WHO IS THE STATE AND WHO IS THE PARTY? (A CLARION CALL TO ALL THE ENUGU STATE YOUTHS) By Comr. Ekene Ugwuanyi
WHO IS THE STATE AND WHO IS THE PARTY?
(A CLARION CALL TO ALL THE ENUGU STATE YOUTHS)
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For a long time in Enugu, many of my friends have been wondering why I have not joined any political party in Nigeria. This is in consideration of my influence in politics especially as regards students’ unionism then as an undergraduate. I vied for the President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) during the 2015/2016 Academic session. As a result of my politicking, I saw myself as the President General of Enugu State Student’s General Assembly (ESSGA), University of Nigeria, Nsukka and also headed the Federated Association of Nsukka Students (FANS) same UNN.
From there the Chapter presidents of Enugu state students of the various higher institutions in Nigeria had me appointed as the National president of the body, National Council of Enugu State Students (NACESS). I also saw myself in the centre of any political battle in UNN be it departmental, Faculty or the Students’ Union election even whether I liked it or not. People therefore wondered, especially during the last Council election conducted in Enugu State last year, why I didn’t join any political party. One of my friends from the same village with me who is in PDP was mounting pressure on me to join hands with him and do something. So also many of his party members across the Local government. My friend also in APC, in fact, my roommate was not happy with me why I did not join hand in galvanizing support for the APC councillorship candidate. My reply would always be a quiet smile with the response that it is unethical for students’ union activists to belong to any political party. At least, in any students; union constitution, you normally see contestants being banned from participating in political party. If for instance, it is discovered that one belongs to a political party and one is contesting for an SUG post, such a one will be automatically disqualified from the race. But there are more to my refusal to than these reasons: I knew the outcome of the election before the election itself. The election came up and I saw all the APC supporters running up and down and then suddenly instructions came up from Enugu that all the APC agents should boycott the election that PDP is not sincere and that they had rigged the election. I went round my town and saw how the ENSIEC (Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission) officials were doing the voting themselves in some places. In most of the places, old women and everybody who came would be directed where to vote; I mean, the political party to vote. And then all were making merriments. In fact, my friend from Enugu Ezike, the former president of NAEES, UNN, when I called him, told me that the ballot boxes and paper had not arrived around 3pm then when I called him. But the rumour was that votes were already being cast before it would be brought down there. APC supporters left. When I went to Eluegu in Obukpa, I met Oscar and some others. I enquired about the APC agents and they told me the guy had since left immediately he received call from Enugu. I then nodded and documented my experience that day.
From there the Chapter presidents of Enugu state students of the various higher institutions in Nigeria had me appointed as the National president of the body, National Council of Enugu State Students (NACESS). I also saw myself in the centre of any political battle in UNN be it departmental, Faculty or the Students’ Union election even whether I liked it or not. People therefore wondered, especially during the last Council election conducted in Enugu State last year, why I didn’t join any political party. One of my friends from the same village with me who is in PDP was mounting pressure on me to join hands with him and do something. So also many of his party members across the Local government. My friend also in APC, in fact, my roommate was not happy with me why I did not join hand in galvanizing support for the APC councillorship candidate. My reply would always be a quiet smile with the response that it is unethical for students’ union activists to belong to any political party. At least, in any students; union constitution, you normally see contestants being banned from participating in political party. If for instance, it is discovered that one belongs to a political party and one is contesting for an SUG post, such a one will be automatically disqualified from the race. But there are more to my refusal to than these reasons: I knew the outcome of the election before the election itself. The election came up and I saw all the APC supporters running up and down and then suddenly instructions came up from Enugu that all the APC agents should boycott the election that PDP is not sincere and that they had rigged the election. I went round my town and saw how the ENSIEC (Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission) officials were doing the voting themselves in some places. In most of the places, old women and everybody who came would be directed where to vote; I mean, the political party to vote. And then all were making merriments. In fact, my friend from Enugu Ezike, the former president of NAEES, UNN, when I called him, told me that the ballot boxes and paper had not arrived around 3pm then when I called him. But the rumour was that votes were already being cast before it would be brought down there. APC supporters left. When I went to Eluegu in Obukpa, I met Oscar and some others. I enquired about the APC agents and they told me the guy had since left immediately he received call from Enugu. I then nodded and documented my experience that day.
This write-up is a call, a clarion one for the youths to know that if care is not taken, all our destinies and aspirations will be wasted. This is a serious warning and should be taken seriously! I have interacted with youths and have seen the precipice where our destinies are hanging. One carried me as a commercial motorcyclist while I was in my third year in the university. On coming back, he led me to understand he graduated from the department of Archeology in 2008 then. Another who carried me explained to me how he had finished his masters degree in UNN, and also several others who have fulfilled the necessary academic requirements needed to secure a job but have no job to lay their hands. Those that wanted to delve into entrepreneurship discovered that they were helpless as capital is needed to embark on any reasonable venture. Where can one who suffered to pay his school fees all by himself get the capital to start up a super market? Where can he get the capital to start up a provision store or buy a car/bus to use on a commercial basis? Where can he get it when he knows what he struggled with his parents financially before he could graduate? And then the only option is to lay hand on the available, and in most cases, they end up riding a motorcycle or cab for someone and making weekly payments with the risk involved in case of damage, or going about looking for where they are building houses to serve as a labourer, lifting blocks and concrete from morning to evening only to be given the sum of N1500 as a daily payment. When he calculates the food he ate and the money used for transport for the day, you would discover that about N600 is already gone from the money. His family might also be looking up to him, and if he is someone that has a sister, it is also his responsibility to take care of her to look nice as our custom demands. And then with this kind of frustration, the young man will not have saved anything even in ten years’ time to come. Then his life would become a struggle on a daily basis until he is reminded that he is getting old and that he needs to marry. In this situation, the man’s eyes would always be dripping tears in the midnight as all his aspirations and visions of life have been shattered. Hmmmm
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It is in the above scenario that the question of government comes to play. Someone defined politics as who decides who gets what, how and when.This means that in any given society, wealth is usually collectively owned by the society but a group of people whom the society trust is assigned the task and responsibility of distributing this wealth for the common good of all. This has led different governmental cum economic system being applied by different countries. Some decided to embark on feudalism, soon feudalism was overthrown and then capitalism which was later overthrown in Russia with a lot of bloodshed and which China out rightly rejected. Then we have different forms of government, and every community always allowed itself to be ruled in accordance withthe one that becomes possible for them. We have aristocracy where only few titled men rule for the interest of all, we have oligarchy where the few rule for their selfish interest (mark oligarchy here, I will use it later), we also have gerontocracy, government by the elders, timocracy – government by the virtue of honour, plutocracy – government based on the virtue of wealth one possesses, democracy – where the people generally decides for themselves and many other forms of government. The modern world has checked and seen that the best form of government to be chosen should be democracy. This is because as Abraham Lincoln had once stated, ‘democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people. This means that it is usually the people that decide who will constitute their government and that these people elected should do everything towards making life comfortable for the people. DEMOCRACY. Nigerians also decided that this form of government will be the best. Then from 1959 election started. It is usually the responsibility of this government to use the money which belongs to the people to provide befitting things for the people to do in order to be feeding well.
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In 1960 when Nnamdi Azikiwe was Premier of Eastern Nigeria, he galvanized resources and established University of Nigeria, Nsukka and that university provided jobs for thousands of Nigerians especially those from the Eastern Nigeria. That institution is responsible for feeding almost the whole community of Nsukka as it has many people employed as lecturers, gatemen, security, cleaners, clerks; many also found themselves as sellers of groundnuts, banana, okpa, clothes; typists also are there and many other numerous jobs. Because of this establishment, these people can feed their families. Apart from the federal institutions and state institutions created by the federal government and the state institutions created immediately each of the states was established by the federal government, one won’t be wrong to wonder where the allocations coming from the federal government are going to.
Jobs come to the youths when the government sits down and plan on how a productive venture can be established, industries especially. This helps in the production of many things, minimizing importation and thereby wastage of resources. When manufacturing industries are established, many things like fabrics, clothes, beverages, glass, iron, aluminums, shoes, leather, paints, plastics etc will no longer be imported as we have many of those resources here as a given natural resources. Industries can be sited here and there and thereby many youths will be needed to man those establishments. Which other way does job opportunities come about if not through this? UNN (though not a productive industry) needs thousands of able bodied men and women to keep it functioning and so all those who work there are paid as a result of this. What then keeps the state governments to be offering these establishments to help out the youths? Does it mean that the federal government are not giving them money for this? Every year the federal government allocates money to the southeast states for the development of the states but this money usually ends up in the personal pockets of these people we elect to represent us. Imagine, a senator from southeast is being probed for owning up to 20 mansions and establishments in the United Kingdom. Where did he gets such amount from? We do not want to ask. Each of the senators and House of Representatives members would be given a huge amount monthly, aside their monthly allowance which I learnt is not below N25million, for the development of our constituency but what and what have your representative done with the money? As Igbo youths, have we not grown up enough to sit down, do a thorough calculations and know the total sum the federal government has allocated to our various states since 2015 that Buhari took over power? Have we not grown up enough to ask these questions? The Igbo youths have been fooled and seriously fooled. Sometimes I wonder if the brain of some of my fellow Enugu youths especially Nsukka people are having issue anytime they praise Governor Ugwuanyi that he is performing. I have decided to keep quiet because the seduction is so strong on the masses that sometimes it has a fanatical effect on them akin to that usually induced by religion. When an Nsukka youths praises Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, he usually points out at the road that stretches from Opi to Nsukka main town down to the Total Filling Station: that he dualized the road and puts street lights. Like seriously? I want you to google the allocations granted to Enugu state government by the federal government and see how it ranges in millions. That is different from the security votes that the governor is receiving and other assigned grants that the federal government. Google the amount of budget granted the state executive government by the House of Assembly and imagine the kind of amounts you will see. The check out where the money went to. I was even thinking that Governor Ugwuanyi was the one who constructed the road from Abakpa down to Nsukka only to discover it was done by Sullivan Chime, the past governor and someone is clapping for Gburugburu for constructing the Opi/Nsukka Road and other minor roads he repaired. One wonders why the Nsukka/University road was left in that state, having many of our helpless indigenes dying helplessly during rain because of the bad nature of the road. It was before my eyes that flood carried one man while it was raining (thank God people managed to use various sticks to wage him in the gutter but he was already unconscious when they brought him up. What shuts my mouth in shock was that there was a time the whole markets in Enugu state ranging from Ogbete, Ogige and ALL the markets were closed down because the state wants to thank Gburugburu for what he is doing. Imagine! Poor women who depend on their daily sales to feed their families are denied their daily means simply because ‘a cho’r iyo’n Gburugburu’. I have been expecting my fellow youths to ask if the Governor used his personal money to construct the road or if it was actually the money sent to us for the development of the state by Buhari. Billions are sent to you and then the small part of the money was spent and we start hailing such a person for taking part of our money to do what he is meant to do and even go to the extent of closing down markets for him. Is that not madness? It has come to the stage where the Enugu youths will examine all the roads seemingly ‘repaired’ (I like using the word ‘repair’ because it was actually our colonial masters that actually ‘constructed’ those roads for us! Our colonial masters! The white men!) by the state government and those ones claimed to have been awarded by our so called Federal Representatives. We need to do this and report these people to EFCC. This is because you will see a road whose repairing costs something like N20,000000.00 only for them to write that N2billion was spent for the project. Do you know what N1.98 million has done for the youths if something tangible is done for them? How much do you now need to establish something now as an unemployed graduate? Can’t you see how getting common N100,000.00 has become a problem for you? And you are shouting that your governor is performing. Is Nsukka not supposed to have a state polytechnic? Can’t Nsukka have a serious school of health? Is it a sin for Nsukka to have a college of Education? Where is any single industry that the state government has sited in Nsukka or even in any part of Enugu. I am saying all these because many others from Enugu East and West are thinking that the governor is developing only Nsukka, so now that you have seen that nothing is done in Nsukka, imagine how the rest of the state will be.
Everywhere there will be rally for the governor. He will just dip hands in the pocket and be giving millions anyhow for those organizing the rally; does that money belong to him? State money spent without accountability? He will go to birthday and be dashing out money anyhow. This money has always been in millions; why can’t he think of the masses? The masses will not know because the governor has a beautiful seductive smile and he has used it successfully as an opium on an average Enugu man.
I was somehow surprised when a friend of mine who was coming out for the state House of Assembly under APC suddenly changed to another party but not PDP. He had been a strong advocate of APC government since I know him but as the election draws closer, he lost faith in APC Enugu state. Don’t ask me why…. But whatever made him not to have faith in that party, billions of naira is leaving somewhere to somewhere for that to be possible.
Having lost faith in our representatives, we the Igbo youths in general and Enugu youths in particular decided to motivate ourselves to participate in this decision making and secure our future for ourselves. When the governor with that his beautiful smile was encouraging my colleagues, the smile still having its powerful seductive effect, I was still shaking my heads within me; yet I still believed in the governor as he made us believe in him being for the youths and for the masses. The youths embarked on protests to express their dissatisfactions over the poor and ugly performances of their representatives. He promised them that something will be done. Protests upon protests were embarked upon by the youths to the governor. His smile was as effective as always. The youths out of euphoria embarked on endorsing the governor even before they should secure their own interest. I told my friend who wanted me to join what they call GSSG (Gburugburu Students’ Support Group) while I was still an undergraduate, I told him it will be unwise as we need to ascertain if really the governor has the interests of the youths at heart by allowing them tickets. They embarked on the rally of endorsement. The same people went and protested for the removal of Pat. Asadu (I am not against Asadu, I have my personal reason for that and that was why you didn’t hear me say anything concerning that contest). They believed that endorsing Gburugburu will make him give them consideration. In one of my posts about Asadu’s free medical treatment, as a form of analysis, I told them that the governor dare not deny Asadu that ticket, that it is impossible. What I failed to tell them was that Asadu is better than the governor. The primary has taken place. Read Hon. Emeka Asogwa’s speech, one of the aspirants with Asadu and former S.A. to the Governor on Youth Affairs and you will discover that all the stakeholders who voted acted based on the ORDER FROM ABOVE. That other from above denied all the youths who aspired for one position or the other ticket. I told them before the primary that Chinedu Nwamba might be returned. Soon my friend who was in the venue sent me a text that he was not happy with what was happening. He further explained that the ORDER FROM ABOVE just said that Chinedu Nwamba should be returned back and there was no election again. This was different from that of Nsukka West where most of the youths came out from Obukpa and Nsukka and the the ORDER FROM ABOVE said that the ticket should be zoned to Ovogovo side. Ovogovo that has served for two tenures? When Emeka Asogwa was trying to defend the sudden emergency zoning on the point that House of Rep will be zoned to Nsukka, I just kept quiet and refused replying the comment on my facebook post but now, Nsukka Central has neither of House of Assembly ticket nor that of the House of Reps.
My question becomes, this ORDER FROM ABOVE, on whose interest does it serve? My fellow youths, only the interests of the cabals, those that have looted us for this 19 years. Bad governance has been with us since 1999, yet it is still PDP that has been ruling us. Id PDP that has been ruling us better than the APC ruling Lagos and Kano? When I hear the youths chanting PDP this, APC that, I just shake my head. Political party is just a name, a title, it is human beings that are there. When a short man joins APC he won’t grow tall as a result of that likewise when an evil man joins PDP he will become born again. We have seen and confirmed it that we as youths have been languishing in penury over these years. We have seen that the same people that have been ruling us have all been returned back by the ORDER FROM ABOBE. That other from above will try to suppress and pet you like a fool buy telling you that the party is supreme. They will preach the need to be obedient and patient with the party. Why are those same parties still accepting and giving ticket to those political bourgeoisies that just decamped not up to a month? They will preach patience to you as a good virtue, then you end up s servant, struggling, working hard to please them. Ask Oliver Ajibo who earlier won the ticket but told to step down for another in Nsukka West Constituency; ask Oliver Ajibo of Okwutu who was loyal to the party and handed over his ticket, ask Oliver Ajibo what has happened today being 8 years after that he had spent his money of over a million naira for the process, ask Oliver Ajibo how the ORDER FROM ABOVE directed that the ticket be given to another person. Ask Oliver Agbo if there was even any election at all. HE WAS LOYAL TO THE PARTY! That brings me to ask this question which serves as the title of this essay: WHO IS THE STATE AND WHO IS THE PARTY? In my 58 Independent Day Anniversary post I told you that there are only two political party in Nigeria – the rich and the poor masses. That political party you so much believe in, that is better than the others is the same - ALL ARE CONTROLLED BY YOUR ENEMY POLITICAL PARTY, THE RICH. Surrendering your civic right is fatal. Otherwise check the line up and see your future chance. Ohamadike is waiting, Barr. Tony Ugwu is waiting, Emeka Asogwa has been told to wait. After these 4 years will all of them go together? Won’t other still be told to ‘wait?’ And you believe in this loyalty of the party? When even the delegates are not free to exercise their franchise? If then people are elected based on the interest from the ORDER FROM ABOVE how then do you think those elected will represent your interest and not that of the power from above? The POWER FROM ABOVE has shown that it doesn’t have the interest of the youths at heart. The party is merely these greedy elites that have been milking us dry; we are now about to dry up! Let us know that this ‘part’ is not what we think.
THE WAY FORWARD
We must now look away from political party consideration and go for personalities. His is the only remedy. We must know that it must not be easy, but we must fight this war! WE MUST FIGHT IT BECAUSE OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS ARE IN TROUBLE!
WE MUST FIGHT IT FOR US TO SURVIVE!
Nsukka and Enugu youths, let’s now look beyond political party because and choose those who will represent us well. The revolution is about to begin! It is a call for war!
WAR OF JUSTICE FOR THE YOUTHS!
THE ORDER FROM ABOVE SHOULD BE SILENCED!
Ekene Ugwuanyi
Presdident General
Coalition of Igbo Progressive Youths (CIPY)
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
This Article is solely the opinion of the author whose name and status appeared above. You can also send in your article article for publication; forward to nwaigbaturtlestar@gmail.com
This Article is solely the opinion of the author whose name and status appeared above. You can also send in your article article for publication; forward to nwaigbaturtlestar@gmail.com
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