399

It’s time to strip away the propaganda and confront the truth: the South-East region of Nigeria continues to suffer calculated exclusion from national development policies and federal investments, an injustice both glaring and dangerous to Nigeria’s unity.

Let’s break it down, fact by fact:

1. STUDENT LOAN SCHEME, South-East Excluded.

The 2024 rollout of the Nigerian Student Loan Scheme by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has so far failed to include a single public tertiary institution from the South-East among the first batch of beneficiaries. While students in other zones are applying, over 100,000 South-East students are left stranded, no access, no explanation.

FACT CHECK:

As of May 2024, NELFUND listed 126 approved institutions; none were from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, or Imo.

2. JAMB

Institutional Bias There is mounting evidence and allegations of deliberate score manipulation and discriminatory catchment policies within the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), especially affecting candidates from the South-East.

STATS:

Despite having some of the highest number of applicants and best-performing candidates (2016–2023), the South-East consistently gets lower federal university admissions due to “catchment” and “educationally disadvantaged state” considerations, criteria that do not favor them.

3. SEA PORTS

Zero Functional Seaports in South-East Despite being a region with high import-export activity, the South-East has no functional seaport. The closest, Onne and Port Harcourt ports, are in Rivers State (South-South), and even they suffer from shallow draft and congestion.

FACT:

The Onitsha River Port, designated since 1983, remains underutilised and under-equipped, while the proposed Alaoji Dry Port and Oguta Lake Port remain stalled due to federal neglect.

4. FIRS/NNPC/Customs

No Top Positions for South-Easterners Out of all major federal revenue-generating agencies, FIRS, NNPC, Customs, NPA, CBN, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Petroleum, none is currently headed by an Igbo or South-Eastern individual.

STATS:

In a March 2024 review of the top 20 federal agencies and parastatals, only 1 had leadership from the South-East (and not among the top revenue or security sectors).

5. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

None in South-East Contrary to misinformation, the so-called Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu lacks functional international operations. Most international flights bypass the region entirely.

FACT:

As of 2023, only one international airline (Ethiopian Airlines) flies irregularly into Enugu; there is no customs clearance, cargo capacity, or consistent foreign airline activity, unlike Abuja, Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt.

6. RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE,

South-East Cut Out The national rail network under the Buhari administration and continued by Tinubu has no meaningful rail connection passing through or terminating in the South-East.

FACT:

Lagos–Ibadan Standard Gauge: West

Warri/Itakpe Rail: South-South/North-Central

Abuja/Kaduna: North

Kano/Maradi: North/Niger Republic

Port Harcourt/Maiduguri Rail (proposed): South-South to North-East, bypasses core South-East states.

No South-East city is currently on the modern rail map.

7. MILITARY CHECKPOINTS

Militarised Zone While other regions are plagued with far deadlier banditry and terrorism, it is the South-East that has been turned into a fortress of military checkpoints and security harassment.

FACT:

As of Q4 2023, the South-East alone accounted for over 120 military/police checkpoints, far more per square kilometer than any other zone in Nigeria, despite being the region with the lowest recorded incidents of terrorism (Source: SBM Intelligence, 2023).

The Nigerian state labels them “separatists” when they demand equality, yet the structures of government treat them like second-class citizens.

This is not just marginalisation.

This is systemic exclusion.

And silence is no longer an option.

Credit: Oblong Media Unlimited