Functional Igbo - Saving a Fading Language

By Ebenezer Edohasim, Daily Champion/All Africa

SOME years back, this writer, who is Igbo, visited a fellow Igbo family based in Lagos and was discussing in Igbo language with the head of the family.

Interestingly, the man's six-year old daughter called Nkonye, who was in primary two then, clung to her father, obviously listening to our discussion.

Suddenly, the little girl burst into laughter, rushed to her mother in the near by kitchen, and told her while still laughing that myself and her father were speaking French.

The father who felt embarrassed looked into my eyes in disappointment. I told him that if his six year old child could not identify her mother tongue, he and the wife are in real trouble.

Again, just some weeks ago at Ogudu, Lagos where we reside, my wife called a girl that hawks plantain because she wanted to buy. I asked the girl of her name and she said Ngozi, an obvious indication that she is Igbo by tribe.

Then I asked her in Igbo, Ngozi, Kedu obodo unu na ala Igbo? Meaning, Ngozi where is your town in Igbo land? She looked a bit embarrassed at my question, lifted her hands to partially cover her face apparently in shame and answered me in English Language; "I don't understand Igbo Language".

Honestly, I was disappointed. And I then asked her in English how old she was and she said 18 years. I enquired how often she travels to her home town and she said that she visited her Uturu town in Abia State only once, and that was when she was still a toddler and she cannot on her own travel home.

Cultural alienation you may say, but the reality is that there are so many Nkonyes and Ngozis born to Igbo parents scattered all over the world outside Igbo land, and this is a very disturbing signal that if Igbo Language is not revived it risks extinction in some years ahead.

However, despite lack of interest and carefree attitude of some Igbo parents to teach their children born outside Igbo land how to speak their mother tongue, one woman who took the bull by the horns to ensure her children and grand children who were already losing cultural touch with their roots, due to their inability to speak their mother tongue is Odoziaku Comfort Nwabuogo Ubosi.

She wrote a practical guide, Functional Igbo, which is indeed beginners guide to Igbo Language.

Odozoaku Ubosi, who is aging gracefully as she still looks elegant, very fresh and gorgeous at 71, told this writer that she was motivated to write the book because of the near heart break she almost suffered when she discovered that her children and grand children were not all that interested in speaking their mother tongue.

Equally, she was inspired to document the 98 page colourful book at a "time when there is suddenly an intense awareness that the Igbo language has actually gone out of fashion and the English Language has assumed the status symbol height at all levels within the Igbo system".

Again, her quest to persuade her children and grand children in particular to speak their mother tongue made her to start drawing sketches on functional Igbo which some people later encouraged her to put in book form to encourage learning of the language, not only by her own children but everybody interested in speaking the language.

That bold attempt culminated in the publishing of the book and its subsequent presentation to the public in Lagos last March. It was an occasion attended by prominent Igbos, with the five state governors in Igbo land ably represented.

A high percentage of the book deals with everyday situations and activities in the home, school or such other places. It begins with the basic Igbo alphabets commonly called abidii in Igbo parlance.

Other areas of interest are numerals, family relationships and greetings, simple instructions with relevant questions and answers, colours, some fruits, food and household items, and activities around the home.

The author also wrote on prepositions, words and opposites, with illustrations on parts of the body, few wearing apparels, cosmetics and personal hygiene. Others are animals and birds, means of transportation and traveling and finally types of buildings.

One thing the author handled very well was the use of photographs in illustrating all aspects of teachings in the book, which makes it a delight to readers, most especially children who learn faster with pictorials and diagrams.

The professional graphic touch added to aesthetics of the publication which is capable of compelling the reader to flip from page to page in order to appreciate various beautiful designs on the pages.

Equally, the quality of the bond paper used in the printing of the work is another plus as it puts this publication in a position where it could stand out in any local or international book competition in terms of paper and production quality.

The glossy bond paper of high grammage registered the colours very well, making it sharp and inviting to the eyes. On quality of production, it is a book anybody who sees it must like to open the pages to peruse the content.

There is a complimentary DVD attached to each book which gives the buyer the option of sitting comfortably to watch the electronic copy. It is available in some bookshops and supermarkets both at home and abroad, and at affordable price.

Irrespective of the accolades this vital book is receiving among Igbo and non Igbo, it major minus is that the author did not write most parts of the book in the standard or central Igbo, normally used in writing Igbo texts.

For instance, she used afele instead of efere, anala for anara, mvo instead of mbo, oloma for oroma, okwulu instead of okwuru. In numerical, she used ili na ofu for iri na otu and ili na ito instead of iri na ato among others.

However, she admitted that she wrote in her native Nibo, partly Onitsha and Awka dialects because she initially intended to address the short comings of her children and grand children in speaking the language, therefore, "they may be confused if it is in any other dialect, because that is not what they hear grandma speak"

She further attested that "Functional Igbo is written to motivate and encourage both children and parents to dialogue in the child's mother tongue. Therefore this simple book from the heart of a grandma is not expected to generate any academic heat or controversy as to Igbo grammar or correctness.

"I did not study the language at any examination level, so I take full responsibility for any lapses contained therein."

The author also affirmed that "if this book can draw attention of parents and grandparents to the danger of not passing down to their children and grandchildren, the language (Igbo) or any other mother tongue, for that matter, it would have achieved its purpose".

For Professor Chinyere Ohiri-Anicha of the University of Lagos, who wrote the book's foreword,

"Since, the writer had stated that the major objective of the book was to provide opportunity to be able to communicate with grand children, I had no problem with her choice of dialect.

"My main contribution is to ensure the manuscript conform as much as possible, to Igbo orthography"

Odoziaku Ubosi told this writer that the standard or central Igbo version of Functional Igbo is ready and shall in a short time be in the market for those interested in reading that edition.

She equally disclosed that there is a future plan to translate the book into other languages in Nigeria, especially Yoruba and Hausa.

The author regretted the apathy associated with the study of vernacular in Nigerian schools as those who study them were looked down upon by their peers, and therefore, called on federal and state government to package incentives to students who study vernacular to save our native languages from extinction.

"Governments could employ vernacular teaches on special salary scale and send them to various states, where they shall be visiting the schools in turn to teach native languages.

"Besides, they should make it compulsory for any secondary school student to pass his mother tongue and one other Nigerian language at the senior secondary school certificate level instead of the emphasis in acquiring English which is foreign".

She praised Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State for taking steps to revive Igbo language in the state and the upgrading of Ahiajoku Lecture series to an institute by Imo State Governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, and thereby promoting Igbo culture.

The author equally appealed to all Igbo governors to work towards upholding and preserving viable Igbo customs and traditions.

Her appreciation goes to Ndigbo Lagos and Otu Ide Ndi Igbo which offered invaluable moral and financial support to make the publication of the book a dream come true.

Odoziaku Ubosi, an educationist, holds BA (Hons) in History, M.ED in Guidance and Counseling and taught in many schools across the country before retiring in 1991 from the Lagos State Schools of Administration as a director.

From the Pulpit to the Podium

By Clement Muozoba/Daily Champion/All Africa

Lagos — That the Nigerian politics has since gone the religious lines is what nobody needs to be told. No matter how the events are veiled in a verisimilitude, the effects are there and the innumerable lives lost especially during the religious cum political crises, coupled with some incendiary statements from some quarters bear eloquent testimony. In the same way, it is no more hidden that Anambra State politics now trails some religious denominational lines. Many events have since been pointing to this direction and ignoring them means folly while facing the facts may need more than ordinary courage. The major gladiators seem to be the Anglicans and the Catholics and the other denominations join the Anglicans most of the time. The allegation of having a favoured candidate in the just concluded gubernatorial election has attracted some widely published and sponsored spurious stories against the Catholic priests. One has to think deeply in order to find the source of these allegations.

In the first place, it must be recalled that the origin of the rivalry between Catholicism and Anglicanism is remotely traced to the 16th century, when King Henry VIII severed ties with the Pope and proclaimed himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England. He declared that the king's religion was the religion of his subjects, thereby making Anglicanism a state religion. This was occasioned by the Pope's refusal to grant the king divorce of his wife, Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Catherine bore the king no male child. This schism was the farthest the king wanted to go. The rest was the influence of radical reformers like Jean Calvin and John Knox.

The immediate cause of this rivalry in Nigeria could be traced to the rivalry between Ireland and England which later saw Ireland divided between the North and the South, with the North being predominantly Anglican and remaining a part of Britain and the South consisting of mainly Catholics and desired a free Irish state. The South later became the Republic of Ireland. It would be recalled that England had earlier subdued Ireland in the 17th century. The enmity between the two countries has never been hidden since then. It was the English missionaries that brought Anglicanism and the Irish missionaries brought Catholicism to Nigeria. The missionaries did not rise above the politics of their countries and our people swallowed it hook, line and sinker. That was how brothers and sisters were set against each other in the name of religion.

One major problem I think the Church of England had originally was how to make the people accept what the king had rejected. Henry VIII wanted freedom from the Papacy and declared a state religion which he headed. This mean that going out for evangelization would mean making the would-be-converts religiously English people. And this is what colonization meant as the Church of England could not function independent of the British Government. Therefore, both religion and politics were packaged together and delivered to the colonies with the expectation of no opposition. If opposition arose from the local inhabitants, the British Army was there to pacify the area. This was unlike the Catholic Church which distanced itself from the local politics of the land. Though this did not augur well with the Catholic Church because as it preached the kingdom of heaven, the Anglican Church did not overlook the kingdom of the world, it however defined the Catholic Church as purely a religious body and not some political set-up.

This hand-in-glove relationship with the secular British Government has so much weakened the Anglican Church. For example, during the Nigeria-Biafran War, as the Catholic Church, through its agencies like Caritas International, the Holy Ghost Fathers, the U. S. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) etc., spent time and energy in providing relief materials for the famished Biafran children due to the blockade by the Gowon government, the Anglican Church could not rise above its master, the British Government which not only supported, but facilitated the Biafran genocide in support of its former colony, Nigeria. That has been the position of the Anglican Church as regards politics. In village, town or state politics, they believe they must be on top or cause confusion if they lose. The denominational brouhaha reached a crescendo since the Anglicans lost the grip on Anambra's seat of Power. I do not blame the Anglicans as such because they are products of a political church and ecclesiastical politics. This is why Eric Heffer, in his book, Why I am a Christian, defined the Anglican Church as "the Tory Party at prayer".

When I ruminate on what happened before the election, I have every reason to believe that there was superbly mastered and arranged plans to intimidate the Catholic Church into submission. A manifestation of this was when some Catholics were denied registration for voting in some Anglican Church premises. Quite a good number of the Anglican Churches secretly contracted the INEC officials to register their members privately. Then as early as November, 2009, a national newspaper published in its headline: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DIVIDED BETWEEN OBI, SOLUDO AND NGIGE. This was followed by some fallacious and blasphemous instances of how some Catholic priests and bishops who were Obi's supporters were harassed in the church during their homilies by the supporters of Ngige and Soludo. This then opened up a flood of criticisms against the Catholic Church and gave grounds to the sponsors of the publications to issue some statements in newspapers. Some of such statements began to compare the numerical strength of the Catholic Church and the other denominations in the state especially the Anglican Church. Some false figures were given to support the fact that the Catholics are in the minority. Another card that was played was the circulation of a secret document titled MALICIOUS/LOPSIDED APPOINTMENTS IN PETER OBI'S ADMINISTRATION AGAINST ANGLICANS. This was published by the Society for Equity, Justice and Peace of the Diocesan Council of Laity, Diocese on the Niger (Anglican Communion) and signed by Hon. Sir Edwin Ekwuno, chairman and Engr. Mike Igwilo, secretary. Unfortunately for them, this document leaked. It has to be noted that in 1950, after a secret meeting in St. Paul's University College, Awka, a similar document, "What Are We Anglicans Doing?" was issued. It also leaked. In it, their fears about the Catholic Church were highlighted and some solutions were given. Part of it is what we are seeing today.

As the unfounded allegations were peddled against the Catholic Church and the priests, it was understood that the Anglican Church, through its hierarchy, had given a directive that they must vote a particular candidate whose activities had been highly detestable in the state. It was learnt that on Sunday, January 31, 2010, the Anglican faithful in many churches were treated to a good meal of indoctrination after the service on this choice candidate. It reached a situation where the members were threatened with excommunication from the church should they do otherwise. The game plan was that since they had only one candidate, they had to vote en masse for him so that the Catholics would share their votes between Obi, Soludo, Ngige and Ekwunife. This would make this candidate coast home to victory. Many of them did not accept this and there was a loud protest which later ended up in physical combat in some of the churches, with some of their members threatening to leave the church rather than vote against their conscience. In some of the major markets in the state, it became a topic. From where then do these sponsored allegations against the Catholic Church come?

Some prominent Nigerians fell for these lies. Okey Ndibe, a firebrand critic, while commenting on the Anambra gubernatorial Election, said, "I was thoroughly ashamed to hear that some priests abused their vocation by campaigning from their pulpits for Governor Obi" (Daily Sun, February 9, 2010). I just smiled because he did not understand what the game was. He wrote from the clearest of intentions from his abode in the US. If such a thing as preaching Obi from the pulpit instead of God happened, it is highly condemnable and such overzealous priests are wrong. But condemnation should be more on church-sponsored politics hatched in synods against the people's good intention. The event of 2007 cannot be forgotten in a hurry when an archbishop, after signing a statement that there was no election in Anambra State, later swallowed his words and said that the election was free and fair. He knows from his heart that there was no election. When Insider Weekly Magazine carried the story of an archbishop (not Catholic) who was at the meeting where Obi's unconstitutional impeachment was discussed in 2006 (cf. Insider Weekly, Nov. 26, 2007, p.32), the popular belief is that the reference was to this archbishop. Till today, the Concerned Christian Group has not seen anything wrong in these moves. Who is behind the mask?

A laughable and the worst accusation against the Catholic Church is that by Okey Maduforo that, "... some of the priests from the denomination and top church leaders have been receiving monthly allowances from the incumbent governor, hence his endorsement" (Daily Independent, March 15, 2010). A major contender in the gubernatorial election is said to be behind this story. I have described it as laughable and it is laughable and shows the frustrations of the denomination which was believed to have fed fat from the state's coffers in the past. When it was alleged that within just three months of interregnum in the state, that this denomination received the whopping sum of N1b (One billion Naira) for a complex within the Awka metropolis, nobody talked. It was at that time that the state's money was said to have been grossly wasted on frivolities and a family privatized the Government House and yet, the Concerned Christians were not concerned.

I know that some priests who worked as observers under the Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Church were there to make sure that the people's votes counted. And for the first time, our votes counted. The noise about the massive disenfranchisement of over 80 per cent of the Anambra electorate is described by Emeka Umeagbalasi as false. He is of the view that the total number of registered voters in Anambra State is about 600,000 and that the bloated figure of over one million was used to rig the 2003 elections by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was updated to rig the 2007 elections in favour of the PDP. For him, those who voted represented about 50 percent of the registered voters in the state (cf. The Sun newspaper, March 9, 2010). Sources close to the governor say that if one wants to befriend him for money, such a person is wasting his time. It is believed that in spite of his wealth, his kobo can never be lost for any frivolity. It runs in his family. His brother, Fr. Fabian continued to use an old 505 Peugeot car before he left for studies in spite of his brothers' wealth. How can such a person distribute the huge sum running into millions to the priests? What of those priests who are not comfortable with his style of administration, did he give them money also?

One other area of compromise that some people canvassed was that since Obi is a Catholic like Ekwunife, Soludo and Ngige, the Catholic Church should have allowed them play on a level ground. For goodness' sake, voting is not according to denominations and the church is not INEC. It is on merit and as far as I know, nobody coerced anybody into voting any candidate in the Catholic Church. We have seen those who did that and what they did and how they ended up. But even if the Church has any part to play in the election of the candidate, it would be injustice for it to produce a base candidate just for it to be represented in the seat of governance. That is the Catholic conscience. And in fairness, everybody knows that of all the major contenders to the governorship seat, it is only the incumbent governor that is not publicly tainted apart from the frivolous political insinuations to stop him. The church should be by the side of the truth always.

Be that as it may, there is one message that should be put across. It is now clear that our politicians have failed our people and they now look onto the church for redemption. It would be disastrous if the church allows itself to be drawn into Nigeria's brand of politics where corruption seems to be extolled. It is evil for any church to sponsor false publications against another. It portrays that church in worse light than the people it is meant to liberate. Having nocturnal church meetings to disrupt the peace of the state is unbecoming. Supporting any unworthy candidate by any church is also bad. The worst is the church joining hands with some forces to make people's votes not to count. The people know when their religious leaders start goofing. Finally, let the Catholic faithful and all men of goodwill not be fazed by the unwarranted attacks on the Catholic clergy. It is one of the occupational hazards. We must move beyond the pulpit to save our people.

Kidnapping Discouraged My Colleagues From Coming to Nigeria to Assist in My Free-Medical Healthcare Programme

Lagos — Dr. Anuma Kalu Ulu is a Nigerian born medical doctor based in New York, USA in this Interview with UDO ONYEKA, Ulu speaks on issues bordering on health care and why he set up a clinic in his community, where patients are treated free.

A DAILY CHAMPION INTERVIEW

Let us know about your Foundation?

I set up the Kalu Ulu Memorial Foundation in honor of my late father Mazi Kalu Ulu who was a philanthropist of utmost integrity. This foundation was set up in USA in March 25, 2009, to co-ordinate all my Philanthropic and humanitarian activities under an umbrella organization. Prior to that, since 2004 I have been coming back to Nigeria every year from December to February to offer free medical service to my community in Arochukwu Abia state. I set up the foundation to stream line activities of the Foundation.

What does this medical service entail?

It is all encompassing. What I do is that I buy medication and diagnostic equipments which I use in the clinic I have set up in my village to treat of kinds of diseases. I have set up a clinic. There was a health centre in my village that was sort of abandoned, I acquired it and I now make use of the clinic. I treat patients in the clinic on a daily basis.

I give them free consultation, free medication, free testing. If they are people that have cases that is beyond the clinic, we take such people to the General Hospital and we pay for the bill.

What do you think is the monetary cost of this project?

When I talk of cost it will be both direct and indirect. Direct in the sense of what spend in running the programme and indirect in the sense of what I sacrifice or lose by coming back home to do this. I know what I make a month as a medical doctor in the US. I work as an independent practitioner, I get paid when I work. If I add what I lose by leaving my job and what I spend, and I actually not only give medication, I give cash donation to many of the patience that indigent. I will put the expenses at a conservation $150, 000 every year. This is what should have been in my account every year if I wasn't doing this programme. And I have been doing this since 2004.

What motivated you to render this service to your people?

Like I mentioned earlier my late father Mazi Kalu Ulu taught me everything I know about philanthropy. He taught me to give to the less privileged. Apart from that I feel that I t is a good thing to assist someone that is in need. But family, because my elder brother Mr. Kalu Ulu, who served Abia state as Commissioner for Local Government was very selfless as a commissioner and he empowered so many people in my community. I might say I am towing the line of my father and elder brother.

I feel happy putting simile on the faces of people and I will continue it as long as God gives me the strength.

How do you see Health care service in Nigeria. What is your assessment of our health care facilities?

Medical services in Nigeria is very poor. And I tell you, a lot of us in Europe and America, I mean medical doctors, are aware of this. I have discussed with some of my friends over there and we all have agreed that something must be done. I might be the only one who has started it for now but I have a couple of colleagues who have the interest to come and change the medical practice here in Nigeria. But because of insecurity and lack of infrastructure some of them want some things to be fixed before the come back home.

However I want to tell you that the worst hospital in the US is better than the best hospital in Nigeria in terms of facilities and infrastructure.

Some of our best medical institutions. National hospital Abuja. I have been to couple of other highly rated medical centres in Nigeria and I know the facilities that are in those hospitals.

What do you think is the reason why the best brains in medical practice are leaving the shores of this country?
I will say it has much to do with job satisfaction and then adequate remuneration. Over there in developed world there are equipments and structure to practice your trade and at the end you are compensated adequately. I think the government should take a second look at the health sector and how to finance it effectively. There are the urgent need to 'put in more money into the health sector.

And I believe when we do the right thing there is hope. I have been speaking to a couple of my colleagues and infants all of us are burning in eagerness to come and change things for the better in the health sector. I must tell you a lot has changed in my community, since I began this free medi care services. Every year my people look forward to it and a lot of them their health conditions has improved.

Prior to this programme people have been dying of stroke, heart attack and so on, sudden death. But before now they were attribute these diseases to witchcrafts and so on. But with advent of this programme the traditional chief of my community told me that they used to a scribe these sudden deaths to local deities and I have actually come to enlighten them that most of the deaths could have been prevented through adequate healthcare.

Now the cases of stroke in village has nosedived unlike what was the case before I began the programme. There have not been any new incident of stoke in my community. This is a place where we have up to 10 to 15 cases for stroke every year. Their health condition has improved because they are very religious in taking their medication. I also provide them education about their condition. I have advised them to disregard myth and superstition and face science and people have taking it up and there has been good result. When I started in 2004 the incident of high blood pressure in my community was over than 90 per cent, but now it is less than 10 per cent.

But with the expansion of the programme into other communities I see the diseases that I used to see in my community when I started. Diseases such as Asthma, high blood pressure Ulcer and so on. And it is my intention to reduce this incidence to the barest minimum.

What is your vision for the Kalu Ulu Memorial Foundation?

My foundation is called Kalu Ulu Memorial Foundation and the website is www.physicianforfree.org or www.doctorforfree.org. When you go on the website you go to the founder section you will see the goals of t he foundation were they are enumerated and these are the things I need to achieve.

Firstly my intention is to raise enough money to provide access road to my community.

We have a three kilometer untarred road that is impassable during the rainy season and I need to link it up to the main trunk. My intention is to see that this road it worked on. Then I intend to provide an endowment fund of at least N20 million for small and medium entrepreneurs where they can obtain soft loans and interest t free loans as a sort of financial empowerment. Also I want to provide scholarship for indigent students and for brilliant students that do not have anybody to cater for their education.

I am thinking of making sure that the clinic operators throughout the year. In this regard I will arrange for Youth Corp members who are doctors to be posted to the clinic for the primary assignment every year. Before then I will provide good accommodation, good allowance to act as an incentive for them. After which I bring surgical equipments and other hospital items to equip the health centre to hospital level so that they can do surgery and take care of my people free of charge.

What is the way forward for our health sector?

The way forward is multifaceted. There has to be socio-economic and political stability in Nigerian. When we have f these and then the head will be beyond reproach then things will begin to move normally. When people are given money to execute contracts like building of hospital and schools they will do it and then there has to be roads, passable roads to hospitals. There has to be good security because over there in the US when you are sick you can call the ambulance from your house and they will be there within five minutes even with police escort to take you to the hospital. If a policeman see you on the road and your injured it is his job to take you to the hospital, if he can not do it he will radio t he ambulance and they will be as quickly as possible. So all these things has to be in place . Also those of us who are physicians in desporal need to show more commitment and come back and try to give back to the country so that we can advance medical technology.

Also importantly government has to provide enabling environment for professionals in the health sector. And then when the environment has been created such as power, security then people outside the country will be willing to come back home to contribute their own quota to the development and growth of the health sector.

What about the news about kidnapping especially in the South east. Did the news discourage you from coming back home?

It affected my programme because last year I planned to come home with about 10 expatrite medical doctors. They wanted to come to Nigeria to assist in what I am dong in my community.

They gave me support, some of them even brought donations of clothings, medication. They were eager to join me in the trip to Nigeria. There were a couple of colleagues that wanted to come and we have already made arrangements. You know this age of internet and World Wide Web, they read about the kidnapping in Nigeria and especially the South east where I come from.

So at a stage they began to develop cold feet and that was why I didn't come back with any of them. That was how it affected me.

When I came back I used some local doctors but I believe when next I am coming back I will come with some of them.

Also importantly government has to provide enabling environment for professionals in the health sector. And then when the environment has been created such as power, security then people outside the country will be willing to come back home to contribute their own quota to the development and growth of the health sector.

Re-Awakening Igbo Can Do Spirit

By Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu/Daily Champion/All Africa

Lagos — I am very happy today to be amongst you my brethren, my people, at this historic meeting. I am always happy to be with you but today I am very excited by the presence of our traditional rulers and governors - the custodians of cultural cum traditional power and custodians of political power in Igboland. May I commend the Chairman of the South East Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Eze (Dr.) C. l. llomuanya, who convened this important meeting for his foresight, and the governors who have attended. May I also recommend that this type of meeting and exchange of ideas to constantly re-affirm Igbo interests in Nigeria, between the traditional rulers, governors and the elite of the South East should become an established norm and feature of Igbo political life.

Before I proceed, let me again thank the conveners for inviting me to give a key note address to this important meeting. May the Almighty God, the Creator of Ndigbo and all other peoples of this earth richly reward you. I will never be tired of reminding you, my beloved brothers and sisters, that we Ndigbo are a great race, richly endowed by the Almighty God, the Creator and the giver of all gifts. I believe that the enormous qualities which the Almighty God has endowed Ndigbo with, are not just for themselves alone but for the development of Nigeria. This is why Ndigbo are found all-over the country, contributing enormously to national development.

Lest we forget, Ndigbo constitute the largest homogenous ethnic population in Nigeria. Perhaps this is why, despite Igbo protests, important demographics such as ethnic group, religion and state of origin, are always eliminated from Nigeria's population counts. Even for a nation like Nigeria where the term "Federal Character" is enshrined in the Constitution. Howbeit, it is a well known fact that in every state in Nigeria outside Igbo land, Ndigbo always constitutes the second largest population next to the indigenous population.

Lest we also forget, Igbo economic investments outside their homeland greatly outstrip the economic investments of other ethnic groups outside their ethnic enclaves. Indeed in most communities in Nigeria, Ndigbo are at the fountainhead of development. This to me is unassailable evidence of the great faith which Ndigbo have in Nigeria nation. But is Nigeria a nation? I have this question for your deliberations.

Finally, lest we have forgotten also, Ndigbo were very active and at the forefront, in the struggle for Nigeria's independence and shed more blood than any other ethnic group in the struggle - the coal-mine massacre of Enugu, the Aba Women's riot etc. And Ndigbo have continued to shed the most blood in the ethnic, religious riots and other political disturbances that have become a feature of politically independent Nigeria as she strives to become a Nation.

Having outlined these pertinent facts, let me share with you my brethren, my concerns, worries and unhappiness over the current state of our beloved Igbo nation in Nigeria. You know me. I am not a person given to lamentations. I shall therefore not spend time lamenting how Ndigbo, an enormously gifted and courageous people with populations spread all over Nigeria have become, or seem to have become the weakest link in the Nigerian political chain. Naturally, I am sad and disturbed, that Ndigbo, despite who and what they are to Nigeria, are assigned minor responsibilities in the Nigerian enterprise. What makes me sadder is that, we, Ndigbo seem to accept these minor and irrelevant responsibilities, when by virtue of our population and spread, we should act as the adhesive force holding the Nigerian fabric together. And so I ask you my brethren, what are we afraid of in our God-given country, Nigeria? Especially when other ethnic groups less in population than Ndigbo are courageously asserting themselves, sometimes with impunity, in Nigeria with great success and throwing it in our face! This indeed makes me sad. I therefore say to Ndigbo that Nigeria belongs to all of us and we must not forget this fact.

I ask myself on a daily basis whether Ndigbo fully understand the cause, essence and import of the war, where we defended ourselves to the admiration of the world against a senseless pogrom.

I have therefore decided that my full story on that war shall be told this year, by me, in a book, so that future generations and all who like us and even those who do not like us, shall appreciate that Ndigbo are nation-builders not nation-wreckers, but that the strong Igbo moral sense, handed down to us by our ancestors, will always resent and rebel against injustice, inequity and mindless blood-letting.

Having said this, my message to Ndigbo through this important meeting is that we must march forward in Nigeria, without fear, but with a commitment to assert ourselves fully in the building of a Nigerian nation that works for all and not some of its citizens. Ndigbo must reject firmly any attempt to relegate them to subsidiary, politically irrelevant and minor roles and responsibilities in the exercise of building a modern Nigeria nation. And my desire and prayer remains that Ndigbo shall regain their political relevance in Nigeria without violence in my lifetime. Please God.

How shall Ndigbo regain their political relevance in Nigeria? We must first, clearly define the Igbo interest in Nigeria. The Igbo interest, to me, has always been to assert ourselves as a major, integral part of a Federal Nigerian nation, where every citizen, Ndigbo and others, can self-­actualize. The Igbo persona refuses to be relegated to the margins and we shall aspire to every position - political, economic and social, which our individual and group capabilities entitle us to, in a modern, prosperous and democratic federal Nigeria. This simply stated, is to me, my dear brothers and sisters, the Igbo interest in Nigeria and I submit this definition to this meeting to ponder, deliberate and amend as necessary. But whatever we do at this meeting, the affirmation of the Igbo Interest remains paramount.

Please permit me again, to mention briefly, two personal experiences of my life, which inform my strong position on Ndigbo and Nigeria. My Father, Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu lived in Lagos, invested in Lagos and contributed to the economic and political growth of Nigeria for which he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Enugu in 1956. He loved Nigeria and he was an Igbo man to the core and he raised me as such. My Uncle, Chief Felix Okonkwo, popularly known as "Okonkwo Kano" lived in Kano, invested in Kano and was a member of the Northern Legislative House. He loved Kano and he also was an Igbo man to the core. He brought me up to respect the North and Northerners. Why then must we, their children, do less for ourselves and for Nigeria? This is why I continue to say to Ndigbo, that we must march forward in Nigeria, without any fears whatsoever, because it is our God-­given country, doing what is right and proper, and protecting ourselves and our rights in Nigeria because we are bona fide citizens of Nigeria. I shall say no more.

What then must we do to regain political relevance and be in a position to defend our interest and rights in a new prosperous and great Federal Republic of Nigeria, where no man is oppressed? The first and perhaps the only thing we need to do at this present time, is to nurture and strengthen internal unity and cohesion in the Igbo nation.

Our republican nature and unbridled individualism needs to bow to the collective Igbo interest. In the past, before we became incrementally irrelevant in Nigeria, the Igbo State Union provided not just a potent force for development but provided impregnable support machinery for Igbo political interest in Igbo land and Nigeria.

I urge this meeting to consider seriously the re-establishment and strengthening of "AUTHORITY STRUCTURES AND SANCTION MECHANISMS" in Igbo land via which Igbo interest can be defended and protected. Any ethnic group not just Ndigbo, is akin to a mob and any strong-willed political misfit, with a lot of money, can drag the group into a wrong direction. I therefore plead with you my brethren, to give this important issue of "authority structures and sanction mechanisms" in Igbo land and leadership in Igbo land, your very serious thoughts.

As I conclude, let me mention three trends which in recent times have further weakened the Igbo nation and reduced our group potency as a political force in Nigeria. First is the relegation of visionary and strategic thinking to the background. In the past, our best political leaders have always been men of vision who were also strategic thinkers. These leaders were often not rich, and in any case they were never among the richest in Igbo land in terms of money. But they were courageous and our very best thinkers and political strategists.

The second trend is the lack of personal and group courage, especially the courage to assert ourselves and defend our rights, lives and properties in any and every where in Nigeria. Cowardice which was never a quality of our ancestors is now celebrated in Igbo land as "Sense". But today, I, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, exhort Ndigbo to be assertive and courageous in protecting their rights, lives and properties as bona fide citizens of Nigeria whilst respecting the rights of other citizens.

Finally, I say to you, my brothers and sisters that politics is not and can never be about self-neglect or self-negation, such that Ndigbo have become unwilling investors in Igbo land, citing myriads of reasons.

Sometimes I reflect and think that it may be our massive investments outside Igbo land which has emasculated us from asserting our citizenship rights as Nigerians fully because of our investments, which we seek to preserve through our meekness and tame responses to violations of our citizens' rights as Nigerians. I Pity, for a Man's soul is not a matter of properties and investments, but a matter of right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust. Ndigbo must not lose their collective soul as a people.

As we ponder on how best to reverse these unwholesome trends among Ndigbo, let me in conclusion say to you, that we as a people have a bright future. I, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu see a bright future for Ndigbo in Nigeria because Ndigbo are a "can-do" people. And so, I maintain today that Ndigbo shall regain their appropriate political relevance in Nigeria in my Life time.

Excerpts from the key note address delivered by Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu at the meeting of South East Elders and Leaders in Owerri March 5, 2010.

Nd'Igbo - We Must Not Be Dead Before We Die

By Ikedi Ohakim/Daily Champion/All Africa

Lagos — It is 40 years since the end of the civil war. By October this year, Nigeria will be 50 years as an independent nation. Our people say agbacha oso, aguo mile. I believe, therefore, that this is the moment in our lives as a major nationality in this country when we must sit back, take stock and chart a new course for ourselves and a clear vision of where we must be in the next 50 years and in the next 100 years.

In doing this, I agree with earlier speakers that we must not dissipate energy in the singsong of the woes of yesterday. I say so because the people we lead expect to draw inspiration from us not the lamentations of marginalization. They expect us to show them how to deal with the present challenges and how to survive the next 50 years.

It is no longer news that the civil war set us back. Yes, it did. It reduced Igbo land to what Chinua Achebe called "a vast smouldering rubble". It is no longer news that many post-war administrative hurdles erected by Nigeria denied us fair share in a nation we built with our sweat, tears and blood. It is no longer news that the inequality foisted on us by our own country, created some loss of confidence, a defeatist mentality and a culture of mendicancy that allowed outsiders to impose leadership on our people.

Terrible things happened to us as a result of the civil war. We know all that. We can never forget that, even if we have forgiven those who wronged us. But the world must not remember us as a people who lost a war. Let the world remember us as a people who rebounded from a terrible war to become world beaters again. Let the world remember us as a people who surmounted prolonged oppression to take our place in the sun once more. My views about this are well known, from the World Igbo Congress in Michigan in 2007 to the Aka Ikenga lecture in Lagos in 2008.

The critical issue now is to examine our strength and weakness, our opportunities and the task ahead of us.

Everybody agrees that we must take our destiny in our own hands. The question is not whether we should, but how. In my view, what we need to do falls into two categories; those things we must do for ourselves. Are we doing them? Those things that must be done by our critical competitors. Do we have appropriate strategies to get them to do those things? Pursuing these twin objectives must invariably lead us to the determination of a long term goal for ourselves.

We stand on the threshold of a new era. Do we have the key to open the door for our people? As John Kennedy told Americans in Los Angeles, California on 15 July 1960, "The world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do". For us, Ndigbo, I make bold to say that we have dwelt for too long on the past glory of our forefathers. We have romanticized for too long our Republican and individualistic nature. We have for too long smacked our lips that the East was the fastest growing economy in the world.

But I urge you, brothers and sisters, to look hard at the reality of the present time. All the institutions our forefathers built, schools, hospitals, industries are mostly in ruins today. Our Republicanism and individualism have become mere excuses for selfishness, indiscipline, lack of cohesion, mendacity and crab (nshiko) mentality where everyone pulls everyone down. The East may have been the fastest growing economy in the ebullient days of the Okparas, but today, the South East is far behind in attracting investments even from our sons and daughters!

When everybody is speaking at the same time, what message are we sending to Nigeria? Can we send a message that is not confusing to Nigeria? Who speaks for us and when? Can we accurately define and identify credible leadership for our people? Can we clearly define the issues on which it is necessary for us to have consensus?

Ndi Nwem, is it not obvious even to a blind man that Nigeria is on the boil, with the omen of Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia prophesied for it? Is it not only a blind man who will not see the calamity hanging in the air? Is it not true that political insensitivity is threatening the peace secured in the Nigeria Delta with the Amnesty? There are political maneuverings going on around us that we must sit down, analyse and understand. We must therefore put our house in order in case of eventuality.

My dear brothers and sisters, many here will insist that we must continue to point fingers at Nigeria as a responsible for our woes. Yes, we need not look far to locate the source of our problem. But it cannot be true that all of our woes are externally induced. Let me ask a question, what will we do if external forces remain hell-bent on standing in our way? Can we not define a path of progress for ourselves? Onye ajuru oga'ju onwe ya?

My submission today is that we must start a process of defining a short term Igbo Renaissance Agenda for the next 50 years and a long term Agenda of where we must be in the next 100 years. We must stop dwelling on expediencies that serve a few selfish interests. I say "must" because there is no alternative for us. Let me correct that. The alternative is our extinction.

To get where we must be in the next 50 years and the next 100 years, there are steps we must begin to take today. First, we must return to our culture and the core values of Ndigbo to be one of our strategic facilitators in our march into the 21st century? Many will say we have done well for a people who lost a war. But as Jesse Jackson said, "we have proved that we can survive without each other. But we have not proved that we can win and make progress without each other. We must come together. We must forgive each other, redeem each other, regroup and move on". Whatever else we become must not override the fact that first and foremost we are Ndigbo.

The 21st century is going to be Information Technology and knowledge driven. In order to be competitive in this country and in the world, in the next 50 years, should we not begin today to produce world class human capital? Should we not begin now to assemble our engineers and scientists? We, all of us, must redeem our educational system. We must begin now to produce people worthy in character and learning, well grounded in our culture and values. It is in pursuit of this objective that we in Imo took the bold step, on 4 January this year, to return 44 secondary schools to the missionaries. We want the Churches to partner with government in redeeming the character of the next generation. That cannot be left to the lean resources of the state governments. The private sector, voluntary agencies and individuals must actively participate.

The next step is that we must make our society a safe and clean place to live and work. Security, especially under the present circumstances we find ourselves, must be everybody's concern. Many people say that to reduce crime, you must create jobs. That is true. But it is equally true that without security, investors who create jobs will not come. Even our own sons and daughters will be afraid to come home on short holidays. We must do everything possible, including taking extreme measures to improve security in Igboland, because experience has taught us that ultimately Igbo assets are safest in Igboland. We must mobilize our youths to protect their parents.

Another very important step we must take is to sanitize Igbo land of saboteurs. I completely agree with Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu when he spoke of "Authority structure and Sanction Mechanism". We must stop those adept at engineering loss of confidence in Igbo leadership and all those who are making it difficult for people to have confidence in their government. We must not blame our leaders alone. We must also blame those who plant injurious stories, smear the image and assassinate the characters of our people in public office. It is disgraceful that some of these smear campaigns are sponsored by those who themselves were in public office. We must uproot those poisonous fungi (ero agbara) among us and the renegades who talk before they think!

Our political behaviour must change. Every Igbo man or woman cannot be a leader at the same time. A society without hierarchy is doomed. We must put our Republicanism to work for us and not destroy us. We must put our best foot forward in everything we do. We must rid our politics of unserious characters so that when we speak the world cannot mistake the true voice of Ndigbo.

I have left many things unsaid here. The reason is that our people say adigh eme nka n'oma ahia. There are things I would prefer a core of dedicated Igbo elders, leaders and those who understand what is going on to sit in private to consider, strategise and give an action plan. Our people are getting tire of too much talk and little action.

Finally, Ndi Nwem, we must not leave Nigeria in doubt that this is our country. With our population, human and material resources, industry, and entrepreneurship, we have all it takes to be a major player in this country. Any action or individual we back receives a critical support in Nigeria. It will be a mistake for anybody to think that Nigeria can move forward without Ndigbo being a major fulcrum of that advancement. We do not need oil money, what we need is a level playing ground. We need a deregulated economy, we ask for True Federalism. Since we couldn't get common second Niger Bridge, since couldn't get an additional State and since we have all agreed on the equality of the six (6) Geopolitical Zones, why don't we for the sake of equity, share all Federal revenue using geopolitical formula?

Chief Ohakim Governor of Imo State, Nigeria presented this speech at Igbo Leaders Forum in Owerri recently.

Anambra and the Road to Dubai -- The Real Issue

By Chuks Iloegbunam, Daily Champion/All Africa


I was one of those in the audience in June 2006 when my friend, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, delivered the keynote address entitled Anambra 2030: Envisioning the African Dubai, Taiwan and Silicon Valley.

The occasion was the 2006 Anambra Development Summit. An abridged version of the lecture took up the entire back page of ThisDay of Monday September 21, 2009, among other newspapers. I do have a problem with the method of that abridgment which I must, first of all, go ahead and set aside before discussing some of the points investigated by Professor Soludo in the said piece. True, and as the learned professor and former Governor of the Nigeria Central Bank pointed out, he delivered that lecture under the auspices of the League of Anambra Professionals (LAP). But that is not the whole story.

The summit took place in Awka, the capital of Anambra State. It was hosted by Governor Peter Obi, a fully paid-up member of the LAP, who actually facilitated Soludo's participation at the summit, alongside countless other Igbo intellectuals from within Nigeria and abroad. Had these salient facts not been curiously deleted from the abridgement, a more composite picture would have emerged from what the highly-regarded Nigerian readers were allowed to glean.

It is this foundational disharmony that probably blinkered the cause that the distinguished Professor of Economics attempted to espouse. For his abridgment pretended that society is static, that in the nearly four years since his presentation, not one stone has been lifted and placed atop another stone in the state of his birth.

I am making the point that Soludo ought to have gone beyond the motions of recycling obsolete thought; he should have updated his 2006 disquisition. Has Anambra moved forward since 2006? Or remained motionless? Or retrogressed?

These are pertinent questions that his article should have answered. Failure to broach this fundamentality needlessly painted the picture of a man of intellectual means engaged in the futility of barging into open doors. How can we have had foisted upon all of us solutions of the analogue variety when we are solidly in the digital age? "We do not have reliable data on the size of Anambra's GDP", opined Professor Soludo in 2006. How could a Governor of the Central Bank for five whole years let off this bleakness in 2009 when he is in the best position to tell Nigeria what the Anambra's GDP was four years ago and what it has become or should have become today?

I find this shyness in the hard-scissoring face of statistical reality entirely indefensible. It blows a whistle. A whistle on foul play. Soludo claims that "Basic statistics are lacking." And he posits a set of questions: "How many people are we planning for? What are the demographics? What is the level of unemployment? How do we measure the impact of various government programmes and projects on poverty?

I don't know of any state with a reliable State Statistical Agency (SSA). Is Anambra going to be the first - perhaps working in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics?" When Professor Soludo asks how many people we are planning for in Anambra State in 2009, it means that he does not recognize the figures of the last national census posted by the National Population Commission. It is as simple as that. If Soludo doesn't recognize the national census figures, his query about its demographics are merely academic.

Elsewhere, Professor Soludo praised the Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS). Well, that happens to be the basic instrument with which the administration of Mr. Peter Obi is developing all sectors of Anambra State simultaneously. ANIDS is also the veritable instrument with which we measure the impact of Peter Obi's administration on Anambra State. It is the lonestar that has guided every positive pronouncement on Anambra State under Peter Obi by both local observers and international donor agencies and developmental organizations.

"Is Anambra going to be the first [with a reliable State statistical agency] - perhaps working in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics?" I have good news for Professor Soludo. Mr. Peter Obi, the Governor of Anambra State, recently received an award from the Nigerian Statistical Association, for being the first Governor in the country to sign into law the Statistics Bill, and for placing due premium on the imperative of working with undivided attention to data.

It is because of the already mentioned fixation with abridgement that Soludo represented a dated, 2006 installation that discountenances some of the more significant moments in Anambra's developmental history since the inception of the Peter Obi administration? It explains why Professor Soludo rendered the following sentence: "We urgently need to recover whatever is left of Onitsha, Nnewi and Awka, and the entire state through a Master Plan which must be implemented faithfully."

It isn't in the nature of things in this world to 'urgently need to recover' something that is self-evidently in place. After all, it is a matter of public record that Governor Peter Obi launched during May 2009 the Anambra State's Master Plan - conceived and commissioned by his administration - at the Women Development Centre, Awka.

The Master Plan in question was not manufactured at the Ochanja or Jankara market. It was produced by the UN-Habitat, which is an arm of the United Nations. Readers of this piece may wish to refer to page 33 of The Guardian of June 1, 2009 which is the papers Homes/Property page, for a detailed write-up on this development.

They may also wish to refer to the front page of The Nation of May 29, 2009 which carries a photograph of Governor Obi receiving the three large volumes of the Master Plan from Dr. Alioune Badiane, the Regional Director for Africa and Arab States of the UN-Habitat. Other newspapers reported this landmark event around the tail end of May/the beginning of June 2009, including the Sun which carried it on page 84 of its edition of May 29, 2009.

What Obi made on that historic day was a plaintive appeal for all to join hands with him for the successful implementation of the Master Plan. His appeal is already being heeded. Only on September 23, 2009 and at the Okpoko area of Onitsha, Governor Obi flagged off the Urban Upgrade Programme of the slum, an exercise that is a part of the recommendations contained in the UN-Habitat Master Plan drawn up for Anambra State at the very instance of Mr. Peter Obi. Yet, Professor Soludo is saying during the same week that Anambra State requires to draw up a Master Plan! This cannot be just and proper. It certainly does not wash.

I agree with Professor Soludo that Anambra State is the hub of the South-East geopolitical zone; indeed it is the major commercial centre of Eastern Nigeria. But, until Peter Obi came into the picture as Governor, Anambra was a hub with broken spokes, a hub that hardly had any real values in terms of communications.

The roads were treacherous and hardly passable. But, in less than four years, the Peter Obi administration has asphalted over 400 kilometres of roads - more than the combined achievements of all previous administrators of Anambra State in this vital sector. Perhaps, I should zero in on the Anambra North Senatorial District to consolidate my argument. Anambra North was until the arrival of Peter Obi, treated as pariah territory, with no visible federal or state presence. But the Obi administration has since constructed the Amaeze-St. Joseph Church-Stadium road in Aguleri. It has completed the Awkuzu-Umueri-Aguleri-Out Ocha road

It is constructing the Umueze Anam-Mmiata road - the very first time this vital road that leads to the breadbasket of Anambra State has been tarred since time! The Obi administration has constructed the Omo-Ifite Ogwari-Omasi road in the Ayamelum Local Government area. Given all the roads constructed by the Obi administration, it is obvious that it has met its responsibility regarding the "linkage roads to strategic locations" that Soludo has only just begun to promote! Except the distinguished professor is saying that the Federal responsibility for the "West-East road; East-Abuja road; Anambra-Port-Harcourt-Warri road" has devolved to Awka. Be that as it may, I must not fail to point out that the contract for the Atani-Ogwiekpele road, right up to Anambra's border with Rivers State was awarded in 2006 by the Obi administration. Work on it is ongoing.

Perhaps Soludo's solution suffers its saddest setback from the inherent and embarrassing misapprehensions in his theoretical formulation. Claims Soludo: "The demographics of Anambra have two major defects which affect its capacity to develop. The first is the separation of the educated elite from the traders; and the second is the continued drain of the best brains from the state into other parts of the world."

Looked at casually, Professor Soludo may seem to have a point. But the instrument of critical analysis unambiguously underscores the bluntness of his point. To take his second point first. The world has become a global village.

This setting clearly abhors the sedentary intellectual who may not venture outside his homestead for fear of draining its patrimony. In our experience as a government, Anambra people have benefitted invaluably from the contributions of our brothers and sisters spread and scattered across the centres of scholarship on the five continents.

Just as Professor Soludo did, a good many of these foreign-based Ndigbo presented papers at the 2006 Anambra Economic Summit, and at the ones that followed subsequently. Some of the best contributions we have received in the health sector in the past three and a half years have come from Ndi Anambra domiciled in the United States.

Some of those who have given pep to our football - people like Mikel Obi, who is from Anambra State, operate in Europe, a fact that has not meant a devaluation of the beautiful game in our entity. In contradistinction, there are Anambra folks who live right inside Onitsha, for instance, who have never bothered to contribute anything to whatever is being done to develop the state. In other words, distance is not the issue. Nor is it absence. It is all a matter of presence of mind. And I dare say that our people in the Diaspora are contributing their quota to the development of our beloved Anambra State.

Again the line between town and gown in Anambra State is not only thin but also tenuous. Igbo republicanism ensures the right of speech and the right of participation to both the professor and the peasant. Many of the town union presidents-general hold multiple university degrees. Yet there are others of them who scarcely posit scholarship as their strongest point.

Yet again they work in harmony. Therefore, it is hardly profitable to dichotomize a people along lines since obliterated by the movement of transition. There isn't a single example of a community in Anambra today which is not moving forward on account of contention between the educated elite and the traders. As a matter of fact the configuration of this problem discounts the high percentage of today's Igbo traders that hold down degrees from tertiary institutions.

Soludo preaches to the converted in his campaign for institutional development, public expenditure and land registration reforms. The Elders Council which dissuaded the Anambra State House of Assembly from continuing its contrived stalemate on the 2008 Budget was a Peter Obi creation. Peter Obi has received a number of awards as the most fiscally responsible Governor in Nigeria. Land registration in Anambra State has been computerized by the Peter Obi administration.

In sum, Soludo created the impression that Anambra's road to Dubai is an uncharted course even though it is obvious to dispassionate observers that Peter Obi's plane has cruised through African airspace and is already in contact with the control tower of the Dubai International Airport for imminent landing. This cannot be just and proper. It certainly does not wash.

Politics may have to do with yesterday; it certainly strains to master the challenges of tomorrow. Still, politics is essentially about today. Without the present the past cannot continue to make a meaning. Neither would there be any necessity to speculate on the vagaries of future. I advise Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo to pay more attention to the present.

He should discard antiquated assumptions and presumptions, most of which have been quite thoroughly discredited by the giant strides of the Peter Obi administration. The Igbo say that when the corpse of another man's son is being conveyed to the cemetery, it looks like it is a piece of wood that the funeral procession is bearing.

For this reason I should conclude on a note that homes in on the importance of fairness in interpersonal competition. Nobody is going to register success as the Central Bank Governor by denigrating Professor Soludo's tenure as Nigeria's Number One banker. In like manner, the road to Government House, Awka, should not be paved with macadam that denies the achievements of Governor Peter Obi.