Buhari: I Never Hated Ndigbo

Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

President Muhammau Buhari has stated categorically that he never hated Ndigbo, noting that accusations and insinuations against him and his administration are all lies calculated to create a bad feeling between
him and the Igbo people.

He stressed that he still loves the people of the South-east and would remain the friend of Ndigbo to the end.
Speaking at Ikwo in Ebonyi State during the empowerment programme of Chiboy Foundation and National Coordinator of Initiatives For Demonstrating Change in Nigeria, Chinedu Ogah, Buhari said he would not sleep until Nigeria was brought back to shape.

The president commended Ogah’s foundation for his foresight in empowering bringing succour to widows and less privileged ones in the society, and further urged other spirited individuals to emulate the gestures of the foundation.

Represented by Executive Director of Administration and Training, Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Dr. Steve Egbo, the president explained that he is a detribalised Nigerian who loves all sections of the country.
He said the country under his watch has started working but must be properly shaped to right the wrongs that has been in existence in the past years.

Buhari noted that all the accusations, insinuations and blackmail against him that he is a religious fundamentalist and hater of the South-east were all lies calculated to sow seed of discord in the country.

He said: “President Buhari asked me to tell you that Nigeria is working, Nigeria has started working. He asked me to tell you that he will not relent, he will not sleep until Nigeria is brought back to shape. He told us (the South-east leaders) a lot of things that have gone wrong in this country in the last few years.

“Some of the things he said we never heard before, some of them we never read in the media As a Commander-in-Chief, he knows a lot of things we do not know. He asked me to tell you that he loves the South-east and that he is a friend of the region. He asked me to tell you that all these accusations and insinuations against him and his administration are all lies calculated to create a bad feeling between him and the Igbo people. He asked me to assure you that from the beginning, he has been a friend of the South-east and he will remain a friend of the South-east to the end.”

He noted that in 2003, he picked an Igbo man, late Chuba Okadigbo, as his running mate and the South-east refused to vote for him.

President Buhari further explained that in 2007, he picked another Igbo man in the person of Chief Edwin Umezuoke and the people of the South-east still refused to vote for him and that he came back in 2011 to pick another Igbo man as his running mate and was told by the South-east that former President Goodluck Jonathan was their presidential candidate.

Buhari commended the Initiative for Demonstrating Change in Nigeria for empowering over 10,000 women and youths of Ebonyi State.

Earlier, National President of the NGO, Ogah, said empowerment was to complement the effort of President Buhari in reducing poverty in the country.

He called for total support of the president.