By Tiko Emmanuel Okoye
I'm not unmindful of the outrageous things being majorly noised about the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Party (APC), Muhammadu Buhari in the southeast geopolitical zone. Some say Buhari is too old to rule Nigeria but this flies in the face of past and present history. Ronald Reagan was 69 years old when he finally became US President after two failed attempts. Nelson Mandela was 74 years old when he became the first elected president of post-apartheid South Africa. And the current president of Uruguay is 78 years old and still going strong.

Some say Buhari has a deep loathing for Ndigbo. That he locked up Igbo political leaders when he was military head of state while restricting their northern counterparts to house arrest. And I ask: was the only individual - Umaru Dikko - he tried to freight back to Nigeria in a crate to face trial a Yoruba or Igbo man?

And were Abubakar Rimi and Barkin Zuwo who were equally imprisoned Yoruba or Igbo men? Others say he displayed his hatred for Ndigbo by sending Igbo youths like Bartholomew Owoh to their untimely deaths. And I ask: Was Bartholomew engaged in the contraband and deadly business of drug trafficking on behalf of Ndigbo?

Come to think of it, are we not speaking of the same Buhari who is the only presidential candidate of a major political party in the nation's history that has nominated two eminent Igbo sons as his running mate - Dr. Chuba Okadigbo in 2003 and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke in 2007?

Is it not this same Buhari, then a lieutenant colonel, that Pastor Angus Okoli, a war correspondent of the defunct Spear magazine, testified went beyond the call of duty to not only provide for the welfare of young Biafran soldiers captured from the Umuleri/Aguleri sector during the civil war but also ordered their release back to their base in "Biafra II" (that part of Biafra that was cut off from the main enclave when the Nigerian Army occupied a long stretch of the Abagana/Nkpor Highway)? Shouldn't a loathing for Ndigbo be made of sterner stuff?

I was stunned by news reports that the Harvard University-trained former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, magisterially declared that there would be no elections as long as Professor Attahiru Jega remains INEC chairman - even after Jonathan and PDP national chairman Adamu Mu'azu recanted and passed a vote of confidence on Jega and vowed that the dates for the rescheduled polls and official handover are sacrosanct!

Makes one wonder why members of our first eleven continue to have a man-Friday mentality and tend to weep louder than the bereaved at the drop of a hat. It is this kind of pedestrian effusion from Ndigbo political elite that makes one wonder if there's more to Jonathan's endorsement than meets the eye!

Many in Igboland ignorantly deride APC as an 'Hausa party' on account of Buhari, but should we then label PDP an 'Ijaw party' on account of Jonathan? Is it right to dub APC a Muslim party when the chairman is a Christian and counts numerous Christians among its members and supporters, and label PDP a Christian party when its chairman is a Muslim and

counts numerous Muslims among its members and supporters? I sincerely believe that those desperately trying to divide this nation along a religious line ought to be truly ashamed of themselves.

Some have opined that voting for Buhari constitutes a movement backwards. If moving backwards means a naira that was at at par with the American dollar, a more stable electric power supply, a more equitable society, a more disciplined society when traditional values meant something, a safer and more secured nation and a time when corruption was less pervasive, then may we ever continue to move backwards, as a way of ultimately leap-frogging back to the future!

Happily, not all our highly illustrious sons have allegedly sold their souls to the devil for an oil block or government hand-me-down. In an essay captioned "The Buhari of my personal experience," Ignatius Olisemeka, a former Ambassador to the USA and one-time foreign affairs minister didn't mince words when he declared that "Of all the Nigerian leaders, with the possible exception of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Buhari has been the one that has most approximated my dream of what a Nigerian leader should be."

In another widely advertised commentary, Eze Festus Odimegwu, former chairman of the Nigeria Population Commission, ex-managing director of Nigerian Breweries Limited and a close ally of both former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan, berated Jonathan as one who "sacrificed and was ready to sacrifice anything and everything, anyone and everyone for reelection." He further averred that "It is very clear to the discerning that majority will vote for the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, to save Nigeria from bad leadership and an under-performing administration." Phew!

Truth be told, Buhari may not be a saint. No human being is; even the great Madiba, Nelson Mandela, rightly said he wasn't one but see the stellar legacies he left behind after spending just four years in office. Buhari similarly embodies the new hope for hard-pressed Nigerian masses!

Four years ago, Ohaneze publicly canvassed an Igbo bloc vote for Jonathan. An Ohaneze advertorial glibly disclosed that Jonathan had accepted to use the powers of incumbency to facilitate the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in 2015 (a tacit agreement that he would spend only one term in office) and create a sixth state in the southeast.

We were also assured that the president would dredge the River Niger and transform Onitsha into a thriving deep inland seaport. Furthermore, Jonathan pledged to build a second Niger Bridge before 2015 and complete the quality rehabilitation of the Onitsha/Enugu and Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressways.

God dey o!

MayorofLagos:

http://allafrica.com/stories/201503040231.html

that letter/editorial was written by a frustrated and stupido claw face man from south west shamellesly using an ndigbo name.

Voting all over the world is by choice and sometimes sentimental. Make ur choice, i make mine and lets move on. Everyone ll never vote for one candidate no matter how good the candidate is. Inshort, let CHRIST contest for election today and i assure u not all christain ll vote HIM. Likewise not all muslem ll vote for PROPHET MOHAMMED. Let ndigbo be pls

Redoil:
that letter/editorial was written by a frustrated and stupido claw face man from south west shamellesly using an ndigbo name.

Fool, i say what state are u from? Speak up

Obviously d writer of that article is campaigning for buhari. These people should stop. Buhari has ruled nigeria b4, 40 years later buhari still wants to rule nigeria again. Anyways #Teambiafra

k

Igbo, Igbo Hey.

#march4buhari

#march4themasses. if you refuse to vote for him, your father go vote, shikenan

MayorofLagos:
By Tiko Emmanuel Okoye
I'm not unmindful of the outrageous things being majorly noised about the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Party (APC), Muhammadu Buhari in the southeast geopolitical zone. Some say Buhari is too old to rule Nigeria but this flies in the face of past and present history. Ronald Reagan was 69 years old when he finally became US President after two failed attempts. Nelson Mandela was 74 years old when he became the first elected president of post-apartheid South Africa. And the current president of Uruguay is 78 years old and still going strong.

Some say Buhari has a deep loathing for Ndigbo. That he locked up Igbo political leaders when he was military head of state while restricting their northern counterparts to house arrest. And I ask: was the only individual - Umaru Dikko - he tried to freight back to Nigeria in a crate to face trial a Yoruba or Igbo man?

And were Abubakar Rimi and Barkin Zuwo who were equally imprisoned Yoruba or Igbo men? Others say he displayed his hatred for Ndigbo by sending Igbo youths like Bartholomew Owoh to their untimely deaths. And I ask: Was Bartholomew engaged in the contraband and deadly business of drug trafficking on behalf of Ndigbo?

Come to think of it, are we not speaking of the same Buhari who is the only presidential candidate of a major political party in the nation's history that has nominated two eminent Igbo sons as his running mate - Dr. Chuba Okadigbo in 2003 and Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke in 2007?

Is it not this same Buhari, then a lieutenant colonel, that Pastor Angus Okoli, a war correspondent of the defunct Spear magazine, testified went beyond the call of duty to not only provide for the welfare of young Biafran soldiers captured from the Umuleri/Aguleri sector during the civil war but also ordered their release back to their base in "Biafra II" (that part of Biafra that was cut off from the main enclave when the Nigerian Army occupied a long stretch of the Abagana/Nkpor Highway)? Shouldn't a loathing for Ndigbo be made of sterner stuff?

I was stunned by news reports that the Harvard University-trained former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, magisterially declared that there would be no elections as long as Professor Attahiru Jega remains INEC chairman - even after Jonathan and PDP national chairman Adamu Mu'azu recanted and passed a vote of confidence on Jega and vowed that the dates for the rescheduled polls and official handover are sacrosanct!

Makes one wonder why members of our first eleven continue to have a man-Friday mentality and tend to weep louder than the bereaved at the drop of a hat. It is this kind of pedestrian effusion from Ndigbo political elite that makes one wonder if there's more to Jonathan's endorsement than meets the eye!

Many in Igboland ignorantly deride APC as an 'Hausa party' on account of Buhari, but should we then label PDP an 'Ijaw party' on account of Jonathan? Is it right to dub APC a Muslim party when the chairman is a Christian and counts numerous Christians among its members and supporters, and label PDP a Christian party when its chairman is a Muslim and

counts numerous Muslims among its members and supporters? I sincerely believe that those desperately trying to divide this nation along a religious line ought to be truly ashamed of themselves.

Some have opined that voting for Buhari constitutes a movement backwards. If moving backwards means a naira that was at at par with the American dollar, a more stable electric power supply, a more equitable society, a more disciplined society when traditional values meant something, a safer and more secured nation and a time when corruption was less pervasive, then may we ever continue to move backwards, as a way of ultimately leap-frogging back to the future!

Happily, not all our highly illustrious sons have allegedly sold their souls to the devil for an oil block or government hand-me-down. In an essay captioned "The Buhari of my personal experience," Ignatius Olisemeka, a former Ambassador to the USA and one-time foreign affairs minister didn't mince words when he declared that "Of all the Nigerian leaders, with the possible exception of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Buhari has been the one that has most approximated my dream of what a Nigerian leader should be."

In another widely advertised commentary, Eze Festus Odimegwu, former chairman of the Nigeria Population Commission, ex-managing director of Nigerian Breweries Limited and a close ally of both former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan, berated Jonathan as one who "sacrificed and was ready to sacrifice anything and everything, anyone and everyone for reelection." He further averred that "It is very clear to the discerning that majority will vote for the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, to save Nigeria from bad leadership and an under-performing administration." Phew!

Truth be told, Buhari may not be a saint. No human being is; even the great Madiba, Nelson Mandela, rightly said he wasn't one but see the stellar legacies he left behind after spending just four years in office. Buhari similarly embodies the new hope for hard-pressed Nigerian masses!

Four years ago, Ohaneze publicly canvassed an Igbo bloc vote for Jonathan. An Ohaneze advertorial glibly disclosed that Jonathan had accepted to use the powers of incumbency to facilitate the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in 2015 (a tacit agreement that he would spend only one term in office) and create a sixth state in the southeast.

We were also assured that the president would dredge the River Niger and transform Onitsha into a thriving deep inland seaport. Furthermore, Jonathan pledged to build a second Niger Bridge before 2015 and complete the quality rehabilitation of the Onitsha/Enugu and Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressways.

We will not vote APC. Period

themano:

We will not vote APC. Period

Sing it out, loud and clear ...

Shout it out, far and near ...

We will never vote for APC. Period.

pointless...

Buhari might not be a perfect man but he's a very fair man, grossly misjudged by many who do not make time for their own research but rely solely on what their hateful uncles tell them.

Igbo should not talk with both sides of their mouths. GEJ is your son please stick to him jejely and stop playing abracadabra.

Buhari should come back and lose this election so one can have rest.

Some have opined that voting for Buhari
constitutes a movement backwards. If moving
backwards means a naira that was at at par with
the American dollar, a more stable electric
power supply, a more equitable society, a more
disciplined society when traditional values
meant something, a safer and more secured
nation and a time when corruption was less
pervasive, then may we ever continue to move
backwards, as a way of ultimately leap-frogging
back to the future!

I love this.

We no go vote buhari, he's to old to give me change.

MAYOROFLAGOS HATES IGBO BUT YET 99% OF IS THREAD ARE ABOUT IGBOS. U NEED HELP!

Negro Ntns - Leave Igbos alone. You no dey shame.

waternogetenemy:
MAYOROFLAGOS HATES IGBO BUT YET 99% OF IS THREAD ARE ABOUT IGBOS. U NEED HELP!

Nwafor...why you dey jealous your brother nau, hehn