For decades, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko has been raising his voice for the a level-playing field for the Igbo nation. He remains unrelenting through the Igbo Youth Movement, which he leads, and other similar bodies. In this interview, he discusses the participation of the Igbo nation in politics, the agitation for self-determination and his projection for the 2027 presidential election.
Evangelist Ugochukwu-Uko is the Founder of Igbo Youth Movement, Secretary of the Eastern Consultative Assembly, and Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought
The optics in the Southeast is difficult to discern. Thugs attack political gatherings in Enugu, prospective youth corps members abducted in Imo, Ebonyi people claim other Igbo states look down and talk down on them, while Anambra Governor adopt Bola Tinubu as candidate while an Anambra son is running for President in the same election. The Southeast is truly experiencing remarkable times.
My dear brother, it’s all politics. I usually stay away from partisan politics. It’s three months to election, crazy things and irrational things happen within election season.
The principal actors usually place their personal interests above all else; that’s the political culture they impose on the people. Nothing new. I’m sure the people are used to all that. Both in the 2011 and 2015 elections, Anambra APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance) government adopted President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) at the time. They flew according to where they believe their bread will be better buttered. They formed a coalition called “Join Jonathan’s Journey” (JJJ). They think only about protecting, preserving and promoting their personal interests. Nothing new at all.
About the abducted corps members who have been released, there’s a deliberate ploy not to make public wether their abductors were Fulani armed gangs or local gangs. I’m sure the victims know exactly who abducted them.
Ebonyi State indigenes should be treated right and reassured that Igbo are one people. Every effort must be made to carry them along at all times. They are beautiful people. Their fears should be allayed. They have every right to vote who ever they choose to.
Attacks on rallies and political meetings should be condemned by all because it’s unhelpful and dangerous. It should be discouraged. Southeast is a peaceful region.
It’s all politics.
Do you see the voting pattern of the coming election 90 days away different from the 2023’s, especially here in the Southeast?
I stay away from partisan politics and election permutations. That’s the stuff for the politicians. The 2023 environment and template is remarkably different from the circumstance, mood and alignments of today. There certainly will be remarkable shifts and outcomes will be different. But that’s politics. No two elections is exactly the same with the same results.
My people desire a fairly structured Nigeria and fair treatment from folks in power. They crave infrastructural development and being treated right.
But we can see slight changes in the attitude of leaders. Not that they’ve all repented, but they seem to address issues affecting the common man unlike before. They are now doing rural roads, roads in inner cities, even in low income high density areas who have no one to speak for them. State governments are now remembering them. Health centres and schools are now receiving makeover. For the first time, governance is reaching the local communities. That’s wonderful.
There’s remarkable improvement in the last few years. Both state and federal authorities seem to be giving attention to the real needs of the people, unlike previous years when a certain cabal will visit say, (military leaders, General Sani) Abacha and claimed they came on behalf of Ndigbo. They would praise him to high heavens and assured him they are solidly behind him. The man would meet their needs at the individual level, usually in hard currency and other personal patronage, especially procurement jobs, etc.
None of them talked about the real needs of the region: railways, container terminal, airport, international cargo wing, revitalising Eastern ports and other needful infrastructure. Never.
But after the hullabaloo of the past decade, the sit-at-home, the agitation and all, even state governments have suddenly woken up and suprisingly have begun to address issues that touch the common man. It’s amusing but it’s true. For example, (Anambra State Governor Chukwuma) Soludo suddenly remembered to construct humane motor park garages, (Enugu State Governor Peter) Mbah struggled to beat Soludo with grander motor park garages and Otti stands out with his own more chic more motor park. And the beat goes on.
The people are finally, though slowly, beginning to experience a better quality of life and it’s quite commendable. Nobody is willing to give the angry youngsters any credit for eventually forcing political leaders to finally sit up, but it all confirms the Igbo proverb that says that if the young man does not behave like a man, they’ll not remember to find him a wife.
The different atmosphere in the land today where governments are struggling to make impact in the lives of the people is a new and welcome development. It hadn’t always been so. They now seek validation and applause from the masses. Before this time they didn’t care a hoot. It may have something to do with the agitation and the fact that the masses are fed up with the country and her politicians. I pray and expect the people vote for only dedicated and committed political leaders who are doing well.
I have no candidate either as state governor or as president. I completely stay away from partisan politics. I advise our people to vote their conscience.
Do you think President Tinubu deserves a second term?
There could be surprises in politics. President Tinubu is not my man. His politics is aligning his Southwest region with the North. That can’t make him my man. I don’t blame him. In Nigeria you must have your catchment area. But I respect him and I admire his courage. I don’t know who will win in the elections 90 days away. But I know that only a united opposition can shock him. None of them (opposition candidates) stands a chance of running alone. The opposition must come together if they hope to defeat him.
The North seems determined to remove him, and like I said before, if they fail, they’ll be diminished and Tinubu exalted. They never wanted him from Day 1. They resented the fact that they can’t intimidate, manipulate and control him. They opposed him four years ago. Down stream sector was deliberately sabotaged and Naira colour changed, etc just to subvert and undermine him, yet he survived. He escaped because his opponents unwittingly split themselves into different camps. Some adopted Vice President (Yemi) Osinbajo, another group preferred Chibuike (Rotimi) Amaechi and yet another group adopted Senate President Ahmed Lawan. They also feared he would restructure Nigeria in his second term. They know his NADECO (National Democratic Coalition) history. They truly want to take back power by fire by force. They seem to have rallied behind Atiku (Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress). I don’t admire any of them but I know the election is clearly between two of them.
Other candidates are merely spoilers who probably only want to help stop Atiku. It promises to be quite an interesting election. Atiku missed his opportunity many years ago. If he had remained loyal to his boss he would have governed Nigeria between 2007 and 2015.
That quarrell with his boss (then President Olusegun Obasanjo) cost him his chance. Let’s see how 2027 will go. But it’s clearly between Tinubu and Atiku. No other candidate stands a chance.
The Igbo crave an opportunity to run Nigeria
Of course, and that chance will come someday. I sold my car to organise the IYM (Igbo Youth Movement) World Igbo Convention at the cinema hall of the Presidential Hotel Enugu 27 years ago. Aside our demand for a National Conference for a people’s Constitution, that convention presented the case for President of Igbo extraction. I organised marches in 2002, pleading with Obasanjo to do one term as he promised Ibrahim Babangida and co and allow a chance for the Southeast to govern Nigeria for a season.
I’ve remained by God’s special grace, very consistent in demanding justice for every region. But sadly several cabals within the Igbo political class muddled up every effort to present a united common front. It’s sad. Very sad.
Just look at the Igbo situation today: Heart-rending and painful. They made a mess of eating boiled eggs. In their usual desperate pursuit of individual and personal interests, they split Ndigbo into three distinct groups, each too weak to achieve its purpose, going round in circles and effectively destroying chances of any kind of positive results. I’m utterly disappointed.
What exactly do you mean? What three separate groups?
A discreet relationship with security agencies and a desire to manipulate and control the agitators offended the agitators, and they struck out on their own, claiming that they can’t trust regional leaders. Their obstinacy led to the emergence of group one: The agitators.
A poorly organised mob, led by not-too-literate young people who prefer secession. They lack strategy. They have the numbers. Blinded by anger and bitterness, they allow their emotions to direct their actions. They are manipulated by politicians who hope to use them, and sometimes actually succeed in using them. Their uncontrolled agitation led to the birth of a noisy, disrespectful army of very emotional critical mass, who make registration for PVCs (Permanent Voter Cards) and actually voting in elections difficult and sometimes impossible. They are not teachable and are actually wasting their numbers and their votes without knowing their power, if they can put their numbers to positive use. Everybody is scared of them and they paralysed the region every Monday for several years. Their “Biafra or death” and “Biafra or nothing” agitation hasn’t yielded positive blessing for the region or the people, but they remain the strongest block in the region. Politicians surviving on their energy, aren’t sure of their fate this time around.
The second group are the politicians running on the emotions of the region and the younger people in the land who hope to replicate their 2023 miraculous impact. Their messianic allure appeals to certain young people, and my region believes that the way to go is to have one of theirs in Aso Rock Villa. Nothing wrong with that. Except that their emotions may not be enough to power their dreams. I wish them luck. I do know that the circumstances of 2023 do not exist today. I also know they are up against a consummate opponent who, as an incumbent, leaves nothing to chance. 2027 will not be like 2023.
My region will find out in three months that emotions may not be enough to land one of our own in Aso Rock Villa.
The third group are swashbuckling gladiators from my region, mostly those who ported to the ruling party in pursuit of greener pastures and protection. Amongst them are vice presidential hopefuls. They are doing everything to subvert and undermine the second group in the belief that one of them could be accepted as Vice President in 2031, in preparation for the 2039 Presidency. One of them even believes he’ll become Senate President in 2027 ahead of other dreamers. They believe that Nigeria will prefer them above the (Nyesom) Wikes and (Godswill) Akpabios of the South South for 2031 Vice Presidency.
The Igbo disingenuously split themselves into these three unhelpful groups due to lack of cohesion and strategy. I’m pained and disappointed. The possibility of all three groups failing woefully to achieve their objectives is real. And very likely.
Our behaviour as a people seem to turn everybody off. Nobody identifies as friends with Ndigbo. We are on our own, quarrelling with everyone, fighting on social media with other regions while hoping to land in Aso Rock.
None of these three groups seems bothered by the fact that the online hatred and intra ethnic attacks, abuses and needless insults will certainly hinder Igbo political dreams moving forward. Our people attacked Northerners and called them all sorts of names, are currently abusing the great Yoruba nation, claiming they didn’t start the insults and abuses; that they are only responding accordingly.
It’s sad to see such crass ignorance. Abusing (Pastor Enoch) Adeboye, (Prof. Wole) Soyinka, Pastor (William) Kumuyi and other Yoruba icons will never give us Yoruba votes, moving forward. It’s shocking that Ndigbo can quickly forget that Soyinka was detained for two years by (the Head of State, Yakubu) Gowon for speaking up for Ndigbo. He was tagged Igbo sympathiser during the war. Ndigbo are making a terrible mistake abusing people we should court as friends, just because of elections.
These online insults may lead to something unpleasant, if not checked. A hundred years ago, aman named Julius Streicher began publishing in Berlin a magazine called, Der Stürmer, vilifying a specific people, blaming them for economic difficulties that troubled Germany in the 1920s. His propaganda magazine sowed the seed of the hatred that led millions to concentration camps and the gas chambers.
Ethnic hatred, when sustained, grows into something deadly. The ethnic tension being instigated by politicians because of 2027 elections is dangerous and uncalled for.
I cry to see the unity I worked and laboured for with my personal resources, youthful energy and so much dedication going up in flames because of the 2027 elections. I laboured to bring Pa Ayo Adebanjo, General Alani Akinrinade, Prof. Banji Akintoye, Yinka Odumakin and co to Enugu as guests at my IYM conferences in a bid to work together. Today, the mad quest for Aso Rock has turned Yoruba and Igbo into bitter enemies, abusing each other online. It’s sad and unfortunate.
I don’t know who started it or how it started. I only know that the hidden agenda to make Ndigbo reprehensible and troublesome is succeeding. The idea is to deliberately activate hate towards Ndigbo and isolate and ostracise Ndigbo moving forward. It’s sad our people cannot understand it. These ongoing insults, abuses and attacks will hurt our political future as a people. We are being painted in dark colours, and we sadly cannot see it. Ndigbo should be making friends in Nigeria, not enemies. We are not getting it right. Elections will come and go. Our people are so emotional. I’m truly ashamed.
Some people believe the agitation did more damage than good to the region.
The delicate and intricate truth is that certain politicians from the region cleverly twisted the narrative to suit their nuances and manipulations. Their political aspirations and interests are usually sandwiched in the narrative they repeatedly present to the authorities and the public through their friends in the media. They deliberately hide the truth.
The agitation lives in the hearts of millions of citizens from my region, mostly youngsters, who believe Nigeria will never treat them well. Ralph (Uwazuruike) began to tell them they have no future in Nigeria since 1999 and they believe him. Nnamdi (Kanu), years later outshone Ralph by broadcasting to them that they are better off in a separate country of their own. Many believe him.
Politicians from the region blackmail them by presenting them as criminals, while advancing political appointments and the Presidency to the region as the solution. But those are lies. The truth is that infrastructural development of the region and devolving power to the federating units are the panacea to these feeling of exclusion eating up their souls. In other words, the people of the region wish to see international cargo planes bringing in stuff from Europe, America, China, India Brazil etc direct to Enugu International Airport. They need to see trains run through Enugu. They want to have a sense of belonging. They think Nigeria refused to accept them. A 25-year-old married woman in Enugu has not seen trains run through the city in her life. The people want to develop their region. They know that only devolution of power will allow them grow. They feel caged in a forced unitary structure that makes them spectators and onlookers unless one of them becomes President. That also needlessly raises the stakes so high during elections as whoever wins the Presidency controls the land in our winner-takes-all political culture.
Ndigbo desire true federalism and devolution of power to develop our region. Politicians selfishly twist the narrative to only the Presidency will help Ndigbo, which isn’t true at all. Ndigbo do not care where the President will come from. They want to see a restructured Nigeria. So the agitation is not about any individual or group of people. It’s about the frustration in the hearts of millions of our citizens who believe, from personal experience, that Nigeria will never be fair to them. It is the duty of Nigeria to debunk their assumptions and treat their region fairly and equitably.
Any day ocean liners offload containers anywhere in the Southeast, seccesion will no longer be attractive to our people. Our people want to see development in our region, at least to be at par with other regions. None of the Eastern ports is functioning, but another region with several functioning seaports is constructing six more. That’s one of the reasons for the agitation.
In other words, addressing infrastructural deficiency in the region and returning to true federalism and devolution of power will assuage the people of zone.
Of course. You see, I began my activism over 30 years ago. I organised IYM seminars for Igbo youths across the land where I distributed a small green pamphlet, “Igbo Code of Conduct”. Great Igbo leaders, Mbazulike Amechi, C. C. Onoh, Alex Ekwueme, Ndubuisi Kanu, Ben Obumselu, (Chukwuemeka) Odimegwu-Ojukwu, Ben Nwabueze, Uche Chukwumerije, Dozie Ikedife, Joe Achuzia, Ojo Maduekwe, Ben Gbulie, Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, etc graciously honoured my invitation as resource persons during many of my events over the years.
During the question-and-answer session, we discovered to our surprise that young people, who live in different places and don’t know each other, endlessly lamented that they could no longer take the deliberate humiliation and mistreatment meted out to them in Nigeria for being Igbo. They said the same thing at all venues of my IYM seminars for Igbo traders at the People Club Hall, Ajao Road Surulere, Fatima Abubakar Park Abakaliki, Rosey Art Theatre Owerri, Moonshine Hotel, Jos, Rimax Institute Meiran, Lagos or Press Centre Rangers Avenue, Enugu. They all said the same thing during the military era and they never met each other.
The DNA, chromosomes and chromatids of the Igbo man resent domination and slavery. He is willing to repeat Igbo landing of 200 years ago in America, than live a life of slavery. Ralph activated MASSOB (the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra) 27 years ago because he saw that the Igbo younger generation are willing to do anything but hand over to their children a life of servitude. They don’t want that at all. Once Nigeria begins to treat the region right. I believe their souls will return to Nigeria. Devolution of power, true federalism and infrastructural development of the region are the keys. The agitation isn’t about any individual, it’s rather about the feeling of exclusion and mistreatment of the region and secondly. The unitary structure does not offer any hope for a great future. The agitators want a better deal.
Evangelist Ugochukwu-Uko is the Founder of Igbo Youth Movement, Secretary of the Eastern Consultative Assembly, and Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought
