August 31, 2018
Peter Obi Should Save Ndigbo This Embarrassment
The South East Family Union (SEFU) has watched with grave concern, the on-going virulent campaign waged by the former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi against his successor, the Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano over the recent opening of a new plant constructed by International Breweries Plc in Ogun State and we wish to advise former governor Obi to kindly save Ndigbo this needless embarrassment.
We are surprised and curious as to why former governor Obi would order his Media Aide, Mr Valentine Obienyem and his private human rights group, the Intersociety for Civil Liberties to mount a calumny campaign against Governor Obiano, blaming him for not forcing the Board and Management of International Breweries to site its newly commissioned plant in Anambra State.
We are surprised that Mr Obi and his handlers have failed to see the dangers of inciting hatred in the populace in a manner that might invite disaffection from the Yoruba in whose land the new plant is located. There is a clear and present danger of sowing mistrust and bad-blood between Ndigbo and the Yoruba with the extreme reactions from Mr Peter Obi and his team and we strongly condemn it.
We are worried that former governor Obi appears to be losing his once acclaimed sharpness of mind in recent times as he has continued to waddle through one controversy after another and sound sometimes like someone stricken with the Messiah Complex; elevating himself as the national beacon for integrity and moral rectitude.
While it is widely believed that Obi’s worrisome public posturing is a part of his positioning strategy for the 2019 general elections, we are worried that it has become a growing threat to peace and harmony in the South East of Nigeria.
We therefore want to use the opportunity of this briefing to appeal to our brother the former governor Obi to save Ndigbo this embarrassment. The South East Family Union can no longer stand aside and watch our political leaders rub mud on each other in the open in pursuit of narrow, egotistic interests. We are disappointed that Peter Obi is directly linked to the people fomenting this particular trouble and we urge him to desist from the ignoble path he has chosen for himself. We are tired of watching this feast of absurdity. Ndigbo should not be made the staple for beer parlour jest and the butt of jokes of other Nigerians because of the inordinate ambition of one man.
We urge governor Obiano not to allow himself to be distracted by the on-going campaign of calumny against him because Ndi Anambra and Ndigbo are aware that the decision of International Breweries to upgrade its presence in Ogun State was purely a business one and had nothing to do with his inaction or lack of competence.
We also wish to call on Igbo youths and the youths of Anambra State who are stoking the fire of this absurd campaign launched by Mr Obi and his team against Governor Obiano on the Internet to desist from their action.
We must not allow ourselves to be used by power-mongering political leaders who remember our young ones only when they want to attack their political enemies because most of them have sent their children to the best schools abroad.
Signed:
Arc. Donatus Chime Dr. Dubem Okafor
President, SEFU (Enugu) Secretary, SEFU (Anambra)
Chief Emma Nwaiboko (Ebonyi) Barr. Ugoo Ugboaja (Imo)
Dr. Onuoha Kalu (Abia)
