The ordinary Igbo is adept at running business enterprises; this singular trait has brought considerable financial reward to their kits and kin. However, if they are successful in business, not so in politics. This is one area they have continued to shortchange themselves—and their destiny. From inception, the late sage, Rtd. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe, former ceremonial president of Nigeria produced and handed over to them the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) for short; They could not sustain it and the ANPP melted out of the reckoning.
Azikiwe himself transited from Zik of Africa to become the Owelle of Onitsha. Next was the APGA handed over to them by the late Biafran warlord Odumegwu Ojukwu. This party flourished for some time and then faded—abandoned by Igbo sons and daughters in search of personal gratifications. In the quest for political reckoning, the post of the Senate position was zoned to the Igbos; what happened? From Chuba Okadigbo, Evans Enwerem, Anyim Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara, they kept slipping on the famous “banner pill” and could not hold on to the reins of leadership.
David Mark came on and was there for two terms! Now against the odds, a certain David Umahi has ditched the PDP that gave him prominence and pitched tents with APC—the ruling party. The Igbos cannot speak with one voice; a supremacy battle appears to be raging within their ranks; the super-rich amongst them wouldn’t stand to reason. But cross over to the Yoruba’s; Awolowo gave them the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN); this translated into Alliance for Democracy (AD) and then the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). the Yoruba’s have maintained their grip on these party structures to the extent that they were in the position to determine who becomes the president in Nigeria.
They have never betrayed their beginning which is why they are strong contenders for the highest office in the land. Charity begins at home. You cannot give out what you don’t have. This is not so with the Igbos. If they are serious about anything change in Nigeria, they must show commitment and faith in themselves.
