Home News The DOT – Thank You Buhari !!! Mazi Ben Ezenta

The DOT – Thank You Buhari !!! Mazi Ben Ezenta

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When Buhari ridiculed Ndigbo in the Arise News interview on Thursday, June 10, 2021 by describing IPOB and by extension Ndigbo as a DOT in the geography of Nigeria, a lot of people condemned him for such insensitivity.

Ndigbo especially went from anger to comic and as usual with the Igbos, now a commercial opportunity. As soon as I heard those words, I immediately visualized it on a t-shirt. Igbos don’t pass on any opportunity by turning adversities and challenges into opportunities. Now you have so many t-shirt designs speaking to the comment.

Let’s examine the statement closely. Is Buhari right. In my opinion, while he may not be right, he is absolutely correct. Let’s thank Buhari for making public, discussions that have been going on within his circle and indeed in private with the northern elite. Buhari was flying a kite about what is going to happen. A tuoro omara omara, a tuoro ofeke ofere gawa. He spilled the beans. Buhari has given us a huge revelation. We should thank him instead of castigating him.

Why should Ndigbo be the ones developing every other part of Nigeria other than Alaigbo? If any conflict arises in Nigeria, all those properties outside Igboland will either go up in flames or be confiscated. When will we learn? Alaigbo is currently under food embargo yet we have a lot of forests that can be turned into farmlands that can feed us with a surplus for export. We are always proud to beat our chest that we own 80% of the properties in Abuja, 90% of properties in Lekki, most of the houses and business in Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Jos etc. How much do we own in Alaigbo? According to Oliver de Coque Onye bina ulo nmadu anaghi a ku flawer. Why should we be planting flower all over the country while bushes have taken over our homes. This is shameful. The other day, I watched a TV interview with an ex-governor of a SE state boasting about schools he built in northern Nigeria and for that reason Igbos should not advocate for secession. While this writeup is not about secession and I’m not advocating for one, we should not mortgage Igbo collective interest in the alter of the property interest of an individual other parts of Nigeria. How many northerners or westerners own schools and investments in Igboland. Ndigbo, who did this to us. We didn’t learn anything from the Nigerian was. Growing up in Aba, from Azikiwe road to school road between Asa road and almost St Georges St are dominated by fabric sellers. People come all the way from Egypt to Aba in those days to buy clothing materials. We don’t need to take the market to the buyer for us to make sales. Anywhere you have a good product, the market will find you. We need to be smarter with our choices as things are falling apart. We need to redefine the centre of the DOT. It should be in Igboland and not in any other part of Nigeria.

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Ndigbo it is time. It is time to rethink our values, strategy and social imperative. If Innocent Chukwuma (Innoson) is manufacturing vehicles in Nnewi despite all infrastructure challenges, no Igbo person has any excuse not to site his or business in Alaigbo. The security challenges in SE may be excuse for some and may have dampen Aku ruo ulo, but let us not despair. Nothing last for ever and no condition they say is permanent. It is a phase and will soon blow through. If we survived the 30 months war, we will overcome this. It is better to have your business in Igboland irrespective of the present security trait than in a place where it can be burnt, destroyed or seized in a flash. East, West, North and South, home is the best is always a truism.

Where do we go from here and what are the possible solutions. Thankfully, the Alaigbo Stabilization Fund (ASF) setup by the 5 South East Governors and Ohanaeze has been incorporated. This could provide an avenue to link Ndigbo businesses to available local resources especially land. It is common knowledge that the biggest challenge to investor in Nigeria, Alaigbo inclusive – is land. This is more challenging to Ndigbo in diaspora. Without land no investment initiative can successfully take-off. To overcome this challenge, we should explore the possibilities of the following:
1) Each South East governor should allocate two type of land to ASF to hold in trust for potential investors.
2) One set of land for industries and the other for agriculture.
3) The job of ASF will be to parcellate the land and allocate them to potential investors under a strict condition of development timeline.
4) Preference should be given to Igbos in Diaspora as they are more disadvantage by not being on the ground.
5) The land should be free of charge and not encumbered (you need some incentives to attract investors). Make investors an offer they cannot refuse.
6) ASF can also assist in raising investment capital for viable opportunities.
7) South East governors should be ready to provide guarantee for loans for huge projects.
8) South East governors should completely overhaul the easy of doing business in the states. Presently, SE states rank lowest in the easy of doing business. This is like cutting your nose to spite your face. Lagos state generate huge IGR because of the number of businesses located in Lagos. We should borrow from their experience.

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The DOT Buhari mentioned is the governors, the DOT is Ndigbo, the DOT is Igbo businesses and organizations, the DOT is us. It is not enough to get mad or be comical about it. Let us expand The DOT by turning it to a bigger circle. That is who we are. That is how we win. The DOT is not an insult. It is a wakeup call. Igbo bu ibu anyi danda.


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