The Marginalization of the Igbo People in Nigeria’s Political and Economic Sectors: What Is the Way Forward?

This study looked into the marginalization of the Igbo people primarily from the political and economic perspectives; albeit, the social factors were also evaluated to appreciate if the title could be justified. The researcher gave historical consideration to the pre-civil war of 1967, and post-civil war with re-gard to the economic and political status occupied by the Eastern region when compared to the Northern and Western regions. The Eastern region was found to be a leader in economic advancement beyond the shores of Nigeria. Politically, it played pivotal roles through the political leaders of the regional powerhouse, the NCNC. Following the end of the Nigeria Biafra civil war, the military regimes introduced series of decrees that ushered in policies which did not accommodate the interest of the Igbo people, such as unfulfilled reconstruction of the devastated Igbo land, 20 pounds flat refund policy, indigenization decree, etc. The punitive economic disadvantages appeared to have persisted years after the civil war. The airports from the Southeast lacked quality infrastructure despite having very significant Igbo travelers dominat-ing this sector. The study used historical research analysis approach by ex-amining multiple sources such as archived materials, books, journals, and newspapers. The researcher provided recommendations to steps towards restructuring, or an integrated regional development to counter development inertia.


Introduction
The Igbo race continues to face enormous political and economic challenges How to cite this paper: Nsoedo, E.E. (2019) The Marginalization of the Igbo People in Nigeria's Political and Economic since the instigated and imposed civil war. A plain glance at the economic and political development in Nigeria may be considered normal in terms of where the Igbo people stand politically, especially economically when compared to other ethnic nationalities. Indeed a cursory look at the poverty level among the ethnic groups would make the Igbo race appear exceptionally successful.
The Igbo people in reality experienced an overwhelming level of disadvantages based on public policies that seemed crafted to undermine their ability to maximize political and economic potentials. The restructuring of Nigeria to create more states for the northern states to the detriment of the Southern Nigeria, especially, the Southeast was not only an impediment politically; it impacts the economic potentials of the Igbo people negatively. Such policies as the failure to rehabilitate the Biafra land after the war, the 20 pounds flat refund to any Biafran who wished to convert the old currency, or deposits with banks prior to the war; the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Decree of 1972, also known as Indigenization Decree, Federal Character Principle, manipulated population census, creation of states and local government areas in favor of the Northern Nigeria, deliberate underuse of seaports within the Igbo axis, lack of standard international airport, and other exploitative actions. These formed many overt and indirect actions to diminish the ability of the Igbo people to compete on a level-playing ground with other major ethnic groups.
Unlike today where some political actors will dare the Igbo people to vote against their aspirations, and perhaps, would still go ahead to win whether the Igbo people voted for them or not. It was not like that during the fight for the country's independence from the British colonial masters, and neither was that way during the first republic. The Eastern region used to play a very significant role politically in determining which parties collaborated to form a government. The National Council of Nigeria and Cameroun, which later changed to National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) under the leadership of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe partnered with the Northern People's Congress founded by Tafawa Balewa to form the government (University of Central Arkansas, 2019) [1]. Tafawa Balewa was appointed the Prime Minister and Nnamdi Azikiwe was made the Head of State (University of Central Arkansas, 2019) [1].
Economically, every region was autonomous, and developing at its pace's ability. The Information Service (1956) [2] reported that the Eastern region economy was heavy palm produce, through which palm kernels were exported to earn foreign exchange, as well as palm frond is used for roofing, and palm wine for drinking. The Eastern region government promoted systematic agricultural economy, including farm settlements; cash crops such as rubber, cocoa, and palm grove scheme were established, creating an opportunity for people to earn a living through farming (Ministry of Commerce, 1966) [3]. Having appraised the background to the phenomenon that prompted this study, the researcher will look at some of the antecedents of the Igbo people within the economic and political realm before 1967, and the prevailing condition in the present Nigeria. It is the hope of the researcher that the outcome of this study will be beneficial to the scholars, policymakers, and Nigerians, etc. as well as, add to the body of literature.

Problem Statement
The NCNC led-government equally encouraged community self-help as a means of constructing laterite and earth-based roads for transportation within villages and inter-cities to ensure free movement of people and goods. This is a common trait among Igbo communities when they come together to provide services that governments had neglected to render to them. By 1955, the Ministry in charge of Community Development had cleared about 13,000 km (8000 miles) of roads, of which less than 10% were tarred (Information Service, 1956) [2]. Barges and watercrafts were deployed where swamps and tidal waters pose obstacles to free movement.
The port of Port Harcourt was the second largest port in Nigeria in the 1950s, the Calabar port was also very busy in terms of import-export businesses. After the opening of the port of Port Harcourt in 1913, the Enugu railway line was completed in 1916 with berth dredged to enable colliers load for export through Port Harcourt port (Nimasa e-library, n.d) [5]. It is, therefore, given that most of the Eastern regional economic activities were carried through the ports of Calabar and Port Harcourt.
To facilitate the smooth operations of all the economic activities taking place in the Eastern region, the NCNC-led regional government setup two entities: the fit for their counterparts from other regions, particularly, those from the northern region. This study will X-ray the causes that impact political and economic situation of the Igbo people post-civil war.

Study Approach
The research approach for this study will be through historical research which is one of the components of qualitative research method. The historical approach allows the researcher to delve into the past events in order to draw a conclusion through analysis. Hence, this study shall incorporate examination of archival materials where the relevant records of the economic and political development were housed. The researcher would also make use of books, journals, magazines, and various newspaper publications. These sources already in the public domain will be synthesized to extract the unvarnished outcome. The multiple sources of data collection approach will help to eliminate bias, thus, ensure the validity of this study.

Lack of Rehabilitation after the Civil War
General Gowon promised to rehabilitate and reintegrate the defunct Eastern region which its infrastructure was devastated during the civil war back to the country on equal footing, hence, the slogan: "No victor, no vanquished" (Gowon, 2014) [8]. In that spirit of oneness, General Gowon's military government decreed the policy of Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Rehabilitation (3Rs) for the defeated Eastern region (Udeajah, 2017) [9]. The policies were merely cosmetic in since they were never actually carried out, while, such policy as the "abandoned property policy" was pursued vigorously (Obi-Ani, 2009) [10]. The consequence was not only economical, but a deliberate strategy designed to weaken the relationship between the Igbo people, and other minority ethnic groups of the Eastern region.

Twenty Pounds Flat Fee Refund
Several policies decreed into law became albatross of the Igbo nation's progress.
Saro-Wiwa (2012) [11] wrote that even though the Igbos were reintegrated into society, they continued to face economic discrimination. The £20 flat rate policy for any amount any Biafran who wishes to exchange his old currency was a deli- Aduba (2017) [12] argued in The Will newspaper, that Nigeria government deliberately imposed the £20 flat rate policy without any circumspection.

Indigenization Decree
The

Manipulated Population Census
There were several instances of the Nigeria census exercises found to be less than desirable. The need to maintain a very high population figure advantage by certain regions over the others was intense. That notwithstanding, even the demographers found the 1973 population census incredibly manipulated (Metz, 1991) [13]. The census exercise confirmed that Nigeria's population grew by 44 percent in 10 years, while, Northern Nigeria's population jumped to 64 percent compared to 53.7 percent in 1963 (Metz, 1991) [13]. The bloated population advantage has consequences for the creation of states, local governments, and the sharing of accrued revenues at the center since in practice, Nigeria runs a unitary system as against the federal system on paper.

Federal Character Principle
Federal Character principle is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, but its first introduction was the 1979 Constitution. Section 14 (3) and (4)

Creation of States and Local Government Areas
The creation of states and local government areas were deliberately made to fa- LGAs) with Kano state (Eya, 2017) [18]. Falae argues that while Lagos has been made to retain the same number of local government areas, Kano has grown to 77 LGAs. LGAs creations were some of the reasons for the call to restructure Nigeria.

Deliberate Underuse of Seaports
There is a well-considered perception that the seaports within the Igbo axis are deliberately underused when one considers the fact that Port Harcourt port was a bustling port prior to Nigeria independence, up until Nigeria Biafra civil war to (Information Service, 1956) [2]. The Port Harcourt port was the second largest port in the country commissioned in 1913 as with Lagos port (Nimasa e-library, n.d) [5]. The Calabar port was equally busy handling exports and imports.

Lack of International Airport
The Igbo people are found in every nook and cranny of Nigeria, and virtually, in all parts of the world. The Igbo people are constantly on the move, both domestically and internationally. Most of the times, they must travel to Lagos or Abuja, before they could connect any direct international flights. It was in 2013 that the President Good luck administration completed the facilities at Enugu airport, now Akanu Ibiam International airport, which enabled the first international flight led by Prince Arthur Eze (Edike, 2013) [22]. He said on arrival at Enugu airport: "Look at me, I flew from Senegal to Enugu for four hours non-stop. I don't need to go to Lagos or Abuja to catch direct flight again to Europe or Senegal. I can now go from my house to any place of choice" (Edike, 2013) [22].
It is worth noting that the Federal government has not invested in upgrading the facilities at Enugu airport to international airport status. The runways are very bumpy without the approach lights; there are no water supplies, the cooling systems are not working, etc. (Mikairu and Agbo, 2019) [23]. The Southeast governors have raised the alarm about the state of the airport, and why the contract that had been awarded for the airport by the present government has not reflected at the airport (Mikairu and Agbo, 2019) [23].
The federal government has recently announced that it will shut down the airport for security reasons (Aliyu, 2019) [24]. The announcement was not well received by the people of Southeast both on the chat rooms and mainstream media. The Ohanaeze Ndigbo asked the government not to embark on such action as the timing is not right, and it will impact negatively on the development of the Igbo economy (Olokor, 2019) [25]. Mr Chiedozie Orizu, the spokesperson for Ohanaze Youth leader, Arthur Obiora, advised the federal government that such move will not augur well for the development of the Igbo land (Okeke, 2019) [26]. There had not been anything to show that the contract award for the Enugu airport has reflected on it yet.

Other Impediments
Other impediments are directed against the Igbo people. Some of the barriers are excessive police checkpoints directed against the Igbo people and businesses, and

Conclusions
The economic and political marginalization of the Igbo people is not subtle; it is an active and deliberate effort designed by the federal government to checkmate their ascendency or recovery from the devastation of the Nigeria Biafra civil war.

The Way Forward
Several approaches that could be applied by the federal government or the States could do to address the political and economic marginalization of the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria. Some of the suggestions that may help resolve the anomalies are: 1) Restructure: There is the need for the Nigeria government to agree to wholesome restructure without reservation. The restructuring would be ideal for returning the country to the era when the regions manage their economic and political affairs. During the period of the regional government, all the regions thrived at their respective paces.
2) Shared Values: The previous demand for restructuring the country notwithstanding, the Igbo community must identify those that share the same values with them, and persuade them to forge partnerships to resist unwieldy policies from the federal government. The researcher believes that the study's outcome will add value to the body of literature, help the political activists, and finally, will be of benefit to the students of political science and public administration. The researcher invites other scholars to conduct further studies into the phenomenon.

Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.