You don’t need to sit in a secret meeting to understand how leadership is traded in the South East. All you need is to attend one political endorsement ceremony.
It’s the same pattern — powerful blocs arrive in convoys, traditional rulers line up for handshakes, and envelopes exchange hands under the banner of “unity.” By the end, a new “consensus candidate” emerges — not through debate or public merit, but through private negotiation.
That’s how governance has been reduced to a private auction.
The facts are stubborn. According to BudgIT’s 2024 State of States report, Southeast governments spent an average of less than 40% of their total budgets on capital projects. Imo State ranked among the lowest nationwide with capital expenditure below 35%, while Abia and Enugu each spent more on administrative costs than infrastructure.
In Anambra, ₦4.8 billion was budgeted for road maintenance in 2024. Only ₦1.9 billion was released. Yet, the number of political appointees has continued to rise — over 180 new aides were announced between June and December 2024.
We no longer elect builders — we install brokers. Men who see public office as a personal investment, not a public mission. And because the system rewards loyalty over competence, mediocrity has become the new normal.
The South East, once a symbol of enterprise and innovation, now records the highest youth unemployment rate in southern Nigeria — 41% (NBS, 2024). Migration has become the new dream. The most talented among us no longer wait for government; they leave.
Leadership has turned into a franchise of small power — godfathers at the top, loyalists in between, and the people below, forgotten.
Until governance in the South East becomes a mission, not a transaction, we’ll keep recycling failure and calling it stability.
Our communities don’t need new slogans. They need systems.
Our leaders don’t need more titles. They need conscience.
Because history doesn’t remember who negotiated the deal — it remembers who built the future.
Linus Anagboso.
Digital Solutions Consultant. Columnist. Community & Leadership Advocate.
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