For so long, the fact that Igbos tend to build elegant mansions in their villages and some of them buy Rolls Royce Limousines, tended to create an illusion ,

of success and social advancement. But seen in the context of development indices, it is now clear that the Igbo of today has become a laggard. Obviously, the situation is likely to worsen as their political relevance declines precipitously. The investment pattern of the Igbo business elite is quite revealing. They hardly invest in contemporary service industries like education, media, information technology (minus Zinox) etc. The average Igbo businessman is usually an importer and exporter, a hotelier or contractor!

The Igbo political elite believe in personal survival. But the lesson of history is that in backward societies like Nigeria, group consciousness is the dominant social sentiment. Any group that lacks it is soon shoved out of the pecking order and reduced to marginal players. Because they do not act in concert, Igbos do not represent any significant economic force, except as traders in the multiple markets scattered all over Nigeria. Curiously and unknown to many Nigerians, while the “Igbo markets' outside Igbo land are flourishing, the Igbo markets in Igboland – Ariaria, Main market, Onitsha and Ogbate market, Enugu etc, are like the entire Igbo land, floundering. Increasingly, corporate organizations are ignoring the Igbo market in their models and marketing campaigns. For instance, DSTV has Yoruba and Hausa channels, but no Igbo one. So, even though there may be more Igbo viewers of the channel than any other group, it does not matter because the Igbos themselves do not quite exist as a distinct language group. Mouka Foam recently shot a commercial in Pidgin English, Hausa and Yoruba. Apparently they didn't bother about their Igbo customers, since Igbos do not quite exist as a language unit. And more crucially, they would not mind anyway, after all they hardly speak the language. In the banking industry, Igbos form the dominant customer base, but the credit portfolio shows very few Igbos. This litany can go on and on. It is possible only because there is in truth, little or no Igbo consciousness among the ethnic nationality that is so called. Their elites live in denial. Their Governors owe little or no allegiance to them. Their high Government officials pander to their own interests. Their traditional rulers are often jokers and the people themselves lacking cohesion, resort to self survival and blatant indifference to group identity.

Some Igbos, including even those I respect, have talked of an Igbo as President in 2015. What a joke! To the best of my knowledge and I should know, no Igbo man is even remotely interested (effectively) of being President. To underscore the Igbo political impotence, no major political party has selected its candidate or even Vice President from the Igbo. And this is perhaps the largest voting bloc in the country. What does that tell you?

The truth is that Nigeria has finally convinced itself of the Igbo political irrelevance and has moved on. I do not see the possibility of an Igbo President of Nigeria in my generation. As one Igbo billionaire once told me, “I am talking of money and you are talking of power!” Please, tell me, how can such a pathetic and shameless people ever gain political power?
Some of my Igbo readers have expressed displeasure with me over my position on these issues. Interestingly, many of them believe that the situation is quite bad. But they say it is not hopeless. I agree, but only to the extent that indeed, no condition in life is actually hopeless. Did the poet not write that hope springs eternally … In human societies, situation and circumstances can and do change. And as Nigerians often love to quote, “no condition is permanent.” So for the Igbo, there is a real possibility of some kind of change in their circumstances. But the core issue to raise is, what manner of change and in what direction? If the change means that there could be an Igbo as president of Nigeria, certainly that is possible. But will it be in 2015? The answer is a categorical No! And why? you may ask. Simply because there is no Igbo man, to the best of my knowledge, who is genuinely working towards becoming President either in 2015 or even thereafter.

As a matter of fact, the earliest an Igbo can make the Presidency all things being equal, is 2023. And even then, it will be a very tall order. My bet is that the Yoruba will likely produce another President of Nigeria before the Igbo. This is especially so, with the abolition of zoning. The sad reality is that Igbos are not investing in power.
So, let us even assume that an Igbo can emerge by either 2023 or 2031, or infact 2039, what will that fact mean to the Igbo and some of the salient points we have raised here? As a way of determining whether the position of president will answer some of the critical issues blighting the Igbo, let us examine the performance of Igbos who have occupied high Government offices. This is important because it used to be said that Igbos were marginalized and denied of high offices and advancement in their careers. Then the Nigerian state responded positively. How did Evans Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo, Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara and Ken Nnamani advance the Igbo cause? Apart from Anyim and possibly Nnamani, were the rest not tragic cases? Many Igbos and indeed many Nigerians, may not know how Okadigbo was killed. He was demonstrating with Muhammed Buhari. Security officials who cordoned off the area, made space for Buhari to pass, when he did, they closed in on Okadigbo and began to tear gas him. Being asthmatic, he choked on the gas and died subsequently. No one, no Igbo man even whimpered. If Jonathan were Igbo and aspired to contest after Yar'Adua died, Igbos in the North would have been massacred ruthlessly. Today, Igbos are the weakest ethnic group in Nigeria and the most vulnerable, because they live mostly outside their homeland. Their cities are dying, while they build up other cities. Their senior citizens hardly return to the East, rather they live in Lagos and Abuja until they are carried home in coffins. Just ask yourself, how many senior Yoruba citizens live in Enugu and Abuja or Kaduna? Or how many senior Hausa-Fulani senior citizens live in Lagos or Ibadan?

Igbos in high public offices are often scared stiff to advance their own or Igbo interest. Look at Ogbonnaya Onovo. The first Igbo Inspector General of Police is today rated as one of the worst IG's in the history of the force. Why? Because he was too timid to assert himself and to be useful even to his own people.
Everyman to Himself, God for us all …
So, when some Igbos say that God will surely intervene on their behalf, you cannot but feel sorry for them. Why not, sure, God will help them. He helps everyone, anyway. But they don't have a monopoly of Him.
However, as I was taught in primary school, Heaven helps those who help themselves. Let me say it loud and clear, God will not help the Igbo if the Igbo do not do something meaningful to help himself.
Sadly, many Nigerians do not even know that Igbos do not quite understand the spiritual. The basic Igbo response to life is carefree. Perhaps that would explain why there is hardly any Igbo owned church that has succeeded at a national level. There are no Igbo among the list of the ten most influential Christian church leaders in Nigeria. And yet, Igbos are the most populous Christian population in Africa. Even in traditional religion, Igbos hardly rate high. That probably explains why prominent Igbos join Ogboni. Unknown to many Nigerians, hardly any Hausa-Fulani is a member of Ogboni. And certainly hardly any Yoruba belongs to any Igbo fraternity, assuming that there is even any such. Anyone would have expected that the Peoples club, which spread all over the S/East after the civil war would have transformed into something tangible and meaningful. But did it?
Igbos do not have functional internal conflict resolution mechanisms. Just go to EFCC and the various police formations. It is always cases of Igbos against Igbos, as if other ethnic groups don't quarrel with their kinsmen. But when Igbos quarrel, who do they go to for arbitration? Which traditional ruler or Church leader? None! What manner of people are these?
Indeed, I could go on and on. But now, I must stop. I don't know about you, but talking about all these churns my stomach.

http:///index.php/presidency/4930.html

we easterners need to discuss on this.

The writer has a point . . . . . . . .

But his write up is also full of pointless points.

Hummmmmmmmm

A very useless and ethnic biased article. . .and why did he have to go by name Emeka Obasi

chosen04:

The writer has a point . . . . . . . .

But his write up is also full of pointless points.

Orisirisi

calyx:

A very useless and ethnic biased article. . .and why did he have to go by name Emeka Obasi

Should he have gone by the name, Obasanjo?

Y'all still don't get it. . . . .

The Igbo political elite believe in personal survival. But the lesson of history is that in backward societies like Nigeria, group consciousness is the dominant social sentiment. Any group that lacks it is soon shoved out of the pecking order and reduced to marginal players[color=#990000][/color].

There has to be some form of reawakening especially down south; we need to build strong institutions and flourishing towns.