Founder of the Igbo Youth Movement, Evang. Elliot Uko, has again rose in defence of the South-East voting pattern in the last general elections.
Elliot, who is also the leader of the South-East Democratic Coalition, in an interview with DAILY POST equally lamented that the people of the South-East were being unfairly judged by other regions in Nigeria.
Speaking on a wide range of issues, he asked Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, “They are obviously taking their time. President Buhari does not want to make many mistakes, he is being very careful. I believe he knows what he is doing. Nigerians should be patients with him; he needs our support and prayers. I don’t think he will fail”.
On position of Ndigbo in Nigeria, he said, “The South-East is a misunderstood region. Here, we don’t tie ourselves to any political party, we want to see a just, fair and upright leadership, regardless of the party. We have other issues that agitate our minds, issues like the political structure in Nigeria, issues like equity and justice for all.
“Other Nigerians, wrongly judge us with their own standards, their own values. That is wrong. Presently, we are greatly worried about what we see as a potent wave of envy towards the Igbo-Man, a wrong belief that he over-enjoyed with Jonathan and therefore should be punished for it. A strong desire to deny him his dues and his rights because he is doing well as a trader. We think that is wrong. We believe that, for Nigeria to survive, all must be treated equally and that the present political structure be reviewed and the country restructured along the lines of true federalism without delay.
”These are the things that matter to us. We are not crazy about any political party. We did not enter into any covenant to swim or sink with any particular party. As Nigerians, we wish to be treated fairly, that’s all”.
While speaking on Nigeria’s present political structure, Uko said, “With unemployment at over 40%, it is crazy to continue to run a system that shares money amongst 36 state govts, money they use only to maintain their govt’s, without creating jobs.
“None of the 36 state govt’s is strong enough to inspire, influence, or create enabling environments that will lead to any industrial revolution that would transform this nation and deliver us from the consumer economy that we are. We are stuck with a system that gyrates us to move in circles, while our liabilities and problems continue to multiply by the day. We need a radical restructuring of our nation. We need to boldly face the reality. Change of govt. will not bring about much change, within this unworkable structure. That is the bitter truth. Our energy base is in shambles. Our iron and steel and petrochemical base have not taken off after so many false starts. These are the back bone of any industrial take off. None of the 36 states can do more than pay salaries which some of them find difficult to do. We need to restructure without delay in order to set in a motion the birth of a truly great and functional Nigeria. That is the truth.
“The excitement and euphoria of change of guard will soon wane off and reality we set in. nothing has changed really, nothing will ever change unless we restructure Nigeria”.
Asked if President Buhari will likely restructure Nigeria, he noted that “I don’t know his mindset, I can only guess that several forces will be pulling him from all sides. I suspect some people who have his ears might advise him to ignore the calls to peacefully restructure Nigeria. They might prefer to crush any dissenting view by force and keep him busy fighting on all fronts. He might also wisely choose to quickly begin the restructuring of the country, thereby surprising everybody. I sincerely do not know his frame of mind. But I do know that we need to search and move in such a manner as to give every section a sense of belonging. So many zones are bitter with the way Nigeria is structured. They believe everything is skewed against them. They think they have no future; they have lost faith in mother Nigeria. We have two choices really: Either we seriously begin to restructure now and carry everybody along or we tell those who believe Nigeria was deliberately structured to oppress them to go to hell.
“I don’t know which one he will choose. But I suspect we all will soon find out in no distant future. Our prayer is May peace reign, may bloodshed never visit us again. May common sense and sense of justice prevail?”
The IYM Founder, who also appraised former President Jonathan’s administration, described him as “a good man with so many weaknesses, he was overwhelmed and misguided. Those his aides who surrounded him deceived him a lot. He allowed them to become too powerful and influential. Those of them from the South East lost their head and almost ran amuck. They hoodwinked him through flattery. He didn’t know that they do that to every president they are men without conscience, lackeys and servile pseudo leaders who will worship anybody in power just so they could pick the crumbs that fall off under the table.
“The tragedy of the Igbo nation is that these are the characters that see themselves as Igbo leaders. They equate right to leadership with the billions they made under Jonathan. They are only hoping to use the hapless, over burdened and long suffering Igbo masses as cannon fodder as usual to relaunch their quest for continued political relevance. It is tragic, but it’s true. They can only succeed if Buhari refused to carry Ndigbo along. Jonathan tried his best, but the hawks around him who eventually led him to and drowned him at the river were singing his praises just because they could easily manipulate him. He was their darling simply because he seemed the easiest president you could manipulate to have your way. He could not say No to any suggestion, so all of them ruthlessly used him mercilessly for their own ends. Jonathan was a victim of the fierce and volatile Nigerian power struggle. He has his own weaknesses though. But I know he meant well for Nigeria.
“The swan-song of the leeches around him simply overwhelmed him. The problem with the presidency is the carnivores who usually find their way to surround the man. Which brings me to the Igbo situation, the huge disconnection between the Igbo political elites and the masses is so frightening. The two groups have absolutely nothing in common. The only point of contact is when one comes to ask for and the other dispenses handouts. The later do not believe that the former has the capacity to think on his own. He has no regard for him whatsoever.
“The Igbo Abuja politicians live in a world of their own, separate and so far away from reality. For them, the people are mere pawns to be used to advance his interest at will. Most of them only plot and scheme on how to be accommodated in any government, even as P.A.s or S.A.s, to anybody including Abubakar Shekau if they could asses him.
“They don’t believe in anything. Their credo is INDIVIDUAL SURVIVAL AT, ALL COSTS. They have no shame, under Jonathan, they were so powerful, they had power of life and death. Some of them even challenged God himself by deciding who survives and who doesn’t. It was that bad. They looked down at everybody as sub-human, many of them taught they were in heaven, some actually ran amock, choosing who and who to paralyze and who they can use as a tool weaving lies and turning the security on those they don’t like. Cleary playing God. Power and excess cash made them mad. They lost the election partly because they spent so much energy planning how to hurt and block other people, they were so busy positioning themselves for higher office while drawing a list of people they will deal squarely with during GEJ’s second team, that they offended God, instead of working hard for GEJs re-election, they were busy sharing campaign funds, buying properties in Dubai and elsewhere, blocking those they didn’t like, encircling Jonathan and fending off everybody. Well they would console themselves now with the huge fortunes they made under Jonathan.
“And the elders are not guiltless, though there are a few good Igbo elders, most are mischievous fellows who pursue only self interest all the time. I hear they are only hoping the pro Biafra boys would do something silly, so they would quickly deliver them to the authorities and use them to endeared themselves to Buhari, I hope that is not true. What we expect from our elders is direction, leadership by example. These pro Biafra groups emerged out of frustration. They are expecting leadership form the elders. We want to see genuine, sincere, committed leadership.
“This appalling situation only exist because the elders and so called political leaders of Igbo land have consistently failed in setting an Agenda and following it up with leadership by example. As they scramble for crumbs under the table in Abuja, the masses are watching with disappointment. They regrettably don’t seem to care. You can’t fight for Ndigbo while struggling and lobbying for accommodation into government at the same time.
“The two are incompatible. When you desperately come to beg for job or plead to join to eat in any govt, they treat you like a new initiate into a cult, they make you take an oath of allegiance, nothing is free, you must pay a price, whatever they give you is at a cost. You can no longer honestly fight for truth and justice. You are co-opted and corrupted; you can’t fight for self and the people at the same time. You can only fight for one at the cost of the other. Elders and leaders must lead by example; they must show that they have the capacity to make sacrifices for the common good of their people.
“They must place group interest above self interest. That is the only way they can earn both respect and mass followership”.
On Ohanaeze Ndigbo, he had this to say: “Ndigbo will always need an umbrella body but there seems to be some confusion. The last time I heard, there is an Elders Council, led by Chief Mbazulike Amaechi. There’s also a Caretaker Committee, led by Chief Ralph Obioha. There’s also the Joe Nwaorgu/Igariwey faction, who insist that there term is four years, while the others say their term has expired, it’s only two years. I don’t know which one. The confusion started when the Igariwey bloc were elected. The Ebonyi State Government said they would organize their own elections. South-east governors pleaded with them to set up a committee to look at the views of the stakeholders, and the serving governors promised to make their decisions public. They never made their decisions public. This particular executive has been embattled. I don’t want to get involved. I don’t know which is which. I’m not interested. Whether it’s two years or four years, I’m not interested”.
Asked whether Ndigbo will swing to the APC if given fair treatment, he said, “I am not interested in partisan politics, but I know that Ndigbo, my people, are not interested in political parties. Ndigbo look at Nigeria with all their heart, and they stand to believe and work for Nigeria. From day one, they embraced NCNC, led by Herbert Macauley, because it was the soul and spirit of Nigeria, 70 years ago.
“Suddenly, along the line, the academic profile of our Onitsha-born Nnamdi Azikiwe intimidated some other people, and they saw that he was no push-over, they left the NCNC for him through cross-carpeting, because they felt that they were no match for him, that he was light-years ahead of them, and they now left NCNC. Gradually, NCNC became a south-eastern party. In the same vein, the military rulers who established PDP in 1998, who went to Jos convention and paralyzed the most qualified presidential candidate, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, and brought out their man from prison and installed him on the nation, they are now gradually abandoning the PDP to the south-east. So, like it happened in NCNC, PDP will now become a south-eastern party.
“Well, our worry is that Ndigbo do not want to carry the burdens of the PDP. It is unfair to shove all the burdens of the PDP on Ndigbo. I don’t care about APGA, APC, Labour Party, PDP, whatever, I don’t belong to any one.
“The problem of the Igbo man is that those who claim to be Igbo leaders adopted a post-civil war culture of boot-licking. And because it has been working and paying them, they seem to adopt it as a way of life. Dateline 1970: all you needed to do was to access one Colonel or one Lieutenant-Colonel who knew General Gowon and lick his boots, then you will pick some crumbs from under his table, then you go to the east here and become Onwanetilora, Anyanwuejiafuzo, Onwa Ndigbo, Oku uwa ji afu uzo, and you make a lot of noise, you raise your voice in the airport lounge, and you become a big man, with twenty-eight chieftaincy titles. You send your children to be educated in the US, and you become an important man, by boot-licking and picking the crumbs. And that culture has continued, so our leaders, the leaders of Ndigbo, have never, in my lifetime, sat down to chart an Igbo agenda. Let me tell you something. As a young man in Lagos, 20 years ago, I saw the Yoruba leaders give their people leadership.
“Aggrieved and hurt, their pride was hurt, that their son won an election and it was annulled, they sat down and said, if we stand behind you, don’t abandon us. Yoruba leaders gave their people leadership. I was a young man in Ikeja. Led by the formidable Abraham Adesanya, they fought Abacha to a stand-still, without firing a shot. They were meeting in Ijebu-Igbo, in remote towns and places.
“They knew Abacha’s goons were monitoring them, there were quislings, there were informants amongst them. They shot Abraham Adesanya, they chased Tinubu into exile, they burnt down Wole Soyinka’s house at Ake, they burnt down Alani Akinrinade’s house in Ikeja, but they stood and gave their people leadership. I admire them. I have never seen Ndigbo sit down, chart a course, develop an agenda. All I’ve seen is boot-licking, boot-licking, boot-licking. They hustled to know Shagari’s aides, and licked their boots, and came back with crumbs. They licked Ibrahim Babangida’s boots and picked crumbs from his table. They licked Abacha’s boots and picked crumbs, and with those crumbs they come back here and start making noise, making a lot of noise, and they are called Igbo leader, Igbo leader, through boot-licking and crumb-picking. Our prayer is, when will the Igbo elders sit down, chart an Igbo agenda, when? When? Where are the Igbo leaders? We are tired of the culture of boot-licking. Now, they are in desperate search of Buhari’s boots, exploiting, begging everybody, begging Okorocha, begging Ogbonnaya Onu, begging Ngige to grant them access to Buhari’s boots so that they will lick his boots and pick up crumbs. When will Ndigbo, the elders and leaders, sit down and chart an Igbo agenda, stand on it, and defend it, and earn my respect. When will that be? When?”
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