Ike Abonyi
18 August 2008
analysis
Lagos — Last week, the Governors of the Southeast zone were in the presidential villa to table the problems confronting the zone before President Umaru Yar 'Adua. In this report Ike Abonyi examines the importance of the visit to the development of the zone.
On Thursday 31 July 2008 Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state led his colleagues from the South East states, Theodore Orji of Abia, Sullivan Chime of Enugu, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo states to Aso Rock Villa to meet with President Umaru Musa-Yar Adua. The Governors were said to have taken to the President, a number of issues that have been bothering the geo-political zone for a very long time.
THISDAY learnt that the visit was prompted by the recent alarm raised by Federal legislators from the zone to the effect that Yar' Adua's administration was not doing much to address the issue of imbalance in the distribution of social and economic infrastructure among the geo-political zones in the country especially as it affects the south east zone
According to the lawmakers "We had at various occasions expressed the view that there appears to be a scheme to exclude people from the south east zone from sensitive offices in the Presidency.
They explained "From the list of appointees released by the Presidency last week, except for about two inconsequential appointments in the office of the Vice President, we can categorically state that nobody from the South east was appointed in the Presidency "
They noted "The systematic and apparently deliberate exclusion of South East zone from the commanding heights of the Presidency, Legislature and the Judiciary and indeed other critical sectors of the economy, politics did not start today. It has however, now assumed a frightening dimension leading to the total exclusion and relegation to irrelevance in the scheme of things" The lawmakers also expressed worry that the Minister of Finance Dr Shamsudeen Usman has deliberately refused to release the N6.7 billion Presidential grant approved for the rehabilitation of the South East Roads, according to them," critical infrastructural need of the South East zone as access to the sea, modern rail lines, air transportation, road transportation, power stations and projects, exploitation of vast petroleum resource and indeed other social and economic projects that will contribute to the social and economic development of our people are deliberately ignored.
Therefore, last week, the governors from the zone gave executive backing to the legislator's complaints by seeking audience with the President. The governors tabled before Yar'adua the following issues.
State Creation
The governors stated that it is ironic that the South east remains the only zone in the country that has only five states, whereas other zones have six each, while North West has seven. This development, they argued has continued to put the zone in a disadvantaged position.
Although, the power to create states rests squarely on the National and state assemble the influence of the Executive cannot be over emphasised.
During the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the defunct Constitutional Conference had recommended that the zone be given a new state to balance up. But this was not to be as the controversial issue of the tenure elongation forced the legislators to throw away all the amendments.
While addressing journalists in Abuja after the meeting, governor Obi said that the Southeast zone, believes that an additional state would go a long way in addressing the issue of marginalisation.
According to Obi, the governors decided to bring the attention of the President to the acute marginalisation of the zone because, " The president as the father of the nation is in the best position to right wrongs, redress the injustices and give a sense of belonging to the Ndigbo as a whole."
"We stated that the South Eastern governors have decided to demand for an additional state in order to make up to other geo-political zones in the country following the decision that states should be the federating units, it was agreed that the South East, being the only zone with five states, should have an additional one state to be at par with others that have six states, with the exception of North West zone which has seven states.
"Our people in the interests of political parity and even economic development, always demand that an additional state be created in the South-East."
"Our understanding and conviction is that the president is well disposed to this request for an additional state in the South-East. Our collective request is that you give an affirmation to the demand for the creation of this additional state, after which our people will sit and decide from which of the states in the South-East, the proposed new state will be carved out."
Lack of infrastructure in the South East
Another issue that was tabled before the President is the issue of the acute infrastructural decay in the region.
Compared to all other geopolitical zones of the country, the South East has the worst decayed social infrastructures, 'We wish to draw your attention to the fact that these six selected federal roads in the zone are currently in a state of complete disrepair. Onitsha-Owerri-Aba road, Enugu-Onitsha road, Enugu-PortHarcourt road. Enugu-Abakaliki road ,Enugu-Makurdi road and Oba-Okigwe road.
The Governors appealed to the president to order the relevant authorities to reconstruct these roads as a matter of urgency.
Ecological disaster
The governors also complained that the zone remains the most vulnerable of all the zones in the country in terms of ecological problems. Ecological funds during the Obasanjo tenure was said to have been diverted leaving the zone in a terrible ecological state.
According to the governors, landslides and gully erosion have steadily lacerated the entire South East zone. This has created a problem that is beyond the financial capabilities of the South East states. Some communities have been buried in deep gullies, farmlands wiped out and roads truncated.
"We believe that the time has come for this country to turn a new page where the benign neglect of pre-selected portions of the entity is no longer the order of the day' In order to check this unmitigated calamity of gully erosion in the South East, we urge Mr. President, to declare the South East an ecological disaster zone.
Water schemes
It was stated by the governors that over the years major cities in the zone are yet to enjoy portable water since the civil war which ended 38 years ago. Unlike other zones, in the South East there is no town that can boast of a functional Federal water scheme.
The dearth of potable water, they submitted, has worsened the state of public hygiene and increased the incidence of waterborne diseases amongst the people, leading to avoidable deaths
The old and the New Niger Bridge
In the last five years, construction of a new bridge for the Niger River has been in the drawing board of successive federal governments but it has not been implemented.
Recently a former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works Dr. Baba Hakeem told a Senate panel that the Niger bridge may collapse very soon, unless something is done urgently, the governors stated that the 43-year old Niger Bridge is gradually falling in bits. Refurbishment work was carried out on it three years ago. Yet, the problem persists because the bridge has clearly passed its expiry date. It vibrates and sways, because Onitsha is the gateway to the South East zone, the bridge is carrying far more weight than it can hold due to old age.
" We cannot fathom the calamity, which the continue usage of this obsolete bridge portends. But such a disaster is avoidable. One way of avoiding it is by speeding up the idea of constructing the second Niger Bridge. They urged the President to personally intervene and see that the construction of the second Niger Bridge takes off very soon.
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