Is it Not A Favourable Moment For Introspection, Recalibration, And Repositioning For The Igbo In Nigeria?

Is It Not A Favourable Moment For Introspection, Recalibration, And Repositioning For The Igbo In Nigeria?
Tuesday (Nkwo) 16-06-2026.

By demographic extrapolation, the Igbo are said to be about Forty-five Million People, making them the Third Largest Ethnic Group in Nigeria, and constituting between 15-18% of Nigeria’s total population. They are next only to the Hausa, and Yoruba.

From every analytical point of view, the Igbo are a unique group of people. They are first among the ten most resilient and industrious tribes of the world.

Distinguished by their exceptional business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit, the Igbo came back to Nigeria, after a four-year devastating brutal war, 1966-1970, beginning with a yet-to-be-compared pogrom in the North of Nigeria in 1966, to a deliberate genocide from 1967 to 1970, to emerge as one of the most economically prosperous independent tribes in contemporary Nigeria. Not withstanding obvious deliberate government-induced hindrances, the Igbo have thrived in many sectors of Nigeria’s economy.

However, the Igbo, not minding their successes in vast areas of enterprise, are yet to regain their prewar political relevance. A people with about 45 million in Nigeria’s estimated population of about 242 million peoples, that is about 15-18% of the entire population, should not make themselves to be dismissed with a mere wave of the hand when the question of how the President of Nigeria emerges.

It appears the biggest problem the Igbo are yet to solve is inadequate control over their emotional intelligence. Yes, they are very brilliant when it comes to industry and enterprise. But they should not forget that a single obnoxious policy by an unfriendly Government can render all their private efforts and investments useless.

In the past Twelve Years, 2015 to date, the Igbo huge population and expected electoral strength have, by the making of the Igbo, not, in any way, manifested any relevance. According to the late President Muhammadu Buhari who presided over Nigeria as Executive President from 2015 to 2023, he got only 5% votes in South-East which is the core area of domicile of the Igbo. Under him, the Igbo were described as a ‘mere dot in a circle’. The Igbo got nothing from his Government. Rather, his Administration embarked on a calculated policy of ethnic cleansing, using ‘Opreation Python Dance’ to decimate the Igbo Youth Population.

In 2023 Presidential Election, the current President, Distinguished Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was only able to secure 5.8% of votes from the South-East Region. Take it or leave it, the Region’s fortunes have consequently oscillated only between 5.8 and, magnanimously, 6%.

The Igbo appear to forget that in Nigeria’s unique Federal Democracy, the winner takes all, and the winner distributes the ‘National Cake’ based on his perception of those that gave him support.

The Igbo should not forget that no matter how wealthy many of their indigenes might be, many projects tower beyond personal riches. Wealthy Igbo sons and daughters can not embark on execution of such projects as;
(1) Enugu-Onitsha Road,
(2) Owerri-Aba Road,
(3) Port-Harcourt-Enugu-Maidugri Rail line,
(4) Aba-IkotEkpene Road, or
(4) Seaport at Obeaku-Ndoki, Onitsha or Uguta.

The Igbo should realize that for any period of four years they fail to adopt diplomacy in their national calculation, they put their Region in avoidable yet irretrivable quagmire. They should also take into consideration the plight of the teaming population of their employable but unemployed youths. Not long ago, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, now National Revenue Service, NRS, employed thousands of Nigerian Youths. There was hardly any Igbo Youth that was favoured in that exercise.

For many decades to come, those other Nigerians employed through that exercise will or, at least, may continue to have an edge over their peers from the South-East. Political Leaders and Elites from the South-East should, if not for any other consideration but, at least, for the well-being and future of their Youths, remember that opportunities that occur but are avoidably lost in each circle of four years in Nigeria’s democracy go a long way to diminish the growth and real essence of Youths in their Region.

As 2027 General Election approaches, it will be expected that, not withstanding that an illustrious son of the Region is expected to be on the ballot, South-East should give President Bola Ahmed Tinubu enough support that, when quantified in percentage, should not be anything less than 30%.

If the South-East will give, at least, 30% of their votes to President who, of course, will win the election, excpt God decrees otherwise, and is able to secure a 30% reward from the Tinubu Presidency in 2027, the type of Ministerial Appointments that the South-East would be given would be sharply in contrast to the ‘dry’ ones they have today. Board Appointments for individuals from the Region will also change. Infrastructure in the South-East would reflect a new thinking and new relationship. Above all, a better and prosperous future for Youths in South-East would be guaranteed.

The 2027 General Election, therefore, provides a favourable moment for the Igbo for introspection, recalibration, and its attendant repositioning.

Sir Don Ubani is a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Abia State, and Publisher of Equity Global Reporters Ltd.