It is longer news, anew or a boast that the
South-south and the Southeast Geopolitical Zones are Nigeria’s
socio-economic survival and bread-winners. It is also a truism that 60% if not 70% of
the Lagos State’s economic and wealth potentials are controlled by the
enterprising sons and daughters of the Southeast Zone. In the Federal
Capital Territory, Abuja, 80% of resources used in developing the area
came from oil and gas proceeds exploited in the Niger Delta or
South-south Geopolitical Zone and 70% of private properties built and
owned by serving and former political office holders; whether illicitly
or genuinely acquired; have their direct origins linked with Niger Delta
gas and oil proceeds (both criminally and officially earned) and 70% of
the wealth of the northern rich men and women including oil bloc owners
originated from natural resources of Old Eastern Region of Nigeria.
Also 70% of properties in the Federal Capital Territory,
Abuja; likewise Lagos, Kano, Kaduna and Maiduguri, etc; built and owned
by non political office holders; belong to enterprising sons and
daughters of the Southeast Zone. Nigeria’s Federal Budgets of the
present and past are also majorly funded through three Igbo/South-south
oiled sources: revenues from oil and gas, import duties and related
others from Igbo imported goods and services; and foreign and commercial
loans. Again, 70%, if not more of monies borrowed by the Federal
Government from local sources including commercial banks; originate from
monies deposited by enterprising sons and daughters of the Southeast
Zone and crooked and saintly beneficiaries of the Niger Delta oil and
gas explorations. The sum total of the foregoing is that remove
oil and gas proceeds and import duties generated by Igbo international
trade; Nigeria is doomed and irreparably impoverished; and what remains
of Nigeria can never be sustained by foreign loans or live stock and
subsistence agric proceeds.
Sadly, policy makers and public office holders at
Nigeria’s federal level had over the years, pretentiously refused to
accept these facts and give the country’s God-given bread winners
their pride of place. As wicked and socio-politically primitive as the
likes of Gowon and Awolowo were; all the pre-civil war enterprising sons
and daughters of Ndigbo were economically castrated; stripped of all
their wealth and left with only 20 Nigerian Pounds or N20.00 each. The
duo had earlier used economic starvation as a weapon of
war to exterminate over 1 million Ndigbo particularly women, children
and the elderly. There were also forceful properties’ acquisition and
conversion (i.e. Ojukwu’s properties in Lagos and “abandoned” properties
in Port Harcourt, etc). Educated sons and daughters of the Southeast
Zone then with their plum public office positions; were chased away and
their plum positions taken over by their mainly Southwest counterparts.
The scars of these can still be seen in the present grossly lopsided
compositions of the Nigerian Army, Navy, Air Force, Custom, Immigration,
Police Force and dozens of other paramilitary and non-military federal
bodies.
Totality of these featured as Igbo Marginalization,
which dominated the national and international discourses of late 80s
and the 90s; leading to the international birth in the 90s of the likes
of World Igbo Congress and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, etc; as well as latter day bodies like the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Biafran Zionist Movement (BZM).
As if these were not enough, the highly divisive and
exclusionist government of Muhammadu Buhari, which came to civilian
power on 29th May 2015; resurrected and worsened the anti
Igbo political and economic policies, which included the now reversed
policy of stoppage of cash deposit in commercial banks of foreign
currencies and blockage of use of naira debit and credit cards abroad
and transactions requiring payments in foreign currencies. It is
also an unarguable fact that out of $21Billion remitted to Nigeria’s
non official sectors by Nigerian citizens in Diaspora in 2015, for
instance; at least 60% belongs to the Diasporan sons and daughters of
the Southeast Nigeria.
Apart from the referenced anti Igbo economic policy,
markets and properties wholly or majorly owned by pastoral sons and
daughters of Igbo in various parts of Nigeria; are rapaciously and
recklessly invaded and destroyed by agents and loyalists the Buhari
administration through sponsored arson or outright demolition. Cases in
point are the Kano Igbo Market and the Oshodi electronics market,
dominated by Ndigbo. Just recently, a recorded audio conversation
between one “Alhaji” and one “Kunle” concerning a hatched policy of Igbo
economic destruction plotted by agents of the Buhari administration was
leaked and circulated on the internet. The veracity of the plot was
given following the Buhari administration’s long silence on the issue.
In Kaduna State, some members of Igbo traders’ union also alleged
recently that they were summoned by some key figures of the Kaduna State
Government and given a matching order to compulsorily recruit
“almajiris” in their trade as apprentices and settle them with huge sums
of money few years after just like they settle their fellow Igbo
apprentices. They were warned that failure to do as directed; would make
their stay in Kaduna and other northern cities miserable and
unbearable. The aim was to take over Igbo dominance of trade and
commerce in Nigeria including major northern cities.
Just like the Igbo Ethnic Nationality had before come out
successfully and stronger in all the past harmful politico-economic
policies of the successive federal governments in Nigeria; they have
again triumphed and won round one over the just reversed harsh trade and currency transaction policy solely targeted at destruction of booming
Igbo commerce or trade industry in Nigeria. The CBN Governor had acted
in firm compliance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive; akin to
late Idi Amin Dada’s similar directive to his Central Bank Governor for
“massive printing of more Ugandan Pounds even if they become toilet
papers”. In the highly politically selective and hunting policy
announced in 2015, commercial banks were labeled by Buhari’s CBN as “pro
money laundering agents” and the Bureau de Change operators were
hailed, but in the just reversed policy, the same Bureau de Change
operators were demonized and labeled “greedy”. The sum total of these
can best be described as policy confusion aimed at destroying the indestructible Igbo trade or commerce industry in Nigeria.
The consequences of the now reversed infamous policy have
taken Nigerian economy ten years backward in a twinkle of an eye. The
Naira exchange rate had dangerously and uncontrollably slipped. With
$10,000 in the first quarter of 2015 and before the infamous policy;
N1.7 million could be exchanged, but now (January 2016), it is N2.8
million for $10,000; a difference of N1.1 million in less than one year.
Till date, Nigeria imports 95% of its social items from
overseas and its industries and energy are in comatose with end in sight
for their overhaul or reversal. The Buhari’s questionable budget
estimates of 2016 has hurriedly been withdrawn and as we speak, all
social services and activities, except political persecution and
witch-hunting labeled “anti corruption war”; have been grounded to a
halt. Award and execution of capital and public oriented projects as
well as delivery of social services have been grounded to a halt; eight
months after the embattled and democratically chained administration of
Muhammadu Buhari came on board.
What was solely aimed at crippling and destroying Igbo
dominated trade industry and international exchange of goods and
services in Nigeria had turned against the myopic administration of
Muhammadu Buhari; forcing it to reprobate under duress so as to save its
ill-focused administration from economic bankruptcy and doldrums. To
the primordial administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, “governance
runs once its government can borrow hugely from local and international
sources to add up to oil and gas proceeds and import duties; and uses
them to pay salaries, junket across the globe and settle political
loyalists and propagandists”.
To Buhari’s administration, it does not matter if dozens,
if not hundreds or thousands of innocent and defenseless citizens are
slaughtered, maimed and chained by security forces; if road, rail and
aviation networks are in comatose; if health and educational facilities
are collapsed; if the foreign reserves are emptied; if citizens go
hungry and get sunk in abject poverty; if teeming unemployed graduates
roam the streets; if borders are porous and small arms flooded in all
nooks and crannies; if debt overhangs has a citizen ratio of N1Million
per citizen; and if Nigeria ranks 193rd in global poverty, violence, human rights and under development indexes.
We congratulate the great sons and daughters of Ndigbo for winning round one
in their unyielding and articulated non violent campaigns to bounce
back and take their pride of place in Nigeria. It is also very important
to remind them that the incoherent and uncoordinated Buhari
administration came with three-way traffic of war against the Igbo
Ethnic Nationality: economic, political and information. While the information warfare is
directed at the Igbo race from the Southwest part of Nigeria, the two
others (political and economic) are mainly spearheaded by the Presidency
of Muhammadu Buhari from Aso Rock. As it stands now, it is one down (economic warfare), one sinking (information warfare) and one (political warefare) remaining.
The battle has just begun until the Buhari’s politics and policy of
segregation, exclusion and economic strangulation targeted and launched
against Ndigbo are roundly defeated and nailed to the coffin to be waged
against them or any other Ethnic Nationality no more.
We conclusively say: Aluta Continua! Victoria Acerta!!
Signed:
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law
Barr Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Head, Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law Program
Barr Uzochukwu Oguejiofor-Nwonu, Head, Campaign & Publicity Department
