A group, the Buhari South-East Youth Movement (BUSEYM) has advised and pleaded with the Chief John Nnia Nwodo-led Ohaneze Ndigbo, to establish and build a good relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari in order to curry and attract dividends of democracy to Igbo land and the Igbo in general.
The group maintained that the major focus of Ohanaeze Ndigbo now should be how to better the socio-economic/infrastructural well being of the Igbo which could only be achieved by supporting the government of the day.
Speaking through its Director-General, Nwabueze Onwuneme, and Aba zone co-ordinator Ndem Chukwu, in Aba, Abia State, the group urged the leadership of the apex Igbo organisation not to be confrontational, but instead be ready to accommodate and be diplomatic in their dealings with the Presidency and the policies of the Federal Government.
The group said though it was in support of some of the demands made by the apex group mostly in the areas of appointments, it, however, stated that it took “only a man/government whom you show love, loyalty and friendship to entrust on you positions of high importance.”
The group sighted a situation in the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan where the Igbo held some key positions but never impacted on the socio-economic or infrastructural development of the zone.
The group also said that today President Buhari, even in the face of electoral fraud perpetuated against him in 2015 by some Igbo elites, was still silently rebuilding in its entirety those infrastructures as can be seen in the construction of the second Niger bridge, Enugu-Onitsha highway, Enugu-Port Harcourt highway, Aba-Ikot-Ekpene highway, Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene road, dredging of Onitsha-Ajaojuta axis of the River Niger for easy movement of bigger vessels and goods, construction of rail lines across cities and towns in Igboland for easy movement of goods and services to the highly trading and enterprenual region, policies leading to easy and effective clearing of goods and services at the Igbo dominated Nigerian ports, and s forth.
The group appealed to Nwodo not play into the hands of opposition politicians who only heat up the polity for their selfish ambitions and needs and do not mean well for the Igbo nation at large.
The group used the occasion to commend President Muhammadu Buhari, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, governors of Kaduna, Kano and Sokoto states and all those who rose in condemnation of the quit notice issued by a group of Northern youths to the Igbo. It also appealed to President Buhari to address the issues raised by the Ohaneze Ndigbo on the recent appointments in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and secessionists agitations.