The Senator representing Abia South senatorial district in Abia State, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has said that Igbos are the most disenfranchised and marginalized people in Nigeria.
Abaribe lamented that there is an imbalance within the nation’s political environment, insisting it’s unfair to allocate only five states to the South east.
The Senator stated this in Abuja on Saturday during a public presentation of a book: “The power of Nothing: Triumph And Trump Of People’s Voice In Enugu”, written by Ikem Okuhu.
Abaribe was represented at the occasion by Hon Alex Mascot Ikwechegh, member representing Aba North/South Federal Constituency on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.
“I would like to say a few things about the Igbos. We Igbos believe in progressivism, and the concept of patriotism and nationalism.
“And this is why you will see an Igbo man pack up his bag and leave his village to Bauchi to set up shops, buy a piece of land, build a house, and become an employer of labour. That in itself, for me, is nationalism, patriotism and progressivism.
“That’s why the Igbo man has that enthusiasm in him to develop, to be progressive, and to remain optimistic. That’s why I said that optimism is a virtue every Nigerian and politician must embrace so that Nigeria will always be better.
“A lot of people might not like what I want to say, the Igbos, we are the most disenfranchised and marginalized. But all we try to do and encourage our brothers is to support one another because it’s highly needed,” the Senator said.
Speaking about the book by Okuhu, which chronicled the events leading to and after the 2023 gubernatorial election in Enugu State, Abaribe said it will help legislators to come up with laws that help to perfect the nation’s electoral system.
According to him, it’s only when the nation identifies its problem and the conundrum of the political system that it can then begin to identify the clinical solutions of how those problems can be tackled.
“Today we are having a conversation about tax reform. It’s a subject matter that’s on the front burner.
“If the bill is passed that means every activity that relates to your business will be affected. So when you say you’re not interested in politics, you’re doing yourself and family a great disservice.
“Our president, when he was elected, on the day of his inauguration made a statement and said that subsidy is gone.
“Immediately, the effect of that statement became something that has put us in an economic quagmire.
“This goes to show that politics plays a very intricate role in all our lives. That’s why we must be enthusiastic, eager and receptive to anything that relates to lessons that can be learned from the mistakes of the past.
“It’s only when you identify your problem, you identify the conundrum of the political system that you can then begin also to identify the clinical solutions of how those problems can be tackled.
“There are things that happened, there are people that believe they have built alliances, there are people that gave their words but at the end of the day, those agreements were breached. This is a lesson every politician must learn.
“This book here will help us to identify those signs, to identify those traits and also to be cautious to know those whom we align with.
“This is a very critical lesson that every politician must learn. It will help us to come up with laws that help to perfect our electoral system based on the mistakes of the old.”
In his remark, Okuhu, also a journalist and public relations expert, said he was motivated to write the book to help correct some of the anomalies of the last 2023 general election.
The author claimed that the majority of the people voted in one particular direction while the outcome went the other way.
He said: “We believe and still believe that that election was taken. And for that reason I decided to document, as much as I could see then, all the struggles and lives of our people in Enugu into this battle.
“I keep saying that we shouldn’t be where we are today. We embarked on that project because we were going to win it in Enugu State.
“But unfortunately what happened happened. And then I thought that the best way to do justice to history was to record history itself, not to blame history and allow other people to tell the story but to tell the story to make sure that tomorrow, may be, it might help to correct some of the anomalies; may be it may serve for information and knowledge purposes.
“I needed to put it out there and ensure that the truth and only the truth was spoken as far as my own experience in the last campaign was concerned.
“The truth is that the Labour Party won that election in Enugu State, there’s no denying it. If you open that book you will see polling record materials obviously written by one person, the same handwriting.
“You don’t need a forensic expert to know that one person wrote these results and submitted it and passed it.
“The truth is that the majority of the people voted in one particular direction and the outcome went the other way.”
Also in attendance at the occasion were the senator representing Enugu North senatorial district, Okey Ezea, member representing Nsukka/Igboeze South Federal constituency, Mark Chidi Obetta; Labour Party 2023 gubernatorial candidate, Chijioke Edega, among many other dignitaries.
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