Nigeria's 37m Ndigbo are renown for their industrious nature that enables them to take retailing everywhere. I want to see someone of the calibre of Michael Okpara or Ukpabi Asika emerge and convert this energy into industrial output

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Do you know that Michael Okpara dedicated 45% of his annual budget to education when he was the premier of the old Eastern Region? MI Power as he was called had one mission and that was to catch up and overtake the Western region in terms of education

[2] Personally, I take the view that Ukpabi Asika remains the only Igbo leader who made a genuine attempt to tap into Ndigbo's industrial spirit. I just hope that one of the current governors like Charles Soludo, Alex Otti or Peter Mbah can do likewise

[3] When he was governor of East Central State, Asika, a pragmatic patriot and nationalist, believed in the concept of neo-Biafra. This was a nation without borders for Ndigbo because of their adventurous, mercantile and egalitarian spirit. Asika envisaged a virtual nation that lives in the heart of every Igbo person but with a solid root and spiritual home in Eastern Nigeria

[4] Asika envisioned that Ndigbo just like the Jews, cannot be confined to any specific physical national boundary or continent and saw the state of a secessionist Biafra as antiquated and against the true spirit of the Igbo adventurism

[5] At the end of the war in 1970, Asika assiduously tackled the colossal job of rehabilitation, reconstruction and reintegration of Ndigbo into mainstream Nigeria. He revived economic life from the ruins of Biafra with a drive that remains unparalleled till date

[6] In the face of obvious lukewarm financial support from the federal government, Asika exhorted and led Ndigbo to rebuild their homeland through great personal exertion and self-sacrifice by calling on their legendary ingenuity, dynamism, resilience and grit

[7] How the East Central State government managed to find enough scarce resources to jump-start life after the war was like the miracle of Meribah, but it all boils down to the visionary and deft leadership of the 34-year -old Asika

[8] Asika's administration floated the indomitable Enugu Rangers International football club which successfully flew the flag of Ndigbo to win national and international soccer championships in the post war years and restored the pride and dignity of Igbos

[9] Also, in 1971, Asika’s government brought together all the Biafran scientists and created Projects Development Institute (Proda) to enable the scientists to continue their amazing scientific development work and lay solid foundation for Igbo technological takeoff. Proda was charged with the broad function of generating and catalyzing industrialisation by carrying out industrial research from the laboratory stage to the pilot plant stage and by rendering consultancy services to governments, industry and individuals. Sadly, after Asika, no other igbo leaders were interested in Proda

[10] Do you also know that to relieve the immediate suffering and prime the economic pump quickly at the end of the civil war, Asika reinstated thousands of former civil servants of Eastern Nigeria and gave them a month’s salary in advance. This man was a visionary and how I wish he was still around today

ayoakinfe@gmail.com