The South East and President Buhari seem to be mutually angry with each other. For the number of times that Buhari ran for the presidency, the Igbo were never enthusiastic about his candidacy. They had their fears and their reasons which basically are Buhari’s sharia instinct, his anti democratic tendencies and lack of depth on economic issues. Nd’igbo are basically Christians and republicans by nature. They are people that love democracy and in the main, entrepreneurs who cherish unfettered trade.
In 2015, mother luck smiled on Buhari without so much of the Igbo support. He defeated former President Jonathan, the preferred choice of Igbo elites to become the elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Buhari won with the Yoruba support.
However, two years into his presidency there are criticisms of his performance from across the political spectrum with hatred defining his politics and relationship with Nd’Igbo. Obviously, someone from the South East for many reasons is likely to view him as basically wicked especially given that he never hid his anger for those that didn’t vote for him whom he said should not expect to be fairly treated.
Besides his economic and trade policies that seem to target mainly Igbo businesses for destruction the list of anti-Igbo actions perpetuated by the current regime is now stretched beyond eye view suggesting the President may still be angry with the Igbo for not voting for him and is punishing them as much as he can.
The 2016 Christmas celebration was nearly ruined for Nd’igbo by the Buahri administration who introduced all manners of checkpoints with the customs topping the range in confiscating Igbo peoples vehicles and foodstuffs which they either termed contraband or duty under paid. Nd’Igbo never witnessed such a siege since the end of the civil war. The Igbo had no one to complain to but lament and curse their Nigeria citizenship.
The Igbo had no one in the top echelon of government to present their case to because under the current Federal Government, Igbo representation is abysmal and fall extremåely short of the constitutional provisions for the reflection of federal character in the appointment into important government positions. No arm of government namely, the Executive, the Judiciary or the Legislature is headed by an Igbo. No section of the Armed forces or parliamentary organization is headed by an Igbo. Where they came within shot of the tape, they were cleverly edged out without much of a pretense.
Neither the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal nor the Federal High Court is headed by an Igbo. This is against the back drop of the fact that there were precedents in the past where people earned double promotions just to balance Federal Character. Specifically, Lt. Col Shehu Yar’Adua was appointed to the position of Chief of Staff over and above his superiors just to ensure ethnic balance. There were also another instance when a Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation was appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria just to ensure ethnic balance and a former military head of State who was serving prison terms drafted to run for President just to douse ethnic tensions. But when it comes to the turn of the Igbo to brace the tape the crown is denied because the goal post will be shifted.
The President didn’t hide his hate for the Igbo when he made it clear that his appointment must favor the States that voted overwhelmingly for him and those he trusts even against the provisions of our constitution relating to federal character. He went ahead to defy the zoning structure of his party and appointed a non-Igbo man as Secretary to Government of the Federation. He also ensured that the ministries with lean capital votes are the ones assigned to Ndigbo.
In further display of his anger against the Igbo he nominated Ambassadors for confirmation to the National Assembly, naming three ambassadors for some states and only one ambassador for each of the Igbo States. One year and eight months into his tenure as President, he has not visited any Igbo State whereas he has toured each zone of the country. As far as the regime is concerned the South East is not part of Nigeria but Biafra hence no railway construction is going on in Igbo land and the Enugu/Port Harcourt and Enugu/Onitsha Expressways remain national embarrassment. State Governors in Igbo States are forced to rehabilitate federal roads in Igbo land from their lean budgets so as to keep alive mobility of factors of production.
Federal projects that will attract revenue to the South East is either neglected or abandoned. Our gas and oil reserve are not explored while billions of dollars are being invested in the search for elusive oil in the Chad basin and parts of the North. Whereas 70 percent of power generated in China is from coal and 40 percent of America’s power is from coal, the coal in Enugu, which is a federal resource continues to lie unexploited. Ebonyi State continues to bring up the rear in federally allocated resources in spite of its mineral endowments of coal, salt and lead.
To make matters worse for nd’Igbo the President presented a $29.9 billion 3 year External Borrowing Plan to the National Assembly, which will potentially raise our total external debt to $41 Billion in three years and raise our debt to GDP ratio from 13.3% to 20.7% without considering it fit to allocate a single project in this external borrowing plan to the South-East.
For the up tenth time let me say it that the continued incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu is unhealthy for Nigeria. It is difficult to convince an average Igbo that Buhari loves him better than his cow. There is no way to explain away the killings of hundreds of Igbo youths by security agencies for doing nothing but march the street as people that want Biafra.
The right to self determination is the right every citizen should freely enjoy. Just like I have my right to proclaim my citizenship of Nigeria to high heavens, I believe the millions of men and women who want Biafra have right to their demand without fear of being killed by the state. To kill Igbo youths on the account of their agitation for Biafra is an abominable wickedness.
It is difficult to understand why the police who had killed hundreds of defenseless and armless demonstrators in the South East are unable to subdue AK47 wielding Fulani herdsmen who has been attacking communities and killing men and women on their beds and in the dead of the night. The killers obviously are free because they are Fulani and the dead will never get justice because they were Igbo.
The injustice and marginalization perpetuated against ndi Igbo by this regime has become an incumbent hatred that we must find a truce. The president if he is still angry with the IGBO on account of how they voted in 2015 should soften his anger as a father of the nation. He should try to listen to the demand of the people. As a good leader he should not close his heart against the cries of the led.
He should allow the sun to shine on all men and the rain to fall on every land. He should spread prosperity and evenly distribute amenities. He should find a way to douse the tensions in the land for a nation that breeds too much of disgruntled citizens is bound to crumble and we must guard against this.
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