Apex Igbo sociocultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndígbo has reacted to the signing of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) Bill into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing same as “a quantum leap, a hope renewal and a significant part of a new beginning.”
The bill which was sponsored by the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu co-sponsored by other members of the House from the South East region sought to establish a commission that will be charged with the responsibility to receive and manage funds from the allocation of the federation account for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, houses and other infrastructural damage suffered by the region as a result of the effect of the civil war after 54 years.
The commission will also tackle the ecological problems and any other related environmental or developmental challenges in the Southeast States which include Abia, Imo, Enugu, Anambra and Ebonyi.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Dr. Chiedozie Ogbonnia, added that; “The SEDC will go a long way to assuage the feelings of the Igbo with respect to the 3R sophistry by General Yakubu Gowon in January 1970.”
Below is the statement in full:
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has received with immense relief and joy the news of the signing into Law, the South East Development Commission (SEDC) Bill by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The SEDC will cover the states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.This is a quantum leap, a hope renewal and a significant part of a new beginning by President Tinubu.
Ohanaeze seizes this opportunity to commend the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu and the co-sponsors of the all-important Bill. During a courtesy call to the National Assembly by the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the exceptional quality of Kalu did not go unnoticed. His suave, assertive, sagacious and visionary dispositions were very inspiring and a veritable source of hope. More importantly, he commands the respect and confidence of most members of the House of Representatives. It needs a mention that the SEDC which has remained in the pipeline for decades has come on stream through Kalu and his team.
The Southeast Development Commission (SEDC) is expected to manage funds allocated from the Federation Account for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads, and other infrastructural deficits suffered by the region due to age-long neglect. The SEDC will tackle ecological problems and related environmental challenges that have devastated the Southeast for decades.
The SEDC will go a long way to assuage the feelings of the Igbo with respect to the 3R sophistry by General Yakubu Gowon in January 1970. Gowon had assured the world that there would be three R: Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the Igbo land as a result of war ravages. But fifty four years after the war, the South East has witnessed the direct opposite of the 3Rs, even in exponential proportion.
For instance, the South East has the least number of local government areas, the least number of states, the least in political appointments, the least members in the House of Representatives, the least in the Senate and of course the worst in infrastructure. The foregoing structures are the federal allocation tributaries that have enlarged the coast of others geopolitical zones, leaving the South East of Nigeria in the cold. No one should therefore look elsewhere in the search for the persistent youth restiveness and secessionist agitations in the region.
Furthermore, the South East governors led by the governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma, will leverage the opportunity created by the Commission to anchor programmes that will fully harness and promote the industrial, agricultural, tourism, energy, commercial and investment potentials in the zone. It will also help to create the much desired centrally coordinated security architecture in the zone; and more.
A few days ago, the Minister of Works, Sen. David Nweze Umahi, at Abikiliki, announced plans by the Federal Government to construct 477 kilometre – six-lane Super Highway, traversing five states to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. According to the minister, the super highway will, among others, pass through Abakiliki, Enugu, Nsukka, leading to Abuja.
The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide Chief Engr. Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, MFR; OFR; CFR; FNICE; FNSE; FNIST; KSG (Ahaejiagamba Ndigbo) is highly elated and sends a warm gratitude to Mr. President over these developments.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo has maintained that the cause of backpedalling by Nigeria is the Igbophobia-a pathological fear of the Igbo in a country they have sacrificed so much to uphold. As it stands, President Bola Tinubu has shown a major departure from the Buhari regime by signing the SEDC Bill into Law; appointing Sen. Dave Nweze Umahi, a brilliant and prudent engineer as the federal minister for Works, and Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla as the Chief of the Naval Staff.
This is a quantum leap and a new beginning. An Awka man asked the wife, “ineme elee omanaese”?
Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia, the National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide
