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How Igbo spirit to build local refineries was killed, by Ohanaeze leader


KINGSLEY OMONOBI
Sunday, October 26, 2003

President-general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Delta State, Sir Peter Chukwu, has been living a quiet but challenging life since accepting to lead Igbo in the oil city of Warri. In his office, Sunday Vanguard sat the man that could ask the over 500,000 Igbo in Warri and its environ to close shops and they would comply for an hour, talking on how Igbo leadership has failed the nation. He spoke on why the 2003 Igbo Presidency agenda failed and those things to be put in place before Igbo can "smell" the presidency. And he was angry on the failure of the nation to adopt Igbo expertise in the civil service and the petroleum sector. Excerpts:

LIFE as a leader of Ndigbo in Warri, Delta State

I was born into a position of leadership. My father, Mazi John Chukwu, was a community leader. Even though he was not a king, I learnt the rudiments of leading the people from him. It is not a big deal, bringing people and leading them because one thing is clear, to lead the Igbo as they remain resourceful like any other ethnic group in Nigeria, you have to be transparent. For example, if you are trekking with them to a place and you open your hand after two poles and they see it that you are not holding anything, they will continue to follow you. In other words, they want transparency and selfless leadership. They have to see it before they follow. But the problem in Nigeria is that most leaders have ulterior motives. In Warri, they trust me due to my transparency.

What are those lessons on leadership he passed to his children?

I used to tell them that for one to lead, it must start from the home. I used to tell them about the good old days when the Igbo were the owners of the land called Nigeria. It was a psychological conditioning, the civil war, that brought us down. The mistake we made was the civil war, but it was all meant to defend ourselves. We were bold enough under Ojukwu to defend ourselves. Events of today have however shown that we were successful.

Why Igbo failed to lead the country and Gov. Kalu’s apology on Biafra?

As a matter of fact, I read the issue in the media, and one thing was clear, he was not in a position to apologise on the civil war. But Governor Orji Uzor Kalu has also explained that what he said was that if the Igbo Eastern neighbours, that is Rivers and others are bearing grudges about the past, they should forgive and forget.

Glory of the civil service

But there could be no basis of apology as Igbo defended themselves. It was the Igbo that sustained Nigeria. It was the Igbo manpower that retained the glory of the civil service. We lost it all after the civil war. Let me tell you something Nigerians don’t know about Igbo. For Senator Nzeribe and many like him, 80 percent of these politicians can not win the presidency of their community. They can not contest and be voted to lead their town and villages. It shows that the Igbo have lost the grip to choose to the Nigerian press.

You are allowed to elect leaders, they (media) flaunt them before the people. Most of them elect themselves not by the mandate of their people because if we want a better Nigerian people would be allowed to choose those that will represent them. You see the decayed infrastructure and we have people representing us. In actual fact, the people did not put them there. They selected themselves and it made them not to have any obligation to the people. There are structural defects in Nigeria and unless those defects are corrected, the country would not make any meaningful progress. Let us not beat about the bush, and is not well with Nigeria. These structural defects are killing us. The people in authority don’t believe in Nigeria, if they do, they would help in positive rebuilding.

Why he was in the vanguard of those against the readiness of the Igbo for Presidency

The fact was that in 2003, the agitation by the Igbo was a technical error. The agitation of Ndigbo was a technical error. It is true that the Ohanaeze conference at Enugu in 2001 adopted a dream that was not realisable. It was Governor Orji Uzor Kalu who spearheaded the campaign for Igbo for President in 2003 and the people who were not knowledgeable enough hailed him. So, you found out that to issue a communique at the Ohanaeze meeting was difficult because they knew it was not possible. Some said since the young governor said it, including it in the communique and they did. But everybody knew it was not realistic as Igbo did not work for it. Nobody knew how to go about it. We were just making pronouncements and that was not enough to give us the presidency. That is why we failed. And I can tell you that in 2007, Igbo are still not ready because they have not put their acts togther. Igbo need to make peace with their neighbours. They need to reach out to those that have the scars of the civil war in the mind or so many people against Igbo. And there is also a need for an arrowhead to appear, who will start bridging the gap between the Igbo and their neighbours. That should be the first step. Their asking for presidency is just a mere talk. Without their neighbours, it wouldn’t work. It is when they start to get their neighbours closer, that is when their quest for presidency would work. It is not possible in 2007. And for them to win, all these things I have mentioned must be part of it. Miracle can not happen, if the Igbo candidate does not have a base, they must build a base and make these neighbouring nine states get the idea before making presentation to the South-West and the North.

As a leader does he find politics attractive?

As a matter of fact, I am not interested in going into local politics. What I am doing now is to help in my own calling of bringing my people together. For long, the level of suspicion and deceit among politicians would not permit such. But if they want an Igbo man to assist in running the council, we would support it. At independence, I know of some notable Igbo figures that held council positions. I know of Chief Peter Ezeli (Anambra), Chief Boniface Ukeke (Imo), and Chief Okoye. But when the war ended, suspicion was created. But the system of Nigerian politics does not allow good people to come out. The system does not want truth, it does not want the good and honest ones to come out because if you are not dishonest, then you cannot operate there. So, good people can never come out.

On why the Nigerian people suspect Igbo in position of leadership. Could it be that Igbo have failed in the past?

No! No!! You remember that in 1960, Igbo were holding he civil service but because of the war, Igbo manpower went back to the East. They took their manpower back to the East. Now, when the head of state, Yakubu Gowon, created a 12-state structure in 1967 with a view to averting secession, you were aware that there was no manpower to fill many positions at the federal side. And there was a crash programme to get people into positions the Igbo vacated. These are historical facts. In trying to fill those positions vacated by Igbo, charlatans and mediocres found themselves into positions of authority in the country. Inefficiency then became a norm and a way of life for Nigerians. I saw Nigeria under the British rule, there was a Nigerian at independence. And today, I am in a position to see the difference. So, the inefficiency we have today was caused by those leaders who did not allow things to work.

Qualified Igbo were not allowed back. Federal character and quota system were part of the policy that killed Nigeria. If they say Igbo are not capable, look at them in their private businesses, look at the Igbo entrepreneur and how he runs his business to make money.

You don’t compete with the Igbo. The only competition is not to allow him into the business at all. Government that fought the war has made it impossible for the real Igbo to win the war so that they continue to tie them down. But I must tell you, it is only the Igbo that can bring up Nigeria because it is only the Igbo that have Nigeria’s development at heart. Igbo invest money here because they believe in Nigeria. Others don’t. If an Igbo man makes money in Lagos, he invests it there. In Warri, we invest. If Nigerians are afraid of Igbo presidency, then they don’t want true restructuring.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo leader has other worries on the failed Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of refineries and the Igbo technological transfer ...

In Nigeria, the best is not allowed to perform. Igbo are the only ethnic group that are known for their scientific ingenuity. During the civil war that lasted three years, Igbo, in the Biafra territory, were refining oil. When Port Harcourt was about to fall, the Enugu Government at that time evacuated lots of bunkers. They also evacuated lots of crude into those bunkers. And through the war, the Biafran Government was running refinery that was producing oil to support the war effort. We had mobile refineries. That is, we had them on trucks. When the invading federal army were coming, they disengaged the trucks and moved to a far place where production continued for the Biafran soldiers. When the war ended, these mobile refineries were transferred to the Ministry of Mines and Power. And it was rejected because the idea then was that they don’t want anything Igbo. So, it was the Federal Government that plunged us into this TAM problem by killing the spirit behind the creation of our own refinery. The mobile refineries could have been improved upon as they were used to produce diesel, kerosine and petrol.

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