By Charles Ogbu
Now more than ever, Ndigbo must be intentional about turning AlaIgbo into an economic giant. The Aku-Ruo-Uno campaign has become an existential issue and more imperative now that states can generate, transmit and distribute electricity. But we must realise that the success or failure of the campaign depends largely on the actions of our Igbo governors which is why we need to focus more on how our respective states are being run and call out any governor that is not demonstrating enough fidelity to this noble project.
In Enugu, despite Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah many talks about attracting investments, the state ministry of land has remained in coma. No commissioner for land, no clear-cut policy on land administration, and no meaningful activities since he assumed office. Since July when he jacked up land fees by a whopping 500%, making it such that if you buy a piece of land for N400,000, for instance, you will spend millions just to register it, no single soul has paid for any land documentation at the land ministry.
The commissioner that was appointed was quickly re-deployed in less than a week, for allegedly asking that the fees be significantly reviewed. The Permanent Secretary, who is a reverend sister, can’t do much because everything is being micro-managed from the govt house. Civil servants just come to work, gossip in peace, and go home. No single bulldozers from the ministry has entered any of the cite owned by the state government to clear bushes
How do you ask people to invest in your state when you are yet to put your land ministry in order?
Is Investment Cited In The Sky?
To rent a house in Enugu just like in some other states, you will go through uncountable extortionist chain of middlemen demanding ‘Agent fee, agreement fee, caution fee, lawyer fee etc’ Why can’t the govt put a stop to it to make it less stressful for people to get accommodation first before investing??
As I type, governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo state is on the verge of demolishing a hotel owned by an Igbo man and which employed thousands of people, just for reasons not unconnected with political vendetta, according to the hotel owner who had to make a video crying like a baby.
Where is our outrage? Where is our apex socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze? Where are Aka-Ikenga, Nzuko Umu, ADF, World Igbo Congress etc? Or do we want to pretend not to know that these are the major obstacles obstructing the success of Aku-Ruo-Uno campaign? Or are we saying it is deserving of outrage only when it is done in Lagos?
To be clear, with what we witnessed during the 2023 election and taking into account the video where Pastor Tunde Bakare said he was in a meeting where the issue of “How To Deal With The Igbos In Lagos” was brought up (a man as highly placed as Bakare can’t hold meeting with touts.
So, it’s logical to assume the meeting was with highly placed men/women powerful enough in govt to execute their “Deal With The Igbo” agenda), I personally believe the perennial demolition in Lagos is an ethnically motivated vendetta against Igbos. The only way you cannot see this is if you choose to live in denial of the Nigerian reality. The current state Assembly speaker actually alluded to these plans upon being elected. How do you justify a state govt issuing approval for buildings to be erected on a particular piece of land only to later come back to demolish that same building on the excuse that it was built on the wrong place – the same wrong place you collected millions and issued building approval for?
These actions clearly have ethnic motive, but my point is, instead of agonizing and looking for who will attend our pity party, we the Igbos should organize to force our governors to dismantle all obstacles against investment in our region. Land should be easy to acquire. Your land ministry should be efficient and effective. Give tax incentives to new businesses if you have to. And dismantle all the illegal agboros collecting all manner of ridiculous fees so that people can easily acquire land and rent apartment. Work on the ease of doing business in your state.
Two months ago, I was heartbroken watching thugs employed by Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra state beating a driver of a popular transport company with matchets in broad daylight and in the middle of the road. This does not happen even in banana republic. The only other place I’ve witnessed something similar is Enugu where a group of extortionists known as MOT from the transport ministry, use small buses and motorcycles to block vehicles and lock their wheels right in the middle of the road, causing heavy traffic in the name of enforcing traffic regulation.
This kind of primitivism should not have a place in our region in 2023. You can enforce govt rules without behaving like a 15th century barbarian.
Finally, we should all gather the phone numbers of all our federal lawmakers to b0mbard them with protest calls and SMS until they push for the death traps masquerading as federal roads in our region to be fixed. I made this suggestion last month and asked for those with the numbers to send to my inbox with a promise to lead the charge. One month after, not a single soul responded. And that tells you something about our attitude towards holding our so-called leaders accountable.
The Aku-Ruo-Uno campaign is the noblest project in recent Igbo history, and it is already yielding fruits but to get it to Uhuru, we must show more interest in holding our own leaders to account because in their hands, lie its ultimate success or failure.
