CHUKS EZEWUZIE

Before the Nigeria civil war, Eastern Nigeria was one of the few regions of hope in black Africa. The World Bank made this official in 1964 when it named Eastern Nigeria as the fastest growing regional economy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Certain indices validated this position. Nigeria was the world’s largest exporter of palm oil and palm kernel at the time and almost 90% of that came from the region. Beside palm oil, there were also cassava and coal, which formed some of Nigeria’s major export earners.

Unfortunately, the war destroyed everything – the people, infrastructure and of course the economy. The worst to affect the Igbo nation was the indigenization policy and the decision of the then federal government after the war to pay Ndigbo only two pounds, no matter the amount you had in the bank.

With so much energy and dynamism seeking expression, something was bound to give way. And it did in a number of ways. First, the Igbo elite were utterly fragmented and driven into individualist survival stratagems. This marked the foundation of divisiveness and lack of cohesion among our political elite. Sadly, it was to rob us of our chances at the presidency.

Another post war reaction of Ndigbo was leadership and strong aversion or dislike for home. A significant response of the Igbo nation to their peculiar leadership challenges is the emergence of Ohaneze Ndigbo. This gathering of wise scholars, academics, community leaders and successful businessmen and women has played a critical role in preserving the Igbo ethnic nation. Many factors led to the emergence of several other groups pursuing Igbo interests and agitating the welfare of Ndigbo.

Somehow, there is this niggling feeling that these agitations would have been needless if there were no sense of alienation or neglect in the hands of government; if most federal roads in Igboland were not in such absolute disrepair and if there were no undisguised regressive policies against the Igbo, especially in the seventies. For instance, where is Gowon’s 3R policy – rehabilitation, reconstruction and reintegration postulated after the war.

However, Ndigbo have continued to mount a subtle response to Nigeria’s sustained indifference. A remarkable example is the growing spate of purposeful governance in Anambra State and in some other Igbo States. Some Igbo governors have discovered that the indifference of the Federal Government is not an acceptable explanation for Igbo’s backwardness. Though they may not have enough resources, the governors quickly realized that the little they control can change the Igbo story.

Following this trajectory of excellence, Governor Willie Obiano had adopted a strategic approach to governance that opened the state up and turned it into Nigeria’s new investment destination. Obiano also clinically drove away the criminal elements that made the state difficult to inhabit and shored up the profile of Anambra as Nigeria’s most secure state.

Obiano’s approach to urban development is exemplified in the amazing transformation of our cities into emerging centre piece for tourism with the International Conference Centre, Cargo Airport, City Stadium, good roads and bridges, three sparkling flyovers and vibrant social life. Obiano has also shifted the paradigm by placing Anambra on the country’s agricultural map, while maintaining her enviable position on the educational map.

It is therefore hardly strange that the growing nostalgia for Igbo land and the quest to rebuild it is one of the earliest obsessions of Governor Obiano. Thus, he has repeatedly made strong appeal for a joint effort by the governors of the five states of the South East to build a new economic block. It is interesting to see the resurging consciousness among Ndigbo across the world that the time to look back home with fondness has eventually come.

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