September 22, (THEWILL) – The National President of Association of Igbo Town Unions (ASITU), Chief Diwe, has decried the escalation of insecurity in the Southeast and expressed astonishment over this trend in a zone that was once noted for peace and tranquility.
Chief Diwe highlighted that governors of the southeast, traditional rulers and relevant stakeholders, must continue to deliberate and consult with security experts, so as to find lasting solutions to the security challenges confronting the citizenry.
He submitted that this ugly development had resulted in lost of lives and property, affected businesses and huge loses recorded on a daily basis. According to him, if nothing is done urgently, the intractable security situation in the zone may pose existential threat to the people.
The President of ASITU, Chief Diwe, made this known while interacting with newsmen in respect of the attack on security operatives in Ehime Mbano, Imo State.
He stressed that insecurity in the zone was hydra-headed and would require multi-dimensional solutions. The town union leader noted that the core people with direct links with the grassroots had been ignored in pursuit of solutions.
The ASITU boss also explained that tackling the security challenge in the region would require sincerity on the part of the governors and other Igbo leaders.
“People are dying, the only booming industry now is the coffin business. Those are the only people who are in business. If you ask them, they will tell you that business is booming. They will tell you that today is better than yesterday and that this week is better than last week. I am telling you what is on ground.
“These people only stay in Abuja and they don’t even know what is happening. Just take five people each from the communities, don’t even call Emeka Diwe; they are people who are managers of those people on ground. They know what they are suffering, they know where to start work.”
Chief Diwe explained that there is no single solution to the problem. He blamed everybody including the governors, stakeholders and security agencies, for the festering security situation in the zone.
His words, “I was thinking initially that it is one application. But, look, something that is hydra headed; the solution will also be hydra-headed. If the governors are part of the problem and you don’t solve that problem as emanating from the governors, there is nothing you can do, because they have the power; they have resources and they have everything. So, it is not a one-off thing. This is what insecurity is like.
“What’s ‘unknown gunmen’? If by any way of imagination or juxtaposition these so-called unknown gunmen have something to do with the police or with government, do you think the insecurity will stop? So, this thing is not as it is being said. It is complicated.
“You don’t shave somebody’s head in his absence. You will see that all of them are related to the people, but all of the time they are in Abuja. And the leadership of the people you say you are representing; you don’t involve them. Look at all the committees they set up, nobody from the grassroots, where the people you are supposed to be representing resides. Is it not the person who wears the shoe that knows where it pinches?”
He said, as long as the issues of marginalisation of the Ndigbo in Nigeria remained, there would be individuals who would seize the opportunity to successfully promote separatist agenda due to the frustrating situation Ndigbo have found themselves in since the end of the civil war.
“We are only addressing the symptom while dutifully ignoring the root cause of the problem. We have been doing just that with the agitation ravaging the South East for 24 years. The hype in the land today is only addressing the symptoms. Not a word is mentioned on how to address the root cause of the agitation.
“That the deliberate decision of denying their region, the South East, since the end of the war in 1970, needed and critical infrastructure such as a functional international airport with Cargo wing, a functioning sea port, railway services, including development of the much-needed East/West rail link (PH through Aba, Onitsha, Benin, Lagos to Cotonou, Accra.
“Dry Port at Aba, export processing centre at the Ninth mile corner, Enugu; electricity generation that would bolster industrialisation and good road network, creates a lasting and painful feeling of alienation, that makes it difficult for youths of the region to have a sense of belonging in the country among others.
He regretted that nothing was done to restore the faith of the youths in the system or reassure them that their fears would be addressed. Instead of deploying a non kinetic strategy in resolving the issues fuelling the agitation, he said that the authorities and their advisers only chose military offensive in containing the agitation.
“As long as compatriots refuse to devolve powers to the federating units, very few folks will continue to determine the destiny of over 200 million citizens, engendering fears of marginalisation and domination, inspiring agitation.
“Both the insecurity and sit-at-home crippling the region are consequences and symptoms of a much deeper malaise. Yet, we seem only interested in tackling only the symptoms while dutifully ignoring the root cause of the agitation.
“The feeling of rejection occasioned by acute deliberate marginalisation and oppression of the region since 1970 gave birth to the agitation. Addressing this root problem, will better resolve the agitation, let truth be told.
“Sit-at-home is a consequence and symptom of the anger and frustration in the heart of aggrieved people.”
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