The recent signing of the South East Development Commission, SEDC Bill by President Bola Tinubu, is a clear demonstration of love for Ndigbo and commitment to addressing issues fueling agitations by people of the Southeast.
This is according to Ambassador Comrade Obi Emeka Chukwudi, the Anambra State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, who spoke to newsmen in Awka, the state capital.
The Commission’s law, which was signed into law alongside that of the North West Development Commission (NWDC) on Tuesday, is responsible for the development of the five South-east states of Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Enugu, and Anambra.
Reacting to the President’s disposition, Comrade Obi said the Commission is coming at the appropriate time to begin to right all the perceived wrongs against Ndigbo.
According to him, the Commission, when established, will help address the poor infrastructure facing the Southeast region and give the people a better sense of belonging in the Nigerian entity.
“As far as we are concerned as youths, this direction taken by the president is quite commendable and represents action over the age-long talks by successive governments at the centre.
”Across the Southeast region, there is an obvious dearth of public infrastructure. The federal roads in the region are in a deplorable condition and have so been for many decades.
“The promises of the central government after the Nigeria-Civil war remained unfulfilled and this has brought a new phase of agitations that has worsened the insecurity in the region.
“It is unfortunate that in the entire Southeast, there is no single blue line, irrespective of the huge potential the region holds for commerce and industry in the country.
“These are the issues we are optimistic that the Commission will begin to address in the immediate once it comes on stream,” Obi said.
The Anambra youth leader expressed the hope that the Federal Government will begin the full implementation of the law without any further delay.
On the proposed protest against the economic hardship in the country, planned to start on the 1st of August, Comrade Obi said it will be against the interest of the state, if the people join in the protest.
According to him, such protests may come with laudable intentions but the chances are very high that they may be hijacked and the purpose will be defeated.
“Considering the porous nature of our security situation in the Southeast and Anambra State in particular, I believe it will not fare us any good, if our people join the protest.
“When such protests happen, emotions run wild and there may be no limits to how even the genuine protesters can express them.
“What eventually happens is that some will begin to destroy public and private infrastructure and other assets that make life meaningful for our people.
“What we advocate, is that the federal government takes urgent steps to appeal to the conscience of the people. One of such steps is the return of fuel subsidy because it looks like everything went haywire once the subsidy was removed.
“It is expected that the return of the fuel subsidy will positively impact the situation and return normalcy to the system, especially for the poor and lowly in the society,” Obi hoped.