Ministerial list: For Ndigbo, it’s thanksgiving all the way

By Clement Udegbe

SINCE President Muhammadu Buhari, PMB came to power, people have argued that Ndigbo should be punished for not voting massively for him. Some say it was a political miscalculation by the Igbos, that they put all their eggs in the basket of former President Goodluck Jonathan, they are politically naïve, and all that. Such people do not understand where Igbos are coming from. Igbos are very grateful to God for the turnout of events, because if it were not so, they would have been the victims of post elections violence in the north. Igbos have investments in almost every nook and corner of Nigeria, which would have been torched. Ndigbo are the ones who need a peaceful Nigeria more than any other tribe, because they have more at stake in the unity and stability of Nigeria. We simply continue to thank God for Nigeria, in spite of all.

But these men have continued to goad PMB to do all he can to punish Igbos for not voting for him, and his kitchen cabinet appointments, to the complete exclusion of Ndigbo, confirms his position.

Newspaper reports carry a speculated list of PMB’s Ministers’ nominees, and out of 27, there are only three Igbo names, 10 percent, of which two of them, were major instruments in hacking down GEJ. In essence, and properly too, Igbos have only one person on that list.

The South South has six names, 22 percent; The north has four names,15 percent, while the Yorubas, the owners of APC have 14 names, 52 percent of the list. Subject to Senate clearance, these plus the northern dominated kitchen cabinet will be the face of leadership under PMB for the next four years.

This list explains why all our fiery newspaper and television commentators could not see anything wrong with the last four months as they are mostly on the list. Two Igbo proverbs will suffice here; when your pear roasts, you lick it, and enjoy it, and; If the hunted game escapes today, there will be hunting tomorrow. We thank God for them and for this nation.

During the struggles for Nigeria’s independence, the three major tribes of Igbos, Hausas and Yorubas worked, fought for, and got it, but while the Yorubas and Igbos fought for a Nigeria that would be a free state for all, the Hausas wanted a Nigeria, that they would rule, dominate, and control politically. Post-independence, the three regions, were in healthy competition, with Agriculture as the mainstay of the economy. Power was delicately balanced between the regions, until there was a confirmation, that abundant oil resources was in the bowel of the South South (Niger Deltans), and South East (Igbos). To dislodge the arrangement they provoked the pogrom against Igbos from 1965 in the north, which lead to the declaration of Biafra, by Igbos and the war that followed from 1966 to 1970, during which Igbos were killed mercilessly, and blockaded economically.

Owelle Azikiwe in the heat of that war made a representation for Peace Keeping, to the world, at the United Nations, but the world looked the other way, engineered by our Colonial masters, and Biafra was defeated. After that war, the UN subsequently dusted Owelle Azikiwe’s presentation, and started applying it for Peace Keeping around the world today. What they laughed at when it was the case of Igbo man, they used to prevent killings in subsequent cases. We thank God that it was an Igbo man who sowed the seed of Peace Keeping to prevent genocide around the world.

Ndigbo must always thank God for General Yakubu Gowon. But for him, some of those claiming to love Igbos more than their own parents today, wanted to wipe Igbos from the face of this earth. They are still around us today, and have continued to make highly provocative statements against Igbos, taunting Igbos, gloating in the victory of PMB. Yes, they have put Igbos out of governance today, but Igbos are grateful to God for this; they have come a long way from 1966, and have made great contributions towards the building of the robust, virile, and growing economy of Nigeria.

God is using these hateful Nigerians, to pull Igbos back to develop their region, which they shall begin to do with the guidance of the same God that kept them thus far. This is why good counsel must be given to MASSOB to remain peaceful, and within the confines of Nigeria’s constitution, because, until the philosophy that places one tribe in Nigeria above the rest, is permanently discredited, lasting peace and stability will remain an illusion.

Wisdom should teach MASSOB to avoid exposing themselves to blood thirsty Igbo haters in power.

It has become obvious that Owelle Azikiwe, and Chief Awolowo played into the hands of the north, and lost their mandate to create, and maintain equal opportunities for all in Nigeria. Forty eight years after that mistake, Yorubas and Igbos have refused to look at where they stumbled and fell from, in order to plan their restoration.

2015 is a year of Jubilee, and Change. All things come beautiful in God’s time, and it is time for the recovery of lost mandates.

So why should an Igbo man expect any appointment from a President they voted against? Igbos are wired differently from the rest. They operate a clean system of Council of Elders. They are republican, and free people. The maxim is when a young person washes his hands he can dine with the elders. They cherish and encourage hard work, and achievement in life. Yes, Ndigbo needs and want money, and they use it well, so let the wealth of all other tribes of Nigeria, who do not like money, flow to Ndigbo in Jesus Name. Can I hear someone say Amen?

Let Ndigbo weep not for what they have lost, and fight for what they have; Weep not for the one who abandoned them and fight for those with them. Weep not for those who hate Ndigbo, but fight for those who want them. Ndigbo must work with others to recover the mandate that they lost in 1965. (Vanguard)