We’ll Fail As People If Personal Success Supersedes Collective Growth - Abaribe Tells Ndigbo
Former Senate Minority Leader and senator representing Abia South, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has blamed the arrest and continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government for the rising insecurity in the South East.
Speaking at an event in Enugu, he noted that while attempts were on to find solution to the crisis, it was also important to look into other issues affecting the zone, including the worsening economic activities and politics.
He described some security issues in the region as contrived; thereby making it seem as if they cannot be tackled by the security agents.
He called for a paradigm shift in the zone in all aspects to return to the past glory.
Abaribe said: “As much as we know that we cannot do anything without security, I posit that we must, while dealing with insecurity (some of which are contrived) also start to discuss some other pressing issues within our polity.
“I say contrived because it is obvious that it is the general malaise in our society today that makes it seem as if insecurity cannot be tackled by our various security agencies.
“We have reached the point where we, as Ndigbo must heed the clarion call for a total paradigm shift. When I say shift, I mean both in governance trajectory, cultural/traditional reappraisal, business/commercial practices (including our famed apprenticeship system or i gba boi), and most importantly our economic orientation and political alignments.
“Ndigbo are progressives. We are development conscious. More than that, we have always been a people who do not depend on others to drive growth. All we have always needed was to come together as a people, and drive growth. This is evident in the preponderance of town unions, village development associations etc. which we have leveraged on to provide development for our communities.
“These loose associations are today, pivotal to most development strides in our communities and of course, these efforts have expanded to the areas of community security associations to complement government efforts.
“While we acknowledge that we have been given the short end of the stick in the Nigerian project, we must pull ourselves up, stop moaning about how badly we have been treated by Nigeria and embrace the Igbo adage: ‘onye ajuru aju, anaghi aju onwe ya.’ We have done it before, and we can do it again, if we commit to it.”
The vocal senator urged the Igbo to stop complaining and confront the reality with all the tact and zeal, adding that they did not consolidate on their previous successes.
“Our progress going forward must now be dependent on how we use this self-rediscovery.
“Yes, Ndigbo today have insecurity issues, but it was not the case in the recent past. Today’s insecurity started from the Nnamdi Kanu/IPOB saga in 2021. Did the economic downturn in the South-East start from that date? The answer is a resounding no,” he declared.
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