Ohanaeze: Why Mbata is vilified?

New Telegraph Newspaper Thursday Back Page of January 29, 2025 

By Ike Abonyi.

 

“ _Igbo people are not linked by blood ties; although they may share many cultural traits;

 Igbo people do not speak one dialect; they speak one language which has scores of major and minor dialects_ ”- Chinua Achebe

The true reason why Senator John Azuta-Mbata is being vilified on his virtuous identification with Ohanaeze is because being an Igbo in today’s Nigeria is politically unprofitable. The idea and the energy which Igbos are expected to bring to the polity are not essential now. Even their electoral strength no longer matters because votes are not counted but allocated and it goes according to the wimps and caprices of the allocator. What they expect from Igbos in such circumstances is to leak their anus and when they are not doing that and surviving with their second address, they tag them as bad politicians.

Those who do well in Africa’s so-called democracy are the sycophants who have no second address, no ideology as to why they are in politics but just to be in the power corridor and be chopping. They can do anything unscrupulous and devious to remain in power.

Senator Azuta-Mbata, the new President General of the Igbo umbrella organization, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide is needlessly embattled for making a virtuous choice to be an Igboman at a time it’s politically inauspicious and disadvantageous to be one. Luckily, he has the political sagacity needed to cope with the situations as seen in him in the 4th and 5th Senate in the time of the cerebral Dr Chuba Okadigbo. Although It’s culturally and historically detrimental to deny your ancestral records for a political gain no matter the circumstances as we have seen many do so because it could be deleterious for them not to.

Indeed if you are such a political parasite who cannot exist without being in or around government it may not be politically bankable to be an Igbo in present-day Nigeria. But for Senator Mbata he says it courageously and categorically, “I am Igbo, my father is Igbo, my great-grandfather was Igbo, and even my brother Wike is Igbo. If you claim not to be Igbo because of the inequity that bedevils Nigeria, we can’t make everybody Igbo at gunpoint. No."

The discomforting Igbo situation in Nigerian politics has become a legendary story that is even losing its import.  This apparent feeling of sulky on Ndigbo in Nigeria’s political space did not actually start today. In 2007 Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State was at the forefront of the Presidential race to succeed President Olusegun Obasanjo. Just like Peter Obi was in 2023, Odili was the best among all the aspirants then but he was stopped because feelers showed an Igbo was not a favorable political market then.

Even when it was obvious that Odili was the most targeted person to be the running mate to the chosen one,  late Governor Umaru YarAdua of Katsina state Odili and his closest front runner for the position of Vice President, then Governor Sam Egwu of Ebonyi state were dropped last minute ostensibly for being an Igbo in preference for an Ijaw man then Governor Goodluck Jonathan of Bayelsa state who was actually not interested in the position but providence saw him rose from Vice President to President. The two big influencers who allegedly swayed Obasanjo against Odili and Egwu then were Nasiru El Rufai (FCT Minister) and Nuhu Ribadu (EFCC Chairman) who were henchmen in the regime. The duo have been consistently working against Igbo interests including the 2023 Presidential elections.

When Peter Obi was still in the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and campaigning as a Presidential aspirant to get the ticket of the party, after presenting his beautifully well-articulated message to the various delegates in some parts of the country he was always applauded with some wishing he was not an Igbo. He was eventually forced out of the party and determined to present himself for Nigerians not delegates to decide, Obi inherited the Labour Party and ran on its platform, got an overwhelming endorsement for his pragmatic messages backed by incredible records of performance in his previous duty post as Governor of Anambra state, but again his Igbo origins still stood as a cog.

In 1979 just nine years after the civil war, an Igbo Dr Alex Ekwueme was picked as a running mate to a Sokoto teacher, Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the defunct National Party of Nigeria, NPN. The duo worked so well in office leaving the best political combination at that level in the nation’s political trajectory. President Shagari was such an extraordinary humble man willing to maximize the brain box his number two Dr Ekwueme was to his administration.

As they won and entered their second and final term on October 1983, some powerful northern eggheads operating as the Kaduna mafia felt Dr Ekwueme was going to indisputably end up as President of the country in 1987. The military leadership then was in the hands of those who played an active role in the 30 months of civil war and felt instead they could take advantage of the hullabaloo over the election and the corruption in the then-ruling NPN to sack the politicians. The juntas did not fail to show their disdain against an Igbo, after they arrested President Shagari and his Vice Ekwueme they kept Shagari in a guest house while Ekwueme was taken to prison. The probe panel was to release Ekwueme after the incarceration declaring that he left the government poorer than when he entered.

Since then ambitious Igbo Presidential aspirants have remained like the lepers of biblical time who needed a priest’s certification to get into the society fully.  

So in a situation like this, why should anybody especially those ambitious persons living on the fringes who can easily find themselves fall into the more beneficial area?

The noise that greeted the election of the new Ohanaeze President from Rivers State actually informed this conversation. The two front runners for the headship of the apex Ndigbo body, former Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro and Senator Mbata represented varying interests. Okiro had identity issues as those who saw him as a suitable candidate for the position worried at his dual citizenship of IMO and Rivers states. While he officially is from Rivers from where he joined the Nigeria Police force and rose to its peak, his siblings were said to be from IMO state. It would not have been an issue If it were in national politics where even number one has identity issues. But for Ndigbo to avoid the controversy of this ambiguity and ensure unity in Rivers Igbo, the Ohanaeze delegates in their wisdom settled for Senator Mbata an Igbo-Ikwere man. In culture, tradition and language Ikwere man’s Igbonness has never been in doubt but politically they are not United on their Igbo identification for the simple reason of the political unviability of being an Igbo. Igbo-speaking people in Rivers state today who have varied dialects but one Igbo language are- Ikwere, Etche, Ekpeye, Ogba, Egbema, Ndoni, Ndoki, Asa, Bonny and Opobo but politics has polarized them and they are unable to agree on their Igbo origin.

The two most prominent Ikwere politicians lately are Former Governors Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike. Amaechi when he was running for President in 2023 and wanting to take advantage of coming from two geopolitical zones of South-South and South East publicly declared he was Igbo and changed his wardrobe to a lot of Igbo attires, his brother Wike who was also running for President felt being Igbo was blocking his chance in PDP and he declared openly that he was not an Igbo. He has even followed it up to attack Mbata his erstwhile political godfather for accepting the Ohanaeze Presidency. Wike’s political groups from Ikwere have even distanced themselves from Mbata while apolitical groups from Ikwere continued to urge Mbata on knowing that the truth will eventually prevail that Ikwere are Igbo groups with their different dialects just like Ontisha, Asaba, Nsukka Abakaliki etc with their varying tongues and languages all bedded in Igbo language and culture as explained by the iconic writer Chinua Achebe in the opening quote of this discourse.

What is happening to the Igbo race in Rivers state has a history linked to the resources in the Niger Delta and the loss of the civil war. If Biafra had become a reality Ikwere would not deny Igbos. If Peter Obi had won the presidency in 2023, even Wike would have been active in organizing Ohanaeze in Rivers State to use it as a platform to gain access to the President. In the second republic, prominent Ikwere sons led by Obi Wali were at the forefront of the establishment of Ohanaeze. There is still no Ikwere son living or dead more prominent than Obi Wali.

But all the fuss is understandable since the goat has foolish loyalty and follows the man with the palm fronds even if it’s not the owner. Being Igbo in Nigeria can present unique political challenges because the Igbos do not carry any palm fronds politically speaking. They have been unable to access top political positions, particularly the presidency. Some Nigerians who feel advantageous in putting Ndigbo aside still harbour negative perceptions and stereotypes about the Igbo. This has resulted in Igbo's underrepresentation in key political positions, making it harder for them to influence national decisions.

So while the folderol rages over the question of Ikwerre identity and their relationship with the Igbo, let us know that it has implications for identity politics, cultural heritage, and resource allocation in Nigeria and the true picture will come out when Ndigbo returns fully to the nation’s polity. Until that happens let us adjust to the fact that some people can mortgage their birthright in the quest to get political positions.

For now, being an Igbo is not lucrative and is very unattractive politically but what is certain and indisputable is that dignity and honour remain for those who are not lily-livered and who stand firm in times of political tribulations. As Igbos say  ‘Agbachi so ago mile’ (After the race, the miles or distance covered will be calculated). 

Didn’t our own legendary Zik of Africa admonish politicians to always remember that no condition is permanent, Igbo condition In Nigeria has a terminal date. Why Mbata must not look back at the potential distractions is because replying to a barking dog on the way delays your journey and leading the Igbo race is indeed a marathon and sprint combined. Why some people must be ignored is because a mad person is not as ashamed as his relatives. May God help them.