How to develop South East, by Ezeife 

With focused and strategic leadership, the challenges of underdevelopment, poverty, unemployment, and lack of federal attention affecting the geo-political zone could be reduced, so says former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezife.

Ezeife, who is also Chairman, South East Leadership and Development Initiative (SELDI), has also expressed regrets that these challenges have continued to engender forced migration of Igbo youths and labour force to other places, where they invest their energies and resources to the detriment of their homeland.

Addressing newsmen in Enugu, yesterday, on plans by SELDI to host its maiden summit in the state next month, Ezeife said it was time for southeasterners to “think home and build home,” emphasising that it had become imperative for the people to reflect more deeply about their future and strategic essence in the larger Nigeria community.

Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, is expected to chair the summit while other notable speakers and stakeholders invited include Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Prof. Charles Soludo, Mr. Tony Elumelu, Mr. Peter Obi, Pat Utomi, Chimamanda Adichie, among others.

Decrying the deplorable state of infrastructure in the southeast, Ezeife maintained that there were huge gaps in “infrastructural development, economic growth, political and social transformation in the region, compared to other regions.”

He attributed this development to the alleged poor attention paid the region by the Federal Government, and the abject docility of the people in managing their own affairs.

Also speaking, the lead promoter of SELDI, Ikenna Modebelu, observed that the implications of the neglect included social unrest, economic decay, political imbalances and general impoverishment of the region, with attendant youth restiveness and agitation, insecurity, moral decadence, among others. He noted that these anti-social vices, “if not addressed, will be catastrophic for the region.”