Chekwas Okorie, founder of the Igbo Agenda Dialogue (IAD), has stated that the greatest challenge of the South-East is lack of organization, during an interview with Daily Independent on Sunday, 7 September, 2025.
He argued that the region has the human strength to influence national politics but has not used it effectively.
Okorie explained that many people think the Igbo problem is about how they relate to national issues.
Some say the region treats politics like a business deal, where the highest bidder wins support but he dismissed that view.
He said the real problem is that the region has failed to organize itself around its natural advantages.
According to him, the Igbo have been blessed with numbers and presence across Nigeria.
He said the population strength of the South-East is unmatched by any other ethnic group.
In every state of the federation, he noted, the Igbo are second only to the native population.
He described this as a unique spread that no other group can boast of.
Okorie compared this situation to the saying that ‘God helps those who help themselves.’
He argued that God has already helped the Igbo people by giving them population, talent, and spread.
What remains, he said, is for them to help themselves by organizing properly.
He used the 2011 and 2015 presidential elections as examples.
In 2011, he recalled, the South-East voted strongly for former President Goodluck Jonathan, delivering millions of votes that helped him win but in 2015, enthusiasm dropped.
Okorie said that if the region had voted with the same energy as in 2011, Jonathan would have won again.
He stated that the lesson is clear. Without proper organization, the South-East cannot fully benefit from its strength.
He said the region must now turn its numbers into political influence.
For him, unity and planning are the only ways the Igbo can get what they deserve in Nigeria.
”Well, if we have any problem at all, we do have a problem, but that problem is not in the direction they are talking about. The problem is that we are not organized.
Now, Igbo people have the highest population, we have the largest population in this country, more than any ethnic group, not just in terms of human democracy. You can’t argue it.
If Igbo had voted Johnathan in the same way they voted 2011 Jonathan would have won the 2015 election,” he said.
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