Raymond Ozoji, Awka
The Anambra state chairman of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) Chief Basil Ejidike says Ohanaeze-Ndigbo, an Igbo socio-cultural organization, was not fair to President Muhammadu Buhari when the Igbo organization posited that Buhari’s first term was a nightmare to Ndigbo in one of the national dailies.
He said that the original essence of the Ohanaeze-Ndigbo had been defeated long ago when the organisation derailed as well as deviated from its cultural role and veered into partisan politics. He maintained that the organization was not being fair to Buhari because it was in existence when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ruled for sixteen years and no tangible achievements were recorded in the southeast.
Ejidike who spoke with journalists in Awka at the weekend, emphasized that Ohanaeze-Ndigbo should be a neutral body embracing all political parties so that whatever political party in power would get the sympathy of the organization. He cautioned that whenever Ohaneze ventured into partisan politics, it doesn’t urgur well for the Igbo nation.
He recalled that PDP was in power for sixteen years and there was allegedly no meaningful infrastructural development in the whole of southeast, pointing out that it was with the advent of President Buhari’s administration that the southeast began to witness the rehabilitation of Onitsha-Awka-Enugu expressway.
According to him, “During the sixteen years of PDP’s administration, the Enugu-Onitsha expressway was impassable. Now Nnewi-Amichi-Uga road construction is going on. It is a federal road. You are also aware of the commissioning of Zik Musoleum which we thought Jonathan would have done but he never did that. Buhari came, completed and commissioned it. The Second Niger Bridge before President Muhammadu Buhari came on board was designed to be two lanes but Buhari came and made it three lanes on both sides making it six lanes altogether which will cover 11.5 kilometers from Asaba Delta state to Onitsha Anambra state.”
The Anambra APC helmsman noted that the school feeding programme was another milestone recorded by the Buhari administration coupled with other social welfare programmes intended to revamp the living conditions of the people.
Ejidike however admonished President Buhari to build on the foundation he laid in his first term on security, agriculture, employment creation and a host of others, stressing that he meant well for the country and that the President was not a corrupt-minded person.