THE UKWA L’NGWA THAT IS AND THAT SHOULD BE: THE ANALYSIS OF CHIEF CHUKWUDI ORACLE NWALA ON ELDERS COUNCIL, NGWA CAUSE AND DEVELOPMENT

It has never been my flavour to pander toward contrived political enclave or leaning, regardless that politics is primarily local and essentially about interest. This interest could be one’s pecuniary or proprietary interest, that of a group one has vested interest in or a seamless combination of both.

For the Ngwa Nation, a concave of Igbo extraction, with arguably the single largest and most populous ethnic group in the south eastern Nigeria and consisting of nine local governments, politics with huge ethnic colouration is what has unfortunately come to live with it. 

This situation is absolutely unfortunate, essentially because the serial agitations the Ngwa people have been dragged into are only clasped on grabbing power for its sake and nothing more. Such struggles have never had any leaning or interest in the overall development of the Ngwa nation; whether youth empowerment, women emancipation, men liberation neither does it relate to the removal of all ‘unfreedoms’, blockages and limited opportunities that has held the people down. Not one!

The first of this agitation in the current dispensation was towards the 2003 general election. This was the time all Ngwa people lined up behind Senator Enyinnaya Abariba in what was termed the ‘Otu Onu’ Struggle. The whole idea then was for the Ngwa nation to have a taste of the governorship seat. 

In order to deepen the agitation, nde Ngwa collectively fought on the fronts of the ‘old Aba Division versus Old Bende Division’. That agitation was not fully realized and was soon abandoned when the alter ego of the movement, Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe opted to go to the Senate in 2007.

The complexity of these agitations is compounded by the fact that it is often farmed and framed around the interest of very few individuals who want power for the sake of it. 

So, in both 2007 and 2011 general elections, there were no such agitations as all the architects of the struggle seemed to have entrenched grasp in other offices rather than the government house. 

Suddenly, in 2015, the agitation soared but this time, on the canvas of Senatorial District. The Ngwa agitation for power was no longer based on the previous divide along the old Aba/Bende Division tangent but on Senatorial District, just to accommodate the Abia South Senatorial Districts’ governorship candidate. This approach automatically eliminated some strong contenders from the picture.

Somehow, some of us were minded to fly with the best option in terms of the candidate with a premier pedigree and profile of the highest distinction. In this, some of us found comfort and rallied round Dr. Alex Otti OFR, who at then was the flagbearer of the APGA. In a twist of events, the campaign mantra changed overnight and the old Aba and old Bende debacle ensued. The major campaign issue then reclined lowly on whether Dr. Alex Otti is an Ngwa man or not.

Dr. Alex Otti is of Aro descent but was born and bred in Umuru, Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South (Dr. Alex is about the fourth generation in that sojourn). History records Aro descents as largely itinerants and they are found everywhere in Igbo land. There was not a single history of discrimination against them, particularly in Ngwa land and they were fully integrated indigenes of Ngwa land. They owned land and participated in all local activities without aught.

Unfortunately, the Ngwa interest was for the first time defined to mean having a governor of Ngwa extraction whose ancestry was not immediately connected to any enclave outside Ngwa land. To make matters worse, some leaders of Ngwa land categorically insisted that it was ‘better to have a dog whose umbilical cord was buried in Ngwa land than anyone else, regardless the pedigree as governor’. 

To be able to achieve the concealed interest of few promoters of the idea, several Ukwa/Ngwa cultural organisations were mass produced to promote what was then termed ‘Ngwa Cause’. The truth of what happened at this point was that the majority of Ngwa people were not fooled. 

Unfortunately, while Dr. Alex Otti had the votes, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu won the election (details of this episode is reserved in my Autobiography: My Role in Abia Governorship Election 2015). The concern of the instant is that soon after the 2015 election, all the issues around ‘Ngwa Cause’ abated. No one ever called for account of how the ‘collective goodwill’ of nde Ngwa translates to Ngwa development. No one!

At the moment, we seemed to be embroiled yet again in another Ukwa/Ngwa agitation but unlike the previous ones, the progenitors are still tinkering with the colouration and brand it should have. It initially started with calls for shift of governorship to Abia Central (Ngwa extraction). But that seemed to open the doors to non Ngwa extraction and the promoters quickly reverted to old Aba and old Bende Divisions again. It’s always about few people using all of us to achieve their end. Even at that, the inclusion of Ukwa in the agitation equation merely serve to add to the numbers at the point of mixing the flour and does not seem to have a place when the cake is backed.

The most intriguing dimension of the problem in the closet of the handlers of the ‘Ngwa Cause’ is that we currently have more than one governorship candidate and all from the same Abia Central (Ngwa extraction). This is compounded by the fact that most progenitors of the previous agitations are now on different tangents and political parties with their allegiance simulated accordingly. This situation seems to have finally exposed the unpolished and duplicitous nature of the ‘Ngwa Cause’ agitations.

The so much ‘revered’ Ukwa l’Ngwa Elders Forum is now cut betwixt with its loyalty shredded. They all know themselves and their machinations which seems to be at cross purposes and unfortunately for them, the leadership of the forum is now headed by Dee Max Nduaguibe, a man you cannot thoughtlessly wish away. The next possible thing is for us to have splinter groups of the Ukwa l’Ngwa Elders Forum and consequential tussle for power, relevance and self-preservation. 

The entire squabble is more about further mortgaging the soul of Abia through the ‘Ngwa Cause’ struggle than advancing the cause of the average Ngwa man. Good a thing for them, the old Bende Division now seem to be at a loss and at the mercy of the old Aba Division.

One thing that has become clear to even the blind is that the so called ‘Ngwa Cause’ agitation is a farce for few people to deepen their hold on our commonwealth. Some of the agitators for the ‘Ngwa Cause’ do not have what my friend and ally, Late Hon. Ossy Prestige will refer to as ‘second address other than ‘politriks’. 

To our collective gains however, these guys seem to be tucked in the middle of nowhere and Dee Max may not easily let them have their usual way.

As it stands, it’s going to be another battle between those who wish that the cause of the ordinary Ngwa man should matter and the few individuals with entrenched political interest who only hide behind the curvature of ‘Ngwa Cause’ for self-preservation. Only time will truly tell who is on the Lord’s side.

Chukwudi Oracle Nwala, mni