From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former Governor of Anambra State and ex-Political Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has told Nigerians to hold President Muhammadu Buhari responsible for the spate of unrests in the country especially in the South East geo-political zone with his unguarded utterances.
Ezeife made the assertion in his keynote address as chairman of The Authority newspaper awards ceremony, in Abuja. He warned that if the injustice of marginalisation of the region persists, the entity called Nigeria will be under serious threat.
In his words: “What is Obasanjo’s motive in promoting Igbo President in 2019? It is simply for the survival of Nigeria. The problem of justice and marginalisation has been major sources of conflict between ethnic groups and regions of the country.
“As Obasanjo stated, it was part of his resolve for a just and fair country that made him to work for the emergence of a South South President. On the Ogun front, his home own front, he is advocating now for a governor from Ogun West because they have never produces any governor because of peace and justice. I do not dispute Bishop Akinsho’s assertion about Obasanjo is a special gift for Nigeria.
“If injustice and marginalisation done to the South East of Nigeria persist, then Biafra is a physical political entity. The Biafra as a physical political entity becomes inevitable and one Nigeria sizes to exist. Our people cannot leave without honour as it is now in Nigeria.
“That is why Ndigbo has the highest rate of suicide during the slave trade. They say life without honour is not worth living nor are we still rejected as we do feel now in Nigeria and continue to remain in Nigeria much longer,” he said.
Similarly, Constitutional Lawyer and Human Right Activist, Chief Mike Ozehkhome, who was the Keynote Speaker on the theme True Federalism, argued that the entity called Nigeria is eating under a faulty tripod of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba, stressing that: “We have been suffering from the fate of the barbers chair, movement without motion.”
“Ignoring the other ethnic groups especially the so called minority ethnic group will make us continue to experience ethnic violence in the country. There is great injustice in the country. We have 392 ethnic groups in Nigeria and 350 languages not only the faulty tripod of Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo,” he quipped.
Those in attendance include the Deputy Governor of Rivers State who represented the Governor, Nyesom Wike, reps of the Enugu State governor, former governor of Akwa-Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio, Senator Dino Melaye, among others.