Umeh Preaches The New Igbo political spirit In accordance with Great Zik of Africa, Late Owelle Nnamdi Azikiwe's Philosophy

When journalists learnt that All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) National Chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, was visiting the son of Nigeria’s first President, Owelle Bamidele Chukwuma Azikiwe, at his Inosi Onira palace, Onitsha, many wondered what political gain he stood to gain from such visit.
True, Owelle Azikiwe is the first son of the famous Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, a foremost Nigerian politician and one of the architects of Nigeria’s Independence, but he has somehow kept a low profile and scarcely spoken on public issues or draw attention to himself. In fact, Owelle Azikiwe’s political inclination is hardly known.

However, when Umeh unfolded his package during that visit, packaged by Chief Rommy Onwuka, aka Ogilsi Igbo, penultimate week, the import of the visit was not lost on the audience. Umeh had been uncomfortable that most children of First Republic politicians of Igbo extraction hardly participate in politics. But he believed that it was time to speak and rekindle and give direction to the way their fathers did.

Umeh told Azikiwe:  “When I look at what is happening in Igboland I feel pained because we used to have a pride in Igboland when Zik occupied prime place from Onitsha Ado. With the great gift God gave him – knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence, he finished at Lincoln University and came back, settled in Ghana, established the West African Pilot and emancipated Nigeria and Nigeria became a free state.”

But the reverse has been the case today and that is what drew tears to Umeh’s eyes. He recalled that after the civil war Igbo were plunged into all sorts of hardship. Nevertheless, he continued, Zik picked up the pieces when it came to the politics of the Second Republic when he “founded Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) According to him, Zik gave voice back to Ndi Igbo through NPP in 1979 and through it because during the elections the party took the South East just as Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) took the West.

“Through Zik’s mastery of politics, his party was able to form an accord that saw the Igbos occupying the second and 4th highest positions in Nigeria”, Umeh said.

However, when the military struck, it reversed all the gains Igbo were able to make through NPP by enacting anti-Igbo decrees that made it difficult from them to get their fair share in the country.

Because of all these, Umeh said, Igbo think-tank prescribed that the only way out of for the Igbo was to register a political party and that was how APGA came about, he said. This is the kind of history Umeh would want children of first Republic Igbo leaders to drum into the ears of the people because after forming APGA even those who were in the party before now have scattered.

He added: “Today I have come so that even if you don’t go to the field you can just speak and the Igbo will get back to their feet again. This is because, according to Umeh, if the likes of Azikiwe relay their fathers’ ideals, the Igbos will feel good.”

Umeh was of the opinion that if the party floated by the Igbo fails to win at the centre it will be in a position to negotiate because “we cannot put ourselves in a condition of servitude”.

Umeh said he supports President Goodluck Jonathan for two reasons: that he set up a National Conference and promised to implement the outcome. This is also why he wants to go to the Senate, he added. Otherwise no automatic support will be given to anybody, Umeh vowed.

He lamented the position which Igbo politicians have put themselves at the present circumstance. He said Governor Rochas Okorocha tried to pull him into All Progressives Congress (APC) claiming that he wanted to run for the Presidency but ended up turning into a coordinator of Buhari campaigns. He said he felt sad seeing Senator Chris Ngige reading the citation of Governor Musa Kwakwanso of Kano state.

At the end of the visit, Umeh felt relieved of his worries and anxieties. He said after the visit that he was happy that Azikiwe “reaffirmed my consistently held belief that Igbo must be taken very seriously in Nigeria. The strong political views of Ojukwu and Zik are that Igbos must be in the equation of power sharing in Nigeria. Most importantly, that with the way things are in Nigeria that APGA will remain a bargaining chip for the Igbo nation in the political dispensation in the country.”

Umeh also explained why he broke down in tears when narrating the history of Ndi Igbo to Azikiwe. “Why I wept is that Igbos can never get it right if they don’t come together. That is what I have seen through my life as an Igbo man and Nigeria. Between 1979 and 1983, the Igbos were together in NPP and they had the best political experience they never had since after the war. Now we are not together. Those who we thought will help us to be together are wandering in the wilderness. We need them to come so that we negotiate with Nigeria”.

Umeh said those who say they need Igbos “must show in practical terms that they need the Igbos. From the hand writing on the wall we think that from what we are seeing, we are on the right part until we see what will make it different”. He emphasized that Igbo people support Jonathan even though there are a lot of things they will need from him. He has done some in the past that influenced their present decision.

Owelle Azikiwe in his response had said that when he received request for the visit, he had no hesitation in granting it because he knew some characteristics of Victor Umeh for which Igbo people should be very thankful. According to Azikiwe, had it not been for Umeh, APGA would have been taken over by fraudsters and drug barons.

He noted that that in Nigeria, Igbo people are moving into an uncharted road and they must be careful in everything they say or do. He advised further: “APGA should not bargain from a fixed position but should be flexible. This is what APC did and metamorphosed from AC, ACN, and collapsed into ANPP and CPC to form a strong platform. That is why we now have two mega parties”.

But since APGA is disadvantaged, he counseled, APGA should be a negotiating force and advised further: “We are not going to give anybody automatic support. We must know what is there for us. We are tired of Igbos who claim they will get something for Igbos but end up lining their pockets. We must go where we are going. I am impressed with Victor. He knows a lot and keeps secrets and though young, he is very wise.”

Umeh was later led by Owelle Chukwuma to the mausoleum of the late Zik where he paid his tribute to him.

Written by Chukwujekwu Ilozue  for Daily Independent