Michael Ovat – Awka
Former President of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has warned against the dangers of the conspiracy against the Igbos of the South East which he described as Igbophobia contending that it would not mean well for the unity and development of the country.
Obasanjo who spoke at the one-year anniversary celebration of the regime of Governor Chukwuma Soludo in Awka, on Saturday, further described the duo as most outstanding of all the appointments he made while in office as President whereby, Prof Soludo served as Central Bank of Nigeria CBN governor, while Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was the Minister for Finance.
“When I appointed Prof. Soludo as my economic adviser I worked with him very well and I was highly impressed with him so I chose to appoint him the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN and he was one governor of CBN that was not from the commercial bank and he performed wonderfully well.
“But on one occasion somebody came to me and said you completely ruined the economy of this country by appointing an Igbo person Minister for Finance and another Igbo person Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“That is what I call Igbophobia. It remains, it persists and I like what Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu said and I believe him whole and entire.
“I believe that on the 13th of January 1970 Biafra died and was buried in the house of my friend Simon Okeke at Amichi and I believe we have to go back to the scripture that we must conquer evil with good and wherever you find yourself and people are afraid of you try to be friendly with them and be good to them and that is the only way to conquer evil with good.
“I appointed Soludo and Okonjo-Iweala and I think probably that of all the appointments that I made while in office, these two appointments were the best.”
Obasanjo while congratulating Soludo over his achievements within one year in office further posited that his position as Anambra governor is more of an appetizer and that the higher position is still awaiting him after being governor.
“I commend you for what you are doing in Anambra state and if in one year you can do so much with your lean resources and carry out massive road construction of 261 km of roads, then you will do a lot in the next three years.”
Speaking earlier Governor Soludo noted that with the four pillars of his administration which have been put to use within one year the state would be coasting to great infrastructural development.
Soludo recalled that his first year in office facilitated the employment of 5,000 teachers, 400 medical personnel as well as the constitution of 261 km of roads.
He noted that all revenue leakages have been checkmated as well as the reconstruction of the public properties destroyed by gunmen.
He further announced that the fight against insecurity has received appreciable success adding that his administration is poised towards ensuring that its campaign promises are kept for the good of the state.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who serves as the Chairman of the occasion, also warned those attacking Igbos in Lagos over the just concluded 2023 general elections to desist.
He describes the attackers as political rascals of Yoruba extraction.
The President Candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, was also present at the anniversary.
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