…says 2nd Niger Bridge needs priority attention

By Emeka Aginam

The apex Igbo organization in Diaspora, the Igbo World Assembly , IWA, has faulted the recent appointment by the current administration, saying that it must be reversed to maintain the Federal Character as enshrined in Section 14 of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Calling for priority attention on the second Niger Bridge, the President of IWA, Dr. Nwachukwu Anakwenze in his keynote address at the just concluded World  Igbo Congress (WIC) 2015 Convention held in Los Angeles, California, the United States of America  said that the present  government appoint- ment lacks  gender balance and regional equity, adding that the appointments  must be reversed for a better Nigeria.

Describing the appointment as violation of federal character law, Anakwenze said that under the provisions of the Constitution, the government must ensure “the principles of proportional sharing of all bureaucratic, economic, media and political posts at all levels.

“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to adhere strictly to the demands of our constitution with respect to the Federal Character clause and to the wellbeing of all Nigerians. “President Buhari should be reminded that the change promised should be a positive change, not a change driven by a pattern of bigotry, religious or ethnic chauvinism. We call on Nigerians to join hands with us in ensuring that all Nigerians are treated as equals and not as vassals to imagined ruling class,” he added.

The Diaspora group,among other things, further demanded that the National Confab decisions must be honoured and implemented, as well as construction of the Federal roads in the South-East and South-South zones, construction of the airports and seaports in the South-East and South-South zones, which are also to be completed.

President Mohamadu Buhari’s previos appointment, he said were disproportionate for a nation that holds together six geopolitical zones, 36 states and a federal capital territory, 774 local governments and over 250 different ethnic nationalities, adding that records have showed that only 25 per cent of the president’s appointments were from the south while an overwhelming 75 per cent are the north.

According to IWA President, who had been in the vanguard for a better Igbo state, said that Buhari’s appointments so far havd not been encouraging to most Nigerians, particularly to those in the south.

“What President Buhari is doing is not new. It is the re-enactment of the northernization policy of the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, who canvassed and practised the policy where all good positions were occupied by the northerners.