Following the appoint­ments of Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), which the Igbo had hoped would come to them and the Chief of Staff by President Mu­hammadu Buhari on Thurs­day with the northerners fill­ing the positions, the Igbo feel that they have lost out in the “big” positions under this ad­ministration.

Therefore, prominent Igbo leaders and groups have con­demned the appointments made by President Buhari so far, say­ing it negated the spirit of Fed­eral Character as enshrined in the constitution as his administration has so far relegated the Igbo to the background.

President Buhari had on Thurs­day appointed the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, the SGF Engineer David Lawal, CG of Custom, Col. Ahmeed Ali and CG Immi­grations among others.

The Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Ecclesiastic Province, Most Rev (Dr) Emmanuel Chuk­wuma told Saturday Sun that the new appointments by Buhari was disappointing, saying that he was still confused about the criteria the president used in making the appointments announced on Thursday.

“It is absolutely unaccept­able because we feel the Federal Character should be respected. And more especially that the South-East should be considered. It is unfortunate that Mr. President who had made a very great state­ment that he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody has started deviating from that statement.

“There is every evidence that there is a certain part of this coun­try that Mr. President is about to favour. Even in his quest to fight corruption which we very much support, we are also very much interested to know who are the targets? Inasmuch as we support his fight and whatever he wants to do in the fight against corrupt politicians, it should not be selec­tive. We feel it should be holis­tic, particularly those who have privatized our agencies should be looked at.

“Again we feel that appoint­ments should be based on federal character. And each zone in this country definitely has qualified and credible people that can oc­cupy any post. Anything apart from that is another beginning of corruption. Corruption should be avoided in appointments because appointing people sectionally and without considering other areas like the South-East does not give credibility to the fight against cor­ruption.

“And that is what we are say­ing, South-East people should see the whole thing the way it is and begin to unite. I feel very sad that there seems not be unity among us. There is no common front for leadership for the South- East which is very much unfor­tunate. The other day, there was this South East Forum that went to see Mr. President. And I felt very sorry that Ohanaeze Ndigbo seems to have lost its relevance and the earlier we begin to orga­nize ourselves the better.

“Our elders should begin to come together to form a common front to defend the cause of the Igbo and the South-East, other­wise we should not complain of any marginalization. We need to talk with one voice and not when one forum is talking, another section of the zone is talking and we begin to disgrace ourselves, making people capitalize on our division, which is very unfortu­nate. So, Ndigbo should wake up. Let us with a common voice fight a common cause that will bring progress to us.”

Bishop Chukwuma said that he does not see President Buhari for now having the interest of the Igbo at heart “because he has already concluded with some statements he made abroad that 95 per cent of the people who voted for him will be taken care of before the remaining five per cent who did not give him block votes.

“And I am quite sure he is looking at the South-East as that five per cent people. So, this five per cent people should not be ne­glected because among them are key people of the APC that par­ticipated in making him what he is today. So, as far as I am con­cerned, he should have an open mind to everybody since he is for everybody and not for any­body. So, that statement should be taken seriously because he should understand that he is not representing himself but his party, APC.

“So, if he does well in this first term, whoever is taking over from him to vie for the APC will also be supported. He should un­derstand that the future of APC may be jeopardised if nothing is done now correctly under his adminitration. It is not a matter of this first term, there are also other terms. So, he should be talking about the future of APC in the zones.”

Reminded that there are other appointments that Buhari could give to the Igbo, the Bishop of Enugu retorted that after the key appointments made by the presi­dent, the others are considered to be irrelevant.

His words: “There are key ap­pointments. There are ones that are relevant and ones that are irrelevant. The question is, how many appointments will go to the South-East people that will become relevant appointments? Any appointment that is not relevant to the people may be selfishly relevant and we don’t want such ones that will only be relevant to certain individuals.”

Also reacting, first Repub­lic Aviation Minister and elder statesman, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, said, it shows that Bu­hari’s government has relegated the Igbo to slaves in this country.

“Since the end of the civil war, Ndigbo have been treated as second class citizens in their own country; where they in­spired for independence and led the struggle for independence. At independence, we were running a democratic government until 1966, when the military took over power. Ndigbo were killed in the north and at every crisis, they are the victims. The pogrom of 1966 to 1967 made them say, ‘let us go back home, since you don’t want us here.’ Then we came back to Biafra and Nigeria unleashed a genocidal war on Ndigbo, which ended in 1970. Since that time in spite of every effort by the Igbo race to re­ally belong to Nigeria, there has been that war time conspiracy allegedly led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Yakubu Gowon, that made the Igbo second class citizens in their own country.

“With what is happening, Ndigbo have been effectively re­duced to slaves. This is the time for the Igbo to think, not to react by violence or through any law­less means, but to see how they could push themselves out from the position the north and the west have pushed them to, and then work to survive.

“We are no cowards, we have faced every difficult situation with courage and boldness. It is a time for Ndigbo to now come back to the drawing board and start on how to think. First of all, if other Nigerians think Ndigbo be rendered third class citizens in their country, it is for the Igbo race to say, ‘No’, we are not go­ing to do that. There are so many ways to fight the battle, it is not only political, you can be eco­nomical, it can also be a moral battle, but it is for Ndigbo to come back home and think.

The Igbo leader, said Buhari’s action is not a punishment for Ndigbo to reject him at the poll, but an escalation and extension of the civil war hatred of the race. If it is about Ndigbo not voting for him, what of the Igbo who are with him in the APC. Let me mention a case of Dr. Ogbon­naya Onu, who was the national chairman of ANPP, where Bu­hari contested presidential elec­tion twice. Onu’s support for this man exposed him to the hatred of his people. Onu’s party was one of the parties that came to­gether to form the APC. Tinubu was the head of the other party, ACN, while Buhari was the head of CPC. Why is the party headed by Onu the slave of other parties? It is anti-Igbo conspiracy, and it is for the Igbo race to realise that the conspiracy is for them to know what to do and fight back.”

Commenting on the issue, former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Dozie Ikedife, said, “We have noted what is happening and Buhari is showing a tendency, but it is too early to draw a final conclu­sion on whether he is trying to exclude Ndigbo totally or doing something else.”

In the same vein, President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwa­zurike, said the appointments are truly frightening. He asked, ‘Are we still practising democracy, as enshrined in the constitution; does section 14 still operate or has it been expunged? Federal character is central to the prog­ress of this country. Aka Ikenga urges Mr president to ensure that this irreparable exclusion of Ndigbo is revised.”

In his reaction, South-East spokesman of the ruling APC, Mr Osita Okechukwu, said: “to be candid, one is not happy that my people are angry for not making the list. However, one relies on the timeless Igbo ad­age that it is not wise to score the market too early in the day. For there are over 400 appointments to be dispensed in the next few months.”

Okechukwu said President Buhari “cannot deliberately breach the federal character prin­ciple spelt out in Section 14 (3) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Also reacting, Dr Uwaoma Uche, Dean, School of Mass Communication, Abia State University, Uturu however said “the issue in question is a matter of meritocracy and not a mat­ter of where one comes from. It is a matter of who can actually deliver on the job. In as much as I consider that a person like Ogbonnaya Onu and others who were being routed for that position are eminently qualified to occupy such position, I think that the president in his own wisdom too should also think of the issue of Federal Character, to balance the equation in the polit­ical arithmetic of appointments.”

“I want to share some senti­ments on one side , most ap­pointments that have been done in the recent past by President Buhari have also tilted to pro­moting the northern part of the Country, which is giving us some serious concern, especially some major parastatals, paramilitary crews, like the SSS, Immigra­tion, Customs, it has not been too wonderful on that side. What I am saying is that if the people he is appointing are well qualified and can actually prosecute the assignment, that is good for us. But I think too that in the forth-coming assignment, he should try to give opportunities to oth­ers from the South-South and the South East geopolitical divide of the country. That is my submis­sion on that issue”, he added.

In his own submission, Chief Chris Ejike Uche, APGA Depu­ty National Chairman said “We have been on the waiting list for the government of Buhari to fa­vuor us as South Easterners, but it seems that we are waiting in vain, there seems not to be hope for the South Easterners, espe­cially the Igbo, with the latest development.

“After all he is not just a Presi­dent of the APC alone or presi­dent of a section of Nigeria , but president of Nigeria as a whole. What is happening is creating a lot of political tension in Nigeria, it is exhibiting inequality, and it is not good for his political im­age, that is the fact. Whoever that is advising him is not doing him any good, it is Nigeria that we are talking about, for it to move for­ward. Personally I am not happy about that development.”

Also, a federal lawmaker representing Ojo Federal Con­stituency at the lower legislative chamber in Abuja, Hon. Taju­deen Obasa has urged President Buhari to abide by the constitu­tion and respect the principle of federal character.

Obasa, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party urged the President to unite Ni­gerians with his appointments. He counseled him to search for competent Nigerians across the nooks and crannies of the coun­try, in order to balance his ap­pointment to command national loyalty.