By Tony Ogbechie
Former Minister of Aviation during the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amechi has tackled President Muhammadu Buhari for describing Ndigbo as a dot-in-a- circle.
Amechi condemned what he said was the wrong choice of words and lack of diplomacy on the part of the President.
The 92-year old elder statesman said Buhari’s deep-rooted hatred for Ndigbo was not new, adding that his lack of diplomacy even in government and use of diplomatic language or the language that fits a president was well known in Nigeria.
“As at today, even though Buhari is not wearing a military uniform, he is still the same soldier who overthrew a Fulani-led government in 1983 because the constitution of the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN) said that the next president of the country will be an Igbo man and Buhari swore that an Igbo will never be a president of the country.
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“So, his hatred for Ndigbo and everything Igbo is not a new thing to me. And then his poor choice of language as a president, a real president would have found better words to use than that expression that Ndigbo are a dot in a circle.
“That is a poor choice of words, very unpresidential. That is all I can say about it.
Now, yes, he said that the South-East, that Igbo do not have access to the sea. There are many countries of the world that have no access to the sea yet they function.
“I have said it personally that I believe in a bigger country, Nigeria that I fought for. I dedicated my entire youth to the struggle for independence of Nigeria, a big country.
“And up till today I don’t believe that Nigeria should break. But if Nigeria breaks, Buhari is responsible for the breaking of the country. If this country disintegrates, Buhari should accept total responsibility for it because it is his actions and inactions that have brought the whole thing in Nigeria to the level we are now,” he said.
The nonagenarian noted that the question of Fulanis and cattle herders was a new language, adding that it came up only in Buhari’s regime.
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“There have been governments in Nigeria. There were NCNC and AG in Nigeria as political parties. There have been military regimes in Nigeria.
“The Fulanis were bringing their cattle to the East, West and South to sell. Buhari is the only president who wants to equate Fulani economy and empire with his attempt to Fulanize Nigeria and to Islamize Nigeria.
“That is what is causing the whole trouble. That is for allowing the Fulanis to be armed and allowing his government, people inside his government to arm the herders and they come down here, they shoot people, they damage crops, they rape women, kidnap people and not one of them has been arraigned in any court of law even those who are arrested and handed over to the police are released the following day,” he fumed.
