'We did not count bodies. We didn't count looted shops.
That would be our mode going forward'
·Says govt, security agencies appear complicit in 'Igbo must leave Lagos' campaign
Founder and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Chekwas Okorie, in this interview, explains why the Igbo refused to participate in the nationwide protests against hunger.
Excerpts:
What was the reasoning behind the decision for Ndigbo not to participate in the #EndBadGovernance protest despite the widespread discontent with the current state of governance in Nigeria?
Well, the reason is not far-fetched. Ndigbo since 1953, about 71 ago, have always been scapegoats in every such action whether it is civil disobedience or even sectarian conflict that does not concern them, they will be roped into it and suffer so many losses in human and material resources. Igbo are also prevented from participating in elections. A prominent traditional ruler, the current Oba of Lagos, a retired senior police officer, did not mince words in threatening to direct his people to throw Igbo people into the lagoon for committing no offence other than exercising their franchise. So, when the late Chief Iwuanyanwu was there as the President General of Ohanaeze, we met at the level of Imeobi, the innermost council of Ohanaeze, and agreed that we should begin to distance ourselves from these activities to actually reduce our losses. And he had given that directive even when labour unions threatened a national lockdown. And Igbo people obeyed and complied. Nigerians witnessed the action or post-election action when Lagos State government took against Ndigbo in their marketplaces, in their homes that were demolished and in all sorts of attacks.
Also, a prominent person in government, a senior citizen, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, didn't mince words in spewing hate statements against Ndigbo and even threatened that if they repeated what they did in 2023 in future elections, they would all suffer. So, we didn't need any more signals to tell us that we better fight our own fight, and leave others to fight theirs. However, Igbo people participated in the protests. They participated in their own unique way. They protested by sitting back. After all, they didn't open their shops, so they suffered minor losses for not doing their business but we did not count bodies. We didn't count looted shops, and so that would be our mode going forward. After all, India under Mahatma Gandhi applied it for their own civil disobedience on their road to independence. They didn't go protesting on the street, they simply decided to stay back, no work, no nothing. And Britain was compelled to negotiate with them and Mahatma Gandhi. So, not participating in street demonstration is a different form of a protest, but this one is a unique Igbo method, which we now intend to continue until we are told why our own matter in Nigeria will be treated differently from that of others, until then, going forward, this is going to be our attitude.
How do you respond to critics who argue that the decision not to participate in the protest was a missed opportunity for Ndigbo to join forces with other Nigerians in demanding better governance and holding leaders accountable?
What did they mean by missed opportunity? What have they achieved? What have the people who protested achieved using the method? We didn't miss anything, in fact, we saved lives and properties that could have been destroyed and looted. We saved our small trading wares which on the aggregate amount to several billions of naira. We can count our savings instead of counting our losses.
The person who said we lost out in participating in demanding a good government should go to Abia State and see a good government in action. Imo State is experiencing good governance. Enugu, Ebonyi and Anambra states are not left out. In the South-East, we are not complaining. So, Nigerians should begin to also make demands on their governors and local government areas from the huge allocations they are receiving. So, if they think they have achieved anything good luck to them but I don't think they have.
So, in what ways do you think Ndigbo can effectively advocate for their rights and interests within the Nigerian polity, if not participating in national protests like this?
No, no, no. The Igbo people have always known this for a long, long time. Don't forget the person you are speaking to is the founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA. I founded APGA 22 years ago and it took me seven years to succeed after three attempts. So, that means we have had the vision long before we even succeeded. We, Ndigbo, need a political party they can call their own, a national political party though, but the one they can control its machinery, and use for constructive political engagement. That is what Zik did in the first republic. He took control of the machinery of NCNC and used it to engage the NPC for a coalition government of the first republic and the people of the Eastern Region not just the Igbo people benefited from it. In the second republic, he did exactly the same thing. He took control of the NPP and used it to form a national government based on the accord of those two parties. And what did the Igbo get? They got a vice president from the NPN and speaker of the House of Representatives from the NPP. The only time that type of combination occurred again was under President Buhari when the Yoruba had Prof. Osibanjo as vice president and Femi Gbajabiamila as speaker. So, Igbo people have always fared better through political democratic means and we are going to re-enact it. Luckily, we have recovered APGA. So, I'm still alive to give direction to that party along the part of its original vision. I am the chairman of the board of trustees of APGA as we speak. So, in a very short time, we will bounce back to national relevance and go back to constructive engagements, which was the path we set out before the APGA crisis began. Igbo people have tested war, all these people who are making noise have never seen war. We have seen war. Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, whom I followed for a long time, made it clear severally that he will not support Igbo going back to the war fronts for whatever misgivings they may have. According to him, it is better to use the political means. In fact, it was that kind of inspirational talk that motivated me to begin to seek a party that we can call our own and that's what led to founding APGA. You know, the political process remains the answer to Igbo relevance in Nigeria.
Were there any specific concerns or fears that led to the decision not to participate in the protest, and how were these concerns addressed or mitigated?
Well, some concerns I've mentioned, and I want to repeat myself. The concern is that once we go out to participate in anything national of this nature, Igbo people become immediately the scapegoat. Every attack will be centred on them. The security agencies will now regard it as a declaration of war by Igbo. We saw a lot of it under Buhari, when Igbo will do what others are doing, and Buhari will come out and either describe the South-East as a dot in a circle, or he will say he will deal with them in the language they understood. This was the commander-in-chief and president of a country. So you can imagine! In politics, the Igbo have all along voted for other people but, this time, the majority of them voted for Peter Obi and it became a political sin in the eyes of other Nigerians. So, how do you expect Igbo people to process all of this and still have a sense of belonging? The Igbo don't have a sense of belonging in Nigeria. And I tell you, when a critical race like Igbo begins to feel this way - withdrawn - Nigeria should be concerned that something ominous is brewing.
Looking forward, are there any plans or strategies in place for Ndigbo to engage in collective action or activism on issues of governance, economy, or social justice, and if so, what forms might this take?
Those things are already happening. Ohanaeze has set up a collaborative committee with the governors of the South-East. There's an economic blueprint for that geopolitical zone that has been since approved waiting for implementation. And it touches on practically every aspect of life - agriculture, health, infrastructure, all of those things. That is why the South-East is making such progress in Nigeria in spite of the overall downturn in the economy. If you go to the South-East now, you will begin to wonder whether it's the same allocation that others get that they get. Things are happening in the South-East and it is not by happenstance. It's through collaboration. The governors are working together and they are working in unison with Ohanaeze, which is the pan-Igbo organization that has so much of Igbo intelligentsia and professionals.
Are you worried about the 'Igbo must leave Lagos' campaign, especially in view of the fact that those behind it haven't been brought to book?
Yes, I'm worried! I am worried for many reasons, especially the fact that the government's response to it has been lackadaisical.
It's as if the Lagos State government, the Federal Government, and the security agencies seem to be complicit in this threat that can ruin Nigeria if it's not checked.
We have attained such technological heights that it shouldn't be a difficult thing to trace those who operate and manage X handle called Lagospedia and the others. What about the man I just mentioned his name, Onanuga? The things he said are unacceptable. Onanuga's very obnoxious rhetoric is unacceptable. The president should have called him to order.
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This is a man who should have been kicked out of government for trying to bring Nigeria into anarchy and he's still there, but let me also tell you that those who are saying Igbo must go, are so daft and non-thinking.
Have they even asked themselves the source of the internally generated revenue that makes Lagos tick? Let them check and know the particular ethnic group that is generating the bulk of the internally generated revenue in Lagos State.
Just take the example of Christmas time when Igbo people on their own go home to be with their loved ones, Lagos becomes a ghost land, and, within a short time, those who are asking them to leave will be begging for the same people who went home to cut short their vacation and come back and bring back life to Lagos. They are so unthinking, they are so naive, and, honestly, my greatest concern is that the government seems to be complicit.
Having said that, let me also tell you that the Igbo population explosion in Lagos was a backlash of a bad policy of the Federal Government.
When the war ended, they simply continued the war by other means. They abandoned, by a deliberate policy of the government, all the coastal seaports from Warri to Port Harcourt, to Onne and so on.
And Igbo people began to migrate to Lagos where the government allowed Apapa and Tincan ports to function. Before that war, most people from West and East African countries such as Cameroon, Congo, Kenya, and Niger among others were going to Onitsha and Aba to buy what they wanted which they would take to their home countries to sell.
The made-in-Aba products have been there since I was born in the early 50s, but the government thought that the best way to punish Igbo after the war was to deliberately close down those sources that were used to import and export commodities which would have been to the best interest of Nigeria in terms of revenue generation as well.
Now, Igbo people go to Lagos to make use of those ports, and do business and now, the population explosion is scaring them, and they think that the Igbo have the intention to take over their place when there are no such plans.
