By Jude Atupulazi
The latest fashion among Igbo politicians is to dress cowardice as strategy. They call it “connecting to the centre,” as if the South East is a faulty wire that needs to be plugged into the APC-controlled Federal Government to get light. This argument must be repudiated for what it is: political surrender masquerading as pragmatism.
Last Sunday at the International Conference Centre, Awka, while inaugurating the Anambra State structure for President Tinubu’s 2027 Campaign, Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, described the 2027 Presidential Election as a contest that was bigger than politics.
‘This is more than politics. It is a battle for the soul of Nigeria, for Ndigbo and for Anambra,’ Soludo had roared, while urging Ndigbo to choose reason over emotion.
Soludo further argued that Anambra State could not fund major projects alone unless it had the support of the centre and listed such projects as railways, gas pipelines and other infrastructure. He said it was why there was the need to partner with the centre controlled by the government of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with anyone supporting any government or Presidential Candidate. That is the beauty of democracy. Thus, no one should kill Soludo for making his decision. However, his arguments can be countered, the argument of aligning with the centre in order to enjoy democracy dividends.
First, the premise is historically false. When has connecting to the centre ever developed the South East? The South East voted massively for the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, for 16 years, which was the centre then. What did they get? The Second Niger Bridge remained a campaign poster. Enugu-Onitsha Expressway remained a death trap. Enugu Airport remained without an international terminal. No railway, no seaport, no federal industrial project. The region was in the centre and still treated as the periphery.
Now the same politicians who failed the South East under PDP have defected to APC and are shouting from the rooftops that if we all defect to APC, this time the centre will remember us. Why would it? The APC centre has not shown any different federal character. The South East still has the smallest number of states, the smallest local government allocation, the worst federal road network, and the lowest representation in the security and economic command of the country, even while APC governors from the zone praise Abuja.
Second, it is a lazy substitute for governance. A governor who cannot pay salaries, build rural roads, or secure his state now says ‘I need to connect to the centre to attract federal presence.’ But federal presence is a constitutional right, not a reward for party loyalty. The allocation from the federation account, ecological funds, and federal projects are entitlements of citizens, not largesse from the ruling party.
When an Igbo governor says he must join APC to get what rightfully belongs to his people, he is admitting his own impotence and bargaining away our collective negotiating power. He is also suggesting that the federal government he is supporting is failing in its duty because the constitution of the country doesn’t say that federal allocations should be shared on the basis of support for the ruling party at the centre.
Third, it kills competition and Igbo political bargaining. In a real federation, the opposition zone is powerful because the ruling party must court it. The South West was in opposition for years and used it to extract concessions. When the entire South East collapses into the ruling party, we lose all leverage. We become taken for granted, no longer needed to be persuaded. What incentive does the APC centre have to give projects to a region that has already surrendered its votes without condition? None!
Finally, it is an insult to the democratic spirit of Ndigbo. Ndigbo have never thrived by conformism. We thrive by enterprise, by independent thought, by competitive politics. To tell a whole people that survival means kneeling or kow-towing to the centre is to fundamentally misunderstand Igbo republicanism.
The South East does not need connection to a party. It needs connection to a vision: regional economic integration, security anchored in community, education, and a demand for true federalism where the centre does not hold all the power. Any politician who cannot deliver without wearing an APC brooch does not deserve to lead any Igbo state.
And I will ask, even those states in the East that have supported APC, with their governors defecting to the party, what special privileges have they been given? Is the Imo State governor doing better than the Abia State governor? That does not mean that the Imo State governor is not doing well. In fact, a recent development index by a group on the achievements of the five South East states shows that Imo ranks higher than Anambra. Abia came first without being an APC state. It was followed by Enugu, Imo, then Anambra and Ebonyi.
Now you may ask, why is Ebonyi which has an original APC governor placed last? Its governor ran his election on APC platform and won, just like the Imo State governor. Enugu’s governor won on the platform of PDP before defecting to APC. Soludo of Anambra is virtually in APC. Now, what has the federal government done for any of the South East states sympathetic to APC? Why is it that Abia, the only state in the South East not openly identifying with the centre, and still fully in Labour Party, rated above all the states salivating for APC?
Again, most of the states in the West are in APC, but can anyone compare the quality of life in the East with what obtains in, Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti, apart from Lagos State? These are core APC states, although now Osun and Oyo governors are supporting the centre. These states are supposed to be the zone of the President, but, again, apart from Lagos, is the quality of life in the other states better than what obtains in the Igbo states? This easily betrays the lie in the assertion that one must belong to the centre to develop. It is all down to the individual efforts of the governors!
What the governors of the South East states should be talking about is the pooling of resources to develop the zone as I and some other people have been saying. They will not need to prostrate to Abuja to get the South East working if they come together to map out a development blue print for their zone. Abia State did not lick the boots of Abuja to fix its power plant. In the same manner the governors of the South East can all come together to emplace measures that will develop the zone. Call it a South East Economic Bloc and you won’t be wrong.
From that common pool we can develop the South East and put up railways, inter connected roads and all other things that will change the face of the zone. That way, the rest of the country will respect us; not the present scenario of throwing our clothes on the ground for Abuja to step on in the name of politics of the centre.
But we know why many of our leaders are snuggling up to the so-called centre: personal interest. Let no one ever be deceived into thinking they are acting for our collective interests. It is either the leaders are trying to buy favour from the centre to escape being probed after leaving office, or they are scheming for juicy political appointments later. Already, the Imo State governor is gunning for the senate where it is rumoured that he is eyeing the senate presidency. So why won’t he twerk for Abuja to achieve that aim? One other governor is known to dream of being made the Vice President, apart from covering up for the money being siphoned through white elephant projects. So, why won’t he gyrate before the centre in order to actualize his ambition and cover his tracks?
So what we see playing out is an all too familiar story which will continue unfolding so long as our leaders choose individual interests over the collective. This is also the major reason they won’t ever want to rally together to conceive a blue print for the overall development of the South East, especially when they know that doing so will be frowned on by the centre which wants us to perpetually grovel before it.
So when next anyone tells you any story of connecting to the centre for our own good, regard it as bullshit.
Catholic priest canvassing for Peter Obi in the church, why not?
Within the week the social media erupted with a video of a Catholic priest rallying the congregation to support Peter Obi’s presidential ambition. He was seen singing the song of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, the party associated with Obi, inside the church. While some took umbrage at the action of the priest, insinuating that he went too far, others supported him, arguing that the hardship in the country must be brought to an end through whatever means.
My take? I support the action of the priest one hundred and twenty percent! Remember I once in this column called on the Church to mount an extensive campaign against the current government at the centre and see it as a debt she owed society. I said it should be seen as a battle between good and evil. Well, I’m very happy that someone has heeded my call and I am calling on others to take a cue.
This coming fight is not to be taken lightly because the return of this thieving government at the centre will spell doom for the country. The Church should enlighten the people on why they must vote right, even if they are offered money. The bag of rice one may get will not last beyond some few months, so also is the money they will be given.
They should collect the rice and money and still vote them out to avoid committing suicide if Tinubu returns. Those supporting Tinubu are only those benefiting from the corrupt system. No sane person who is not benefiting will support the government at the centre. It is therefore a collective duty by all to drive this government away. Our survival depends on this.
Mark you, I have only been talking about Tinubu, not other candidates. There are very good candidates in other parties whom people are free to vote for. But they should vote for real progressive minded candidates, not the kind that Soludo is trumpeting. And it seems many of the candidates from other parties are learning fast. How many APGA candidates, for example, are showing the picture of Soludo or Tinubu in their posters? Even many APC candidates are carefully avoiding using the president’s picture. They are preferring to go it alone because know the government at the centre has failed and brings no value to their campaign.
In fact, one APGA candidate issued a public disclaimer about his campaign poster that bore the picture of Tinubu, saying it was fake. He knows the implication, just as he knows the implication of using the governor’s picture. This is the first time in recent memory that candidates are scared of using their governor’s picture in their posters or billboards. They know the governor has plummeted in popularity by endorsing the continuation of hardship which is what his support for Tinubu means. The other is his attacks on Obi.
Does that tell us something?
