Ahead of next week presidential election, Igbo Leaders in the 19
northern States yesterday declared support for the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General
Mohammadu Buhari, urging him to rescue the country from being
run aground by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Leaders who paid a courtesy visit to Buhari at his presidential
campaign headquarters in Abuja noted that impunity and indiscipline
had become a common phenomenon in today’s Nigeria.
Coming under the umbrella of Igbo Delegates Assembly, IDA, the
group which was led by its President-General, Chief Sam Demian
Enyama also had the Eze Udo, its traditional arm made up of the
traditional rulers of Igbo communities both in the north and the
Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
Speaking at the occasion, the presidential-General, Chief Eyama
described Buhari as a man of impeccable character who is disciplined
and result- oriented.
Dispelling religious sentiments against Buhari, Eyama urged Ndi Igbo
nationwide to rally round Buhari and vote for him on March 28,
saying that he would address most pressing needs of the regions in
the country.
Speaking on behalf of Eze Udo, Eze Uche Egenti said that
Nigerians especially the Igbo would not want to experience another
civil war.
Observing that the country was heading to the brink of collapse
under president Goodluck Jonathan, Egenti asked Buhari to come to
its rescue.
He said “ We are here to support your aspiration to become the
president of this country. We know that it is easier to work with
you because of what you stand for. We are not ready to be
plunged into another civil and we are pleading with you to help us
organize Nigeria again. We want discipline to reign again.
“We want to plead with you to help galvanize Nigeria once more.
Let discipline reign again in Nigeria. Let the polity be sensitized. A
lot of people have complained that the issue about you is religion
but we know you are not a religious bigot. You are a very firm
articulate officer of the Nigerian army. In 1983 when Nigeria was
at a verge of collapse, you came in and rescued it.
“We are here to affirm our support on the use of the permanent
voters card, because it will bring credibility to the election. We are
here to tell you that the Igbo’s are behind you.”
A notable Igbo leader and chieftain of APC, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu
who also spoke at the event that attracted the presence of the
party’s national chairman, Chief John Oyegun and other senior party
officials said that the essence of the meeting was to reassure
Buhari of the support of Igbo people.
According to him, the train of APC was in motion and could not
continue without the input of the Igbo.
Onu also dismissed the insinuations that Buhari was a religious bigot
whose interest was to Islamize the country if elected president.
Affirming Buhari’s forthrightness, Onu who was a former governor
of Abia State stated that the APC presidential candidate has
distinguished himself with his track record and offices so far held.
Meanwhile, in a manner seen by many as unseal, Buhari, while
responding to the plea of the visiting Igbo leaders took time to
explain what the meeting meant to him.
He also, perhaps for the first time, revealed why he joined politics
and at such the opposition.
The former military Head of State who went memory lane revealed
how the military government saved a fortune for the country only to
be squandered by the ruling People’s Democratic Party.
Buhari who also preached peace and unity among the tribes in the
country recalled how property and shops of the Igbo communities in
the north were secured during the civil war, also dismissed the
speculations that he was a religious bigot.
Below were his responses on most of the issues raised at the
meeting:
How the meeting was brokered
“This meeting is an act of God because we had agreed on our
programmes since but Chief Ogbonnaya Onu came to me and said
that this meeting must take place. I tried to get out of it by going
through the programmes with him and telling him that I have visited
35 states excluding Yobe and because of the additional unsolicited
six weeks grace granted, another programme was drawn to conduct
some town hall meetings.
I told him that, we were scheduled to go to Owerri and Onitisha to
meet the Igbo leadership and business community. So, why not let
us merge the two events? He said no, these are Igbos from the 19
Northern states and eventually, I gave up and said let it be done
at the expense of our break.
I have no regrets holding this meeting because he educated me about
this organization in the respective states which I was unaware of.
He told me the details and I appreciate this organization because of
your experiences especially when crisis happened in this country.
North/south relationship during the war
I could recall the good old days. When it was Christmas and new
year, virtually, all businesses closed up in the north especially in
Kano. Business would not resume until the Igbos return to their
businesses. After the interruption of the civil war, I must admit
that the elements of the first republic civil service were good
because to the best of my knowledge, wherever Igbos had property
in town, there were committees in the respective towns.
The properties were repaired, given for rent, an account opened for
them. After the war, the Igbos came back and claimed their
property and the savings made.. I thank the civil servants of those
good old days because the committees were developed with very
clear and firm terms of reference and the properties of the Igbos
were looked after and they claimed them back. I think they did well.
I think that I am the only Army officer to command three of the
four Nigerian Army divisions. Again, from 2nd Lieutenant, all the
Command and Staff appointments I don’t think I missed any.
My colleagues were Col. Ugokwe, GC. Ojukwu and they can bear
testimony to that. On the political side, I became governor of the
north east which is now six states and spent three and half years
in Ministry of Petroleum, twenty months as Head of States and
40 months in detention eventually. I think I have seen quite a lot in
Nigeria.
Why I joined politics
After going top and sliding down, why did I join politics? There
were two reasons which I have mentioned on several occasions. I
have to bore you with this because I don’t want you to slow down
on whatever you are doing. Keep on trying, God will repay you one
way or the other. I was sitting at home after I got out of
detention and thought people would leave me alone. I didn’t even
build a filling station, not to talk of owing an oil block and so I
thought I had lost their sympathy.
But they kept coming to me and there was nothing I could do and
then I speculated that maybe when I get into partisan politics, I
would get into a position to be heard and then something happened
in 1991 and the Soviet Union collapsed. They were the first to go
into space and in terms of nuclear war heads and conventional
forces, they were superior to NETO .
It just collapsed and people just went home and now, there are 18
Republics in the old Soviet Union. That was when I decided that the
best form of governance is multi party democratic system with a
big proviso that elections must be free and fair. Other wise, the
whole thing will be a sham and it is in pursuit of that, that I am
on my fourth attempt to get the highest office.
I am not a religious bigot
In the fist three attempts, I ended up at the Supreme Court
because I believe in the system. There is no point believing in a
system and conducting yourself haphazardly. I am telling you that I
am fulfilled because when I decided to join politics in April 2002, I
joined APP even though there was PDP and they were in
government.
But I went into the opposition even though there were governors,
senators, members of the House of Representatives in the party, but
the following year, they gave me the ticket and what did I do with
the ticket? I got the late Chuba Okadigbo to be my running mate
and by that, I blew the mind of people about my tribal or religious
position. In 2007, I picked Chief Ume Ezeoke and again, he was
Igbo.
So, I dispel any question about my being a religious bigot or a
tribalist. Later I picked Pastor Bakare and now, I am running with
a Pastor, Prof. Osinbajo. The issue of religion has been taken into
account in this country.
Why we insist on free and fair polls
I am very grateful to Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu for organizing this
meeting. I am even more grateful that the leadership of the Igbo
community in the north decided to turn up. It is important that we
continue to make sure that we are broadminded. The beauty of this
system is what I have mentioned already.
Let the government respect Nigerians and individuals and allow them
to choose and elect those they want to lead them. If that is done,
Nigerians will be surprised about how peaceful this country will be.
I think that in every human being there is an element of rebellion.
If you try to force a human being to do something he doesn’t like,
he will develop a way of resisting it.
But if you develop a system and persuade him to accept the
system, then, Justice must be done and you will be surprised how
peaceful you will live. But if you try to force it, I am afraid that
you will keep on suffering.
PDP has destroyed Nigeria
Look at what we have suffered in the last 16 years. Most of you
are business people and always out there. Maybe you don’t even
need computers because your head is just like a recorder. You
import and know the exchange rate. Where were we 16 years ago
when PDP took over this country and where are we now?
How much was the Naira to the Dollar then and how much is if
now? Does it mean that you will not sell the things that you have
in your shop now because people cannot afford them because the
Naira is now about N230 to the dollar? I think that as a
community, You are more affected in Nigeria than anyone else. You
are the ones that go from Singapore to China and all over the
world to make the contacts and order things.
You don’t order them in Naira, but in Dollar or Pounds Sterlings
or Yen. Now, you need trailer load of Naira to maintain your
businesses. Remember what we earned from 1999 till now. But then,
where is the Nigeria Railways that we have been talking about?
Where is the Nigeria Airways?
Where is the Nigeria Shipping line? Where are the roads and where
is the money we earned? There are States now that haven’t paid
salaries for months. Corrupt PDP governors cannot even pay
salaries. I don’t think you can support this type of government
anymore. It will be impossible because the worse has almost
happened. If everybody is impoverished, what do we do? Do we eat
grass?
Three things APC government must do
What we identified in APC are three fundamental things that are
relevant. We hope, God willing, if we get into government, having
campaigned on those three fundamental issues, we will deliver on
those three fundamental issues so that you can physically see. I
think that those who are really poor and live in the rural areas
hardly have anything to lose, but you who criss-cross the world
using your resources, when you are grounded, you feel it harder. It
is a fact of life.
What are the three things we identified? First, security, then the
death of the economy as a result of which there is mass
unemployment and; third one is corruption.
Throughout my visit to 35 states, I mentioned these three things
and nobody ever challenged me on them. We cannot continue like
this because this is our country. No sentiment and nothing should
make us change our mind. We just have to get rid of PDP and
start building Nigeria again.
How military saved economy
In 1983, when we came in, we felt that change had to take place
because I was involved in the military government that handed over
to the second republic and as Minister of Petroleum, I was holding
one of the most important appointments. The military handed over a
relatively, materially and physically secured country to the second
republic.
In four years, three months, if anybody told you that he knew how
much debt Nigeria incurred after spending what the military left, he
was telling you a lie because when we came, because of the debt
Nigeria had incurred, we had to put in place two committees, one
local and one foreign to help find out how we incurred the debt and
how we were going to pay for it.
Together we will rescue Nigeria
So really, the question of patriotism is a very serious issue. The
damage has been done. You are in a position under the system to
make a difference and I am appealing to you to make sure that
this difference is made. We are not doing anybody any favour. We
are doing a favour to ourselves because we have no other country
than Nigeria.
I am very happy with your kindness in coming to Abuja to see me
and to support the APC. I assure you that you will not regret it.
We are patriotic. Nigeria is our country. We have no other country,
but Nigeria.Together, we will salvage it.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/03/rescue-nigeria-save-us-from-another-civil-war-igbo-leaders-tells-buhari/

Ok

Jonathan's administration would have to go down in history as the most divisive government in the history of this great country. These Igbo leaders should be assured that the incoming gov't will give the country a new lease of life.

[size=13pt]Buhari the blood thirsty.[/size]

WisdomFlakes:
[s]Jonathan's administration would have to go down in history as the most divisive government in the history of this great country. These Igbo leaders should be assured that the incoming gov't will give the country a new lease of life.[/s]

How is GEJ administration the most divisive in the history of this country?

SeverusSnape:
[size=13pt]Buhari the blood thirsty.[/size]

HE WILL RULE OVER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY,just waite,saturday is no longer far.

Toktee:
HE WILL RULE OVER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY,just waite,saturday is no longer far.

He will rule over you and his Fulani marauders ravaging your state.

Buhari is our next president. Anyone who hates his face can jump in lagoon.

lies

phlemzy:
These kind of support from the Igbo in the north is not the dollar-based type as being done by our dear outgoing President.
#BabaWhenYouGetThere....

This kind of support is borne out of the post election violence of 2011. They are all trying to watch their back.

It's so sad most nigerians still think this is the most corrupt govt of our nation's history, when in reality this is the most cleanest of all.

It is true when a lie is been sung every minute of everyday, it starts sounding like the truth but no matter how loud it sound, it still remains a lie.

GEJtill2019

These kind of support from the Igbo in the north is not the dollar-based type as being done by our dear outgoing President.
#BabaWhenYouGetThere....

APC paid goons masquerading asigbo leaders, please we need the names of the so called igbo leaders for verification to confirm their igboness.

phlemzy:
These kind of support from the Igbo in the north is not the dollar-based type as being done by our dear outgoing President.
#BabaWhenYouGetThere....

Unlike PDP, APC no need to spread dollars to bribe people for votes. Na the hope that APC represents dey gravitate the common man to them, not dollars.

No cause 4 Alarm all I gbo leaders. With God's help, I know Buhari will do something bout your problems when he emerge as President Next week, In sha Allah

Bullcrap!! They could've just said they're scared of what the northerners would do to them on or after Election Day. Ma advise to these guys? Get da fvck out of the north.

A friend of mine a doctor is heading back to the north to help treat these scums..I say; leave them alone, these mo'4kers never loved us. It's painful. I know it's an upgrade for these bastard to kill infidels ie Igbos, Christians etc..leave these bastard to their own fate. Let them kill each other.. We don't care for them

Jonathan will win and there will be no civil war

Lemme wait for a new headline with "we hereby disown those so-called igbo leader's parading themselves for political benefits" and after dat I will ask them why they've. Refused to vote Buhari even when Okadigbo and Ume-ezeoke were all his running mates in seperate occasions. U just hav to pitch ur tent somewher just incase abi? Issiokay, Amaechi has never been dis serious in his entire life, but I just hope GEJ will find a way to compensate his gallantry after d elections when he may(or must) have lost everything. Its just a week, and A̶̲̥̅♏ so damn patient like Mr. President, u just never see dah guy bothered. I love GEJ

Anybody wey drink alomo bitter and no squeeze face,that kind person no go fit cry if en mama die.

:
I ask that you join this effort, not for me, but to
establish a better land for all of us. I understand
and accept the hard challenge ahead. When all is
said and done, let it be written that
Muhammadu
Buhari gave his all for this nation"--GMB

lovat:
APC paid goons masquerading asigbo leaders, please we need the names of the so called igbo leaders for verification to confirm their igboness.

are you blind? Didn't you read the names of the Igbo leaders mentioned? Who are you to confirm and verify their Igboness?

Silly!

MzJackBaueress:
are you blind? Didn't you read the names of the Igbo leaders mentioned? Who are you to confirm and verify their Igboness?

Silly!

berem, na onu. Ndi anambra, belem, wepu aka enwe na ofe biko. Stop mentioning me.

Who are the Igbo Leaders?


That are asking Ozu to rule them?

SeverusSnape:
[size=13pt] Buhari the blood thirsty [/size]

FIXED