The Ohaneze Youth
Council, OYC, has expressed deep anger over President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest
appointment for the positions of the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, SGF, as well as the Chief of Staff to the President.
The group said recent
developments had indications that Buhari was pursuing ethnic agenda and that he
was not ready to accommodate Ndigbo in his government.
President Buhari had
after several months of keeping Nigerians in suspense, announced the
appointment of Engr. Babachir David Lawal from Adamawa State as the Secretary
to the Government of the Federation; as well as Alhaji Abba Kyari for the
position of Chief of Staff to the President.
Others appointed
included Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd.)- Comptroller-General, Nigerian Customs
Service; Mr. Kure Martin Abeshi – Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration
Service; Senator Ita S.J. Enang – SSA to the President on National Assembly
Matters (Senate) and Hon. Suleiman A. Kawu -SSA to the President on National
Assembly Matters (House of representatives).
None of the positions
came the way of the South-East region.
In a reaction, the
Ohaneze Youth Council said the President had demonstrated his hatred for
Ndigbo, even after he had said he belonged to nobody but belonged to everybody.
President of the of the
OYC, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, in a press statement jointly signed with the
group’s National Public Relations Officer, Hon. Obinna Adibe, said the
appointments were totally unacceptable to Ndigbo, maintaining that they
violated the principle of federal character, which is enshrined in the Nigerian
constitution.
“We stand to condemn
this glaring hatred for Ndigbo by the administration of President Muhammadu
Buhari. We recall that apart from several other appointments, Buhari’s government
has also appointed Service Chiefs and in a similar manner, he sidelined the
South-East zone.
“As if that was not
enough, the long-awaited position of the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, SGF, has come at last and this government deemed nobody from the
South-East qualified enough to occupy that position, which was earlier zoned to
Ndigbo.
“We are indeed shocked
by this turn of events, which are totally at variance with Mr. President’s
earlier stand that he was for nobody but that he was for everybody. We are at a
loss where this statement fits in, considering all the actions he has taken so
far, which are all against the interest of Ndigbo.
“Where is the justice;
where is the equity; where is the one Nigeria? How long shall Ndigbo be pushed
to the walls?
“The Ohaneze Youth
Council is saying it loud and clear that these appointments are unacceptable to
us and we urge Mr. President to reverse them, otherwise it would appear that
there is a grand-design to annihilate the Igbos out of the political and
economic system in this country.”
Isiguzoro further
stated that apart from the neglect Ndigbo had suffered in the area of
appointments, it was also curious that the Buhari-led government had suspended
work on the second Niger Bridge.
He stressed that “all
these are pointers to the fact that we are becoming endangered species in
Nigeria. The Second Niger Bridge is a project that touches on the economic life
of the entire South-East and we find it curious that the Federal Government is
not ready to attach any priority to it.
“We use this medium to
urge Mr. President to right these wrongs and move the country forward as one.
Tribalism has never paid Nigeria and this period will not make any difference”.
- Daily Post
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