Nation
Amaechi’s dreams, disappointments over Nigeria
By Ori Martins
The obituary of the late parliamentarian and the last of the First Republic cabinet members, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, in spite of his ripe age of 93, was shocking and displeasing.
Amechi, known and addressed as the Boy Is Good, was a statesman, Igbo leader as well as a community elder.
He was very much involved in all the discourses concerning Nigeria’s socioeconomic and political evolution of the last five decades.
In particular, the first minister of aviation was significantly eloquent about the famed marginalization of Ndigbo in the Nigerian project. He queried the exclusion of the South East geo political zone from the distribution of the country’s amenities, especially the presidency.
In what really confirmed his disappointment and failed dreams about the current ineptitude leadership in the country, Amaechi noted that it was not like this in the beginning.
In one of his numerous interviews, he said, “I can tell you that the way Nigeria is was not how we planned it. This is not the Nigerian of our dream. We dreamed of a Nigeria where peace, justice, equity, rule of law and fairness would be the order of the day.
“We, the pathfinders, with the great Zik, iconic Awo and visionary Sarduna wanted a Nigerian that would have been the greatest in Africa and one of the best in the world”, he observed.
Obviously showing his frustration and disappoint on what he called a failed country, Amaechi graphically illustrated how Nigeria started decaying.
According to him, “If you are very sincere, you will agree with me that the event of January 15, 1966, actually, was at the root of all the maladies ravaging Nigeria. That was the day Nigeria lost her soul and spirit. With that coup, Nigeria was never the same. I want every Nigerian to understand that the country got disjointed the moment the army, trained, paid and serviced by the country’s resources took up arms against the country”.
He continued, “We were told after the coup that we were ousted because we were corrupt. It was very astonishing to me. Why did you not get the particular person or persons arrested and prosecuted? Why bringing down the entire house because you are chasing a rat.
“In anyway, when we left in 1966, yes there were crisis in the Western Region, but I bet you things would have been better in all ramifications had the military not intervened. Could you imagine – just about a year after we were forced to leave office, Nigeria fought a civil war in which about two million people were slaughtered.
“From there, things started going wrongly: the counter coup, the war, corruption of 25 per cent, more coups, and then the general maladies. The worst attack was the deliberate destruction of our national institutions. For instance, can you imagine the level of unprofessionalism daily experienced and witnessed in the police all over Nigeria?
“The same goes to the army, DSS, judiciary, civil service, education systems, INEC and all the federal agencies. The madness also cuts across our private concerns. More than anything else, our democratic processes are severely attacked and maliciously compromised. Nigeria is a disappointment to all of us who were in the struggle for independence”.
Insisting that Nigeria would never get it right unless the Igbo occupy their rightful place in the country, he said, “I have observed with great dismay, how Nigerians of other ethnic nationalities usually delude themselves by thinking that the country would be freed when Ndigbo are enslaved. It is laughable because, you cannot have a workable Nigeria unless there is a workable Igbo nation.
“That is, why are there only five states in the South East when there are six in some zones and seven in one? Go round, the South East has the least of everything federal in Nigeria. Even, there are instances you do not have most of things in other zones – no seaports, no airports, no military and police formation grounds.
“I am not talking about military or police barracks. Look at what I just heard that there is going to be a transportation university in Daura, Katsina State. Already an army university had been established in Bio, Borno State. Again, there are railway construction going on in the country and not a single lane passed by the South East.
“This is a major reason Nigeria will not work… I do not even want to talk about a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. Why can’t Nigeria say, let us bind the wound of the country by voting an Igbo as president in 2023? The South West has had it, the South-South has had it, in 2023, why will it not be an Igbo? And you think the agitation for Biafra will not be there with all these traces of exclusion against Ndigbo”?
Amaechi’s last wish was for President Muhammadu Buhari to use his capacity and employ political solution rather than court means, to cause for the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The Biafran agitator has been in detention since July last year when he was rearrested in Kenya and bundled home to face treasonable and felony charges.
Alongside other eminent Igbo leaders like Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN), Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Orji Uzor Kalu, including Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Amechi called on Buhari to allow Kanu to regain his freedom using political solution. But this request was never heeded to untill death knocked at his doorsteps.
