Outspoken Archbishop of Enugu Province, Anglican Communion, Most Rev, Emmanuel Chukwuma has blamed sharp divisions among political leaders of Igbo extraction for the alleged extreme marginalisation of the South-East geopolitical zone.
He stated this in a speech while privately marking his 30 years as a Bishop in Enugu on Wednesday.
According to him, Ndigbo would have gone far ahead politically if the political leaders from the region were in agreement.
He added that unlike among the Yoruba and Hausa people, there is a lack of respect for elders in Igboland, hence the difficulty in choosing and following a leader in the region.
Chukwuma said, “The Igbo leadership is in shambles, they have not shown good leadership in the sense that this is the only area where people don’t appreciate leadership.
“We don’t have respect for the elders. The Hausa and Yoruba will have a leader and follow their leaders but Igbo, it’s difficult to really get a leader to follow because either followers don’t have the trust or the leaders themselves are self-centred and selfish. That is the problem.
“Until we are able to trust ourselves and bring out somebody who is a leader and trust him and he himself knows that a trust has been bestowed on him and try to be firm and sincere, we cannot move forward.
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“Look at the politicians from the southeast who called themselves leaders, they have never come together to discuss about southeast and together fight for it.
“They are speaking individually. They don’t even come to their constituency to ask questions. Many of us don’t even know them or see a House of Reps member coming to address us. It’s a shame.
“I glorify God today because I have legacies which I will be remembered with. I built a cathedral and bishop’s court in Bauchi and Enugu States respectively. I built St. Peter Cathedral in Gombe, hospitals and schools.
“I had a serious challenge when I was in Bauchi, when my church and parish house were burnt down by mobs. My security man was killed and many other properties were destroyed. That was when I started building a cathedral and bishop’s court at the same time because I was living in a rented house. It was a very great task on me but with the help of Gen. Danjuma, Gen. Useni and many of the Christian generals in the Army, I was able to accomplish it.
“In 1998, I was transferred to Enugu and was able get myself through from the conspiracy and challenges of achieving success by building a Bishop’s court, a cathedral and a congregation school “Bethel” at colliery quarters and created 12 Diocese which are under me.”
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