Is the Federal Government of Nigeria’s exclusion of Southeast from the railway project a curse or a blessing?

14/10/25

Is the Federal Government of Nigeria’s exclusion of Southeast from the railway project a curse or a blessing?

By Livy-Elcon Emereonye

Nations are not destroyed only by bombs and bullets. They are destroyed by policies of exclusion, by systemic strangulation, by the deliberate denial of growth to some while others are fattened with privilege. Nigeria stands today as an empire of injustice, and nothing exposes this better than the Federal Government’s exclusion of the Southeast from its railway projects.

Let us call it by its real name: a curse of calculated marginalization. For decades, the Igbo have been treated not as citizens but as tolerated strangers in a country they helped build and are still building. The railways that crisscross Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, and Ibadan are not just steel tracks—they are symbols of belonging. By denying the Southeast, Abuja has declared once more: “You are not wanted. You are not equal. You shall remain isolated.”

But here lies the irony of history: what tyrants intend as a curse often transforms into the greatest blessing for the oppressed. Marginalization is fertilizer for revolution. Neglect is the spark of innovation. Rejection is the mother of self-reliance.

The time has come to break the chains of deliberate neglect and convert curses to blessings.

The Southeast’s exclusion is intentional. It is part of a pattern—an ancient wound reopened again and again. A region rich in commerce is denied modern transport. Traders and manufacturers must pay more for logistics, lose more on broken roads, and risk more in insecurity. It is designed to keep the Igbo competitive but crippled, resilient but limited, alive but never allowed to thrive.

This is the curse of being shackled in a federation that feeds on your sweat but denies you justice. It must stop.

People who do not speak out against injustices will face dire outcomes.

But we shall not bow. We shall not beg. We shall not wait for crumbs at the master’s table. This exclusion, though born of malice, is a blessing of awakening.

If FGN denies us trains, we shall build our own.

If they close federal doors, we shall open regional gates.

If they insult us with neglect, we shall answer with industry.

If they bind us with exclusion, we shall break free with innovation.

The Igbo spirit has never been broken, not even after the genocide of the civil war. With twenty pounds, we rebuilt cities. With bare hands, we built industries. With no help, we dominated trade. And now, with this railway exclusion, we are reminded once again: our destiny is not in their hands—it is in ours.

The glorious advancement of a people commences with the aspiration to rewrite history, demanding that one seeks advantages in all difficulties and endeavours to gain insights from suffering. We must craft diverse lemonades from the lemons available to us.

Let the governors of the Southeast hear this declaration. Let businessmen and women of Igboland hear it. Let the diaspora, scattered but unbroken, hear it. The time has come to stop crying and start creating.

Form a Southeast Infrastructure Trust Fund, fueled by diaspora remittances and local capital.

Launch an Eastern Railway Initiative, connecting Aba to Onitsha, Enugu to Owerri, Nnewi to Port Harcourt.

Adopt technology-based logistics, surpassing old systems.

Collaborate politically—not as pieces in Abuja’s chess match, but as the decision-makers of our own territory.

This goes beyond railways. The focus is on liberating oneself from suppression. Every kilometer of railway denied us is a kilometer of independence we must build for ourselves. Enough is enough. We must psychologically resist every form of marginalization and exclusion.

Nobody can suppress another person without their approval, which is why we must now come together and cast off the garments of oppression and suppression, advancing triumphantly from ashes to flames as we fuel the fire of self-assessment for our preservation.

The rejected stone shall be the cornerstone. The people despised shall be the people who rise. Abuja thinks it has cursed us with exclusion; history will record that it blessed us with the fire of self-determination.

The Southeast must declare: never again shall our fate be tied to a system that thrives on our marginalization. We shall build, and in building, we shall free ourselves. The curse shall become a blessing, and the neglected shall become the leaders of tomorrow. Had they foreseen resurrection, there would have been no crucifixion.

Long-standing marginalization and exclusion have finally reached their peak, giving rise to a radical awareness and comprehensive renaissance.

The veil has been removed, and the hidden intent is no more a secret so let this be heard in Abuja and beyond:

We do not beg for inclusion, but we must resist every form of exclusion.

We do not plead for railways. We demand them as a matter of right and entitlement along with other basic amenities.

We do not seek the mercy of a system designed against us, but we demand equity and fairness for just and meaningful existence. We need the conducive environment to live and operate as human beings.

Every strategy aimed at keeping us down and out has been implemented, yet we remain unyielding to intimidation. We opt for the journey of greatness through innovation that identifies success in all situations. We toe the path of creating wealth even from wastes. We shall build our own. We shall rise. We shall prove once again that the Igbo spirit cannot be broken, cannot be erased, and cannot be excluded.

This exclusion is not the end of the Southeast—it is the beginning of its renaissance. It holds the ace for absolute development for meaningful impact.

From curse to blessing. From exclusion to revolution. From neglect to liberation. Transforming hostility into a driving force for genuine progress is beneficial.

The time has come – and this is indeed the time.