Awuzie: The Present Igbo Leaders Don’t Represent Ndigbo

By Chinedu OPARA

Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, national president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in this interview, speaks elaborately on the problem with Igbo leadership and fashions out a way forward, especially as the Igbo nation guns for Nigeria’s presidency in 2015.



Awuzie



There is this belief in many quarters that Ndigbo do not have leaders. As a true Igbo son and as an elder, would you say that position is correct?

I don’t think it’s true that we don’t have or have never had leaders. We have had leaders. What we are saying is that the current crop does not represent Igbo people. There was a time when people like Dr Akanu Ibiam would speak and Ndigbo would obey; everybody would get up and accept what he said because that is backed up by patriotism, transparency, and all the qualities you talk about in leadership. But now what we have is a group of opportunists who only feel about themselves, who are trying to massage their personal ego, not talking about our people and their suffering. If you look at all the people we have had in governance from 1999 when this republic began, all they have been talking about is how it will suit them. Who are those that betrayed Ekwueme? It is Ndigbo. When we had 2011 election, what did we have? We had Igbo governors who were more concerned about how to get a ticket to go back to office and how Jonathan could help them to rig election to get back; Igbo senators who were struggling to get back, and so on. They were not talking about what Ndigbo would get out of the enterprise. But all hope is not lost. I still see some people who are showing that they can forge leadership for the nation from the Igbo clan. To begin with, we must disband the so-called Ohanaeze and talk about a new crop of leaders in Ohanaeze. What we have now does not represent Ndigbo in ideology, aspiration, or what have you. Ohanaeze means that those who call themselves the ezes are the elitist group, while Oha are the masses. Where have they canvassed an issue and taken it into a town hall meeting to say ‘this is what your leaders think we should be doing’ and allow the people say ‘yes, we like it’ or ‘no, we don’t like it’? For instance, during the last election, a group that called themselves leaders of thought in Imo gathered and said we should allow Ohakim to go a second term, but the people used the election to tell them that they have lost confidence in them and that they are no longer leading them. The so-called Elders’ Council, from the traditional rulers to the elders, all of them canvassed for Ohakim and the people voted the other way. That was not only a vote of no confidence in Ohakim’s government but also on the so-called Council of Elders and the traditional rulers. That group on their own should have quit the scene and allowed a new group to emerge, but now they are beginning to hobnob to get back and begin the same process. I think the youths should begin to look for role models, even though role models are scarce these days. They should be encouraged to come together and prepare an agenda for the Igbo nation because right now we don’t have any. It is like the Tower of Babel. Here, when Igbo leaders are talking, go deep into it and you will see it’s all about ‘how do I benefit from it as a person’? We have seen party leaders who were asked to nominate people and they nominated their sons. I am not saying it does not happen in other climes, but our own is getting worse that if you don’t come from their line, if you do not kowtow to what they are saying, if you do not become subservient to them and take whatever rubbish they say, whether it’s right or wrong, then you don’t have a chance no matter what your endowments are. These are some of the things we have to stop and I think this is the time. Let the few in the religious group and the few in the political class who are worried about the Igbo nation come together and chart a new course for the Igbo nation. Perhaps from there leaders would emerge. In the past we never lacked them. Mbonu Ojike was there, Zik, Akanu Ibiam, Okpara, and so on. What did Okpara leave behind? Did you see any mansion he left behind? He was fighting a cause to give Ndigbo a voice, but now it’s ‘how does it favour me?’, not ‘how does it favour us?’. We saw that from Peter Obi of Anambra State who said he is the chairman of South-East governors. All through the time we gave our unflinching support to Jonathan without asking for anything. It does not matter how much we love Jonathan; this is politics and in politics you must have interest. We should have canvassed for our interest in this regime before we gave our votes, but we gave our votes freely and today, except that Hon. Ihedioha and his group went through the back door and got elected, we would have had only Ekweremadu who had been there. Look at the chairmanship of the PDP, not only that they instigated some people within but they made sure we didn’t serve out our own term of four years. This should bother all our leaders, whether PDP or not, because injustice to one is injustice to all. But because it is not you, you are not bothered, and then you walk up to the president and say ‘don’t mind those idiots, give it to me’, and they give it to you and you suffer the same fate.

Many say the problem is that Ndigbo speak in diverse tongues and there is no unity of purpose.

The problem is this, all these leaders that speak and say Ndigbo, how many people did they consult? Which town union meetings did they address? Did they sit down to allow their people to analyse what they have said and give them feedback? No. Rather, they believe that they are there and whatever they tell their people they will take it. When you don’t consult the people and you say you are speaking on their behalf, you are fiercely challenged. Who did I. D. Nwoga and Eze Ilomuanya consult when they were saying that Ohakim should go back? They did so because they were at the corridors and therefore didn’t see anything going wrong. They didn’t see the tension that was in the state. So, as long as those who find themselves up there believe they can talk without consulting the masses, we will continue to talk in different voices. But when we learn that no matter what we want to sell, we must carry those down along, create a forum where we will come together and talk, not like master and servants, but as a people with the same destiny, the same goal. By the time we finish, we would get a consensus. But when you sit in your palatial empire and say this is what Ndigbo have said, you will be speaking for yourself alone. If you say you are speaking for the elders and I am not there, you are talking rubbish because I am 60 and at my age I am an elder. How could you say you are speaking for the elders when you didn’t call me? What we are saying is that everybody who is above 60 should be called to a meeting and when we go there, we talk as elders and agree. But when a few of you go there and say elders, elders for who?

These consultations you talk about, what shape would they take?

Simple. There should be a structure, a think-tank. When you have a think-tank, the think-tank will go and do the groundwork. I am not saying that these leaders per se must go, but there must a think-tank that would go and do the interaction, do the data gathering and opinion seeking through questionnaire or town hall meetings and by the time these things are collated, then a policy emerges from which you can now speak on behalf of the people and you will not get immediate challenge. But when you hold a meeting and say you have spoken for Igbo people, it’s a lie. We must have an independent think-tank created for the purpose of interacting with the people, knowing what they want, giving them feedback on what is going on, enlightening them and in that interaction, a synergy evolves which when you speak, your people will listen. For example, as the president of ASUU, I don’t consult every member of the branch, over 30,000 members of the union, I don’t see everyone of them before we talk but the branches would go back and interact with their members; they go to congresses, debate and agree and when we come to the national level, they bring their reports and from there we begin to talk. Where is the grassroots component of Ohanaeze in the village, community and LGAs of the zone? Ohanaeze exists only at the apex level. They go there and create what they call ‘ime obi’. Who have they consulted on any policy? Who have they educated on contentious issues that would impinge on the welfare and survival of the Igbo as a race, the individual within, their children, their aspirations? Who has come down to discus this among them? If you go to Yorubaland, you have Afenifere in the local governments and in the wards so that by time you make a policy statement, everybody must have made an input. I am not saying that whatever you are going to say must satisfy every person, but a bulk of them. The good thing about the Ndigbo is that they are a thinking people; they ask questions and you need to satisfy them. When you convince them you can carry them along, Ndigbo are the easiest people to lead. If you show them transparency, if you show them honesty, if you give them respect and they find out that you are not self-serving, they are prepared to go to any length with you. But when you just believe that you are there and you can dictate to them, they say no. The Igbo man’s pride comes out and you are challenged.

With the situation on ground now, do you think this Igbo presidency project could become a reality?

Sure. Why not? Why would others be there and we will not? But we must not deceive ourselves. We must plan for it. We must make our case clear. We must strategize for it. We must create a think-tank that will work for it. We must carry everybody along. When Ekwueme talked about the proposal they had before Abacha died, he said they lost a great deal by Abacha’s death. By that, he meant the 5 years rotational thing. If it had worked, whether anybody likes us or not, it should have been our own turn, but would we have been able to produce a good one that when he finishes, we would be proud to say here is an Igbo man who brought excellence to governance? Or is he going to be there because he is an Okwuruoha or because he has too much money? Jonathan is not the richest man in Nigeria but he is our president. Shagari was not the richest, yet he was there. Tafawa Belewa was not the richest, yet he was there. Elsewhere, they look for other qualities above money. Even those that have money bring it out to support the choice candidates. But over here, if you have ten naira, you must be the chairman in your village. If not, you must spoil everything. That is our own system. The other day they were talking about how to stop money politics and Authur Nzeribe said you cannot do without money in politics. Yes, you cannot do without money but you don’t need to produce the money yourself. Obama ran the highest campaign in America but he didn’t put his own money. People were contributing five dollars, ten dollars, and so on, and that was how he generated the largest campaign fund in America’s history. You can get money to sell your product but it doesn’t mean that if you are not a millionaire you wouldn’t be counted in leadership. Igbo presidency is attainable and realizable but it needs some serious work. It needs something sincere, something honest. It needs grooming some leaders who will stand up and people will say yes, these are real leaders.