Following the anticipated political appointments of President Muhammadu Buhari, indigenes in the southeastern part of Nigeria have been urged to exercise patience.
According to Alfred Ononugbo, the special assistant to the Imo state governor and liaison officer in Lagos, the Igbos will not be marginalised in the appointment of officials by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
At a solidarity rally and grand reception in honour of the governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, the Ndigbo were cautioned to exercise patience as the president needs time to make his decisions.
Ononugbo said at the programme that the Ndibgo were a pivotal part of Nigeria and therefore deserve to be recognized as such in the appointment of officials. He said President Buhari’s integrity will see him do the right thing in the selection process. He adding that since there are Igbos capable of handling the positions, it will be just to give them the opportunity to serve.
READ ALSO: 10 Igbo Legends That Have Put The Tribe Well High On The Map
He said: “We trust our leaders and we feel it’s too early to begin to make deductions. The fact that APC stood for merit underscores the situation on ground at the moment. I think we should allow the Buhari administration find its feet. The administration is studying the situation of the country, because the APC met a totally broken down infrastructure and system in the country.
“However, we have people of Igbo extraction competent enough to handle assignments. So, I think we should allow our leaders time to digest the degree of challenge ahead and make appropriate selections, to find heads that can feat into those caps. Our major problem in this part of the world is that we are too hasty in judging the Buhari administration that has barely spent three months that it’s discriminating against Ndigbo. That is not correct.
“In a country of 170million, if barely 17 people have gotten appointments, I don’t know how we want to assess that. We are not in a hurry. We have no fear and doubt in Buhari. We trust the man we have elected as the President of Nigeria. He won this election based on his personal integrity and we believe deeply in our heart that his integrity will speak for him and he will be vindicated at the end of the day.”