PIPELINE OF APATHY: How South-East Devt Commission, stumbled into Abuja rent scandal

By Chioma Gabriel, Editor Special Features & Steve Oko
For more than five decades, the loudest refrain from Nigeria’s South-East was one of neglect.
From the ruins of the civil war to the gully erosion sites swallowing entire communities in Anambra and Imo States, from crumbling federal highways linking commercial hubs to the absence of major federal investments, many in the region nurtured a common grievance: that the South-East had been left behind.
Successive administrations acknowledged the complaints. Political leaders campaigned on them. Civil society groups amplified them.
Yet little changed.
Then came what many considered a historic breakthrough.
In July 2024, Presiden...