Insecurity: Ndigbo still behaving like war captives, says Chekwas Okorie

Former National Chairman of the United Progressives Party UPP Chief Chekwas Okorie has blamed the lack of ability to check mate the rising insecurity in the South East on the Civil War noting that Ndigbo and its leaders are still behaving like war captives. Okorie, who spoke to reporters in Awka, Anambra state capital yesterday, contended that the South East governors are yet to form the much needed synergy to address the issue of insetance curity in the area, blaming them for being individualistic.

This is coming even as the governors have introduced the Ebubeagu Security Network recently to arrest the situation before hand. According to Okorie; “We do not need to wait for constitutional amendment on the state police or community policing. The lack of synergy by saying each state has its own peculiarities is wrong because that is the position of someone who is not ready to fight insecurity. ‘It is this individualistic nature that our governors are exhibiting that has been the bane of the Igbo man in all aspects and it is so unfortunate and I am totally disappointed.

We have been like this for a very long time since the war ended and I will not forget what late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said at the formative stage of Ohaneze Ndigbo six years after the war. He said that the worst thing that can happen to any race that lost a war is loss of self-esteem and it will take us a long time to recover our self-esteem and it is because of the war that is still affecting the self-esteem of our people.

Okorie observed that it is not just about the 2023 general election, but can be extended to other areas adding that if something is not done fundamentally through restructuring and state police, the insecurity issue would remain. We have to first of all rediscover ourselves. We have the number and we have the spread, but we are not utilizing it and we are the most backward people politically because we don’t have the consciousness.

He lamented that nobody can be comfortable with the security situation in the South East, adding that it has gotten to a point that the Vice President Yemi Osibanjo has repeatedly called for state police and community policing. Until we address those fundamental issues, the insecurity matter would remain and the National Assembly should collaborate with the executive arm of government to facilitate and expedite actions in bringing about state police and community policing and it has to be done urgently, he said.