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Chief Ume-Ezeoke Further Made the Following Comments By Usman Yerima
" “We fought for the independence of this country more than any other ethnic group, we cannot be pushed out, so this time around, people like me thought that we must have to approach our friends again and remind them of the past and that it is time to rescue the country from the mess it has been thrown into, but people out of dislike, out of selfishness are using the instrument of power against us”,-- Umezeoke
True, Igbo statesmen were part of the pioneering men that fought for independence. Here is the interesting thing, when Dr. Zik, Chief Enahoro, and the rest put their lives on the line for our independence (something they desired not for themselves only, but for all Nigerians) guess who was in opposition of Independence? The North. The highly revered Sardauna, Ahmadu Bello was an opponent of Independence. His reason was that we weren't ready yet because we hadn't gotten all the infrastructure in place, etc How funny! What colonialist gives the natives everything, building them infrastructures, makes sure everything is perfect, and then hands them letters of independence and leaves voluntarily?
Zik and Co. knew that the only way to achieve independence was to fight for it regardless of what state our nation was in, so they clamoured for independence knowing fully well that once that goal was achieved, nation building and the shaping of our future would be the next agenda items. But when all was said and done, what was the benefit of all that risk and sacrifice for the Ziks, the Enahoros, and other Igbo advocates for independence? They became sidelined and the north took charge and rubbished the entire effort.
Let's be honest here, for the past four decades, a campaign of political suppression has been waged against the Igbos and by the extension the greater south. I am hoping Chief Ume-Ezeoke is not suffering from early stages of Alzheimer's. He keep referring to "somebody" trying to prevent the Igbos from rising. If that is true, who else in Nigeria is so interested in standing in the way of the Igbos? Is it the spineless Yorubas? Not likely. It isn't the South South, and neither is it the middle belt. Therefore Ume-Ezeoke needs to quit being a lost dog chasing its own tail and look right in front of him for the answer he is searching for.
Since the leadership of Gen. Gowon, the Presidency or head of stateship has simply passed from one northerner to another. Every now and again they reluctantly take a break and hand it off to that Otta farmer, Obasanjo, to keep in trust for them till they are ready to take it right back. During Shehu Shagari's administration, Chief Alex Ekwueme was Vice President. The entire charade was a gimmick. They never intended for Ekweme to eventually run for President and possibly succeed Shagari because before that could happen, Buhari jumped right in and put an end to democratic rule. Then IBB came on board, Abacha followed, Abdul Salaam got a piece, and then back full circle to Obasanjo. It never even occurred to them that Obasanjo had almost languished in Jail following his unceremonious incarceration by Abacha. They never even considered the possibility that part of Obasanjo's brain cells may have seized functioning given the extreme prison conditions in Nigeria. The simply bypassed Ekwueme who unlike Obasanjo, still had his faculties intact, and was by far a more attractive candidate than Obasanjo.
Now, power is simply going back to the north even though Obasanjo's madness caused him to hold on to it longer than expected. This entire game of passing the office back and forth between themselves while the country sinks into the gutters is like taking all Nigerians for a ride.
They are usually so good at destroying the chances of the Igbos or any other minority from rising to the Presidency, but in hind-sight of that, they select an Igbo man as potential vice presidential candidate, while they keep the Presidency for themselves. This has been the pattern.
A while back, I wrote a very critical article on Gov. Kalu and his stewardship as governor. As critical as I was, I actually respect him now for not accepting a vice Presidential slot from any joker. He stood his ground insisting that he would only run for the Presidency or nothing. For me, that is taking a principled stand and I commend him for that.
Ume-Ezeoke on the other hand is garbage all the way, so is Jonathan Goodluck for accepting PDP nomination as running mate to Yar-Adua. What the Igbos and the south do not need is continually being a part of this useless game of dark age politics. If the Igbos are denied the right to seek the elective office of their choice, nobody should offer them a meaningless appeasement appointment for the loss because it is an insult and total disregard of their worth in the country.
Ume-Ezeoke wouldn't know anything about principles. He is a running mate to Buhari who by the way already had a stint with the leadership of the nation and lost out because his own homeboy kicked him out. Ume-Ezeoke is running mate to that same Buhari who the first time around never had the sense to have an Igbo or a southerner as his deputy. But now, he conveniently finds one, and just like a confused figure head, Ume-Ezeoke begins sounding off like an empty drum about how "somebody" is blocking the Igbos from rising. If only he can pull his head out of Buhari's ass, maybe he'll see who those suppressors really are. Until then, I'm afraid he'll keep chasing his own tail. Poor thing. |