As I watched the Senate deploy a contrived voice vote to reject the immortalisation of Humphrey Nwosu, the man who stood his ground, against the dictates of the military, to conduct the memorable June 12, 1993 presidential election, my heart bled, and sad memories were re-ignited. My mind flashed back to a piece by Simon Kolawole in his Sunday ThisDay column of Sunday January 30, 2011; captioned “NDIGBO IN THE FOURTH REPUBLIC.” He was analysing the political and socio-economic predicament of Ndigbo in the scheme of things in Nigeria at the time, throwing up two theories being bandied around by some Igbo leaders, namely the “CONSPIRACY THEORY” and the “ENEMIES WITHIN THEORY.” Simon had expressed the view that he did not want to be involved “in this type of argument” and that such “opinions are neither here nor there.” This view prompted my immediate response to him, which he equally published, where I had stated that the political and socio-economic marginalisation of Ndigbo was indeed a combination of both theories.
Wounds may heal but the scars remain an immutable reminder. Were Ndigbo not collectively subjected to the post-war trauma of economic strangulation of bank account freezes? Was re-absorption into the various systems not made herculean? Recall how VP Dr Alex Ekwueme’s chances of the Presidency were truncated, or how the Senate Presidency zoned to Ndigbo at a time became a roller-coaster affair. The glaring dearth of meaningful federal presence in a zone with two prolific oil and gas producing states, must confirm this conspiracy theory against Ndigbo.
But how many Nigerians have bothered to inquire why the Southeast zone, peopled by Ndigbo, have the lowest number of states, implying also the lowest number of local governments? Yet these are all the indices for commonwealth funds allocation in the country. The Northwest has seven states, the rest have six each but only the Southeast is left with five states. In every other allocation or distribution issue or arrangement, Nigerians would insist on equity and fairness, but when the issue of bringing the Southeast to par on state allocation, frivolous demands erupt from virtually all the other zones, in order to rubbish the creation of a sixth state for Ndigbo. Is this the way and manner that peace and progress can be promoted in a country?
But I am really pained over the discussion and debate on the immortalisation of late Professor Humphrey Nwosu, as displayed on the Senate floor. What controversy could these senators be alluding to, when the courage of that NEC chairman is being discussed? Here was a man who had the courage to conclude an election which the military did not want to happen or accept. He was hounded and humiliated, yet some senators did not have the heart to accord him the required post-humus recognition. Most ignoble was the role of the presiding officer to use a surreptitious voice vote to dismiss the request of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and some others on the senate floor.
I wish to commend the Southeast caucus of the senate for staging that walk-out to express their displeasure over the conduct of their colleagues in immortalising a worthy Nigerian who stood truth to military power. Meanwhile the beneficiary of his sacrifice has been accorded multiple recognitions and honour. But what else should one learn from all these shenanigans happening in that Senate. Are we not aware that one or two of them are in the Senate without conclusive evidence that they had gone through party primaries? What would you then expect? A Senate that would not abide by vote counts or electronic voting as stipulated in the Nigerian constitution, yet they are our lawmakers. The Way We Are indeed. But whatsoever one sows, one would surely reap. Hate hurts the hater more than the hated. Prof Humphrey Nwosu, people of conscience remain proud of you, as you rest in eternal peace. Amen!!!
