From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja 

Against the backdrop of criticisms which have trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s 57th Independence Day address,  especially comments that the clamour for restructuring of the polity has been hijacked by elements bent on dismembering the country, the Presidency has said it is unfair of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo to blame the recent unrest in the South East on the Federal Government.

Buhari, had, in his address, blamed the region’s leaders for not warning their hot-headed youths about dangers in calling for secession.

The president said while he agreed that agitation for restructuring is legitimate, he has directed agitators to the national and state Assemblies, which, he said, are the only structures constitutionally empowered to restructure the country, through constitutional amendment.

Ohanaeze had, in response to the president’s independence day broadcast, said the present administration’s anti-Igbo policies fuelled agitations in the region.

Yesterday, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement,  appealed to Ohanaeze, to see themselves as partners with the federal government in promoting peace and stability in the country.

 Throwing light on the import of Buhari’s broadcast on October 1, Shehu said the president’s message to all community leaders, which included Ohanaeze, was that they have a huge role to play in what happens in their communities and in how their youths behave.  

 “President Buhari was not abdicating his responsibilities. He didn’t request any political leader to do anything seminal or out-of-the-box. All he said was, ‘talk to your out-of-the-line-youths so that we have some peace.

“Igbo leaders need not be on the defensive for IPOB’s misbehaviour, which they have rightly condemned.  

“The president was simply saying that regional leaders also have a role to play in keeping (their) hot-headed youths in check.”

Shehu also said elders from every region must step out and speak up whenever their youths go out of line, such as when IPOB launched unspeakable diatribes against other groups of people, in other parts of the country, and then began to threaten violence.

Related News

 “President Buhari was simply calling out the regional leaders to their responsibilities, making them aware of the crucial role they can play. This should not be seen as an attack on Ohanaeze or on any other regional leaders,” he said. 

In response to other criticisms of the president’s speech, particularly his declaration that all matters of restructuring or constitutional amendment are within the purview of the National Assembly,  Shehu reiterated the president’s line that the parliament,  as a key institution in democratic governance, is the proper venue for the ventilation of, and resolution, of all contentious issues.

“It beats our imagination that men claiming to be democrats or having democratic credentials are asking government to ignore an elected parliament, in preference to a committee made up of presidential appointees to debate and resolve constitutional issues. You are either for democracy or its opposite. For us in this government, democracy is the country’s chosen system of government and we are determined to deepen and uphold it. 

“Democracy may be slow and chaotic, but it remains the best system of government the world has got so far. 

“Democracy in Nigeria has come to stay and the administration will deepen it, not kill it.”

Shehu referred Nigerians questioning the success of the administration so far, to look at the mirror and see themselves. “We inherited a country in tatters- its economy, its security and in its social relations…”

 

“President Buhari deserves credit for rebuilding what has been destroyed. If anyone thinks this a failure, let them talk to those millions of farmers we have empowered to create riches for themselves and the nation, for whom fertilizer is available everywhere at the regulated price of N5,500 instead of N13,800 a year ago; let them ask the manufacturers and importers of goods who bought the Dollar at N525:00 and are happy that it is down to N360:00 and still improving; let them go back and read the accomplishments highlighted in the speech, to see the advancements in security, agriculture, the ease of doing business and anti-corruption, to mention a few.

“As for those critics who are used being settled by successive governments, with false claims to being so-called conscience of society popping out from the cupboard on and off to drive the country towards religious and ethnic polarization, they have no other motive but to rock the boat of good governance. What they yearn for is to be picked out to be paid to keep quiet. The Buhari government has abolished “settlement.”

“Polarizing speeches that aggravate brother Nigerian against a brother Nigerian are causing damage to our democracy, rocking at the very foundation of our unity and they better not cross those red lines as warned by the President.”

Show original message