President Buhari is due to announce the long-awaited list of his ministerial nominees this week and send their names to the senate for approval. Since assuming office on May 29, President Buhari has made 35 appointments but about 30 of his appointees so far have been northern Nigerians.
None of his appointments have come from the Igbo-speaking southeast geo-political zone, which has caused some consternation across the region. In addition, President Buhari has referred to ministers as being mere servants, adding that it is civil servants who do all the work of government.
Chief Achuzia, the, former Ohaneze Ndigbo secretary-general and a one-time Biafran Army commander during the Nigeria Civil War, said Ndigbo should consequently remain strong and form a veritable opposition that will take over power come 2019. Known during his army days as Hannibal or Air Raid, Chief Achuzia said Igbo ministers would not have any authority.
"Having known that the president has distributed key positions to his brothers, what worries me is that ministers have been regarded as mere servants by the president. In other words, if an Igbo is appointed minister, he or she will be a mere servant.
“The question is, are we to take up such positions to go and serve him ,to go and make him popular? Without an Igbo man being a minister, I do not think the president will survive, so, Igbos should not take ministerial positions,” Chief Achuzia added.
Other Ohanaeze Ndigbo officials, however, appealed to the Igbo nation to remain calm in the face of seeming lopsidedness of appointments made so far by President Buhari. Chief Enwo Gary Igariwey, the group's president-general, who spoke at the Ohanaeze national secretariat in Enugu during an appraisal meeting on the Igbo nation, asked Igbos not to be disappointments with the appointments so far.
Chief Igariwey said: "We ask our people not to be disappointed on the seeming lopsidedness of appointments made so far by the president. Our people should remain steadfast, think of home and galvanise efforts towards the development of Igbo nation because nobody will do it for us.
"We have helped in building Lagos and Abuja among others, so it is time to do the same in our own place. We had a meeting of a select group with Ohanaeze national executive committee to discuss Igbo day celebration and it will be held on a low key, leaving branches free to celebrate as they want."
He added that the theme of this year’s Igbo Day celebrations is Akonauche na Njiko meaning tact and unity. According to Chief Igariwey, this years’ celebration is not a time of festivities and masquerades but time for a rethink.
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