Victor EzejaA former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Anambra State, Dan Ulasi, has said people of Southeast Nigeria won’t consider the idea of participating in any form of protest against economic hardship in the country because they for some years now been overwhelmed by insecurity.
Ulasi, who appeared on AIT’s programme on Thursday noted that there is heavy military presence in all states in the region with 10 to 20 soldiers at every checkpoint.
“Southeast is already occupied. How do you want to protest? Every inch of the Southeast is occupied by the military and the police and nobody wants to die, and in recent times, the Herdsmen have taken over all the bushes,” Ulasi said.
“So, it will be a fool, like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe said, who sees a soldier carrying a gun and asks him, what can you do? You will end up in the mortuary. Unfortunately, no one would know what he has done because he is no more alive.
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“Our people are very energetic people that if they have a purpose, to protest, they would protest. But there is no basis for it anymore. They are handicapped,” he added.
He said the Southeast people are hardworking and their priority is pursuing legitimate businesses that give them their daily bread and not looking for what will take their lives.
He said Igbos have love for one another which emanated from good leaders like Michael Okpara, former Premier of the old Eastern region, who had large followership.
He remarked that such communal love enables the people to cooperate in business and circulate wealth.
He, however, lamented that there is no more good leaders with such large followership like Michael Okpara in the Southeast anymore.
Continuing, Ulasi observed that with the absence of good leaders in the region, individuals are left to struggle on their own, and given the situation, nobody will risk his or her in the name of protest.
“Anybody you ask to go and protest will tell you, you are a fool, because in every inch of the Southeast, you see 10 to 20 Soldiers at Checkpoints.
On the flip side, he observed that one exciting thing about the occupation of Southeast by military men is that the soldiers, who revealed that they were briefed about the South Easterners being “very bad people,” don’t even recognise that because of overwhelming generosity of the people who provide them with essentials like bread and water.
“What is exciting also about this occupation is that these same soldiers tell you that they don’t know that these are the Igbos, contrary to the instruction they were given.
“Because they are overwhelmed with bread and water and a lot of things people are giving them on the road. And for me personally, there is no place I pass where there are soldiers and policemen that I don’t give at least a N1,000, for me it’s mandatory. A Soldier with tears in his eyes told me these are people they told us are very bad people. Transporters give them money, they give them water and bread.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
