The Igbos used to be one of the most formidable of the tripod that held Nigeria together, and to a large extent decided its fate. But unfolding political dynamics make it obvious that the Igbos are fast losing grip of their hallowed place in Nigeria's political equation. Chief Ikedi Ohakim foresaw what happened today, at least several months ago. He made every effort to ensure that the Igbo interest is well protected within the outgoing PDP government led by President Goodluck Jonathan and his entreaties were rebuffed by those who feel they own Goodluck Jonathan more than Nigeria owns him.
Some weeks ago, Ikedi Ohakim went public with his concerns over the chances of Jonathan's re-election and charged the President to ensure that he does the needful to ensure that most of the leaders of the Party who are aggrieved are made to return to the Party. In an article he titled; OBASANJO: WHAT HAPPENED?, the former Governor of Imo State decried the high level mistakes by the Party leadership which made it possible for the Party to lose some of its most valuable leaders across the Federation, culminating in the public shredding of Obasanjo's PDP membership card, which he likened to a father tearing his child's birth certificate, which can be interpreted as the father repudiating the child. Ohakim called the President and the Party leadership's attention to the reality that a handsome amount of PDP leaders have torn their own Party cards in the privacy of their bedrooms, the huge deficit in votes which President Jonathan suffered in most PDP ruled States confirmed this.
When Ohakim's efforts at salvaging his Party's fortunes were rebuffed, he discarded his partisanship like Obasanjo and began to look for ways to ensure that the Igbos extracted the best deals possible for the emerging political leadership in Nigeria. While not a tribal Lord, Ohakim was disturbed by the obvious retrenchment of the Igbos in Nigerian politics of the day. He forgot about being a member of any political Party and concerned himself with fighting for equity for the Igbo nation. He understood that Nigeria can only survive if all the groups within the country are treated fairly.
His decision to convene the Igbo Conversational Group attracted some flak from those who did not care about the Igbo interest but were and are still more concerned about their personal interests. When Ohakim released a document which was titled 2015 AND THE IGBO QUESTION: AGWO NO NA AKIRIKA, he called attention to the glaring injustices and marginalization which the Igbo ethnic group and especially the Southeast region suffered under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, notwithstanding the massive support which the Igbos have given the President and the Peoples Democratic Party, since its inception in 1998. Ohakim spearheaded an unprecedented mobilization of the Igbos to ask the right questions before throwing their support behind any of the presidential candidates. He reminded the Igbos that politics is all about negotiations and bargains and not blind followership. The reality is that, President Goodluck Jonathan took the support of Ndi Igbo for granted, and we needed to let him understand that. Ohakim gave him an opportunity to correct that, but he kept dragging his feet till it became too late.
Instead of taking up the points raised by the Igbo Conversational Group based on its merits or otherwise, some acclaimed PDP leaders from the Southeast and elsewhere started a hate campaign against Ohakim, accusing him of anti-party activities and even making moves to suspend him from the PDP. In response to their concerns, Ohakim made it clear to them that he is first an Igbo man before becoming a PDP member, hence, he has to advance the Igbo interest beyond that of the Party. He made it clear to all who cared to listen that he can stop being a member of the PDP, but will never cease being an Igbo man.
It is to Ohakim's credit that the Igbo nation will not be completely relegated in the unfolding scheme of things. Without any of the Igbo States producing an APC Senator, the chances of an Igbo Senate presidency is ruled out and the reality that there is no ranking legislator of Igbo extraction who won election into the House of Representatives also blurs the chances of an Igbo becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The deputy Senate presidency and deputy speakers positions which the Igbos had in their kitty have also eluded us. What then, shall the Igbo's get in the coming federal government? A situation where the Igbos will fail to take any sensitive position within the federal government will be very disastrous to our political survival as a people. If we do not get a sensitive political position, we can at least ensure that we get good infrastructural allocations. If the coming federal government picks up that Ohakim document in which he pointed out the several areas where the Igbos are being shortchanged and addresses those concerns, then, our complaints can be less.
By Onwuasoanya Fcc Jones
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