2023 Opinion Politics

South East Political Leaders With Money And Opportunities But Little Or No Sense; Certainly Gutless

Opinion June 8, 2022

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By Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu

In South-East APC Integrity Group, from June 2015 to January 2020, we strategized and pushed for sanitization and growth of APC in the South-East, preparatory to the geopolitical zone making a strong collective bid for 2023 Presidency on APC platform.

But we were largely ignored, even suspected and derided by South-Easterners with money and opportunities, for having the foresight, patriotism and long-term strategic approach to achieving emergence of President of Nigeria of South-East extraction.

In South-East APC Presidency Project 2023 from January 2020 to 1st February 2022, we not only created a massive formidable network of people in Abuja and all 36 states of Nigeria, a network of tens of thousands of campaigners for emergence of President of Nigeria of South-East extraction capable of delivering tens of millions of votes to our preferred presidential aspirant/candidate on APC platform, we also so much reached out and lobbied for that agenda that most Nigerians became persuaded and bought into it.

But they who have money and opportunities but little or no sense still ignored us, thinking that they could snatch or be handed the 2023 APC presidential ticket for being lone-ranger, slavish or sneaky.

They didn’t have one naira to support our Project with but they would have N100 million to buy forms and hundreds of millions of naira (even billions of naira) more for their amateurish and laughable firebrigade campaign for APC presidential ticket.

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From January 2021, after a year of launching South-East APC Presidency Project 2023 structures in Abuja and all 36 states of Nigeria, we repeatedly called on South-East APC individuals with money and opportunities who were interested in contesting for President of Nigeria on APC platform in 2023 to declare to contest – that an underdog needed that long time frame to execute such a race successfully.

We had wanted South-Easterners to so dominate the 2023 presidential field that individuals of other geopolitical zones would see the early seriousness of the South-East to win 2023 Presidency on APC platform and not dare to challenge the zone. But those individuals of South-East APC with money and opportunities but little or no sense thought otherwise.

Where they were not deceiving themselves about meaningless or nonexistent connections that would appoint or anoint them presidential candidate of APC mythically, they were telling us that “time never reach”.

Our travails with “presidential materials” of South-East APC who had money and opportunities but little or no political strategic sense, documented in hundreds of published press statements, cost me personally 7 years and tens of millions of naira.

But no appreciation of South-East men of means but little or no sense. With just one lot of N100 million from just one of them and a little cooperation between January 2020 to February 2022, the story would be different today: 8th June 2022.

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But each of those men of money and opportunities with little or no sense thought they could get on their own what we had selflessly and collectively laid out for them to take quite easily.

Yesterday Tuesday (07-06-2022) through to today Wednesday (08-06-2022), did time not reach and did we not see their anointing by President Buhari and those shadowy persons they had given billions of naira to in their desperation for anointing?!

Instead, what we saw from them on that podium at Eagle Square, Abuja were tales and lamentations, foolish cries over already spilt milk. The scales had fallen off their smug and humiliated faces, and they characteristically lacked the guts and fighting spirit to put up even a feeble fight at the special 2023 presidential primary convention – as Yahaya Bello, Jack Rich, Yemi Osinbajo, Chibuike Amaechi and few other aspirants of other geopolitical zones did.

Wither South-East APC and the South-East generally in 2023? What to do is clear and simple to us. Although South-East leaders in both APC and PDP caused the shameful losses of the presidential tickets of both parties, those of us South-Easterners who have little or no money and opportunities but plenty of sense and guts must not give up.

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We must restrategize to punish both APC and PDP for denying the South-East their presidential tickets.

The quest for emergence of President of Nigeria of South-East extraction in 2023 must continue in spite of PDP and APC. We know that over 80% of the good people of Nigeria agree with us on this and will vote for a credible South-Easterner on a platform other than PDP or APC.

I will lead the charge if South-Easterners of money and opportunities will borrow some sense this time. They cannot have everything and should appreciate people who possess what they lack. They must this time eschew selfishness and envy of people like me with plenty of sense but don’t have much money and opportunities.

I concede to them the money and opportunities that God has blessed them with; they must concede to me the sense and guts that God has blessed me with. Division of labour is a sound economic and philosophical concept. Ignore or disregard it at OUR collective peril.

Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu