Amaechi, the Igbo man of 2023
“No one can ever eat a bite by picking through another person’s teeth.” –Igbo proverb
It is a fact that the Igbo and all people of southeastern Nigeria are marginalized. It has not been agreed, however, whether 2023 is the year the ugly situation will be reversed. Naturally, the uncertainty of the release year is an opportune time for anyone, especially politicians, to gamble and try to gain an advantage. Transport Minister Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers State, is said to have started the journey to Aso Rock villa as President in 2023. He did so in grand style with an 86-page profile that says all the positives about its political past and present.
What strikes us in the well-packaged document is the part Amaechi states that he is an Igbo man by birth, heritage and ancestry. Yes, an Amaechi [Igbo loosely translated as “no one knows tomorrow”] should be an Igbo male under normal circumstances. Strangely, he has an Ikwerre relative and former political ally, Nyesom Wike, who is the incumbent Governor of Rivers State. Wike swears by all the Ikwerre deities that he is not an Igbo man.
It is Wike’s brazen denial of his Igbo roots that makes Amaechi’s Igboness curious. Why should the tribal identity of a Wike and an Amaechi be an issue when their names and native language give them away easily? Those familiar with Nigerian history will know that the Ikwerre of Rivers State are Ndigbo. But the political differences between these two Ikwerre sons reached a point where they preferred to come from different ethnic groups just to help them stay politically apart. One of them will most likely change nationality if the other becomes president in 2023. It’s as bad as that…how a mix of ambition and binge drinking can bring out the worst in arrogant people. To build a reasonable premise and ensure a universal definition of Igbo for this conversation, I asked Google, who is Igbo? Here is the answer: “The Igbo people are an ethnic group in Nigeria.
They are mainly found in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states. A large Igbo population is also found in Delta and River States. Large ethnic Igbo populations are found in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the United States, Ghana, Gambia, and the United Kingdom. Google goes further by giving an estimate of the number of Igbo nationals in the aforementioned countries. So, by all indications, Amaechi is most likely to be part of the “significant Igbo population” that is found in Rivers State. Governor Wike, if successful, could sue Google to establish that there are no Igbos in his state. But what is of major interest in this speech is the sudden political potential that will make an aspiring president want to openly and shamelessly identify with Ndigbo. Why not when enough points have been cited to show that a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 who has no Igbo blood in him will not address injustice against Ndigbo. Amaechi may have considered the point important enough to determine the pendulum and wants to take advantage of it. Nothing wrong with that, especially for him who hadn’t denied his Igbo roots. Unlike Wike whose sudden switch to the red cap irritates a lot of Ndigbo.
Is Amaechi qualified to profit politically from his Igboness? Why not, if ethnopolitics prevails here over geopolitics? If the overriding determinant in determining who chooses the APC presidential flag is ethnicity, then Amaechi is well suited to be an Igbo by his assertion and highlighted by Google. But if the determinant must be by geopolitical considerations, then it is out of his hands and with less advantage since the South-South has just completed nine years in the presidency. [six years as President and three years as Vice President] during which the Southeast supported South-South wholesale. Ordinarily, the Igbo of southeastern Nigeria, otherwise known as the Core Igbo, will prioritize geopolitical considerations. However, rather than nothing at all, why not Amaechi? After all, the ruling party may choose to have an Igbo president to score a political point.
It is not the first time. The Igbos have complained in the past that this regime has no Igbo presence at the command levels of military and paramilitary institutions. As in response, the Chief of Defense Staff, an Igbo officer from Delta State, was appointed to assuage Igbo concerns. Even those trying to push Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele into the fray are working on the feeling that Buhari might avoid the Igbo core as usual. Why not take advantage of it, so argue the posters of Emefiele. Native wisdom teaches that instead of letting your wandering cow escape without a trace, you can at least pinch its tail. It’s another way of saying that half a loaf of bread is better than none at all. Therefore, Ndigbo will jump on an Amaechi in 2023 if he is the only Igbo in the presidential poll in both major political parties.
If the main opposition party, the PDP, fails to adequately appreciate Igbo support since 1999, party loyalty will suffer a serious setback in the Igbo political realm in 2023. This fact does not require any visionary to consider. to explain. After all, Brendon Burchard, the American author of the book, High Performance Habits, warns, “If they lack gratitude, they should miss your attention. Give your energy to those who appreciate you.
A loyalist should not be pushed to the point where he or she interrogates and moves to determine loyalty. PDP is set to do just that before 2023, but it should be aware that it has unpleasant consequences that can be far-reaching. For the Igbo, 2023 offers ample opportunity to review their political behavior in the Nigerian electoral system. Now is the time for them to stop and ask themselves if their loyalty is expected instead of appreciated.
The time has come for the Igbo to prove PDP wrong that they will always be here for it. Sometimes it goes without saying that the only way to get attention for what you’re doing is to stop doing it. After all, the Ndigbo are wise enough to know not to continue planting flowers in the enclosures of people who have no interest in fattening and watering them. But for Amaechi, having established that he can get Igbo votes in the absence of an Igbo candidate from the South East, the burden is still on him to prove that he is deserving of the Igbo votes, and not on ethnopolitical sentiments alone. . At one time, Nigerians wondered if the Federal Ministry of Transport was from Nigeria or from Daura. All of his ministry’s critical projects were located in the north, Katsina in particular. It was no surprise that the Daura Emirate returned the favor with a turban officially making Amaechi a friend of the emirate. Now that he remembered his Igbo roots before 2023, what did the Igbo son of Ikwerre do for his people. The answers to such questions will influence the votes better than the ethnic card he plays.
For example, rail services across Nigeria and the Republic of Niger [where PMB’s cousins come from] for which Amaechi enjoys great credit, none are seen in Igbo land. The eastern lineage, one is the oldest If Amaechi hopes to take advantage of his ethnic map, he must be prepared to present his achievements in concrete terms. To not do this but expect to be an Igbo man by the end of 2023 is bound to be counterproductive. In behavior, Amaechi has improved significantly from his past behavior. Since he started dreaming of the Villa, he has learned to talk less and be less controversial, unlike his non-Igbo relative from Ikwerre whose presidential dream turned his head and made him a bull in a china shop. What Amaechi has really done by properly identifying with his Igbo roots, albeit for politics, is to underscore the Igbo political brand as essential in the 2023 journey despite the ‘janjawid’ assertion of the Lagos-based confused political pastor, Tunde Bakare.
He ascended the pulpit to fabricate lies about a curse on Ndigbo and hopes to be released from it before God. In this statement, Amaechi joined his Southeast brethren such as Senate Chief Whip Orji Uzo Kalu, Science and Technology Ministers Ogbonna Onu, Health Minister Chris Ngige, Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, Rochas Okorocha, and, of course, Dave Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State…all well qualified for the high office of President. Since it is now well established that the Southeast is clearly favored by the justice of the case in question, it would be curious to know why President Buhari, as a former statesman, will leave the center for the periphery. It is a fact that political relations between the South East and the PMB have been anything but cordial. However, if he chooses to be a statesman, the president should consider stabilizing the political system and enthroning justice and fairness. By doing so, he will give quite a few Igbo a reason to still believe in him. After all, at his age and being a huge recipient of God’s extravagant divine favor and grace, despite his weaknesses, ruling his country twice, revenge shouldn’t be found anywhere near his box. Instead, he should be magnanimous with justice and fairness as guiding principles. May God help us.