Obiano makes case for economic re-invention of S-East

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has made a case for a more aggressive approach to the development of the South East in a manner that would ensure its survival as an economic bloc.

In an address at this year’s edition of the World Igbo Congress in Houston, entitled ‘Laying the Foundations of Hope,’ Chief Obiano argued that as true sons and daughters of the great Igbo ancestors, who had mastered the art of democratic leadership long before the arrival of the colonial masters, Ndigbo must define the challenges of the present time and rise to them.


Chief Obiano, who was represented at the Congress by his wife, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, further noted that the Igbo of the 21st century had evolved dramatically over the years to the growing acknowledgement of the world.
She, however, regretted that in spite of the individual accomplishments of Ndigbo, Igboland had continued to suffer economic neglect.

Articulating his position on the least considered response to the threat of Boko Haram against  the Igbo and their businesses in the Northern parts of the country, Chief Obiano argued that the time had come to build the economy of the South East to serve as a safe harbour to Igbo merchants who face life-threatening situations in different hostile locations across the world.

He said:  “It has been said that more often than not Ndigbo have often risen to the height of political cohesion when pushed to the wall or faced with the threat of extinction.
“Those who hold this view usually point at the Biafran War as an instance when our people lived out the true meaning of the well-known Igbo maxim of Onye aghana nwanne ya.

“But the ability of Ndigbo to cohere as a group when faced with extinction has been repeatedly challenged in recent times by the endless onslaught of Boko Haram in the North.
“As no true Nigerian leader will advocate an armed resistance to Boko Haram by any geo-political zone in the country, the question I would like to really ask is, when will the persistent threat of Boko Haram provoke Ndigbo into re-inventing the South East geographical zone?”

Culled from www.vanguardngr.com