Federal Economic Infrastructures: Deliberate Exclusion Of South East, An  Existential Threat – Temple Onyeukwu 

Sir Temple Ogueri Onyeukwu FCA, a retired military officer, Director Turning Point Youth Empowerment Initiative, Public Affairs Analyst spoke to our correspondent in his office in Lagos on burning national issues. Excerpts:

The programmed geometric progression for the extinction  of the means of livelihood and the deliberate imposition of economic stagnation by the Federal Government on the South East zone through the denial of relevant infrastructure and road net work seems to have peaked under the APC led Federal Government. What is your take on this?

The only way to answer this question is to use the Federal Government data in the public space to show the world the level of hate and exclusion the present APC government has meted the South East. The Federal Executive Council meeting of Monday 23 September 2024 approved the following projects viz1. Silame Sokoto State to Buya Town, Kebbi State – 258KM Road2. Bodo-Bonny Road. N280bn3.Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriage way N740.79bn4. Cross River to Oferekpe Road and Iyamoye-Omuo-Ikole-Ifaki-Ado-Ekiti Road N133.4bn5.

Repair of Gamboni Bridge – Gamboru-Ngala-Kala Balde Road- Borno State.    N3.2bn6.Damaged loops and lumps of Third Mainland Brideg and Adeniji Falomo Road .N42bn7.Service lane for Lekki deep-sea port through Epe to Shagamu-Benin express way   N158bn8. Dualization of Afikpo – Uturu – Okigwe road, Eboyin, Abia and Imo State. The road will be financed through the federal government road infrastructure development and refurbishment investments tax credit scheme.Again the Federal Executive meeting of Wednesday 5th March 2025 approved the following 12 projects for the ministry of works viz1.

Alkaleri – Ukuk Road in Bauchi State.N11.28bn2. Uturu Isiukwuato Akara Road .N5.9bn3. Zaria Hunkayi Kolmanu Danbali Maraba Kanya Sabawa and Kasa in Kaduna and Katsina States. N198bn4. Kano, Wudil-Shuari axis .N128.4bn5. Wukari – Akwana Road, Taraba State .N12.62bn6. Bida – Lambata Road – Niger State revised N39.49bn7.Bagudu Road Project, Kebi State .N2.65bn8. Iyin-Ilawi-Ekiti Road. N15.63bn9. Ilogu Road, Kwara State – Osun State N7.56bn

You can see that item 8 of Monday 23 September 2024 is now repeated among the list of projects for Wednesday 5th March and now allocated the sum of N5.93bn. Consequently the South East has earmarked for it N5.93bn for road infrastructure during the period. Can any zone develop industrially with this level of road infrastructure exclusion? Check what goes to the other geopolitical zones and contrast it with the allocation to the South East.

What other business enabling infrastructure can the South East boast of since the inception of the APC administration in 2015?

Imo and Abia States are blessed with abundant oil and gas deposits. The issue of pipe line vandalization is a rare occurrence in the two states. You now ask yourself why must the Federal Government exclude the two states and all other South East States in the distribution of the High Pressure gas line network?The APC Federal Government in pursuit of its regime of deliberate exclusion of the South East is piping 48 inch trunkline to take gas from Assa North field through Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben to Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano. The line will be stepped down at Abuja, Kaduna and Kano at various pressures to provide affordable cooking gas to Northern Nigeria, provide constant affordable gas to power industries in the North. This is deliberate political and economic scheming against the South East. When the gas that is abundant in the South East and South South is channeled to the North to the exclusion of the zone that produces the gas, how can our industries grow? How can we revive our moribund industries? How can we power new industries and homes? The political leadership of the South East has always preferred to be politically correct in support of the North and the West to the detriment of the South East. The leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo must rise and challenge this monstrous exclusion. The deliberate exclusion of the South East from Federal Economic infrastructure has become an existential threat to the South East.

How can the South East Survive with the deliberate exclusion by the Federal Government from infrastructural development.

Despite the large population of the South East estimated at over 85 million in Nigeria and about 25 million in diaspora, it has the fewest states in the Federation. The South East has the fewest local government areas, the fewest representatives in the House of Representatives and the fewest Senators in the senate. Revenue derived from the South East and South South is shared based on the number of local governments and states. In 1959 the then Soviet Union was to build a steel plant in Nigeria. Onitsha was chosen as the best place for the steel plant. In the desperation of the ruling class in Nigeria to stagnate the development of Nigeria, on the advise of their colonial masters, the project was moved to Ajaokuta in Kogi State. The calculation is to hold down the South East. The economic development of Nigeria will continue to stagnate as long as the ruling class continue to adopt policies that stand economic theories on their head. The allocation of key national projects that continues to exclude the South East will not bring about economic development of the nation. The more the South East is excluded from the allocation of key economic infrastructures, the more Nigeria under developes, stagnates and retrogresses.

Is the South East faring better under President Tinubu than under former president Buhari?

The most significant project that was executed in the South East under former president Buhari is the second Niger bridge. It is on record that former president Goodluck Jonathan had set aside funds for this project, awarded it before he was maneuvered out of office in 2015. Former president Buhari awarded the rail contracts that extended to Niger Republic without passing through any of the South East States. Unfortunately, in this day and age the Nigerian ruling class continues to treat the South East as a conquered territory, only good in laying the golden egg only to be discarded when sharing its own products. Nigeria needs political leaders who must build bridges’, leaders who will not deny and crush zones because they did not win in those area, leaders who must prioritize equity, justice and fairness over ethnicity, bigotry and triumphalism, leaders who must insist that all the zones are entitled to equitable and even development, leaders who realize that denial and exclusion of certain zones in the infrastructural and economic projects of the nation is disguised unjust dispossession.

The sea ports in the Eastern flank are underdeveloped because of the Federal Government policy of exclusion of the South East from Federal projects. Nigeria’s future hinges on democracy rooted in Accountability, justice, fairness and equity devoid of impunity, arrogance and manipulation of the weak institutions to ratify illegalities and criminalities that are patently manifest. Dissenting voices or zones must not be excluded in the distribution of infrastructural facilities. Unfortunately objectivity, truth, honesty and justice have become causalities of this political dispensation.

The Crisis in Rivers State has snowballed into a declaration of state of emergency in the state by the president  C in C of the armed forces, appointment of a sole administrator, suspension of the governor, his deputy and the house of Assembly for six months. What is your take?

Right from the inception of the crisis in Rivers State, His excellency Sir Fubara demonstrated resilience, patience, tolerance and submissive to his godfather. On assumption of office the godfather was said to have appointed all the commissioners, all the special assistants, all the local government chairmen, he is said to have paid for the expression of interest and application forms for all the aspirants, the members of the house of assembly, house of representatives, senate, governor. He practically supervised the elections and allegedly ensured INEC declared all his preferred candidates winners. Consequently this tenure should have been his third term as governor with Fubara as his proxy. It is not in the public domain if these members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, the members of the House of Representatives from Rivers State, The senators from River State and the governor were subjected to any rituals, oats, or cult allegiance as to restrain them from disobeying the godfather. However all of them with the exception of the governor have demonstrated extreme allegiance in the supremacy of the godfather. This is understandable. They have no body to account to. The governor will be held accountable by Rivers People. So while he is satisfying the godfather he also needed to execute some projects to justify his position. Where it became practically impossible for the governor to take decisions on behalf of the state, the center fell apart. The godfather will not brook this. The president intervened and his first intervention out rightly favoured the godfather. While the governor was fulfilling the commands of the president in favour of the godfather, the members of the house of Assembly voluntarily or perhaps on the instruction of the godfather vacated their seats by decamping to the ruling APC. The members declared war on the governor. The declaration of the state of emergency by the president suspending the governor and his deputy, and the house of assembly is tantamount to illegal seizure of the government of Rivers State. The Senate and the House of Representatives have since confirmed this aberration through voice vote. Another illegality. Nigeria is a big joke. Rivers State has been conquered. Which state is next in line? Neither the president while he was governor nor Wike while he was governor will tolerate or accommodate what Fubara has. Is this a conspiracy between Wike, the presidency, The National Assembly and the Judiciary to capture the votes of Rivers State ahead of 2027?

What in your opinion is the major problem Nigeria faces today?

Can you imagine Tony Okocha, the chairman of APC in Rivers State who in the full glare of National Television received the 27 lawmakers of Rivers State House of Assembly and subsequently took them and presented them to the president who also received them in the full glare of National Television after the lawmakers had sworn to an Affidavit declaring that they have defected to the APC, come after a few weeks in the same television to say the lawmakers did not defect? Can you imagine the speaker Martin Amaehule who addressed the press and confirmed that the 27 of them have defected come back on television and recant? These are the acts at the root of the matter in Rivers State. At the root of our problems, in Nigeria include sycophancy, hypocrisy, bigotry, lieing, pretense, injustice, lack of sanctions for unconstitutional behavior. How will Tony Okocha children and community see him after the two episodes? Is this not shameful? The more this Agbero and Brigandage political behavior continues; the more kleptomaniacs and kakistocrats hijack political positions; the more responsible men abstain from politics; and the more the threat to democracy. Again, no body is in doubt about the credentials of Mr. President as one who fought the military to return the country to democratic rule. It is apparent that as an opposition leader, Mr. president opposed most policy decisions of the PDP led government. The president opposed removal of fuel subsidy, he opposed the clamping down of opposition, he opposed the restriction of protests, he opposed the declaration of state of emergency in any state, he opposed the judiciary stopping federal allocation slated for local governments because they are an independent, arm of government. All the policies of previous governments that would have brought hardship on the citizens, Tinubu opposed. Now he is implementing all those policies he opposed.His robust opposition supported by the vibrant Lagos press endeared him to majority of Nigerians and paved his way to ascend  the presidential seat to bring succor to us. Is Nigeria better today? Were these oppositions hypocritical to pave way for political leverage? Were they honest oppositions? Was it opportunism?

The Leadership of the South East geopolitical zone appears bereft of ideas on what to do to enable the Federal Government treat the zone as equal to other zones. What is your take on the helplessness of the South East?

The discrimination, exclusion and deliberate policy to undermine and underdevelop the South East is one of the cardinal agenda of the British colonial masters. This agenda was masterminded by the colonial masters for the sole purpose of governing Nigeria through their proxies. The Ibo man is considered to be too nationalistic to accept such surreptitious and mischievous policies against his country – Nigerian. Consequently he must be excluded from the corridors of political power. Can you imagine a coup by patriotic military officers which  main purpose was to stop corruption, and release Obafemi Awolowo from Calabar prison and install him as the prime minister dubbed Igbo coup for which over 5 million Igbos were massacred? Can you imagine Lt Col. Ojukwu insisting that the next highest ranking military officer – Bridgadier Ademulegun be sworn in as head of state after Ironsi was killed? Instead of Gowon who was junior in rank? Can you imagine the military power of UK, USA and all their allies unleashed on Igbo land during the war?Unfortunately the political class in the South East appear to be dependent on their Northern counterparts to dictate the politics of the South East. The governors can come to the rescue of the South East political zone. If only they can work in synergy, and work out a comprehensive development master plan for the development of their various states. The problem with the South East can be situated on the incept political leadership of the zone.  We cannot make progress with this kind of attitude and leadership. Where do we go from here? The leadership of the South East must stop working at cross purposes to each other to satisfy their foreign political masters to the detriment of the masses of their people.Again the alarming degree of economic profligacy by the governors of the South East undermines economic development. As we speak, the level of corruption mismanagement and indiscipline among the political leadership is unprecedented. Some governors are visiting governors. They live in Abuja, collect the state allocations and spend it from Abuja and visit the states for ceremonies only. The debt of some of the south east states is unsustainable yet the governors continue to borrow with nothing to show for the allocations and borrowed funds. As at 30th September 2024 our dear Imo state had a total domestic debt of N155 billion while Enugu State had a total domestic debt of N128 billion. In November 2024 Alex Otti announced that his government had repaid N90 billion of the N191 billion naira he inherited from the previous administration while Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State rejected the world bank loan offered to states in 2023. His reason, the loan is toxic to his economic emancipation plan of his state. Overall if South East governors can collaborate the way South West governors are doing. South East can be great again.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you too.