Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors’ Forum, Dave Umahi, has on weekend, said the South East region of Nigeria benefitted more from the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, federal government than from Peoples Democratic Party’s sixteen years of governance.
Speaking to Vanguard in Lagos through his Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, Umahi said the Igbo have had a fair-play under Buhari’s administration in terms of economic and infrastructure development.
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According to him, the N10Billion Airport rehabilitation, the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Enugu -Port-Harcourt Expressway and other infrastructures are pointers to the benefits the South East States are getting from the Buhari administration. “These are indications that this administration is helping the South East a lot more than ever.”
Umahi blamed the issue of Biafra agitations on marginalisation of the southeast and urged the Igbo to embrace togetherness of purpose.
Pointing out that the Igbo are republicans, independent and enterprising in nature, he urged the people to embrace togetherness in pushing for a common agenda.
“We must agree that there is strength in unity. Every person in the southeast wants fair-play, wants freedom, wants love and peace, wants harmony and equity. If these are given to every section of this country, there will be more peace, more love and more cooperation.
“Passing through the civil war has made the Igbo more aggressive. But in the midst of these perceptions, we have Igbos that have generosity of heart. They are very hospitable. Infact, the Igbos regard visitors more than any other tribe. While we concede that no tribe is perfect in their perception and conception of things, I want to say that there is nothing wrong with Igbos having different perception of things, but we must know that at the end of every disagreement, there must be an agreement. This is acceptable in a democratic setting.
“We believe in constituted authorities, we believe in establishments. That is why we still have the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. We also believe in the leadership of governors and so, our various shades of opinion will not be a barrier to governance.
“The South East has abiding faith in Nigeria as a nation. The labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain. One of our most respected founding fathers, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was in the frontline of championing the cause of one Nigeria, the cause of an independent Nigeria and we cannot for any reason renege from that vision. People express opinions based on a lot of factors.
“There have been issues of marginalisation and under-development. You’d recall that the 16-year rule of PDP did not give the S-East any progress. So, these accumulated issues made people to share different opinions but the majority opinion goes. Our leaders believe in one Nigeria where there is peace and I think it is high time Nigerian government considers the issue of conceding presidency to the S-East no matte the political party. It is important to give everybody a sense of belonging, no matter the party. We should fight for the corporate existence of Nigeria.”
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