TIME FOR DEFINITE CHANGE OF DIRECTION OLUE NA OMUME! SOUTH-EAST AND SOUTH-SOUTH (“SESS”)

1. FOR ND’IGBO:
TIME FOR DEFINITE CHANGE OF DIRECTION
OLUE NA OMUME!
My interpretation of the 2015 presidential election results and
how they were taken by Nigerians is that God does not want
Nigeria to violently disintegrate.
Senator Kanti Bello, a three-time senator from the North, was
right when, in an interview in the sun newspaper, he said,
“Buhari’s win has stopped the disintegration of Nigeria”. This is
our Nigeria!
Some Nd’Igbo are mourning the result of the election,
bemoaning our packing all our eggs in one basket. They talk as
if we are to regret whom we are and deny our faith. They
admire or jealous the Yoruba, forgetting that the Yorubas are
almost equally divided on the matter of faith, which played
such a dominant role in the presidential election that one
group, said that they will never again be ruled by a “pagan”. I
am happy that most well-adjusted Igbo, were shocked into a
new consciousness, even as they celebrate voting with almost
one mind and forever rubbishing the idea that Igbo is the
problem of their Eastern neighbours –an idea hard-sold by anti-
Igbo forces in the North and the west. Today, there is a dawn of
knowledge – the south-East and South-South cannot now, or in
future, be in doubt of each other in the Nigeria system.
Knowledge has taken the place of speculations, conjectures and
fabrications!

2. Most Igbo cherish the new consciousness into which they are
shocked! It is like a new, if rude, awakening, which exposes our
nakedness and calls on us to take urgent, important and
permanent actions to clothe ourselves. The dominant new
objective or goal has to be this: to develop, radically vastly,
the economy and society of Igbo Home land, that emigration
from it, cannot be out of any economic necessity. Emigration
may be motived by the spirit of adventure. This goes far beyond
the “think Home” call, which I made in my inaugural address, as
Governor of Anambra state. We must focus on transforming
and Re-building Igbo Homeland - vastly developing it like the
Japanese and Malaysian did with theirs!!! This should be the
view of every thinking Igbo. We have nothing against those who
are rushing to where the “food is ready”. But we advise them to
minimize insulting, demeaning and dragging us on the ground,
as they hustle. At the minimum, there are constitutional
provisions guaranteeing the minimum rights of states and, to
some, non–binding extent, even of the geopolitical zones!
OLUE NA OMUME!
The politicians and everybody in Igboland must wake up to the
new reality. Governments, from local to the state, must now
assume their key role of developing the economy of Igbo Home
Land. All the elected persons, especially the state Governors,
are the elected Igbo leaders and they must accept their exalted
positions of leadership. Infrastructure must be fully developed;
power must be more than adequate, water, education (the
supplier of the most important development resource) must be

3. rediscovered and maximally developed, the manpower, and all
other people, must be healthy. We take every aspect (sector
and sub-sector) of the economy and comprehensively plan for
it: agriculture, mining, industry, the services etc. must have
their blue prints for development. Over and above what is done
at the level of the states, there must be a common services
organization which should harmonize Governmental joint
development activities. There should also be a Development
Commission, to help the Governments, but, most importantly,
to harness the local and international private investments in
various development sectors and subsectors. (Among the
development investment possibilities are in: coal, oil and gas to
be transformed into electricity, LNG, LPG, and other
petrochemicals, in many states, especially in Enugu and
Anambra; limestone to cement, lead, gemstone, silver etc. in
Ebonyi; clay, chalk, iron, special sand for various manufactures,
including solar panels, in many states. In industry, a broad
range of possibilities in manufactures exist. New inventions
from Igboland will add to world development. In agriculture,
we must emphasize those activities which do not require large
land spaces; we must develop modern approach to cattle
rearing-stationary, not migratory). When we get the structures
right, the immensity of the possibilities will be obvious!
Surely, reject, we must not reject ourselves. Not co-operating in
effort to vastly economically transform Igbo Homeland is self-
rejection. There is no longer any Egypt to go back to. The stick
used for the ear cannot be used for the eye. A wake-up call
requires that we wake up! Socio-politically, we may have no

4. Eze, but we must have strong, fair, sagacious and accepted
leaderships – capable of imposing some discipline and putting
some irritants in check.
SOUTH-EAST AND SOUTH-SOUTH (“SESS”)
Most of the statements above may, or even should, apply to
the South-East and South-South together. Again the objective
should be that, the economy of the area
(with even greater material resources) must be so vastly
developed that emigration from the area (leaving the area for
anywhere else) must not be an economic necessity for
anybody!!!. The two zones may form Economic Commission on
zonal or state basis, that is, the zones may co-operating as
individual zones or the states in the zones co-operating in a
commission. They may also form a joint/common services
organization for closer socio-economic political co-operation.
What bodies SESS forms may be made open to other interested
states from outside the SESS – but this is an issue for SESS to
work on in due course. For now, we dwell on SESS area.
Whether it is common services or Economic Commission or
both, there is need for great care and caution. There is need for
careful and in-depth planning – really long range perspective
planning, carrying the peoples of the area along, all the way.
Who doubts that with SESS economy carefully and properly
planned and effectively managed, SESS can develop into a
world super power, attracting the world!!! But this is only if we

5. are careful with the mines in the minds. Many SESS people may
still be living and thinking in the past – the past of mutual
suspicious even hatred and rejection. And the fear of Igbo
domination cannot be very distant – after all, as a one people,
the Igbo should constitute the dominant group in SESS – and, as
already indicated, the rest of Nigeria had sold frightening lies to
the south-south people. A flash back is always possible and we
must plan to counter or avoid negative flashbacks. This is time
to use superior sense – time to think about the best permanent
interest of SESS people. We must plan to overcome all
obstacles – res or unimagined. If we start now, knowing the
truth and working positively with it, reversal may be ruled out!
Yet, the chick that feeds must maintain a side view.
We, the SESS people need to adopt some creeds, internalize,
and are committed to, them, and let them be seen clearly in
our everyday activities.
THE FUNDAMENTAL CREEDS ARE:
1. SESS borrow from the USA the creed on the equality of
man and man’s in alienable right to life, freedom and the
pursuit of happiness.
2. The universal creed of equity, justice and fairness.
3. Self – development through achievement motivation and
success mentally as a duty to self and to SESS society.
With these doctrines or creeds in mind, we engage in
detailed South-East/South-South long range plans. To ensure
enduring harmony, every element or position that is
important in the area, must be identified and shared (made

6. to rotate) fairly, among the components of SESS, over a
projected period which may be 50, or even 100 years. This
includes any form of leadership positions (economic, social
and political) at various levels.
SESS must seek, first, economic success, and hope that all
other successes will be added to it!!!
Our first priority is to return to God and pray Him to bless the
above, and make it the path to unmatched success for our
people!!! Nd’Igbo should face their destiny! Let SESS get into
being. Long live SESS!!!
Nze Chukwuemeka Ezeife Ph.D (Harvard), D (Pu. ADM),
FFPO, CON.
Okwadike Nd’Igbo, Garkuwan Fika, Akintolugboye of
Egbaland