Ndigbo have nothing to show for being part of APC, Okorocha laments

Imo State’s governor and the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) chairman, Rochas Okorocha, has like many other Igbo leaders, decried the marginalisation of the people of the Southeastern part of the country.

The governor who stated this when Acting President Yemi Osinbajo visited the state on Tuesday, said despite the efforts the region has made towards the growth of Nigeria, more importantly to the emergence of the Buhari-led administration, the region has nothing to show it is part of the Nigerian project.

According to Okorocha, the South-East region has remained marginalised, and denied of federal appointments. Imo State, he larmented has only a Minister of State for Education, despite all the support it gave to the All Progressives Congress (APC) party in making sure that Buhari became president.

“No other group in Nigeria that had invested as much into our nationhood can sing the song of marginalisation as much as Ndigbo has been made to sing it. We have nothing to show that we are part of the Nigerian project; neither do we have any sense of belonging in the present government at the national level.

“We have been marginalised both in terms of projects and appointments. In Imo State, for instance, all we have is a Minister of State to show for all the efforts and extreme sacrifices we made to ensure that the All Progressive Congress (APC) had a good outing in the last general elections.

“I know you are the Acting President and has the ears of the President. So, there is no better person to tell our painful story than you. You need to take a second look at what is happening in the South-East. No serious political appointment, no visible federal infrastructure so far, to show the presence of Federal Government in the South- East in general.

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“I beg that as the government gives subsequent appointments, let the qualified sons and daughters of the state and region be considered. Imo State played major role in bringing APC to power because if what had taken place in other states was allowed to happen in Imo State and other states in the South-East, probably we wouldn’t have had the APC government today.

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“Given the roles that I personally played as a sacrificial lamb in the South- East during the elections, my state deserves a better deal. There is no Federal Government presence in the oil-producing areas, and none of our youths benefited from the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme. I also use this opportunity to ask for the quick refund of the money spent by the state on Imo International Cargo Airport and on some federal roads in the state,” Okorocha lamented.

Replying, Acting President Osinbajo argued that it was not truly correct to say that the President had been unfair to Imo people, adding that there was no way Buhari could deliberately set out to marginalise Ndigbo in view of their contributions to the development of the country.

Osinbajo said, “You said that the highest appointment given to Imo under Buhari was Minister of State for Education. I will like to equally inform you that Katsina, the home state of Mr. President, and Kaduna State where Buhari resides all have ministers of state.

“If there is any governor in this country that has the ear of Mr. President, I will say that it is Governor Okorocha. As such, it cannot be said that the state is marginalised by the APC-led Federal Government.”

Okorocha only repeated a song Ohanaeze Ndigbo president, Nnia Nwodo and some other Igbo leaders, have been singing.

It is a common belief among many people of the region that the level of marginalisation of the region since the coming of Buhari is the major reason for different groups in the region now agitating for secession from Nigeria.

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