlight on the reality of ethnic chauvinism and savage class hegemony which had all conspired to keep the country below all enthusisatic pre-independence predictions. The retardist effect on the nation of the greed and misdirected ambition of the political class, and the injury occasioned by rabid ethnic particularism, are well demonstrated in this book.

Although many of the country’s leaders lived in the public eye, not every one really understood their true character as reflected in their utterances and actions. In a compelling portrait of each of these leaders, the author leaves the reader with all the facts upon which to base his judgment of each leader.

With contemporary Nigerian history as backdrop, Nwankwo addresses the persistent issue of whether the famous Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was a genuine nationalist as many believe he was, or just a leader who worked for Igbo political domination of the Nigerian polity. Adducing well researched facts, the author proves that Zik was as true a nationalist as anyone can be in a multi-ethnic society like ours.

The author recounts in fine detail the 1951 Western Nigeria Regional Elections; the controversy about carpet crossing by some Yoruba NCNC members to the Action Group (AG), a party led by the distinguished late Yoruba politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He also gave a fascinating history of the leading pre-independence political parties, their ideological inclinations, their membership and their ethnic leanings or otherwise.

The NCNC was clearly the most nationalist in outlook and was as strong in the Western Region as it was in the Eastern Region. But that was until the carpet crossing incident of 1951. Still the party continued to enjoy the devoted membership of great Yoruba leaders like the late T.O.S. Benson and the late political firebrand, Adegoke Adelabu who was quoted as saying during the 1957 NCNC convention at Aba, that he would have been welcomed into the camp of the AG or the Northern People’s Congress as an ally, but that he rejected “both tribalism and religion as the basis of party affiliation. In his own words, “I followed Zik because of ideology; let that ideology live on.”

The author takes us through the roots of the Igbo-Yoruba conflict in the nation’s politics. How much of this ostensible ethnic conflict is truly ethnic and how much is class-conflict? The book shows that though tribal politics cannot be denied in Nigeria, much of the conflict between the two main ethnic groups in the south has its roots in class and economic considerations. There is much insight into the nature of the Igbo and Yoruba political class and their ideology.

The author’s careful narration of the historical origin of the political rivalry between the two main ethnic groups in the South is as dispassionate as possible. He skillfully takes the reader through the impact of this conflict on the polity, and the clear political advantage all of that has conferred on the Northern political class. He also masterly navigates the narrative through the over-hyped subject of the Igbo domination of the Eastern minorities, the civil war years, the controversial role of Chief Awolowo in the near starvation and economic emasculation of the Igbo, the heady relationship between the late Biafran leader, Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Dr Azikiwe.

The author does not dissemble his disagreement with Ojukwu’s war strategies and tactics as well as what he described as his “disdain for, and relegation of Azikiwe” during the war. He excoriated the late Biafran leader for rejecting wise counsel on the war, and for what he called his “intransigence and fixation with secession.” In a way the tragic absurdities of the war and the internal recriminations that characterised it on the Biafran side would seem to justify Nwankwo’s anger.

Many though are sure to disagree on the amount of blame he lays at the door step of the revered defunct Biafran head of state for the defeat of Biafra. Was Ojukwu a prisoner of his own vaulting ambition and sense of insecurity as the author seems to suggest? Was the Oxford University- educated historian a menacing tyrant who would not brook any appearance of opposition? If he was indeed, was that largely responsible for the defeat of Biafra? These are only some of the points of controversy likely to be generated by this book.

Some of the author’s views about the love-hate relationship between the Igbo and the minorities of the defunct Southeastern region are brutally frank. That relationship wasn’t always as cordial as it seems to be now.
It is true that unity is not the same thing as uniformity. The Igbo and the minorities of the defunct Southeast may not have the same attitudes to life but their shared aspirations for a fair share of the nation’s patrimony will be more easily realised if there is greater political and economic co-operation or synergy amongst them.

The 358- page book ends with a number of highly interesting appendices including revealing book excerpts and press interviews with key socio-political actors. From these attachments the reader could glean the thinking of certain influential personalities and why they did some of the things they did in the near and distant past. Ayo Opadokun’s disclosure, for instance, of the internal divisions among the Yoruba political elites and the several efforts to unite them is quite fascinating. No less fascinating is Philip Efiong’s insight into the beginning and painful course of the civil war and also offered a recipe for avoiding a re-enactment of such a war.

In the third appendix which is a press interview by Ohanaeze chieftain, Guy Ikokwu, we read juicy details about the excessive influence of money in the presidential system, and how this can be curbed. Ikokwu who is a veteran of Nigerian politics also narrates how the Awolowo political fraternity got to know that Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (retired) voted for Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the 1979 presidential election. This, he says, is why the acolytes of the late political sage may never forgive Obasanjo nor readily support him politically.

Altogether, this book of political prognosis is largely a prescriptive dossier on how best the Igbo and their Southern neigbours, working with greater understanding, can achieve their common objectives within the Nigerian polity. There is hardly a better moment to put such recommendations into practice. Clearly, no one single ethnic or geo-political zone can go it alone if it must produce the president of the country. What is required is reasonable horse trading and compromises. Arc. Nwankwo has produced a great book that shows how this can be achieved.

*Okey Ifionu, a former deputy managing director of THISDAY, is an Anglican priest and Editorial Board member of THE UNION.