By Pope Obinna Tony Amaefuna
Over the weekend, through the strategic instrumentality of Distinguished Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, Ndigbo made a bold political statement aimed at addressing the quandary of the Igbo nation in contemporary Nigeria.
In consolidation of his unwavering commitment to the political and socioeconomic emancipation of the Igbo Nation, Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has once again elevated the discussion, deepened the conversation and escalated the tempo of the advocacy against the marginalization of ndi Igbo to national consciousness through a highly intellectual colloquium spear headed by the upper echelon of the Igbo intelligentsia led by Prof. Esimone.
The primary onus of the colloquium was to identify workable strategies for the political advancement of the Southeast region and to streamline the modalities for the demarginalization of the Igbo nation.
This Intellectual masterstroke by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah has sent massive shockwaves across the southeast region throwing opposition political parties into panic mode, eliciting divergent reactions and raising salient questions from the critical thinkers and political observers.
This strategic move by the firebrand Anambra south senator marks a clear departure from previously sampled approaches which was unfortunately characterized by lack of sustainable strategy and riddled with unnecessary confrontations, braggadocios tantrums, empty rhetoric’s, inconsequential ramblings, self depreciating violence and other non effective methods of agitation which has proven to be not only unproductive but also detrimental to our collective struggle toward emancipation and integration.
This strategic colloquium hosted at the heart of igboland signifies the intellectual takeover of the igbo nationalist drive towards emancipation and a paradigm shift from bland, brutish propaganda driven agitation to intellectual round table strategy. It is also the first intellectual political inter-state synergy by the ruling party in the south east region for the sole benefit of ndigbo. The fact that the non-igbo leadership of the ruling party were in attendance and were made to observe firsthand the many tribulations that the southeast region has endured in post civil war Nigeria and has sadly continued to endure even into the fourth republic will go a long way in catalyzing the amelioration the igbo dilemma.
As expected, the fact that this high profile event successfully congregated high caliber Igbo intellectuals, members of the pan igbo think tank, the clergy, CSO’s, northern oligarchs and the leadership of the national ruling party at the highest level to Anambra State over the weekend to discuss the continued marginalization of ndigbo and chart a course out of the conundrum has also generated serious tension and apprehension amongst opposition political parties.
The executive cabals and power brokers all over Anambra State and the entire southeast region of Nigeria are evidently in panic mode. The reason for this is not farfetched. The APC which has long suffered demonization in the southeast by some dubious political elements for selfish political reasons is now leading the discussion on the restoration of the pride of the igbo nation and her reintegration into the national politics of Nigeria.
The fact that such a colloquium was facilitated and hosted for the first time by the demonized APC is a thunderous slap on the face of the leadership of the so called Igbo party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
The colloquium signaled an end to an era where dubious southeastern politicians sow seeds of discord by propagating hate and political apathy which they deploy to perpetuate the manipulation of ndi Igbo with empty tribalistic sentiments, propaganda, falsehoods and deception.
Today, The APC has become the only voice clamouring for the emancipation and restoration of the Igbo nation while the so called Igbo party (APGA) and her deceased counterpart the PDP remain comatose as mere observers on the sidelines.
In swift response to the paradigm shift, massive goodwill and positive feedback generated by the Nnewi colloquium, The APGA government of Anambra State who were caught off guard and embarrassed deployed her media urchins and paid propagandists to commence series of damage control through the propagation of fake news and intentional misinformation of the public in a bid to whittle down the overwhelming positive feedback from the APC colloquium.
The fact that the Anambra State government would consistently hire and engage miserable propagandists mobilized with Anambra tax payers’ funds to misinform the public is a very sad development.
In less than 24 hours after the groundbreaking colloquium, the leader of the APGA propaganda team led by one Mazi Ejimofo in panic wrote and published over 20 articles filled with lies and misleading information. Anambra tax payers funds was then deployed in sponsoring these publications in several compromised media platforms.
These propagandists proceeded to edit and misrepresent videos from the colloquium and the mega empowerment rally by Ifeanyi Ubah.
In one of such poorly doctored video clip, the APGA media claimed that the APC leader in the southeast, Gov. Hope Uzodimma has endorsed Governor Soludo. These poorly trained media carpenters took snippets of the Imo state governor describing Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah as the “SOLUTION” to the developmental challenges of Anambra state and termed it an endorsement of the state governor. To show how daft and deranged they are, they went a step further to impose an old and unrelated video of Governor Soludo’s visit to imo state into the same propaganda clip in an attempt to mislead the public into believing that Gov Hope Uzodimma actually visited the Anambra State governor when in reality, no such visit happened because Governor Soludo was in faraaway Oyo State at the invitation of Gov Makinde at the time of the Nnewi colloquium.
It is laughable and unfortunate that Anambra state APGA government believes that the reading public is constituted by dafts and people gullible enough to buy into their childish and poorly crafted fake news.
For starters, it is expected that a colloquium or any Intellectual discuss of such political magnitude and strategic importance to Ndi Igbo should have been catalyzed and facilitated by the so called Igbo party.
Unfortunately, The Igbo ideology in APGA died long ago.
Within the last 15-12 years, The leadership of the APGA has clearly lost her Igbo nationalist identity having completely derailed and degenerated from her early promises to champion the Igbo agenda.
Unfortunately, APGA has instead metamorphosed into a coalition of embezzlers manned by a cabal of misfits and propagandists whose major preoccupation is misinforming the public and dragging ndi Igbo into a cesspool of regional cocoon-ism and political apartheid which has further exacerbated the political and economic marginalization of Ndi Igbo.
When was the last time APGA leadership championed the Igbo cause or even discussed the plight of Ndi Igbo at the national level?
The fact that APGA went from controlling three Igbo states at its prime to desperately trying to hold onto an apparently shaky last foothold in a single state makes it very clear that as a political party, APGA is dead and it’s mission as an igbo party is now a completely failed project.
There is a pressing need for ndi Igbo to realign or sink with a sinking ship piloted by an arrogant professor of economics who has shown zero concern or sympathy for the plight of ndigbo and her quest for reintegration into national politics.
Ndigbo must not forget that It was an APGA leader who openly attacked the only Igbo prospect at the 2023 presidential elections with an open letter titled “History beckons and I will not be silent” part 1 and part 2.
Ndigbo must not forget that It was the same APGA leadership that sponsored series of propaganda and media attacks on the only Igbo presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential elections and deployed Anambra State funds to make sure that Ndi Igbo did not make any headway in that election.
At this point, it is very clear that APGA is working against Igbo interests.
The truth is that APGA has stagnated the nationalist struggles of the Igbo nation for almost 2 decades.
Aside APGA, Another laughable response to Senator Ifeanyi Ubah’s mega empowerment and colloquium come from the PDP.
In reality, The PDP, which is long overdue for requiem mass and obsequies in Anambra State accused Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of using N500million palliative from the federal government as his personal empowerment.
While it would amount to a waste of time responding to any form of vituperation from a dead party or necrophilic demagogue like Mr Ebere Onunkwo (Ikenga Umuchu) who makes unfounded claims merely for clout chasing and relevance causes, it is important that I set the records straight for the benefit of educating and informing the gullible who might be misinformed by the deputy chairman Anambra South PDP.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah spent over N3billion on his empowerment hence the term “MEGA”
For record purposes, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah empowered the grassroots with the following
âś“ 30 Mini Buses worth over N120million.
âś“200 brand new motorcycles worth close to N150million.
âś“50 reinforced security motorbikes worth over N37million.
âś“100 tricycles worth over N200million.
âś“30 pieces of open hatch tricycle loaders worth over N60million.
âś“250 grinding machines worth over N55million.
âś“250 Sewing Machines worth close to N60million.
âś“150 Generators worth N25million.
âś“25,975 bags of rice worth over N2billion.
âś“Scholarship awards to students worth over N100million.
âś“Grants for itinerant traders market women worth over N100million.
Etc
There is no gainsaying that Senator Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has paid his dues to Anambra State in particular and Ndi Igbo in general and he doesn’t plan to relent anytime soon.
On this patriotic move to reintegrate Ndigbo into national politics, the Anambra South maverick commands the unwavering support of the people and no amount of falsehood and propaganda can derail or distract him
Pope Obinna Tony Amaefuna, A political analyst writes from Awka