Chief (Mrs) Calista Nkiru Adimachukwu (Mmilioma), National Women Leader, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, speaks on the regret, gains and expectations of Igbo
People  from President Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

What is your perspective on the Igbo question in Nigeria


The Igbo are the highest contributors to Nigerian independence compared to other regions. But it is sad to note that since independence in 1960, other regions have countered Igbo objectives. The Igbo  have not been given the opportunity to taste solid leadership in Nigeria. Even after Nigeria got independence, Dr, Nnamdi Azikiwe, was made a ceremonial President whereas his   NCNC and Awolowo’s AG were capable of forming a solid government and producing the Prime Minister.  Azikiwe sacrificed that for the peaceful existence and unity of Nigeria.

Although   Azikiwe had support from Awolowo, he reasoned that if the West and East teamed up against the North to form  government, the nation may lose its equilibrium as the North might feel short-changed.
Therefore, Azikiwe sacrificed that chance for the unity of Nigeria. In fact, the  Igbo  do not even want to talk about the circumstances surrounding the death of Major Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi. Even in the Fourth Republic,   Dr Alex Ekwueme contributed immensely to the formation of the PDP, thinking that probably   the Igbo   might get the chance to control the central government.

Calista Nkiru The Igbo hoped   that   Ekwueme would be made the presidential candidate of the PDP, but there was gang-up by the military against the Igbo, and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo became the presidential candidate of the PDP. Obasanjo’s candidacy was the continuation of the defeat of the Igbo because the northern oligarchy never wanted an Igbo man to be the President of Nigeria.  Even before that episode, the Igbo  voted for Chief M.K.O Abiola, but when it came to the time when an Igbo person needs votes from the West and the North both in primaries and main elections, the Igbo are usually disappointed.

The Igbo have sacrificed a lot for the political development of Nigeria even to the extent of supporting a northerner in the Second   Republic and also giving Sir. Tafawa Belewa support to be Prime Minister in the First Republic. The Igbo have been disappointed time, without number whenever they needed support from other regions. This is one of   the reasons the Igbo want the Federal Government to implement the report of the 2014 National Conference in order to end the issue of   junior and senior partners   in the Nigerian project and also to neutralise any gang-up against the Igbo now and in the future. There is no doubt that the Igbo are disappointed because President Goodluck Jonathan lost the election.

This is because the Igbo believed that since he was the one that instituted the National Confab  and received the report, he would have been in a better position to implement it. Again, he showed  the Igbo that he has their interest at heart. Because of him, the Igbo now have international airport and other developmental projects in the region. I believe he could have done more if he won  re-election  in 2015.

There are also other projects in the South-East   which he started that are still unsung. The Igbos have no regrets voting for Jonathan and will do the same again if the need arises. Notably, in the 2011 presidential election, similar thing happen where the North-East and North-West voted massively for Gen. Buhari, and he lost in that election. However, those who voted for him then had no regret.

They repeated the same feat in 2015 and he won. The President did a lot to ensure that the 2015 elections went well and without violence. He should be commended for his efforts in the 2015 elections.

All said and done, the Igbo will continue to hope that their contributions to national development will be remembered by all.

Some Igbo called for support for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari  during his campaign and they said it was for the good of the Igbo. Do you think the government of Buhari   will benefit the Igbos ?
I am aware that some individuals in the South-East called for Igbo support for Buhari prior to the 2015 elections. There was even a blame game against the Igbo  for putting   their eggs in one basket. It is too early to judge Buhari or know his mindset on Igbo’; however time will tell. Jonathan lost the election and Igbo still feel bad but we lost nothing because we gained the brotherhood of the South-South.

When Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu   was alive, he visited the Alaafin of Oyo and the Ooni of Ife to extend handshake across the Niger. His action was misunderstood, but he explained that if there was an understanding between the South-East and South-West, it was the beginning of political wisdom.
He also explained that the personalities he went to visit in the West were the greater authorities he had to meet to forge a political understanding.

However, after the Igbo had tried in the First Republic and other periods in the political history of Nigeria, they had a change of mind.
The Igbo reasoned they had supported the North and the West in the past, and that partnership failed. The Igbo   even reasoned that since   Ojukwu’s idea of a handshake across the Niger did not work, a new political partnership was necessary. More recently, the South-South, South-East and South-West Assembly was formed aimed at securing   support from these zones for   Jonathan and also in case an Igbo man decides to contest the presidential election in future. Meetings were held in Enugu, Asaba and some other places.

Ekwueme, Chief ABC Nwosu, Chief   Chukwuemeka Ezeife and a host of others attended some of the meetings. Also Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s call for support for Jonathan was done after wide consultations from traditional rulers and important personalities. However, we will still enter into political understanding with the Middle-Belt and the core North after wide discussions.

We will let everyone know the reasons  the South-East will vie for President and expect wide support from other zones. Nevertheless, after we try all these things and they fail, the   solution lies in the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Confab.

If there is any Igbo personality that is begging for recognition and position from the government of Buhari, that person is insulting the Igbo. What we expect from those people is for them to tell Gen. Muhammadu Buhari point blank to implement the report of the National Constitutional Conference of 2014.

Do Igbo have any regret?
Yes, the Igbo  have three regrets. The first is the non-implementation of the Aburi Accord. The second is that the Igbo have not gotten any meaningful gain after their foremost contributions to Nigeria’s independence. The third regret is that the East and West delayed Nigeria’s independence for the North to meet up with the pace of independence. It was because of this that Whitehall imposed federalism on Nigeria. Sadly, our sacrifice is not appreciated.

What are Ohanaeze   Ndigbo doing about the ongoing IPOB crisis  (struggle forBiafra).?
  First of all, I would like to draw your attention to my interview in Vanguard  of May 24, 2015 under the headline, ‘Igbo case on National Conference report for Buhari – Ohanaeze   National Women Leader.

Our regrets as a region in Nigeria’. granted that interview before President Buhari was sworn-in on May 29, 2015. My reason for granting that interview was for him to know the position of Ndigbo for equitable union government.

When he assumed office   and started making appointments, he was supposed to treat all Nigerians fairly according to the oath of office he took; so when he started making appointments, he sidetracked  one of the major blocs that contributed more than any other  region in Nigeria to give Nigeria the fastest independence. That was what provoked the youths to agitate for Biafra, because   they feel that they don’t have any future in one Nigeria.
I am again pleading with Mr President   as a mother to immediately start the process of implementing the 2014 National Conference report for equitable Nigeria, where everyone would have a sense of belonging without fear or favour.
I also use this opportunity to plead with Mr President to grant Nnamdi Kanu unconditional release because he has done nothing to warrant his continuous incarceration.

What is your take on the Patience Jonathan’s issue with EFCC?
I am not against President Buhari’s   war against corruption through EFCC but, first of all, the war should be fought with sincerity in all ramifications.
If left to me to advise, the President should start the anti-corruption crusade from members of his party to prove to the world   that he is sincere in what he is doing, not only fighting the opposition.
In my own humble opinion, it is a clear cut agenda to bulldoze the opposition. As for Jonathan’s wife, I am not against the EFCC probing her but they should beam their search lights also in former first ladies from the North to prove to the world that they are not just out to fight Jonathan’s family who made sure that there was a peaceful transition to the present administration which was acclaimed world wide.

What   is your view on current recession under the watch of the APC leading government? 
When APC as a political party was campaigning to be voted into power, the leaders  knew very   well that the economy had a problem, so they came up with the ‘change agenda’, that if voted into power, they would restore the economy, that was the reason Nigerians voted for them.
When they assumed office, they started the blame game and that blame game has continued till today, pretending they didn’t know there was a problem before they took office, instead of doing the needful to restore the economy. Based on   that, foreign investors started pulling out their money back to their countries and that is why we are in this present recession.
But all hope is not lost because Nigeria have potentials to be great again even more than before within 10 years. I  remember that after the Nagasaki and Hiroshima   bombings of the Second World War in Japan, Japanese  cut themselves out of the world for 20 years and looked inwardly on how to bounce back.
Look at their economic position in the world affairs now. Nigeria’s case is a matter of 10 years, that is why I am pleading with Mr President to do the needful so that we can have a conducive   environment to move the Nigerian economy forward.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/11/igbo-will-not-beg-buhari-right-ohanaeze-chief/

This woman is very intelligent.

I doff my hat Chief.

The Igbo problem is within,and not outside. And the sooner they realize it,the better for them.

If only Ndigbo can learn to speak with one voice. When Oyegun,the APC Chairman started his tricks with Tinubu,even Fayose who do not see eye to eye with Tinubu came to his defense,and Fayose made it clear that no matter what he is at the end a Yoruba Man.

The Aburi Accord was a joke,so let us not even go there. But Chief,you raised a good point on how Ojukwu extended an hand of friendship to the West.

It was a laudable gesture. But even the Easterners did not take Ojukwu serious before his death,contrary to their lies now of using his name as a rallying cry.

Or how do you explain that the political party he formed,only held on to Anambra State? Why did the Easterners not rally around him and his political party or his cause?

So,if Ojukwu was trying to forge a friendship across the Niger,and he is not being taken serious by his people,why do you expect to others to take him serious?

The problems of the East,has the solution only in the East. And as soon as you guys sit together to form a united front,nobody will take you guys serious.

This is just the plain truth.

What is that rights again you Said Buhari owe you guys?have the Eastern States not been getting monthly money from the Central Government?are you people not in positions of authority?are your schools not federally funded?is Emeka Offor and a host of others not Billionaires from the East benefitting from this same Buhari?what do you guys want?

Like I said. The fight to take ibo land to the Eldorado is an internal one.

You guys should look inwards and tell each other the truth.

Leave Buhari out of your matter.

ok

The only thing we want is Biafra!

Should any tribe or region beg for their right in a country?

I'm glad that unlike what happened in 1966, there is widespread clamor, agitation, and outright demand for Biafra. If this type of mindset happened in 1960 or even 1963, the Biafra war may have been avoided as it would have been obvious that what Gowon said (the unity is not there...) would have led to possible peaceful dissolution of the British colony.


People in the Eastern states and even elsewhere have slowly but surely awoken from a long slumber to remember who they were and will always be, which is causing fear among Fulani and particularly Yoruba who thought their long standing false divide and rule propaganda sealed the deal, for they even believed their hype that children of Biafra had forgotten the war to begin speaking broken and doing Owambe.

Thank You APC for this

Y shud igbos beg Buhari for their rights, is it supposed to be so?
Are we the only region that voted against Buhari?

This is the reason why the Igbos makes more waves outside this country. Must they be so subjugated before we let them lead? They are doing far more better in all aspect of life outside this country ( the free world) than any other tribe in this country. But here at home wewant them to abdicate what makes themspecial before we let them lead. We are so scared of an average Igbo man/woman that we are bent on changing the playing field(as many times as we like) just so that we and other tribes come out ahead of them. Oppression don't last for ever and I do not think God is truly happy with the way we have handled things so far in this country....

Ohaneze Ndi ara
always talking rubbish

Igbo has no right with anyone, they should accept whatever they get.

chai Flaties beggy beggy

softMarket:
The only thing we want is Biafra!

Egbon softMarket, if it is biafra you want, come and collect it... Flat head

apholaryn:
chai Flaties beggy beggy

Adidas face

softMarket:
The only thing we want is Biafra!

Good for you, the only thing we want is our country - Brown Roof Republic!
#MyUsernameMyCountry

danot1030:
Igbo has no right with anyone, they should accept whatever they get.

when is Tinubu coming back from exile?

softMarket:
The only thing we want is Biafra!

And you will never get it....oya continue crying as usual...

Funlordjnr:



And you will never get it....oya continue crying as usual...

we are too important to u pple that u can't let us go!

softMarket:






we are too important to u pple that u can't let us go!

Which people? Or you think say my name na otunba gbenga adewole?

#MyUsernameMyCountry

She wasted NO TIME in taking off with a LIE!!

Jeez! Is this a curse or something??

"Highest contributors to independence" how

Must she LIE!!??

God forbid.

googlepikins:
Adidas face

hahahaahaha..very funny.. u satisfied?

HungerBAD:
[s]This woman is very intelligent.

I doff my hat Chief.

The Igbo problem is within,and not outside. And the sooner they realize it,the better for them.

If only Ndigbo can learn to speak with one voice. When Oyegun,the APC Chairman started his tricks with Tinubu,even Fayose who do not see eye to eye with Tinubu came to his defense,and Fayose made it clear that no matter what he is at the end a Yoruba Man.

The Aburi Accord was a joke,so let us not even go there. But Chief,you raised a good point on how Ojukwu extended an hand of friendship to the West.

It was a laudable gesture. But even the Easterners did not take Ojukwu serious before his death,contrary to their lies now of using his name as a rallying cry.

Or how do you explain that the political party he formed,only held on to Anambra State? Why did the Easterners not rally around him and his political party or his cause?

So,if Ojukwu was trying to forge a friendship across the Niger,and he is not being taken serious by his people,why do you expect to others to take him serious?

The problems of the East,has the solution only in the East. And as soon as you guys sit together to form a united front,nobody will take you guys serious.

This is just the plain truth.

What is that rights again you Said Buhari owe you guys?have the Eastern States not been getting monthly money from the Central Government?are you people not in positions of authority?are your schools not federally funded?is Emeka Offor and a host of others not Billionaires from the East benefitting from this same Buhari?what do you guys want?

Like I said. The fight to take ibo land to the Eldorado is an internal one.

You guys should look inwards and tell each other the truth.

Leave Buhari out of your matter.[/s]

Mr special adviser, How is your ethnic group better than the Igbo? Why not go advise your confused yoruba tribe whose reason for staying in nigeria and hating oduduwa is because the cowards are afraid of dying for a true yoruba homeland.

Pharaoh9:
Stupid afonjas won't stop mentioning Igbo in what ever they are doing

You can take someone out of the village

The sad thing is you can take village out of the person

You can see that factory mode won't help at all