Exclusive

GOVERNOR SOLUDO's FIGHT AGAINST INSECURITY, CRIMINALITY AND IMMORALITY IN ANAMBRA

Wither The Synergy In The South East ?.

By Dr Uche Diala 

The renewed onslaught against varied manners of insecurity, crime, criminality and immorality in Anambra state, by the Professor Chukwuma Soludo led Anambra state government has caught the attention of Nigerians from the South East  beyond, and rightly so.

I honestly commend the efforts of Governor Soludo and the Anambra State government in this regard. However, as a Nigerian of proud South East/Igbo extraction, I have a worry and a cause for concern. 

Why is there no synergy and or collaboration with other South East states ?.

Why are other South East States not buying into and working alongside and in synergy with the Anambra state Governor and government ? 

Why are the South East Governors seemingly unwilling or unable to come together and work on these critical issues that have become a common denominator across the 5 South East states and that threaten to consume the South East and Ala Igbo ?.

I first expressed this concern in April 2022 when the Anambra State governor, HE Professor Chukwuma Soludo unilaterally set up a 'Truth, Justice and Peace Committee' aimed at unravelling "the true cause of armed struggle in the south-east, which has heightened insecurity in the region and led to loss of lives and property".

That committee headed by Professor Chidi Odinkalu, with Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu as secretary had the following other members: Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, Dr. Udenta Udenta, Dr. Uju Agomoh, Rev. Fr (Msgnr) Jerome Madueke, Canon Dr. Okechukwu C. Obi-Okoye, Mr. Charles Oputa (Charly Boy), Dr. John Otu, Mr. Ngozi Odumuko, Ms. Onyeka Onwenu (late), Dr. Joe Abah, Mr. Chukwuma Okpalaezeukwu, Mr. Sam Egwuatu and Prof. Joseph Ikechebelu.

The Terms of Reference for the Committee which had 6 months to submit its report, as stated, were to:

1) Identify the remote and immediate causes of the agitations, restiveness, violence, and armed struggle in the South East since 1999.

2) Document victims/circumstances of death, brutality and incarceration, identify stakeholders and groups who have played critical roles in the agitations and conflicts, their roles, capabilities and demands.

3) Address any other issue(s) that may be germane to unravelling the extent of the crisis and charting the roadmap for the future and make recommendations for sustainable peace and security in Anambra state/Southeast.”

At the time the committee was set up, while I acknowledged and commended the fact that its membership was drawn from accomplished men and women from across the 5 South East states, I asked why the other four Governors of the South East were not drawn in or involved? 

While I may not know the reason for that not happening, I thought it was a missed opportunity. I believed it would have made it easier to adopt and implement the committee's eventual recommendations, if all South East Governors were working together. To date, I do not know the outcome of the committee's assignment or its implementation.

As a geopolitical zone with not just shared (open) geographical boundaries, we also have a shared socio-cultural and political history as well as shared and peculiar security and economic challenges. 

Our open, and shared state borders, in addition to the other factors stated above, make it much easier for inter state crimes, criminal actors and ideologies to easliy move across state and even village borders, and become quickly embraced and even protected.

This makes it very imperative, in my humble view, that any strategy and effort to combat insecurity and like challenges in the South East or indeed, any South East state must neccesarily and preferably have the collaboration of the 5 South East states, for it to be effective, successful and sustainable.

Such collaboration should include joint planning, logistics, intelligence gathering and sharing and funding. 

Otherwise, the result would be that criminal elements and ideologies, when under fire in one state, would simply cross over borders (we have no real borders between South East states) to continue to thrive there and maybe incubate and reorganise to return when the heat dies down. That we have seen happen frequently and continuously in the past, including recent past.

As people with a shared destiny, it is important that other South East Governors and governments deliberately and intentionally strive to work with the Anambra State Government, and vice versa, with a view to achieving a holistic and enduring result of riding the South East of insecurity, criminal elements, self destructive ideologies, immoral/indecent behaviour, as well as, conducts and practices that are at variance with known Igbo values, traditions and culture, thereby putting us in bad light and in a disadvantaged position in the comity of nations.

As we Igbos say: 'agbata obi onye bu nwanne ya'. No one is truly secure except one's neighbours and neighbourhood are equally secure.

I humbly call on the South East Governors to set aside their political and personal differences and work in unison, as brothers and leaders, for the safety and security of lives and properties and for the socio-economic prosperity of the South East geopolitical zone and Ndi Igbo. It is their constitutional and moral duty.

I equally call on groups like Ohaneze Ndigbo, Igbo Intelligentsia Forum (IIF) and their likes to stand to he counted. The time is now.

Together, we can leverage and build on the bold steps currently being taken by Governor Soludo in Anambra state and make it to become a win for the South East, Ala Igbo and Ndi Igbo in general. 

Onye Kwe, Chi Ya Ekwe!

Taa Bu Gboo!

Uche Diala PhD is the National Coordinator, South East/Igbo All Progressives Roundtable (SIAPRO). He can be reached on druchediala@gmail.com