2023 Presidency: Wither the southeast geopolitical zone?
Why do most South-East political leaders not think beyond the immediate future? Why do they not prioritize and strategize for their intended medium and long term political outcomes? Why do they think that few of us who think and plan long-term, prioritize and strategize for what we want are political novices?
So far, the South-East short-termists, hijackers, opportunists and political traders have not had to personally regret much about their myopic approach to politics, but the South-East zone has lost much because of the type of political leaders of the zone.
In 2023, it is not only the zone that will lose out as it has suffered politically in the past, the individual political leaders will also lose out for their shortsightedness…unless the South-East political leaders change their ways NOW.
The one area they must quickly change their attitude is in regard to ongoing INEC’s Continuous Voter’s Registration, which started on 28th June 2021 but which most South-Easterners are unaware of.
At a time that any responsible South-East political leader should want to prove that South-East cannot be ignored or disregarded in presidential elections, contrary to the 2019 claim by political enemies of the zone that it is not needed to win presidential election, South-East political leaders appear determined to ensure that the zone will have fewer registered voters in 2023 than it did in 2019!
Yet, this is the same South-East that wants to produce President of Nigeria in 2023, the same South-East that most Nigerians of all the other five geopolitical zones are looking to for 2023 Presidency. The question must be: does the South-East want to become President with least registered voters when it has the potential to register one-quarter to one-third of Nigeria’s total voting population?
It is agonizing to those of us who know what to do, how to do it and when to do it, but lack the financial resources to do it.
It is sad that South-Easterners with the resources appear oblivious of the fact that the South-East needs an impressive electorate to become a beautiful bride in Nigeria’s political contestation, or perhaps they lack the patriotism and selflessness to appreciate this fact – much less invest their resources to massively boost the zone’s collective voters’ register.
If selfishness is the reason that South-Easterners of resources are doing nothing to sensitize and mobilize South-Easterners to register massively, they should know that the insult is as much on them as it is on those of us who are passionately concerned.
If it is envy of anyone else taking the credit for getting tens of millions of South-Easterners to register for the 2023 electoral battle royale, please let them do the sensitization and mobilization of eligible South-East voters by themselves and take all the credit.
But let the eligible voters of the zone be sensitized and mobilized to register in their tens of millions urgently…before the voter’s registration exercise ends.
The South-East must not lament in 2023 over what it failed to do in 2021. If others have marginalized and excluded the South-East, must the South-East marginalize and exclude itself in a matter so crucial in democratic politics as voting population?
Dr. Chinedu Jideofo-Ogbuagu
Convener of South-East APC Integrity Group, and
National Coordinator of South-East APC Presidency Project 2023.
08023163451, 09052910866.
