''Igbos Are Third-Rate Citizens In Nigeria'' – Kalu

Former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, has described the Igbos as third-rate citizens in the Nigerian project.
For Kalu Ndi Igbo have been completely relegated to the background in Nigeria and are neither seen nor heard in the scheme of things.
Kalu, who spoke last Thursday at the British House of Commons in the United Kingdom, according to him,  the statistics states the obvious: That the Igbos, who occupied the South-East part of the country, were not as highly valued as the Hausa and Yoruba ethnic stocks.

He said: “The Igbo in Nigeria have become the receptacle of anger, hatred, envy and frustration oozing out of their fellow compatriots. But this is on the level of the transaction between private citizens.
“How about the place of the Igbo in respect of the manner in which public affairs are conducted by the Nigerian Federal Government and its agencies? The simple answer is that the rain has continued to beat the Igbo.”
Specifically, he said the North-West had seven states while others had six. In terms of local governments, the South-East also had the least 95. The North-West had 186 local government areas, North-East 112, North-Central 115, South-West 138 and South-South 123. For the federal constituencies, which formed the basis for election into the House of Representatives, the South-East had 43 while the North-West had 92, the North-East 48, North-Central 49, South-West 71 and South-South 55. For senatorial districts, the North-West tops with 21, the North-Central, North-East, South-South and South-West all had 18 and the South-East with the least, 15.
He stated further: “The above table does not represent an opinion or a hypothesis. It represents the blatant reality of the third rate status forced upon the Igbo in the political space in Nigeria.
“We, the Igbo, have striven but thus far failed to persuade the Nigerian establishment about the hurt and humiliation and deprivation that come with the idea that we, as a people, are legally condemned to third rate status in our own country, as amply demonstrated by the above table.
“The implications of this calculated fraud against my people are so massive and go entirely untold: unequal allocation of resources, unequal voice in the Federal Executive Council, unequal representation in the National Assembly (the gravest of all), unequal participation in the administration of justice in the federation, unequal participation in the federal civil service and adjunct bodies, unequal representation in the armed forces and paramilitary organisations, unequal representation in the diplomatic corps ensuring incapacity in showcasing the Igbo culture as part of a pan Nigerian culture in our foreign missions and embassies, fewer primary, secondary and higher education opportunities for our children, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.”

He stated that these disparities had been taken further to the ruler ship of the country, while those from the North-Central had ruled for 17 years, 11 months and 20 days as at the time of the address to the House of Commons, the North-West had occupied the country’s presidency for 13 years, 11 months and 10 days; the South-West for 11 years, 10 months and eight days; the North-East for five years, three months and 15 days; and the South-South for five years and 23 days.
But for the South-East, leading the country had only been for six months and 13 days.

Kalu added:
“The histories of nations are replete with evidence of existential threat to any group whose marginalization is made a subject matter of constitutional enshrinement.
“With unequal voice in the Federal Executive Council, in the National Assembly, on the federal judicial benches and a vast array of other fora in which the Igbo suffer sub-parity representation, the strength of the advocacy of our problems and priorities is thus diminished. Little wonder, then, that the South-East zone, the area inhabited by the Igbo, still manifests the physical characteristics of a conquered and occupied land, 43 years after the civil war.
“Quite apart from the psychological assault it represents for Igbo people, the practical issues of unequal representation and unequal allocation of resources are calculated to retard the development of our region and our people.
“The Igbo tenacity, drive and relentless optimism to pursue life’s enduring dreams of family, faith and success and to overcome life’s challenges will see them through. But the world must listen to them whenever they cry out. For they have long suffered and endured in silence, as the rain continues to beat them.”
Kalu said this was the major reason for the formation of Njiko Igbo, a group with the mandate to push for the election of a president of Igbo extraction for Nigeria in 2015.
He said: “The presidency of the Nigerian nation has not eluded the Igbo by accident or by an act of divinity but by human design; and it is through human pressure that we can attain it. Njiko Igbo is the catalyst and conduit for our collective action.

Is it about sincere change or a political gimmick for 2015 Election?

Source: Sun Newspapers