By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Appalled by the utter disrespect and disregard of one leg of the tripods that holds Nigeria, Otu Oka-Iwu (League of Lawyers), the apex organisation of Igbo lawyers in Nigeria, has expressed utter disappointment, deep concern and unreserved condemnation of the recent composition of the Presidential Committee on the National Population and Housing Census (2025) by the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Prompt News reports that in a statement dated April 19 and signed by the President, Okechukwu Unegbu, and Secretary Ben Ihesiulo, the association said it was alarmed to observe that the entire South East and South South geopolitical zones/regions that are home to millions of Nigerian citizens have been “totally and deliberately excluded” from this critical national assignment.
The statement read in parts: “This is not just an omission. This is a clear and calculated act of marginalization, one that reinforces the entrenched and widening pattern of exclusion and systemic discrimination against the Igbo people and our neighbours in the South South region.
“Out of seven (7) committee members, five are from the South West, and the remaining two are from the North Central and North West. No person from the South East or South South regions that have contributed immensely to the political, economic, and social fabric of this nation is found worthy of inclusion.
“This action, under the watch of a government that claims to govern in the interest of all, is not only reprehensible but amounts to a brazen insult to the principles of federal character, equity, inclusion, and justice as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
“Let it be stated categorically: a national census is not a technical exercise, it is political, economic, social, and cultural. It determines representation in government, allocation of resources, and the trajectory of development for decades to come.
“It defines who counts, and who is counted. Excluding an entire people from the committee that will shape and oversee such a process is an unmistakable declaration that we do not matter in the affairs of this country.
“Otu Oka-Iwu views this development as a continuation of the subtle but persistent agenda to sideline and silence the South East and South South regions in the governance and policy architecture of Nigeria.
“It is a sad commentary that in 2025, we must still remind the Nigerian state that this country is not the inheritance of any one region or ethnic group. We cannot, and will not, be spectators in our own country.”
The Igbo lawyers called for the immediate reconstitution of the Presidential Census Committee to reflect the true federal character of Nigeria and to include qualified and capable representatives from the South East and South South zones.
The organisation said anything short of this is unacceptable, provocative and a direct invitation to civil disobedience.
“We also wish to make it abundantly clear that should this glaring injustice not be urgently addressed, we will not hesitate to mobilize our people across Igbo land and the South South to resist and reject any enumeration or census process carried out under such a flawed and exclusionary framework. We will not allow any group to reduce our people to mere statistics to be used and discarded at will.
“The continued undermining of ‘ndi Igbo’ and other marginalized groups in the governance of this country must end. The unity of Nigeria cannot be built on selective inclusion and calculated injustice. There can be no peace where there is no justice.
“We call on traditional institutions, political leaders, religious bodies, civil society organizations, and the international community to take notice of this travesty and to join in demanding a reversal of this grievous error.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us. The Census must reflect that or it will reflect nothing at all,” the statement added.
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