By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
Chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East geopolitical zone of the country have called on President Bola Tinubu to revisit the post-civil war programmes of former Military Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon, encapsulated in the 3Rs, namely- reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
The chieftains stated that the 3Rs were not faithfully implemented by the then Military Head of State, Gen Gowon and successive administrations in the country.
Dr George Agbakahi, South East Leader, Tinubu Support Organization and Member, Directorate of Media and Publicity, Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), APC; and Dr Faustinus Chinedu Ilo, Member, Tinubu Support Group, and Member, Directorate of Media and Publicity, PCC, APC, made the call in an open letter to President Tinubu sighted by journalists in Enugu on Tuesday.
The party leaders listed some of the key projects and programmes that the Tinubu administration needs to executive in South East to include: infrastructure, business economy and funding, ensuring speedy completion and operation of Onitsha River Port, mediation into issue of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and separatism, equity in federal appointments, and creation of additional states in the South East.
The open letter stated, “We kindly implore you to revisit the South East region, as a peculiar case in the nation’s socio-political history, which requires concerted efforts and leadership. Most of the challenges that bedevil the region are unarguably, post-war ideological views, which influenced the way most Igbos perceive the nation and how others perceive them too, and heightened by ineffective political leadership that grappled the region since the Fourth Republic on May 29, 1999.
“Moreover, the dominance of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the region worsened the problems, as most contracts awarded to better the lives of the people ended in untold stories. The representatives and politically connected superintended over the affairs of the poor and helpless weak majority. Consequently, poverty, crime, and insecurity exponentially multiplied.
“With the increasing agitations, the poorly informed aligned with the secessionist groups, while the elites clamor for restructuring to grant autonomy to the geopolitical zones, then, recently, the call for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction.
“All these views, therefore, reflect the perception over the years, that the region is arguably the most marginalized in the country in terms of infrastructural development and national inclusiveness.
“Since the war ended on January 13, 1970, the South East region blame the Federal Government for its failure to implement General Yakubu Gowon’s Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation (3Rs) policy, which ought to address these issues. Today, the big question south easterners always ask is, what will Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s president do differently?”
The chieftains, while congratulating President Tinubu for his victory and good start, expressed confidence in “his visionary and courageous leadership, and one who has shown love, cooperation, and interest in supporting the South East, and indeed other regions of the country, as regards inclusive leadership and development.”
“As members of the Directorate of Media and Publicity, Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the APC, and leaders and promoters of the Renewed Hope Mandate campaigns (online and offline) in the region, we witnessed all forms of abuse from revolting family members, within and across the clans and villages visited.
“Their reasons are obvious and genuine, escalated by misinformation and disinformation that characterized recent opposition politics.
The South East perhaps witnessed the highest rate of negative perception and severe campaigns of misinformation and disinformation against the APC and her candidates in the 2023 general elections.
“These were directly connected to several issues, mostly, inadequate communication of government policy actions, programs, and achievements of Buhari’s led APC government, and weak relationship with the electorates. In addition, previous governments launched several poverty alleviation and social empowerment programs, which did not affect the lives of the most expected beneficiaries, especially the grassroots.
