SOUTH EAST Patriots’ Assembly (SEPA), a pan-Igbo pressure and advocacy group which backed Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the just-concluded presidential election has advocated a paradigm shift in the political strategy by political leaders of the Southeast, saying that a situation where after every general elections the region comes to the negotiating table cap in hand is demeaning and unacceptable to the young generation of Ndigbo.
SEPA’s Chief Media Strategist, Hon. Emeka Nwankpa in a press statement he issued yesterday in Abuja to commemorate and congratulate President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his 71st birthday anniversary, said that his emergence has brought to the fore some lessons for leaders of the Southeast to learn and immediately adjust as the nation awaits May 29 as the formal inauguration of Bola Tinubu as successor to President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the group, persons aspiring to lead the Southeast have a lot to learn from the political trajectory of the President-elect whom it described as a showpiece for focus, consistency, sacrifice, hard work, humility, patience, doggedness, strategy and huge human investment.
‘’It is crystal clear that the President-elect Bola Tinubu phenomenon is not a coincidence. It is a process of hard, deep, diligent planning and efficient delivery. He is not an accidental president waiting to ride on the wave of opportunism. It is a conscious, deliberate thought driven by zeal, intelligence and constant evaluation built on people end-to-end. It is a process built on shared sentiment and cutting edge negotiation skills devoid of hubris, impatience and feeling of loss whenever things go awry. It is a win-some-lose-some, a game that tasks you to keep your eyes on the ball. That is the Bola Tinubu persona which aspiring political leaders must learn to succeed in contemporary Nigerian politics’’, he said..
The group described as deplorable, demeaning and unacceptable a situation where Southeast’s political leaders are now running around to grab what is left of the nation’s prime political positions after the major electoral battles have been fought, won and lost.
Saluting the President-elect for his final emergence at 71 as President-elect in 2023 in an almost entire life raised on a diet of consistent political sophistication, sagacity and shrewdness driven by uncommon zeal, focus, gamesmanship and brinkmanship, the group’s spokesman wished him sound health and long life to deliver his mission to the nation.
He expressed regrets that the Southeast voting population ignored the pleas of courageous, highly-enlightened and politically exposed Igbo minds such as Senators Chimaroke Nnamani, Andy Uba and Ken Nnamani working with Governor Dave Umahi and some other genuine Igbo patriots seeking to pull the Southeast from national political backwaters.
‘’Now, the race to fill National Assembly’s prime positions is on, names of Southeast names have again popped up and the usual internal wrangling are on display again. While the Senate Presidency is No.3 in the hierarchy of leadership in the country, SEPA believes it is the price the region has to pay for years of weak politicking. Still, that position does not guarantee the growth and development of the region until the occupant (if it is eventually zoned to the region) is a non-transactional politician.
‘’The Southeast is in dire need of a major shift from transactional politics to developmental politics built on sound philosophy of growth for the region and driven by contemporary knowledge of sound national politicking’’, Hon. Emeka Nwankpa said.
The group also called for a quick rejig in the make-up of the leadership and operational philosophy of the apex Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, accusing the group of acts and statements capable of exposing Ndigbo to attacks wherever they reside in the country.
Hon. Emeka Nwankpa recalled comments in Awka recently allegedly ascribed to Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s Chairman, Council of Elders, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu calling some elements rascals behind alleged attacks on Ndigbo during the elections in Lagos.
The group said though the elder statesman had since denied calling Yorubas rascals, he still needed to make more moves to build confidence as leader of Ndigbo otherwise fifth columnists would take advantage to escalate the tension and cause further ethnic division.
“SEPA views such comments from an elder statesman who had also contributed to the economic growth of Lagos to expand his scope of condemnation to similar attacks which were reported in the Southeast during the elections. Injury against one is injury against all.
“The Igbos and Yorubas have had an excellent co-existence wherever they have found themselves in the country. Igbos have long been known and accepted as responsible patriots who add value in the midst of their hosts pursing fruitful trade relations, doing honest business and intermarrying producing responsible Nigerians while living peacefully with their hosts wherever they reside in the country.
The group further expressed confidence in the ability of the in-coming Bola Tinubu Administration to handle the situation considering the excellent credentials of the President-elect whose trademark cosmopolitanism is legendary.
“SEPA has no doubt whatsoever that providence has produced the Bola Tinubu dispensation to tackle the emerging ethnic upheavals in the country considering his personal investment in high network of acquaintances, friends, associates, mentees, followers and supporters across creed, region, religion and political affiliations which we firmly believe will shape his presidency and government to the benefit of the unity, cohesion and integration of the country.
Signed:
Hon. Emeka Nwankpa
Chief Media Strategist, SEPA
