Our Reporter, Abuja
The Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thoughts, Dr. Sam Amadi, has decried the lack of effective leadership in South-East, citing a pattern where the leadership is often missing in national conversations, and the governors’ unresponsiveness to critical issues like security, economic development, and human rights abuses.
Speaking on the topic, “South-East Governors, JAMB and Tertiary Education in Igboland,” at the June Ikenga monthly townhall, Dr. Amadi attributed this problem to a leadership recruitment process that often results in imposing governors who are not deeply connected to South-East issues.
He said: “Many of the South-East governors are not home-grown, not necessarily living in the South-East, but having their sensibilities shaped by pragmatic and radical commitment to South-East issues.
“Again, also because of a low level of political engagement, and electoral activism where people don’t even care about voting, the South-East has not been able to have the governors they created themselves but rather those imposed by business associates of leading kingpins perhaps in Lagos, Abuja and Sokoto.”
“The lack of responsiveness to citizens’ needs is contrary to the essence of democracy,” he emphasized.
While expressing concerns about the recent JAMB issue, suggesting it may have political implications, Dr. Amadi said the scandalous silence of the South-East governors over the matter fits perfectly into the pattern of the South-East leadership missing in national conversations – be it on security, economy or human rights violations ongoing in the region.
He said that it was disturbing to notice the trend that the South-East governors feel they have to be super-nationalists while their fellow governors from other regions are being super-statists. He attributes this problem to what he termed “a psychological self-victimization,” which he said was one of the fallouts of the civil war.
“You are not expected to be vocal on South-East issues lest you will be termed a bigot,” the former Chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said.
Dr Amadi also submitted that the entire South-East must admit that “we are a people under siege and need to develop activist mentality” by creating counter-narratives to change the current situation in the region. He highlighted the importance of understanding and engaging with younger generations.
He also stressed the need for deliberate mentoring and socialization of young people in the region; establishing a South-East Human Rights Bureau to document and challenge extrajudicial killings; creating a coalition to tackle declining educational standards; developing pro bono legal services to help citizens challenge government accountability issues; organizing regular South-East broadcast/webinar sessions to discuss regional issues and mobilize citizens.
Dr. Amadi also highlighted the decline in educational quality and infrastructure in the South-East region, particularly in higher education, noting that universities in the South-East are falling behind those in other parts of the country.
