The appointment of new Service Chiefs by President Muhammadu Buhari has attracted widespread reactions against his choice which excluded the people of the South East. Majority of the chieftains and leaders in the area have expressed their angst wondering why Buhari has sworn to marginalize the Igbo.
So many interpretations have been made since the number one citizen announced the names of the new service chiefs. Prior to now the Igbo have been raising serious issues of marginalization alleging hatred of the Buhari administration against its people.
Buhari seem to have validated their fears in a statement he made to an international media organization of repute shortly after assumption of office. In the widely circulated document, the president had stated categorically that he was not going to treat the South East who gave him 5% votes like the rest of Nigeria who gave him 97 percent. He made good this assertion by abandoning the federal character principle and denying the Igbo all the positions they ought to have.
It was not anything different in his second tenure in 2019 and the recent appointments of service chiefs that excluded the Igbo shows he is unrepentant and ready to perpetuate his stand in spite of the outcries of the Igbo people.
The newly elected president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof George Obiozor did not align himself with the action of the president because according to him it was not in line with the federal character principle as enshrined in our statute book.
An extract of his comment reads “We particularly thank Mr. President for the appointment of Major General Lucky Irabor a tested General and a gentleman.
“However, Mr. President, one way of ensuring compliance with Federal character provision of the Nigerian constitution is to observe the distribution of important and vital offices of the Federal Government in accordance with the zonal structure.
“Mr. President, particularly in the area of the security architecture of the country, the South East zone which was conspicuously absent in your first term has now again not been included so far in your recent appointment of service chiefs.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo hopes and believes that Mr. President in continuation of appointments in this sector would consider the South East zone”.
Prince Clinton Uba, an Umuahia based public analyst and the publisher of the News Mirror, had this to say. “The Biafra war is not yet over. Ndigbo in the South East are still being treated as second class citizens in Nigeria. Just know very well that President Buhari fought the civil war against Ndigbo and that mentality that this is a conquered territory is still there.”
Dr Patrick Enuneku, National President, National Forum for South East Presidency (NFSEP), described PMB’s action as an aberration. In his words, he stated that, “the exclusion of South East from the appointment of Service Chiefs is an attestation that the present government is trying to exhaust all the opportunities of serving Nigeria for South East come 2023.
This exclusion of the South East from the current appointment of the service chief is to indirectly tell the South Easterners to wait for their turn for Presidency come 2023. Exclusion of a South Easterner in service Chief appointment is therefore an aberration.
According to Emmanuel Ejiogu (KSM), a commentator on national issues, “The exclusion of the South East in appointment of the Service Chiefs is a glance at the gross nepotism and tribalism in Nigeria. It is not a government of inclusiveness”
Member, Board of Trustees and leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Rivers State, Dr Omenazu Jackson, says he is more concerned with the security of Nigeria. According to him, there is no security in the country, so it does not matter wherever who can fix that it comes from.
Continuing, he says, “Criminal elites have succeeded in balkanizing us along ethnic lines. It calls for concern really. Ethnicity is even more pronounced in the military. President’s body language does not show he is a Nigerian leader but a Fulani leader. The president should free himself from acts of nepotism. On the looting table the criminal elites are united and pretending to be at war against each other.”
Former chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, (NERC) and former APGA governorship aspirant in Imo, Dr Sam Amadi, in his comment says “I am not more concerned about the change of service chiefs as if it is the answer to the problem of insecurity. The crisis is with the president himself. We are happy that he listened to make the change. The issue of South East marginalization is not the same thing as Igbo marginalization. Igbo is an expansive word.
“We want to see the new service chiefs, change directions of the military, improve operations of the military, and stop the governors from using them to settle internal crises. Buhari has been there for 6 months and his pattern remains with him and we have to judge him because he has not been fair with his appointments from the South East. But beyond that we should be talking about strategic institutional change and not about symbolic gestures of appointing people from the South East.
The South East remains the only region with the least number of states among the other regions and every cry to increase it has been falling on deaf ears. This is not only a political impediment but negatively impacts the economic potentials of the group who are dominant in the commerce of this country.
At no time has the Igbo been marginalized than under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. His actions are very glaring and he is not hiding it.
Igbo is one of the three major ethnic groups in the country. It played its role creditably in the struggle to wrestle Nigeria’s independence through her powerhouse of dedicated, patriotic and intellectual politicians.
The contributions of the Igbo in the development of Nigeria are quite evident everywhere you go. The Igbo is the only ethnic group that builds bridges across the land and provides a strong unifying factor. They can be found settling everywhere in the country and finds a home anywhere they inhabit, impacting their places of abode. This cannot be said of other ethnic groups.
The Igbo parades very unique characteristics that stand them out and can survive under the harshest of conditions. There is no doubt that this has been the envy of others. There is virtually no area of endeavours that they have not distinguished themselves quite creditably irrespective of the numerous challenges lined on their path.
Before the civil war, the South East where the Igbo are dominant is touted as the fastest growing economy of the world leveraging on agricultural products to improve its fortune. After the pogrom which was designed to exterminate the Igbo various measures have been instituted to continually keep the Igbo under the jackboot.
To mention just a few, such policies as the failure to rehabilitate the Biafra land after the war, the 20 pounds refund to anybody who wants to convert his old currencies or bank balances, the Nigeria Enterprises Promotion Decree or the Indigenization policy, manipulated population census, are all repressive.
Others include the creation of more states and local governments in favour of the north, lack of development of the sea ports in the Igbo axis, lack of standard international airports and other exploitative actions. All of these formed the overt and indirect actions to diminish the ability of the Igbo people to compete on a level playing ground with other regions.
The excessive road check points and the continuous harassment of custom officials of Igbo business men as well as excessive levies on Igbo shops and businesses in other states like Lagos are all part of the efforts to undermine the people
The South East remains the only region with the least number of states among the other regions and every cry to increase it has been falling on deaf ears. This is not only a political impediment but negatively impacts the economic potentials of the group who are dominant in the commerce of this country.
