Ohanaeze
Ahead
of the 2015 general Elections, pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze
Ndigbo, has asked those clamouring for a President of a Northern
extraction to banish such thought.
President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State
chapter, Chief Tobias Idika, in a statement on Tuesday, bemoaned the
plight of the Igbos within the country’s political configuration, saying
it appeared that people of the South-East were no longer Nigerians.
He said, “The truth is that it appears
the South-East is no longer part of this country. If it were to be in an
ideal society, where justice and equity reign supreme, our brothers
from the North should have had that moral obligation to graciously
surrender power to the South-East at the expiration of President
Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.
“For informed minds, the history of
politics and power sharing in this country has never favoured the
South-East since independence and it is obvious that since the civil
war, our brothers from the North believe that we are a conquered people
and should not be considered in the socio-political cum economic
arrangements in Nigeria.
“The same power they seek was with them
for over three decades, and yet the North is counted as the poorest and
most backward in terms of education and human development. It then means
that those who clamour for power in the North do so for their own
selfish aggrandisement.
“What is the need of clamouring for power when they cannot use it to develop their region?”
He added, “The point I want to hit on
the head remains that immediately after President Goodluck Jonathan,
power must shift to the South-East. Ndigbo must have their turn and it
is non-negotiable. My advice to our brothers in the North is to be
considerate and stop seeing political power as their birthright. At this
point, one begins to think that some cabals in the North manufactured
the Boko Haram just to stampede Nigerians into agreeing to their terms
of taking power back.”
Giving what could be described as a
blow-by-blow account of Monday night’s carnage perpetrated by the
Islamist Boko Haram sect in Kano, Idika,who is also the
President-General, Leaders of Ethnic Communities Resident in Kano State,
said 45 people lost their lives.
According to him, it was not the first time non-indigenes were being targeted by the group.
He, however, commended the Assistant
Inspector General of Police, Zone 1, and the state Commissioner of
Police, Musa Daura, who, according to him,were at the scene of the
incident for an on-the-spot assessment.
He said,”On Monday, July 29, between 9
and 9.30pm, terrorists invaded Sabon Gari, an enclave for non-natives
and planted Improvised Explosive Devices, which exploded almost
simultaneously at Enugu/Igbo Road, near International Hotel and on New
Road, directly opposite the popular Ado Bayero Square, precisely at No.
38, 39, 40 and 41.
“At 41, New Road, Christ Salvation
Pentecostal Church was also bombed at the peak of evening worship.
Ohanaeze’s account can confirm 39 deaths on New Road and six on
Igbo/Enugu Road. Also, unspecified number of people got injured. The
team of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State chapter, arrived the scenes at about
9.30pm and witnessed the moving of dead bodies and the wounded by
security agencies, mostly the Army.”
Culled from: Punch
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