The leader of the Ijaw Nation, Chief Edwin Clark, says former President Muhammadu Buhari did everything to subjugate Igbos from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria for reasons best known to him.
In a letter to President Tinubu, Clark said Buhari excluded the southeast from some of his appointments during his time in office.
Clark stated 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.
He further recalled how Buhari allocated less than 1% of a $22.7bn 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 reason best known to him. Perhaps it may be necessary to cite some examples; the NNPC board which he constituted when he came into office had 9 members, 1 from the South-West, 1 from South-South, and no member from the South-East, even though 3 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.
Clark also stated that the “discrimination and injustice” against the Igbo had not abated under Tinubu’s administration, noting 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.
Now that the elections are over, we must face the restructuring of this country. I repeat 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 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”.
Buhari Did Not Treat Igbos Well, says Edwin Clark
