South-easterners have endured decades of political and economic marginalisation; does that make them immune to today’s difficulties?
Despite the challenges, past and present, analysts say the region has always found a way around harsh government policies.
Nigerians have taken to the streets to protest the harsh economic conditions in the country. From Kano in the north-west region and Makurdi in the north-central, to Ibadan in the south-west, citizens have protested against the astronomic rise in the cost of living.
But the south-east region – dominated by the Igbo tribe – remained unusually calm despite economic hardships sparked by factors such as skyrocketing prices of basic goods and high unemployment.
“It’s not necessarily as if the south-east [is] not feeling the impact of the deregulation of the petroleum industry or the inflation rate. The Igbo men and women have learnt to work hard and mind their business and keep trusting God, not minding what the country holds,” Timothy Nwachukwu, president of Ebonyi Ambassadors Movement, tells The Africa Report.
One of Nigeria’s six geo-political regions, the south-east is the smallest of the regions, both in terms of landmass and number of states. After an unsuccessful attempt to secede from Nigeria in the late 1960s, the Igbos have complained of marginalisation by the Nigerian state.
In the early days of President Bola Tinubu’s government, the south-easterners criticised the composition of his cabinet, raising concern that only five out of the 48 ministers were from the region, the lowest among all the geo-political zones.
The south-east also got the shortest end of the stick in last year’s federal account allocation committee (FAAC) disbursements to state governments. Of the N6.57trn ($4.37 bn) shared in 2023, the region got a total of N680.59bn (10%), while the north-west received twice that amount.
When he was sworn in as president in May 2023, Tinubu announced the immediate removal of the petrol subsidy and the government also unified Nigeria’s multiple exchange rates. Analysts say the government’s actions without a concrete plan have hurt the citizens.
In January, inflation neared 30% and food inflation hovered around 35%.
As Nigerians struggled to come to terms with the hardship inflicted by government policies, protests broke out in several cities across the country.
A new report by the research firm SBM Intelligence shows outbreaks of unorganised, sporadic, and street-level popular demonstrations over naira scarcity and high cost of living in four out of Nigeria’s six regions.
Political silence
The protests have been more intense in Tinubu’s south-west zone, including in his home state of Lagos. Ekiti remains the only state in the region that is yet to see any protest.
Elsewhere, only the south-east and north-east remain calm and quiet in the face of economic hardships.
“Not protesting now does not mean a protest is not on the horizon, especially in the north-east whose history with volatility is well documented,” Confidence MacHarry, a senior analyst at SBM Intelligence, tells The Africa Report.
“The silence from both regions may also be political. The vice president is from the north-east and given how the north is historically coy about protesting against their own, the same might be at play.
“For the south-east, the fear of reprisals by state backed authorities may have been doing just enough to keep the peace,” MacHarry says.
Shun protests
During the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the south-easterners accused the military of high-handedness and extrajudicial killings.
The ‘Operation Python Dance,’ launched by the military in 2016 to address insecurity in the region was met with scorn and criticism by the locals. According to the human rights group Intersociety, at least 180 people were killed in Abia State alone during the military exercise in 2017.
As recent protests spread across Nigeria, key leaders in the south-east advise that the region should not join the bandwagon.
We will not allow anyone or any group to use the arrangement of protests to import more agents of destabilisation into our territory
The Igbo socio-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo said in a statement that no Igbo group or community should join the demonstrations.
“Youths all over the world are very restive and sensitive to any issue affecting their future. In Nigeria, Igbo youth and youth from other tribes at various times expressed their dissatisfaction with events in the country,” the Igbo socio-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo said, citing the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
In a statement, the IPOB also warned the south-easterners not to join any protest against hunger in the region.
“We have much in our hands to do. We will not allow anyone or any group to use the arrangement of protests to import more agents of destabilisation into our territory,” the statement said.
On Monday, Nigeria’s petrol tanker drivers began a strike over rising operational costs, resulting in long queues in petrol stations in Lagos and Abuja. The labour union has also begun mobilising its members across the country for a two-day protest starting 27 February.
Remaining confident
MacHarry says as the hardship in the country worsens, more states and regions are likely to take part in street protests.
But Nwachukwu remains confident that the people in the south-east region will not take to the streets over the situation in the country.
“The Igbos know that the decision of the government to remove fuel subsidy is for the overall interest of Nigerians and they know that sometimes for you to gain you must suffer a little,” he says. “So that is why the [south-east] zone is peaceful and the zone has no plan now, not even tomorrow, to embark on any protest.” (The Africa Report)
