The National Co-ordinator of Igbo Mandate in APC, Prince Anslem Udoka has debunked the claim that Igbos massively went for the Jonathan ticket during the last election. At least for his group, the Igbo people were extremely mobilised. He spoke with Sunday Sun on the demands of the Igbo people from the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, among other issues.
Excerpt:
Can we have more insight on your person, please?
I am Prince Anslem Udoka, the National Co-ordinator of the Igbo Mandate in APC. I am from Imo State but born and brought up in Lagos. I am popular known as Orobo-Aregbe. I was given that name by the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
What brought about the Igbo Mandate in APC?
Well, I have been in this game for long and I have been going with our National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Since this change issue came up, I want to say that it is a privilege for me to be the National Co-ordinator of Igbo Mandate in APC. This is not a group. It is just a name that evolved from the old name. Before, it used to be Igbos in AD. When AD was changed to AC, we answered Igbos in AC. When it changed to ACN, we now brought up Igbo Political Coalition. We had been doing the coalition for years and having Chris Ekwilo as the Co-ordinator before ACN changed to APC. The problem we were having is that those people who were leading us were not touching the grassroots. They only knew about themselves and their families. People like Chris Ekwilo, Joe Igbokwe and Ben Akabueze, if you check the history of Nigerian politics and see those who are participating in Igbo politics, I have been with them for a long time and many of them even met me in the game. I know the history of people like Joe Igbokwe very well. That is why the people and the powers that be said I should be the Co-ordinator of this group and that was how we changed the name to Igbo Mandate in APC.
How far have you been able to sell your programmes to Igbos in the entire part of the country?
Yes, we started in Lagos State where we did the flag off and established the headquarters. We have inaugurated this in the 57 LCDAs in Lagos State. The other day, we came massively for the swearing-in of the Governor of Lagos State and people saw the crowd that turned out. These were people that had been sidelined by Chris Ekwilo, Joe Igbokwe and Ben Akabueze. We are not happy with that and because of the love we had for the party, we have endured and that is why we are still in the party and we will continue to be in the party.
You keep mentioning names of some people as intruders and conspirators. Is there a factional rift within?
God bless you! We lost the election to the PDP in some parts of Lagos not because the people did not want us but because the people representing us were not capable. They are only fighting for their own selfish interest. If Asiwaju is fighting for his own interest, I don’t believe that there would be any crowd behind him. Ogbeni is a governor and a leader. If you go to him, he interacts with you very freely that you begin to think that you are interacting with a councilor. The problem I have with Joe is because the areas we lost are the areas that Igbos dominate in Lagos. if these people had come together early enough to have town meetings with the Igbos in Lagos, we won’t have lost the constituencies we lost. As a commissioner representing the Igbos, Ben Akabueze was supposed to come down and talk to us. They are not reaching the grassroot and that is why the empowerment cannot get to the people.
What is the essence of the group to an average Igbo man?
It is to bring all Igbos together in a unique form. We let the Igbos know why we must come together and fight for Igbo Mandate in APC so that we Igbos can decide what we need from the government of the day and correct the wrongs of the last election.
How were you able to mobilise your people, especially during the last election?
On our own, we mobilised. We went to both Joe Igbokwe and Ben Akabueze but they turned us down. We were only able to fund our programmes on our own. We believed that Igbos would come out en masse and give their total support to the government of the day.
What are your expectations from the government at all levels? Let’s state from the government of Ambode in Lagos.
If Ambode wants to succeed, let him ask others why they failed. Some failed because they underrated some people. Ogbeni is succeeding in Osun because he is carrying everybody along in Osun State, including the Igbos in Osun. If Ambode recognises the Igbo mandate in APC, he cannot fail and I know he would surely recognise us.
The majority are of the opinion that Igbos massively went with the PDP train during the last election. Here you are creating an impression that the APC is a party of the Igbos. How do we balance the two contradictions?
No, that is not true. People would always think that because of the issue of Jonathan, and maybe the Oba of Lagos. On Easter Monday morning, our kings moved themselves to Oba’s palace and requested money to be able to work and deliver the Igbo people for the APC in Lagos. The Oba then said that if they can be demanding money again and do not do anything, he would give them, but they would all perish in the lagoon if they fail to work. I don’t see that as bad words because they all got money, ate and drank with the Oba. These people only stained the Igbos because they were supposed to even be in their house with your family.
Apart from the Oba issue again, the truth is that there is a general opinion that only a few Igbos went for the APC. What is your reaction to that?
That is just by people that do not know what is going on. Igbos could not have massively gone for Jonathan. Bayelsa disappointed Igbos during the Biafrian war and Jonathan is not even an Igbo man. That is why I will say that the mentality of such people is very low because nobody was there to tell them why we must not support Jonathan. Look at it today now, all of them have crossed over, shouting Buhari, Buhari.
The same set of people that said they did not want Buhari.
What does your group expect from Buhari?
We expect him to carry everybody along the normal way and the people that stood by him must never be left alone on any condition whatsoever. Asiwaju stood by Buhari when Jonathan wanted to finish a lot of people. If Bola Tinubu had died then, what would have become of us today? Let God forgive me for saying this: Tinubu stands as a Jesus Christ who was ready to sacrifice himself for the ambition of Buhari to be a reality. So, whatever Tinubu wants must be given to him. He deserves it. Jonathan made a lot of people – People who were even useless because they did not contribute anything to his government. Buhari should never make that mistake of leaving Tinubu. I personally went with them for the rallies across the states and I know what it took to win.
Most people are of the opinion that a group like this is only meant for some few set of people to work towards benefiting from the government of the day. What is your reaction to this?
A lot of people have said that Joe Igbokwe, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Lagos, said it recently that they are going to come up with another movement to counter this one. Imagine one man too that was one time a tout and a looter in Alaba International Market and ran for safety. He too is coming out to say that he is the leader of Igbos? Can a criminal lead Igbos? We are talking about grassroot followership for any Igbo movement.
What support are you giving to government, both at the federal and states levels?
Presentl, we want to go round and visit those states that voted against us and let them know why their mistakes must not repeat itself. We will tell them to come back home and let us work together.
Do you think the Igbos united enough to push their demands to the government of the day, especially over appointment slots?
The challenge we have now in Igbo land is Anambra as a state. An average Anambrarian would say we go to war and later dodge it.
They have learnt their lessons and now trying to trace back their steps and saying that they now belong to the APC. It is not about belonging to the APC but the issue is what agenda do you have for the present government? This movement has an agenda for the present government which is to ensure that the Igbos are carried along to fight against corruption and injustice and bring everybody together. The President should recognise that the mandate of the Igbos in government is very important.
Finally, are you nursing any ambition in politics at the moment?
Yes o! My people in Imo are asking me to come and contest to be the next governor of Imo State and I believe that I am the next governor of Imo State, after Governor Rochas Okorocha. I am just starting this at the grassroot level here in Lagos. Today, people are now interested in personalities and not parties.
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