Beyond the beautiful speeches and thoughtful reflections, there is need to concretize the resolutions at the Owerri Summit. The Forum should not be a mere talk-shop, after all.
By Emeka Alex Duru
On September 18, Simon Ekpa, who claims discipleship of the detained leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in a viral video ordered the people of the South East to commence a three-week ‘curfew’ that would hold from the morning to afternoon, till October 6. In the past when such directives were given, the people, out of fear and other considerations, complied.
What it took to compel compliance, was mere escalation of an audio recording on the social media, with threats of violence against those who defied the instruction.
You may not blame the people for obeying. In a situation where there was no assertive leadership to galvanise and assure them of their safety, it would be foolhardy going against the order. After all, it was the foremost statesman, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik), that was said to have remarked that it is only a mad man that confronts an armed aggressor with bare knuckles. It is indeed, a no-win situation.
That was what initially informed my fears on the South East Summit on Economy and Security scheduled for September 28 and 29 in Owerri, Imo State capital. The event taking place concurrently with the 2023 Igbo Day in Enugu, was another cause for concern. There was equally the hunch on the delegates responding to the invitation, considering the poor attitude of an average South Easterner to such events. But the organisers kept assuring that there would not be any hitch nor conflict on the two events. And they kept to their pledge. If anything, the gatherings turned out a homecoming for prominent Igbo sons and daughters from all parts of the country and beyond.
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South East beyond 2023: Time for a reset
The Owerri and Enugu events are important to Ndigbo. September 29 remains, the day Ndigbo pay tribute to their kinsmen who fought bravely against British imperialism, those who sacrificed their lives in the struggle for Nigerian independence, those who were maimed, murdered and mutilated in the various massacres in Nigeria and those who paid the supreme sacrifice during the Nigeria/Biafra War. It is a day of remembrance.
Over the years, the day had been marked by solemnity and sobriety. But the people, have resolved that September 29 is no longer a day of mourning and lamentation but that which epitomizes the unyielding spirit of their fallen kinsmen. That is where the Owerri gathering themed “South East Summit on Security and Economy – South East Beyond 2023: Time for a Reset”, makes meaning. The event couldn’t have come at a more auspicious time and agenda.
South East is presently on its fours on all parameters of development. It has become a region where law and order are on flight and the citizens live at the mercy of armed gangs. It has become an entity where one, literally, cannot sleep with two eyes closed because of insecurity.
Due to the uncertainties in the region, many organisations and individuals are relocating from the area to other parts of the country. Statistics indicate that the zone is losing out comprehensively on account of the rising insecurity. A 2020 report by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), ranked the South-South geopolitical zone with 37.0% unemployment rate, as the highest in the country followed by the South East with 29.1%. South East must have overtaken the South-South with the lockdowns and other incidences of disruptions.
The Monday sit-at-home directive by amorphous groups is particularly hurting the economy of the region. Anambra state alone, records losses estimated at N19.6bn each time a sit-at-home protest is observed within its territory. Other states in the region are also witnessing similar quantum losses. Apart from the Monday lockdown, occasional directives from other groups equally force residents to remain indoors, making the economy of the region go down further. The immediate impact is the poor state of the economy and acute underdevelopment in the region.
In its 2016 national human development report for the country, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) rated the South East the most human security secure geopolitical zone in Nigeria.
UNDP defined human security as safety from chronic threats such as hunger, disease and repression as well as protection from sudden and harmful disruptions in patterns of daily life whether in homes, jobs or communities. The on-going atmosphere of violence in the area has made nonsense of that report.
Thus, the governors and other segments of Igbo leadership, coming together in Owerri for the sake of peace in the region, is commendable. For the first time in recent years, the politicians from the zone looked beyond their political differences and personal ego to brainstorm on the ways to move the region ahead. Importantly, telling themselves the unvarnished truth on the man-made problems holding the region down, is a step in the right direction. The resolve by the governors of the five states of the zone and Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership to end insecurity in the area, is equally gladdening. Without security, there cannot be meaningful development. Both are like the axiomatic Siamese twins.
This is where the admonitions by the Director General World Trade Organisation (WTO), Okonjo Iweala to the gathering, find bearing. She stated; “If the initiative of this gathering succeeds and achieves results, then it will be a start of enjoyment to improving the lives of our people in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Umuahia, and Imo States”. The zone, she stressed, has the potential to become a place of good governance, adding that a redirected South-East will make its young men and women become part of the team of the digitizing world.
Give it to the South East; there is hardly any obstacle that is insurmountable for the people, when they are determined to make impacts. These were a people who the literary icon, Chinua Achebe, captured in his concise book, ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’ as though not having advantage of early head-start, ‘wiped out their handicaps in one fantastic burst of energy in the twenty years between 1930 and 1950’.
That was a zone that had produced men and women of class in all aspects of national development. This was a zone that within a space of nine years after the 1967 – 1970 civil war, had risen from the ashes of crushing defeat to produce Nigeria’s Vice President (Alex Ekwueme) and Speaker of the House of Representatives (Edwin Ume-Ezeoke), among other top rank government officials. This is an area that in the last 10 years or more has come tops in all public competitive examinations in the country.
At individual levels, South Easterners are champions in their various fields. What has lacked lately in the zone, is focused leadership to harness the bustling energies of the people. But with the governors and other leaders coming together again, hopes of reclaiming the region are high. Beyond the beautiful speeches and thoughtful reflections, there is need to concretize the resolutions at the Owerri Summit. The Forum should not be a mere talk-shop, after all. It is good that the leaders spoke on regional security arrangement and economic integration. Let them come up with blue prints on them. These are projects, if actualised, will go a long way in reinventing the South East. And time is of essence.