Gen Momah defends Buhari on Igbo hatred allegation, says ‘it’s wrong to accuse Buhari of disliking Ndigbo’’

Former Minister of Science and Technology, Major-General Sam Momah, retd, in this interview frowns at claims that President Muhammadu Buhari is being anti Igbo in the choice of political appointees. He also spoke on other issues of national significance.
The fact that there is no Igbo among the new service chiefs has fired assertions that the president is anti-Igbo. Do you agree?
I do not agree that he is anti Igbo. Some of the president’s best friends are Igbo, so also some of his aides. Those of us, who know him personally, know that he does not hate Igbo. It is a misnomer for Ohaneze president to make such a claim. It is very unfortunate. We know that twice he appointed an Igbo man as his running mate.
The first one was Chuba Okadigbo and the second was Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke. You cannot say that somebody who did that hates Igbo. That is a wrong assertion and the president is someone who is patriotic, nationalistic and humane.
Affairs of the nation
He hates tribalism and cronyism. He has come a long way to prove to us that he is a democrat. We see it in the way he is handling the affairs of the nation, trying to give a good ‘listening ear’ to all.
It is therefore unfair to blackmail him into something he is not.
Do you think the chances of an Igbo man becoming the Secretary to the Government of the Federation are still bright considering the emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President?
You cannot use an illegality to discountenance legality. That will be double damage. Ekweremadu came on his own platform, being PDP. He is not a member of the APC. Of course his candidacy as Deputy President of the Senate is still being contested, and so you cannot use it to nullify somebody who is a strong member of the APC.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu is an intelligent and level-headed leader that has proven himself to be consistent in the opposition all these years. He is not the type that jumps from one party to another. He is very principled like the president himself. So I believe both being of the same kind, should be able to work together. Secretary to the government is a very important appointment, which I believe that with his track record, experience, nationalistic feeling, a sound technocrat with first class honours degree; he will do immense justice to that position.
On comments that President Buhari is slow
I must say that I am fulfilled because we knew the state of our country before Buhari came on stage. Nigeria was on the brink and the economy was very bad. We were saddled with about $60 billion debt, our police force was not properly organised, our borders were porous, unemployment was terribly embarrassing and was getting to the magnitude of having over 40 million youths unemployed.
Also the problem of Boko Haram, kidnapping, armed robbery and cyber crime were all getting out of control.
There was also the problem of smuggling of illegal arms across our borders, which remained much unguarded. Then of course the worse of it was the vandalisation of oil pipelines and illegal sale of our oil by individuals. The looting of the economy was rampant and we were being told that stealing was not corruption. So, it was inevitable that we had to look for somebody to salvage the nation. We thank God that a miracle happened and he won the election despite the odds.
Exemplary leadership
His coming to lead Nigeria is the dawn of a new era, an era of respectability for the country, an era of exemplary leadership, an era of visionary leadership and an era that Nigerians will aspire to actualise that great nation that we have been waiting for.
What about the allegations of not hitting the ground running?
It is unfortunate that Nigerians are impatient. We had a party in government for 16 years and nobody talked about go-slow. Now, someone else is in power for less than 60 days and people are talking about go-slow. It’s not rational. I do not think that it is true that he is ‘Baba go slow.’ With the magnitude of problems that we have on ground he is being cautious so that we do not build on a weak foundation.
In spite of all the problems emanating, the treasury being depleted and the legislative coup of June, which set a lot of impediment to what APC had in mind, he is still trying to do his best.
On his achievements so far
In less than two months we have seen that power has improved from about 2000 megawatts to 4600 megawatts. We see also that our refineries are being repaired for the first time in 16 years, repaired by direct labour using Nigerians, with no scandal of awarding multiple billion Naira contracts for turnaround maintenance. So, we can see that he is a man with a vision and very prudent in spending. Hopefully, we will soon stop the prodigious buying of oil that God gave us free.
And on the military front, he is trying to mobilise our neighbours, Chad, Niger, Cameroun, Benin Republic and others. The groundwork has to be done and he is doing that effectively. Boko Haram has changed tactics from the normal conventional warfare to guerrilla warfare.
They do not wear uniform; they mix up with the civilians and commit havoc. For that kind of tactics, there is no border. It means we have to change into counter guerrilla tactics and we will do so in consonance with our neighbours.
In effect, he is trying to mobilise our neighbours. It is not only a Nigerian affair. I hear they have mobilised about 8700 troops, which at the end of this month will swing into action. On the economy, he is trying to bail out the states without touching our foreign reserves. He is also trying to put life into the local economy by bringing about policies that will checkmate all fraudulent practices. Nigerians should be patient because the results will soon start rolling in.

How best do you think the war against graft can be fought now?
I feel bad that we have over 40 million young ones who are unemployed graduates, some unemployed for seven years or more. Most young men are of marriageable age but are unmarried because they have no jobs and this, is now affecting our girls with no suitors. And that cycle of social problem is what is giving rise to kidnapping and the misdemeanour of our girls on the streets. Therefore, I totally agree with the President who said during his campaigns that looters of the economy are worse than terrorists. Imagine one Nigerian looting $6 billion, meanwhile, America is giving us $5 million as their widow’s mite in the North East, because they know that a citizen of ours has $6 billion looted and kept in their country. It is absolute madness. I think they should be accordingly dealt with and money repatriated. And when that happens, the money should not be shared as it was done in previous administrations, where such looted money was shared between federal and state governments. Instead it should be used for infrastructural development.