Ngige booed after saying Buhari is the best and that Ndigbo must lobby other zones to be recognized by APC

The  Minister of Labour and Employment,Chief Chris Ngige, yesterday advised the people of the South East zone  to support to the present administration in the country led by President Muhammadu Buhari to succeed, in as much as their  dream of attaining the presidential seat of Nigeria and other lofty political positions in the country,could only be realized through lobbying of other zones of the country.

Dr Chris Ngige  was earlier booed by majority of the participants at the town hall meeting organised by the Federal government  for the people of the South East zone, at Nike hotel,Enugu,  for attempting to defend  composition of President Muhammadu Buhari's kitchen cabinet  as issue of lopsidedness of President Buhari's appointment against Ndigbo  became a serious complaint raised at the meeting. The non inclusion of any soldier of South East origin among the service Chiefs, and present travail of the Deputy senate President,Senator Ike Ekweremadu over forgery trial were construed as part of President Buhari's dislike for Ndigbo.

However, the Labour and Employment Minister, on a second chance to convey his message appealed to the elite and political class of Igbo nation to work extraordinarily hard in closing the perceived marginalisation gap by lobbying other sections of the country, if the dream of attaining the presidential position of the country must be achieved by the zone in near future.   

Ngige who admonished the present agitation for restructuring of the country, demand for additional state for the South East zone etc, stressed such demand has been there and is likely to remain a mission impossible based on the herculean task and processes of amending the Constitution under a Civilian administration by the National Assembly

He recalled that it was easier for the Military regimes in the country to have created states on demand whether based on sentiment or justifiable reasons because the military regimes,operated by decrees. He therefore pleaded with the Igbo nation to close ranks and work with the present administration, stating President Buhari meant well for Ndigbo, but the precarious state of the nation's economy has limited  the operations of the government.   


In his own speech, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that contrary to insinuations in certain quarters that the Change mantra promised by the All Progressives Congress,APC, has started to manifest in every sector of the economy.

His words, “Many have said they are yet to see the change we promised. Many more have called the promise a ruse.
“In fact, they are now mocking us. But we remain undaunted because we know that the change we promised is real.
“In fact, the change we promised is already here, and it is manifesting all around us.’’
Alhaji Lai Mohammed counted the achievements of the present administration so far to include  the fight against corruption, stating the  current government has put a stop to the looting of public funds which, he said, was responsible for underdevelopment.

He stated,  “Before now, public officials simply opened the public till, took as much money as they wanted and walked away without consequences.
“That explains why funds allocated to the military to fight Boko Haram ended up in the piggy banks of many unscrupulous Nigerians'.

“Today, all those who looted the public treasury are being made to answer for their actions, as impunity gives way to accountability.
“Many have offered to return their loots, and many more are facing charges,” he said.

On the way forward for the economy, he stated, “We promised to diversify the economy away from oil, to ensure that other sectors are able to significantly contribute to sustainable development.
“In June 2016, for the very first time, about 70 per cent of the more than N500 billion raised from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee came from the non-oil sector, while 30 per cent came from the oil sector.
“It was the first time in 2016 that the Federal Government shared more than N500 billion among the three tiers of government.”

Mohammed assured that  the Federal Government is working towards addressing complaints over perceived lopsidedness in appointments.

“There are hundreds of appointments yet to be made. It is an evolving scenario and any lopsidedness is being addressed as we progress,” he assured

Earlier in his own contribution, a former Minister of Information, Chief Nnia Nwodo advised Ndigbo to forego the agitation for an Independent state of Biafra, stating  that Ndigbo have a lot of investments in Nigeria to ask for a sovereign state of Biafra.



Nnia Nwodo stated, "What we need is unity in Nigeria - Nigeria where everybody will be accommodated and seen as one," he said.
He stressed  that Nigeria can get out of the present  economic woes if the Agricultural sector can be developed and diversified.


On his own contribution, Chief Audu Ogbe, Minister of Agriculture said that the issue of herdsmen will soon be solved as ranches would be built to dissuade grazing of cows.

"We are working on confining all cows in ranches.  A time shall come when no cow will be moving about.  That will come to an end," he said pointing out that no one is licensed to carry about AK 47 in the name of grazing.

Ogbe said that government has come up with a scientific farming method that will ensure increased farming yield stressing that Nigerian lands are good for farming but that people use wrong fertilisers that affect farms and products from producing optimally.

"We have a soil map in Nigeria.  The book tells you on what fertiliser to use.  Our land is not bad.  There is a scientific farming way in the world today that could improve bumper yield of agricultural products.  In two years, Nigeria will have food sufficiency," Ogbe stated.

The town hall meeting attracted many personalities in Igboland such as National Assembly members, Governor of Enugu State,former ministers and traditional rulers as well as ministers of God.