Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the governor-elect of Anambra State, announced the members of his transition committee a few days ago.

That list included the names of well-known Nigerian men and women from all walks of life who lived outside of Anambra State’s borders.

The caliber of the committee’s membership, which will be led by Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, has the entire South East buzzing for the right reasons. Even before he was sworn in, Soludo gave a tantalizing glimpse of what to expect from him as governor of perhaps Igboland’s most powerful state.

It was not for no reason that Igbos were beaming from ear to ear after Soludo’s election triumph.

The South East’s governance and leadership quality has deteriorated substantially over the last eight years, with evidence of the consequences strewn throughout the Igbo political environment.

Obviously, things are not looking well in Igboland, in South East Nigeria. A region of the country that was formerly considered one of the safest has recently become one of the most dangerous, posing a threat to the country’s livability.

Instead of the famous buying and selling in Onitsha, Aba, and Orlu, the amazing fabrication of motor spare parts and other technological effervescence in Nnewi, the cool and enlightened ambience of Enugu, the entertainment and jollying in Owerri, today’s major cities in the South East have destruction of lives and property.

The outbreak of violence began with some young people renewing their call for a separate country, led by the fiery Mazi Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. Many individuals in Igboland were unconcerned when Kanu formed his gang for a variety of reasons.

First and foremost, their rage against Nigeria is completely legitimate. The South East region’s marginalization, if not open neglect, in the country’s governance over the years is unfathomable.

From the end of the civil war till now, it’s rare to find more than a few Federal Government presences in the region. Furthermore, it appeared that the system was slanted against young people in the Southeast.

Because of what Oby Ezekwesili, the minister of education, referred to as the funnelling phenomenon, many intelligent Igbo guys (including Nnamdi Kanu) with good JAMB scores could not be accepted into any Nigerian university starting in the 1980s.

Mazi Akachukwu Udoka, Obinwannem News writer / Jan 27/01/2022