…Says Igbo marginalization unbearable
Senate Minority leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, has stated that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is manifesting sectional leadership and unequal treatment.
Abaribe also stated that no amount of threat will stop Ndigbo from demanding equitable treatment in Nigeria, saying that the marginalization of Ndigbo has become unbearable.
The Senator spoke on Monday during the inauguration of the Igbonine socio-cultural organisation in Enugu. Abaribe further lamented that the Igbos have been pushed to the fringes irrespective of the fact that they are the glue that holds Nigeria together.
He added that the Buhari-led government is manifesting sectional leadership and unequal treatment, saying that the development has been the problem of Nigeria.
He said, “We are being highly marginalized. This Union called Nigeria is stiflingly everybody in Nigeria not just Igbo but other regions and I am glad that we are making noise to see how to change the situation.
“What does Igbo want? Igbo want emancipation. Our people have gone through a lot. We have gone through war, lost over 3 million people. When the war ended, we were given 20 Pounds but we rose through the ashes and survived.
“We are the glue that holds Nigeria together. We are the highest domestic investors; We are the most travelled in Nigeria. In any part of Nigeria, after the indigenous people, the next is Igbo.
“That is why anywhere you go, you must see an Igboman. We are really the federal Nigeria.
On the calls for possible break up of Nigeria, Abaribe said, “When they say we want to leave, we say no, some people want to push us out. We are not going to leave Nigeria for anybody.
“We have a government today that is manifesting sectional leadership. Boko Haram has been killing people but nothing was done to them. When our boys were carrying flags running around, it was easy for them to get them proscribed as a terrorist organization but the same government refused to designate Boko Haram which everybody knows their activities, killing and destroying and bombing churches and institutions.
“When we challenge them, the Minister of Information said that Boko Haram was faceless but our boys were known.
Speaking on what he called the marginalisation and unequal treatment of the Igbos, the Senate Minority Leader said, “This unequal treatment of people has been the problem of Nigeria. We are feeling of being alienated. The alienation is spreading across the country no longer Igbo alone.
“What we now have is that even though there is insecurity everywhere but they want to paint Igbo as the people causing the problems.
“Our country Nigeria today is supposed to be the inclusion of everybody because we are equal partners. We, the Igbo are the glue that keeps Nigeria. Therefore, there must be a deliberate effort to bring everybody together.
“Igbo have been pushed to the fringes. When it is time for their rights, they will like to push them around. I will not like when it is time to give President somebody will say there is a problem in Igbo land. Was there no trouble in the North West when Buhari was elected president?
“In fact, Buhari was allegedly nominated by Boko-Haram during President Goodluck Jonathan’s Presidency to negotiate for them.
“No amount of threat will deter us from demanding for equitable treatment in Nigeria. Nobody will stop us from doing that even to the position of the President.”
On the demand for the restructuring of Nigeria, Abaribe said, “If the dominant position in Nigeria today is restructuring then the minimal demand of Ndigbo in Nigeria cannot be anything less than that of restructuring.
“We cannot be in a country where my own child will be required to score 140 per cent to enter the federal school while another child will be required to score just two to enter the same school.”
