The
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, was booed while trying to
defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s appointments at a town hall meeting
organised by the Federal Government for the South-East in Enugu on Monday.
Shouts
of ‘No! No!’ rented the hall as he attempted to justify the appointments, which
are generally believed to be lopsided and skewed in favour of the North.
The
South-East is seen as the most marginalised zone in the appointments made so
far by Buhari.
Ngige
was responding to criticism of Buhari’s failure to appoint an Igbo as one of
the service chiefs at the interactive town hall meeting.
Some
South-East stakeholders at the event included leaders of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,
traditional rulers, members of the National Assembly, and other current and
former political office-holders.
Ngige
said this at a town hall meeting between the Federal Government and South-East
stakeholders in Enugu.
The
minister was responding to calls for new states in the zone, as well as the
demand for the restructuring of the country into regions.
Stressing
that the members of the National Assembly were the only true representatives of
the people, Ngige noted that those who participated in the constitutional
conference were not elected.
“The
only people elected today to represent the people are those in the National
Assembly.
“If
you want to amend the constitution or to create more states you must pass
through the National Assembly,” he said.
The
minister, a former governor of Anambra State, and an erstwhile member of the
Senate, said the Igbo must strategise on how best to survive and thrive in
Nigeria.
Reacting
to what he described as ‘the question of restructuring and the South-East,’ he
advised that the Igbo should avoid wallowing in self pity.
“We
(Igbo) have to put on our thinking cap; we don’t have to cry and wallow in self
pity,” he said, noting that Nigeria is a federation where all the federating
units must relate with one another.
“If
tomorrow President Muhammadu Buhari says ‘I want to do a constitutional
conference’, I can assure you that whatever you lobby and get in the conference
will be implemented to the letter,” Ngige added.
The
minister added that the demand for the restructuring of the country was not a
new thing.
Going
down memory lane, he said the draft constitution from the 1994-1995 Constitutional
Conference, organised by then Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, meant
well for the country.
Noting
that most of the states and local government areas in the country were created
by ‘military fiat’, Ngige said, “They said Abacha was not good but there were
some aspects of Abacha that were excellent.
“The
Abacha Constitution provided for residency, so that any Nigerian could contest
election wherever he lived, like Nnamdi Azikiwe did in the then Western region,
and rotation of Presidency, among other things.
“After
death took Abacha away we went back to the 1979 Constitution with a few
amendments making it the 1999 Constitution.
“The
South-East was divided at the constitutional conference; the South-East
rejected zoning because the man from Ebonyi said it would make him a minority
in the South-East.”
Also
speaking at the event, the Agriculture Minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the
Federal Government was ready to support youths who were interested in farming.
“The
present farmers are getting too old and something drastic has to be done.
“In
the next 10 to 15 years, most of the old farmers will no longer be active, so
who will feed the country?” he said.
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Politics