OHANEZE NDI IGBO CONDEMNS BUHARI'S "UNFAVORABLE" APPOINTMENTS

Controversy over President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent appointment of some members of his kitchen cabinet, which highly favoured people of the northern part of the country, is yet to abate.
Joining in the fray yesterday, leading Igbo group in the country, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, expressed bitterness over the development, describing it as simply “unexplainable and skewed pattern of appointments.”
This is just as the group also called for calm among its people, who are obviously aggrieved by the appointments. Speaking for the group, Secretary General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, declared that the appointment had completely excluded Ndigbo from key strategic positions in the Federal Government of Nigeria.
His words: “The appointments have completely excluded Ndigbo from key strategic positions in the Federal Government of Nigeria.” Nwaorgu said that the call for Ndigbo to remain calm had become necessary because of the numerous telephone calls from Ndigbo all over Nigeria and in the Diaspora expressing shock and disbelief at the appointments.
He said that some Ndigbo who had telephoned him on the issue had queried “whether Ndigbo are still regarded as part of Nigeria.” The Ohanaeze Secretary General requested Ndigbo not to overreact either by word or any other means to the “ugly situation of total exclusion.”
He said: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo urges Ndigbo to continue to be nation builders anywhere they are and not to be downcast by what has happened. Ohanaeze strongly believes that a President of Nigeria is the president for all Nigerians and that equity and fair-play for all Nigerians will be respected.”
Also speaking in the same vein on telephone from Abuja, Monday, a former Minister of Health, Professor A.B.C. Nwosu said that he was not surprised that the appointments excluded Ndigbo. According to him, “many Ndigbo expected this to be so even during the campaigns and that was why they voted the way they did.”
He stated that; “Ndigbo should not be troubled by this development because they have seen and survived worse situations in Nigeria and there is no cause for mourning the present development.
“Ndigbo should continue to be strong and committed to nation building and await the envisaged remedial action as stated by the presidency even though, personally, I do not see any position that will equal the position of the Secretary to Government of the Federation and its centrality in the exercise of federal power in Nigeria.”
Nwosu advised that upon conclusion of major appointments, Ohanaeze Ndigbo in consultation with Igbo organisations like Aka Ikenga, Ndigbo Lagos, World Igbo Congress, Igbo World Assembly, Izu Umunna, Igbo Leaders of Thought and so on should summon a meeting of Igbo leaders and elders to review the situation.