Why Buhari and Ministers Did Not Attend South-East Summit in Enugu

The reason why President Muhammadu Buhari and his ministers boycotted the South-East summit in Enugu State.

President Muhammadu Buhari

 

President Muhammadu Buhari did not attend the maiden South-East Economic and Security Summit in Enugu which he was supposed to declare open as the guest of honour. The event held in the Enugu State Government House.

 

However, the President missed the event after some pro-Biafra agitators warned him not to set foot on Igbo land as they threatened to protest.

 

The President and his ministers especially those from the South-East slated to make presentations at the event all stayed away from the event without any explanation. 

 

According to Punch, a pro-Biafran group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, had, in the build-up to the summit, issued a statement, warning Buhari to stay away from the South-East — in his own interest.

 

IPOB, whose leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is being held by the Federal Government, accused Buhari of “persecution”, and threatened “a breakdown of law and order” should the President attend the summit.

 

Although no mention of the IPOB warning was made throughout the opening session of the summit, Buhari’s absence was a major talking point as several speakers expressed surprise at the development.

 

Present at the ceremony, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a presentation on “Sustainable development: Zero hunger,” said the South-East could become the food basket of the country if the various states collaborated to develop agriculture.

 

Obasanjo said, “We have a challenge of youth unrest which is understandable because these are young people who have education without employment, and skills without production. So, you should expect some agitation from them.

“We cannot leave these children. We must take responsibility.”

 

Also, Chairman of the South-East Security and Economic Summit, Prof. Barth Nnaji, who is a former minister of power noted the absence of the president.

 

“We have not seen the President.”

 

Also, at the beginning of his address, the chairman of the event, a former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, drew attention to Buhari’s absence.

“I was going to start by saluting the representative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but I have not been told of such a person,” the retired diplomat said.

 

Anyaoku went further to express regrets that Buhari was not present at the event.

 

Rounding off his address with a call for the restructuring of the country, he said, “I had hoped that Mr. President would be here to hear me.

“Like Cato, the Roman senator who always ended his speeches by calling for the destruction of Carthage until his call was heeded, I will restate my assertion that if the Nigerian federation is restructured to have less federating units, this country will achieve greater stability and faster pace of development, and there will no longer be a need for the Federal Government to bailout many of the non-viable 36 states.”

 

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, also complained why the organisers of the summit did not include his photograph and also did not list him among those to speak at the event. While speaking, Ekweremadu emphasized on the need to restructure the country, stressing that the current system was not working.

 

The Governors of Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi states, and the Deputy Governor of Anambra State, drew attention to challenges and opportunities in their various areas. Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State was conspicuously absent and was not represented.

 

Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, urged the Federal Government to address the various challenges besetting the South-East, including the bad state of federal roads, the menace posed by herdsmen and the need to upgrade the runway and other infrastructure at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu.

 

Former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme was among the dignitaries at the summit.