IGBO MARGINALIZED, FACT OR FANCIFUL CLAIM
Igbo Marginalization: Fact Or Fanciful Claim?By Chike Obidigbo Ph.D Recently, President Bola Tinubu appointed chairmen of 42 boards and parastatals of the Federal Government (FG). As has become usual with such federal appointments, the list of appointees had only few names of people from the Southeast geopolitical zone. Last month, the President ended the year 2024 with similar appointments. That was the selection of Chief Executive Officers for the National Universities Commission (NUC), the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), the Solid Minerals Development Fund/Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative (SMDF) and the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD). In the statement released by President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, was appointed as the Executive Secretary of NUC, while Prof. Salisu Shehu was made Executive Secretary of NERDC. For NEPAD, the President appointed Jabiru Abdullahi Tsauri as the National Coordinator of NEPAD and announced Yazid Danfulani as the Executive Secretary of the SMDF/PAGMI.As has become customary after every such federal appointments, Nigerians were eager to see a semblance of balance or federal character in the distribution of positions and responsibilities among the composite nationalities of the country. While people of other ethnic nationalities noted the imbalance against Igbo with quiet disappointment, the Igbo have long taken their continuing marginalisation as part of their contribution to Nigeria’s search for survival as a country. It was the former South African President, Nelson Mandela, who stated that “Part of building a nation means building a spirit of tolerance, love and respect amongst the people of the country.” But, in his great work, Nigeria’s legendary writer, Chinua Achebe, contended that Nigerians will probably achieve consensus on no other matter than their common resentment of the Igbo.” Some commentators believe that Igbo’s problems in Nigeria began with the civil war, during which they sought a separate country called Biafra Republic as their own. Yet, at the end of that war in 1970, the then military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, had proclaimed a verdict of ‘No Victor, No Vanquished’. The Federal Government under Gowon also embarked on the programme of three Rs, that is, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Reconstruction; for the former Biafran enclave of South East region. Although Ndigbo constitute one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, they are peculiar, because they were never subject to powerful caliphates or kingdom, unlike the other two- Hausa and the Yoruba- who operate monarchical leaderships, namely, the Sokoto Caliphate and Oyo Kingdom, respectively. It could be argued that the non-acceptance of undue domination by Ndigbo opened them up to antagonism by other tribes. However, it is impossible to analyse the pace of socio-political and economic development in Igbo land without factoring in the challenges and damaging effects of continued marginalization. To this end, every objective and rationale observer has been asking the same question: Has the war actually ended? Available indices suggest otherwise. Take for instance, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme, which is meant to infuse a sense of patriotism and unite young Nigerians into nation building. Young graduates from South East are usually posted to the north, where they are exploited through strenuous jobs in various establishment, especially in schools. At the end of the service year, they are made to roam about, because of systemic unemployment that denies them appointment in Federal Government agencies. Even in admission into universities, Igbo applicants are denied slots due to quota, catchment area and other considerations that do not align with merit or fair competition. You come down to political leadership, it is obvious that leaders are imposed on Igbo as governors and legislators from outside to ensure that the real yearnings and aspirations of our people are not expressed.…
Dons Eze
