Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, has urged Ndigbo to stop producing policy documents without implementing them and focus on turning their ideas into economic, cultural and political gains.
Moghalu spoke on Monday in Umuahia while delivering a lecture titled, ‘The Igbo Charter and Development of Ala Igbo,’ at the Igbo Day celebration.
He chaired the committee that produced the Igbo Charter of Strategic Engagement for National Development.
He warned that the Charter would become another abandoned document unless concrete steps were taken to implement it.
‘Nigeria is a cemetery of excellent reports. Igbo land has contributed more than its own share of the tombstones,’ he declared.
Moghalu said the Charter must move from ‘the shelf’ to action through proper funding, clear responsibilities, measurable targets and accountability.
He identified four immediate priorities: promoting the Igbo language, creating an Igbo digital marketplace, establishing a global diaspora register, and developing a credible security and investment framework.
He urged the five South-East Houses of Assembly to support Igbo-language teaching in schools and called on Igbo communities abroad to establish structured language programmes.
Moghalu also proposed a digital marketplace and certified apprenticeship system to organise the region’s trading and entrepreneurial activities.
On the diaspora, he said Ndigbo needed accurate information about their people, skills and resources worldwide.
‘You cannot mobilise an asset you have not counted,’ he said.
He identified insecurity as a major obstacle to development and called for neighbourhood watch systems, early-warning networks and a credible regional security framework.
‘Insecurity is the veto on development,’ he said.
Moghalu also warned political parties against taking ownership of the Charter.
‘The moment it becomes the property of one party, one candidate, one governorship cycle, one faction, it dies,’ he said.
He called for restructuring, devolution of powers and greater economic and security autonomy, describing them as national issues rather than demands exclusive to Ndigbo.
Moghalu urged Ndigbo to practise meritocracy within their own communities while demanding fairness from Nigeria.
‘Integrity over influence. Competence over popularity. Service over self,’ he said.
He also cautioned against allowing past grievances to determine the future.
‘Victimhood is a prison with very comfortable furniture. Agency is the only inheritance worth living for our children,’ he said.
To ensure implementation of the Charter, Moghalu proposed a professional implementation council, supported by a secretariat and quarterly performance reviews.
‘Every priority needs a baseline. Every priority needs a target. Every priority needs a date, a named officer and an independent review,’ he said.
He added: ‘Igbo, we have never lacked intelligence. We have sometimes lacked orchestration.
‘The Charter is the scope. The subcommittee reports are the instrumentation. What remains now is performance.’
The event was hosted by Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, and attended by prominent Igbo leaders, including the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.