2015: Jonathan is toyingwith S-East support – Uko, Igbo youths leader

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE
PRESIDENT of Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), an amalgam of 42 associations,
Evangelist Elliot Uko, in this interview said the South-East would not
support President Goodluck Jonathan's re-election in 2015 unless he
fulfils his promises to the zone. Excerpt:
The IYM recently carpeted South East governors, saying they have not
done the needful, can you explain further?
The South East governors forgot that the South-East has been
deliberately forgotten by successive federal regimes for more than 40
years. They forgot that what is needed is an aggressive and united
development agenda. It is necessary to recreate the Eastern Nigerian
Development Commission of the 1950s and 1960s. The region should
integrate economically for maximum results.
Our industrial base take-off must include a petrochemical plant and
the business areas of Aba, Nnewi and Onitsha must be integrated to
form a Dubai of West Africa, the governors must work together to
address electricity challenge in the zone in order to meet energy
requirements in order to explode our manufacturing dream. Without the
by products of a petrochemical industry here our dreams of industrial
revolution will remain a mirage.
They should as a matter of urgency develop a South East
industrialization blue print and invite foreign partners to develop an
economic road map for the transformation of this zone which is
blessed with abundant human talents. What is lacking is the drive
which only government can engineer.
Are the governors responding positively?
They have made a case for the development of the 9th Mile corner,
Enugu as an industrial hub which is a good one, but they must go
beyond that. They must integrate the South East as one giant
industrial unit. Only the government can drive that, the private
sector will only partner with government that is the way it's done the
world over. Lack of Igbo development agenda, regrettably is
responsible for the decay and confusion in the South East. Latent
talents are ignored. These talents should be ignited. There should be
an Igbo political road map. They should develop an Igbo agenda without
delay.
The IYM also said President Goodluck Jonathan has not really
appreciated the massive support Ndigbo gave him in 2011. What do you
mean?
We expected massive industrial and infrastructural development. We are
not seeing that. We thought he would keep his promises. From the way
things are going, it is clear that only the Enugu international
airport could materialize before 2015. He promised us at Enugu
Stadium, at Imo, Ebonyi, Abia and Anambra campaign rallies 29 months
ago that we would see a functional seaport at Onitsha and Oguta, Power
plant at Oji river, dry inland port at Aba, second Niger bridge,
re-work on the Enugu-Onitsha road, Enugu-PH road etc.
Ukoh
But we suspect he wants to shift all those to his second term; that is
not fair. We want him to establish a South East office in his office
and review weekly the fulfillment of his promises to Ndigbo if he
wants a second term. He will have problems with his second term dream
if he does not fulfill all the infrastructural promises he made to
Ndigbo. That is the truth. We gave him 100 per cent support in 2011;
we will only repeat that, if he fulfills all his infrastructural
promises to the South East. He is our man but he must not take Ndigbo
for granted.
We are on ground and we know the grumbling of our people. We believe
we are doing him a big favour by giving him early warning signal.
Ndigbo are not happy with the delay tactics of shifting every thing to
his second term. Those telling him that Ndigbo are dead meat are only
deceiving him. We want him to fulfill his promises to Ndigbo. We
plead withhim to watch again the video of his campaign rally at Nnamdi
Azikiwe Stadium in March 2011 and remember all the promises he reeled
out one by one. Our people are waiting expectantly.
Ndigbo paid a heavy price for supporting him. Igbo votes saw him
through and gave him the needed 25 per cent in 24 states thereby
averting arun-off. In anger over 800 Igbo souls were slaughtered as
the results of the polls were announced, only the 10 youth corpers
were compensated, nobody remembers the 800 Igbo lives lost in gruesome
decapitations in Kano, Bauchi etc in April 2011. We made him
President, we will do it again, if he endeavors to fulfill his
promises to our people.
We also want him to hand over power to an Igboman. He should
reciprocate our massive support. It is only fair he does. We also want
him to protect lives and properties of Nigerians resident in the
North. We note an improvement and pray that sanity eventually returns
to the North. We also want him to set up a committee towork out the
modalities for the convening of a National conference to restructure
Nigeria along the lines of true federalism. Promises made in 2011 must
be kept before talk of second term.Northern elders led by Prof Ango
Abdulahi have said that power must return to the North by 2015 and
that they will keep power as long as they wish. What do you say to
that?
The truth is that Nigerians including Northerners do not really care
about where the president hails from; all they want is good
governance. Nigerians want a government that will fight corruptions,
grow the economy, create jobs, build modern infrastructure and give
everybody a sense of belonging. They don't care if the president is
Yoruba, Efik, Kanuri, Igbo or Tiv. The new generation wants to see a
Nigeria where thinks work. So those who want power for their regionto
dominate others are only living in the past. Fierce struggle for
central power by respective regions portends danger to our survival as
a nation.
Nobody wants to be dominated by others. Such unguarded utterances by
elders are unfortunate and worrisome Nigerians want good governance
not ethnic or regional president. It is clear that Prof Ango Abdulahi
and company are only banking on exploiting religion and ethnicity to
drive their regional agenda the very bad factors that led to the birth
of Boko Haram. Nigerians have grown beyond that. Prof Abdulahi and
his ilk will find out that Nigerians will not vote according to
religion and ethnicity. People like him are only working towards the
early destruction of Nigeria. They will not succeed.
As Nigeria prepares to mark our centenary as a Nation, do you support
a loud celebration?
My brother, Nigeria is going through a very trying period in our
nation's history. Millions of unemployed youths, some of them
educated, insurgency, which is man-made, fierce regional struggle for
central power which is very unhealthy.
All these point to the urgent need for aNational conference. The
centenary should be used for quiet reflection on our nationhood and
the journey so far. All the political crises here and there are all
actually about regional strugglefor power. Some people are bent on
pushing out Jonathan in order to return power to their region; it
simply means that a national conference is needful at this time.
The centenary should be an opportunity to convene a national
conference to address the problems facing this great nation whose
potentials are stifled by ethnicity and corruption. We should use this
great opportunity to search for a workable structure and system that
would douseall the tension in order to enthrone true federalism, good
governance that would give every section of Nigeria a sense of
belonging.
I can only add that we must as a nation stop rewarding crooks, corrupt
elements, religious bigots and other divisive elements and instead
honour and reward nationalists and those whosacrificed to keep Nigeria
one. Those who Laboured for one Nigeria Have notbeen properly
rewarded. People like Herbert Macauley and Nnamdi Azikwe. We have been
celebrating those who have contributed to the destruction of Nigeria.
It's a shame really.