The just concluded presidential election results have shown very serious issue when it comes to the sensitisation and mobilisation of the populace in the Eastern States. I watched very carefully how the events unfolded as it affects the ability of the Eastern region to attract or ensure the government at the center recognises the political importance of the region when it comes to policies and development, hence the East has so far and for too long been developed at the instance of self-help and self-determination which has slowed the progress of the region despite the resourcefulness of the people of the region.
Our politicians (from the east) have failed to a large extent to lead the way and therefore it is safe to say that what we have seen are politicians who are still seeing the act of politicking and governance at the personal interest levels and for their pockets, no wonder the region lag behind so badly in being a political force irrespective of the fact that we have always been considered as one of the major tribes in the country but in truth, in reality and in practice we have little or wanner political relevance by just making up the numbers and can not in true term decide or have weight in the political landscape of the country.
This should not always be a case of creating more states in the Eastern part of the country, which I even see as being inimical to our progress and political relevance and as a matter of fact does not and would not add value to our agitation to one day produce the president of this country. We should just get it straight and now the lesson should serve for future reference. Let's go to the results in this 2015 Election, I'll take Rivers State as a case study. How can States like Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Eboyi States to not been able to register over 2 million eligible voters in each state and not have more than 1 million votes cast at every election? Does it mean that these states does not have the population in the average age of 18yrs and above people of up to 2 million in each of the states despite the fact that even a mental calculation suggests the exact opposite?
#Delta LGAs: 25
REG. VOTERS:2,044,372
ACCR VOTERS:1,350,914"
VALID VOTES: 1,267,773
VOTES CAST:1,284,848
REJECTED VOTES:17,075"
#Rivers LGAs: 23
REG. VOTERS: 2,324,300
ACCR VOTERS: 1,643,409"
VALID VOTES:1,565,461
VOTES CAST:1,584,768
#Akwa Ibom LGAs: 31
REG. VOTERS: 1,644,481
ACCR VOTERS: 1,074,070"
#Kaduna LGAs: 23
REG. VOTERS: 3,361,793
ACCR VOTERS: 1,746,031"
VALID VOTES: 1,617,482
VOTES CAST: 1,650,201 REJECTED VOTES: 32,719"
#Adamawa LGAs: 21
REG. VOTERS: 1,518,123
ACCR VOTERS: 709,993"
VALID VOTES:636,018
VOTES CAST: 661,210
REJECTED VOTES: 25,192"
#Yobe LGAs: 17
REG. VOTERS: 1,077,942
ACCR VOTERS: 520,127"
VALID VOTES: 473,796
VOTES CAST: 491,767
REJECTED VOTES:17,971"
Above were parts of the result released by INEC in the 2015 election results. Compare to the same result for the following States;
#Imo LGAs: 27
REG. VOTERS: 1,747,681
ACCR VOTERS: 801,712"
VALID VOTES: 702,964
VOTES CAST: 731,921
REJECTED VOTES: 28,957"
(Despite having the biggest number of local governments, only second to Akwa Ibom and far more than Kaduna, for the states under reference)
#Abia LGAs: 17
REG. VOTERS:1,349,134
ACCR VOTERS:442,538"
VALID VOTES:391,045
VOTES CAST:401,049
REJECTED VOTES:10,004"
#Anambra LGAs: 21
REG. VOTERS: 1,963,427
ACCR VOTERS: 774,430"
VALID VOTES: 688,584
VOTES CAST:703,409
REJECTED VOTES:14,825"
#Enugu LGAs: 17
REG. VOTERS: 1,381,563
ACCR VOTERS: 616,112"
#Ebonyi LGAs: 13
REG. VOTERS: 1,071,226
ACCR VOTERS: 425,301"
VALID VOTES: 363,888
VOTES CAST: 393,337
REJECTED VOTES: 29,449"
The point to make from the above analysis is that when you look at the registered voters in the respective states and relate it to the accredited voters in the same states and compare it with those from the core Eastern States, you will see that even though the Eastern region have been largely peaceful over the years, but have been unable to take advantage of it's relative peace to be politically active and make their numbers count. This, I would largely blame on the politicians and self-imposed leaders from the region that pride themselves as the representatives but have failed woefully in doing so. How do you intend to bring the Federal presence when your votes just make up the numbers and can't decide the outcome or play huge impact on the elections?
We can't continue like this otherwise we should as well forget the issue of a president coming from the Igbo extraction or South-east ever ruling Nigeria now or in the nearest future. We do not have to allow those parading themselves now as political leaders and heavy weights in our region to continue to use us for their pockets without deepening our political relevance as a region or tribe (if we should see it that way). It's just their pocket and name that they are after and trying to become a demigod only for the benefit of their immediate family, relatives and cronies with no political relevance to the political settings of the country. If the Igbo's have a political force, we can have a strong party that can enter into merger or alliance to get us what we need if we can't go it alone or at least have a strong bargaining power to get the attention of the center or ruling party so we can have our say, truly in the affairs of our nation
The politicians in the East jostle for their pockets and parade themselves as politicians or representing our collective interests but they have grossly undermined our region and now a place like Rivers State that has
(REG. VOTERS: 2,324,300
ACCR VOTERS: 1,643,409"
VALID VOTES:1,565,461)
more political relevance than any or even 2 states in the South East put together and therefore has more eligible voters than any or 2 states in the Eastern heartland states put together and that's the simple analysis. Even in the parts of the country which has been unstable can favourably compete with those in the East that has been largely peaceful over the years and that's the reality of our situation.
It is time for there to be a real paradigm shift in the way we participate in the affairs of our region and the country at large so that we can take our rightful place as one of the main tribes of the country because we have systematically become a minority in the affairs of the country and the South-south has rightfully replaced the South-east because they have gradually become a political force not just because they have produced the president but because they have also become a political force in delivering block votes and if this trend continues we can never gain relevance but avail ourselves and the generations yet unborn with the crumbs that falls from the political table of the country. The same goes to the development of our region but we can do away with bad representatives, bad governors and bad senators and choose for ourselves first and foremost a proper voice and road-map for our political salvation and development.
No comments:
Post a Comment