Chief John Nnia Nwodo, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Thursday attacked President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over the lopsided nature of his appointments, describing Igbo representation as abysmal and falling short of federal character.
Chief Nwodo also expressed support for the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in their agitation for Biafra, saying that their struggle remains his struggle, even though they do not completely agree in their methods.
Nwodo spoke at the inaugural press conference of his leadership after its first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at Ohanaeze secretariat in Enugu.
The two-time minister lamented that in the current Federal Government, none of the arms of government, namely, executive, judiciary and legislature, is headed by an Igbo man, just as no section of the armed forces and paramilitary organisations is headed by an Igbo man.
Nwodo said that under the current Federal Government, Igbo representation is abysmal and falls extremely 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, judiciary and legislature is headed by an Igbo. No section of the armed forces or paramilitary organisations is headed by an Igbo, neither the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal or Federal High Court is headed by an Igbo.
“We know the history of this country when a lieutenant colonel was appointed to the Chief of General Staff over and above his superiors, just to ensure ethnic balance. We know when a Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation was appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria just to ensure ethnic balance. We know when a former Military Head of State was drafted to run for president, just to douse ethnic tensions.
“What is very perturbing is the public declaration of Mr. President that his appointments must favour the states that voted overwhelmingly for him and those he trusts even against provisions of the constitution, relating to federal character! One is at sea why Ndigbo who campaigned and voted for him appear not to be trusted.
“No wonder 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! No wonder one year and eight months into his tenure as president he has not visited any Igbo state,” Nwodo said.
The Ohanaeze helmsman said while they bemoan this patently discriminatory treatment of Ndigbo in appointments into political positions, addressing of capital projects is perhaps more pathetic, stressing that no railway construction is ongoing in Igbo land while Enugu/Onitsha and Enugu/Port Harcourt expressways have become national embarrassment.
He said that to make matters worse, the president presented a $29.9 billion three-year external borrowing plan to the National Assembly, which would potentially raise our total external debts to $41 billion in three years and raise our debt to GDP ratio from 13.2 percent to 20.7 percent without considering it fit to allocate a single project in this external borrowing plan to the South-East.
On the rise of MASSOB and IPOB, he said both organisations, no matter how divided they appear in public are basically motivated by the same sense of outrage and bitterness, warning that young Igbo men and women can no longer tolerate a second hand status in the country.
“They can no longer forgive the president for arguing before he came into office that Niger Delta militants were meekly treated and tolerated by President Yar’Adua while Boko Haram was harshly treated by President Jonathan when his law enforcement agents literally opened fire and maimed and killed unarmed MASSOB and IPOB members.
“They see how returnee Boko Haram members are absolved and rehabilitated while leaders of MASSOB and IPOB are incarcerated or mercilessly murdered.
“As President General of Ohanaeze, I intend to extend my warm hand of paternity to IPOB and MASSOB. They are my children. I shall never desert them. Their struggle is my struggle even if we do not completely agree with their method,” Nwodo said.
