Igbos most disenfranchised, marginalized in Nigeria – Abaribe

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The Senator representing Abia South senatorial district in Abia State, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has declared that Igbos are the most disenfranchised and downtrodden group in Nigeria.

Abaribe lamented the political imbalance in the country and insisted that it is unjust to give the South East just five states.

During a public reading of Ikem Okuhu’s book “The Power of Nothing: Triumph And Trump Of People’s Voice In Enugu” on Saturday in Abuja, the senator made this statement.

Hon. Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, a member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who represents the Aba North/South Federal Constituency, represented Abaribe at the event.

“I would like to say a few things about the Igbos. We Igbos believe in progressivism, and the concept of patriotism and nationalism.

“And this is why you will see an Igbo man pack up his bag and leave his village to Bauchi to set up shops, buy a piece of land, build a house, and become an employer of labour. That in itself, for me, is nationalism, patriotism and progressivism.

“That’s why the Igbo man has that enthusiasm in him to develop, to be progressive, and to remain optimistic. That’s why I said that optimism is a virtue every Nigerian and politician must embrace so that Nigeria will always be better.

“A lot of people might not like what I want to say, the Igbos, we are the most disenfranchised and marginalized. But all we try to do and encourage our brothers is to support one another because it’s highly needed,” the Senator said.

According to Abaribe, Okuhu’s book, which detailed the events leading up to and following the 2023 Enugu State gubernatorial election, will assist lawmakers in crafting legislation that will enhance the country’s electoral system.

He contends that the country can only start to determine the clinical answers for addressing its issues once it has recognised its difficulties and the political system’s dilemma.

“Today we are having a conversation about tax reform. It’s a subject matter that’s on the front burner.

“If the bill is passed that means every activity that relates to your business will be affected. So when you say you’re not interested in politics, you’re doing yourself and family a great disservice.

“Our president, when he was elected, on the day of his inauguration made a statement and said that subsidy is gone.

“Immediately, the effect of that statement became something that has put us in an economic quagmire.

“This goes to show that politics plays a very intricate role in all our lives. That’s why we must be enthusiastic, eager and receptive to anything that relates to lessons that can be learned from the mistakes of the past.

“It’s only when you identify your problem, you identify the conundrum of the political system that you can then begin also to identify the clinical solutions of how those problems can be tackled.

“There are things that happened, there are people that believe they have built alliances, there are people that gave their words but at the end of the day, those agreements were breached. This is a lesson every politician must learn.

“This book here will help us to identify those signs, to identify those traits and also to be cautious to know those whom we align with.

“This is a very critical lesson that every politician must learn. It will help us to come up with laws that help to perfect our electoral system based on the mistakes of the old.”

Also a writer and public relations specialist, Okuhu stated in his statement that he was inspired to create the book in order to help address some of the irregularities from the most recent general election in 2023.

According to the author, the majority of voters cast ballots in one direction, but the results were the opposite.

He said: “We believe and still believe that that election was taken. And for that reason I decided to document, as much as I could see then, all the struggles and lives of our people in Enugu into this battle.

“I keep saying that we shouldn’t be where we are today. We embarked on that project because we were going to win it in Enugu State.

“But unfortunately what happened happened. And then I thought that the best way to do justice to history was to record history itself, not to blame history and allow other people to tell the story but to tell the story to make sure that tomorrow, may be, it might help to correct some of the anomalies; may be it may serve for information and knowledge purposes.

“I needed to put it out there and ensure that the truth and only the truth was spoken as far as my own experience in the last campaign was concerned.

“The truth is that the Labour Party won that election in Enugu State, there’s no denying it. If you open that book you will see polling record materials obviously written by one person, the same handwriting.

“You don’t need a forensic expert to know that one person wrote these results and submitted it and passed it.

“The truth is that the majority of the people voted in one particular direction and the outcome went the other way.”

Among many other dignitaries, Okey Ezea, the senator for the Enugu North senatorial district, Mark Chidi Obetta, the member for the Nsukka/Igboeze South Federal constituency, and Chijioke Edega, the Labour Party’s 2023 gubernatorial candidate, were also there.

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