The leader of the Ijaw Nation, Chief Edwin Clark, has accused former President Muhammadu Buhari of subjugating Igbos from the south-eastern part of Nigeria for reasons best known to him, adding that Buhari excluded the southeast from some of his appointments during his tenure.
Clark made the statement in a letter to President Bola Tinubu, where he also pointed out that Buhari did not appoint anyone from the South East in his constitution of the Board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, even though the region had three oil-producing states, including Abia, Anambra, and Imo States.
Furthermore, he recalled how Buhari allocated less than 1% of a $22.7 billion loan to the South East zone while others received higher percentages, adding that the former president also failed to appoint service chiefs from the region.
“President Buhari did everything to subjugate the Igbos for reasons best known to him. Perhaps it is necessary to cite some examples: the NNPC board that he constituted when he came into office had nine members, one from the South-West, one from the South-South, and no member from the South-East, even though one South-East states—Abia, Anambra, and Imo—are oil-producing states; the remaining members, including his Chief of State, came from the North, a non-oil-producing region.
“However, he later tried to amend it when he appointed Sen. Ifeanyi Ararome as chairman of the second board, and he later replaced him with Margery Chuba-Okadigbo before he took office. He (Senator Ifeanyi Ararome) took the matter to court and won, but the situation has not changed.
“Also, when President Buhari attempted to obtain loans from foreign financial institutions that exceeded 30% of the GDP, which was not in the interest of the country, and the loan of $22.7 billion (USD), of which less than 1% of the amount was to be allocated to the south-east zone while other zones were allocated a higher percentage for infrastructural projects, it was a violation of the constitutional requirement to ensure a balanced economic development of Nigeria in accordance with President Buhari’s Oath of Office.
“In President Buhari’s 17-man security chiefs, 14 of them came from the north and only 3 from the south, excluding the Igbos from the south-east,” the letter read.
The Ijaw leader also mentioned that the “discrimination and injustice” against the Igbo had not been reduced under Tinubu’s administration, arguing that while he (Tinubu) appointed 10 ministers from the Southwestern region, only six had been appointed from the South, adding that there was no justification for the omission.
“Mr. President, even in your administration, the discrimination and injustice against the Igbos have not abated. The old Eastern Region and the old Western Region, to which I belonged, were equal competitors and partners before and during the First and Second Republics, but today, you have appointed 10 Yorubas as Ministers from the South-West and only five (5) Ministers from the South-East, and you even failed to give them the ministerial appointment due to their region, which would have made it six (6) Ministers. There is no justification for this grave omission, and no effort has been made to correct it,” he added.
Clark therefore called on Tinubu to immediately restructure the country if the nation was to remain one. He also called for the implementation of the 600 recommendations of the 2014 National Conference Report and for the Igbos to stand up and legitimately assert their rights.
“Now that the elections are over, we must face the restructuring of this country. I repeat that the immediate restructuring of Nigeria must be carried out if this country is to remain one, and I appeal to Mr. President to take immediate action to implement the historic 2014 National Conference Report, which submitted 600 recommendations to the Presidency on how to restructure Nigeria in every aspect of our lives.
“The Igbos of the Southeast, or wherever they are in Nigeria, must stand up and assert their rights legitimately, judiciously, and in a democratic way, to benefit like any other Nigerian as it was before the civil war of 1967.”
