Few hours after a faction of its parent body endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, (Ohanaeze Youth Council) has accused him of being insincere to the South-East region.
In a statement made available to DAILY POST, the Ohanaeze Youth Council said it was displeased with Jonathan’s insincere and shabby handling of issues affecting Ndigbo, despite the support given to him by the people of the zone in the 2011 election.
The group, in the statement signed by Mazi Arthur Obiora and Hon. Obinna Adibe, the Deputy National President and the National Publicity Secretary, respectively, Ohanaeze noted that, “in 2011, it was our structures that were mobilized to ensure that he scored 98% of South East votes and also got substantial votes in other parts of Nigeria. Yet, our genuine demands including the revitalization of the Enugu Colliery/ construction of a coal fired power plant, construction of the Azumini seaport, acceleration of the dredging/expansion of the Port Harcourt and Calabar seaports, the exploration of the oil deposits of the Orashi and Anambra River Basins, etc have been ignored.
“The issue of ravaging unemployment, which has hung most dangerously on Igbo youths, has not been addressed till date, yet hundreds of billions of naira has been spent to empower Ijaw youths through the amnesty programme and other Federal Government jobs and initiatives. What have Igbo youths done wrong to be so neglected?
“The Akanu Ibiam International airport, Enugu, the only significant project the President executed in the South East after over five (5) years is only international in name, not in practice since it is yet to get to international standards in terms of runway length and other critical infrastructure. Hence, major international airlines in the world have shunned it.
“The 2nd Niger Bridge has become enmeshed in controversy. It is the only Federal Government Bridge that will have a toll gate, whereas President Obasanjo kindly abolished toll gates about 10 years ago. So far, only N10billion i.e. 7.6% of the total contract sum of N130 billion has been purportedly released. Also, the cost of the bridge has increased by over 300% while the completion date has been shifted from 18 months to 48 months (4 years)! This implies that he does not even intend completing the bridge by 2019, when he will be leaving office, assuming he is re-elected this year.
“Throughout his almost 6 years in office, the Enugu-Onitsha, the Enugu-Port Harcourt, Aba- Ikot Ekpene and as well the Oba- Okigwe Highways have remained the worst Federal roads in Nigeria. In fact, one lane of the Enugu-Onitsha Highway has been overtaken by weeds! Is this a sign of true love for Ndigbo? Ndigbo were the biggest victims of 2011 post election violence, simply because of the total support they gave President Jonathan. Yet, the Sheikh Lemu Report on the 2011 Post Election Violence was never implemented and virtually none of ndi-Igbo who were victims of the violence are yet to be compensated”.
Ohaneze added that, “based on their security not being guaranteed by the Federal Government, ndi-Igbo in Northern Nigeria have gradually started fleeing back to Ala-Igbo thereby becoming Internally Displaced Persons. Today, Ala-Igbo is being torn apart, basically because of President Jonathan’s re-election bid.
“If in 7 days, the above and other critical issues of interest to Ndigbo as discussed by Ohanaeze Ndigbo during their audience with Mr. President on Friday, 17th October, 2014 are not seriously addressed, we may be forced to seek an ALTERNATIVE. A stitch in time saves nine!”
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