There is no iota of doubt that the President Buhari administration has been the kindest, most generous and most receptive of the people of the South East. Forget sentiments and the curse of our brother Goodluck Jonathan that has blinded our eyes to the favourable bias President Buhari has for the region. Oh yes, favourable bias.
Perhaps in the bid to show that he loves our people, President Buhari has done the double whenever it comes to the South East.
Take a look at the historical cries of marginalisation that the south east has cried and place them side-by-side with who is working on them.
Out of a total of 250 ongoing Federal Highway Projects as at December 2017 across the country, 49 are situate in the South East, the highest in any region.
Key roads are being constructed and rehabilitated in our region: the Enugu - Portharcourt express way is a ready example. The National Housing Scheme is in all states of the South East and is currently ongoing.
Our Nnamdi Azikiwe Mausoleum in Onitsha - a project as old as 2012 - only received a boost when President Buhari came on board. It is about 80% completed. The Mausoleum is there for people to see, I have also seen pictures on social media - it is real.
There is also the critical Second Niger Bridge. A critical item of infrastructure that has been on the promising lips of politicians years before the millennium. Yet the closest we saw to its reality was drawings and pictorial presentations.
Today the very hope of a Second Niger Bridge is more than paper work: it is in fruition, pillars have been sunk in, and piling work has gone to over 50%. It has moved from promise to reality.
Across the South East are terrible roads that evince government neglect over the decades. What is more surprising is that we have had powerful Nigerians from this region who have only gone to Abuja to fill up their pockets, buy jets and live large. Forgetting the welfare of Ndigbo.
Today the scornful sights of dreaded unmotorable roads has been turned to construction sites across the South Eastern region.
As an Ndigbo man, I am pleased with this. We don’t deserve promises, we deserve development.
Lest I forget, the lightning of the Ariaria market in Aba is another testimony to sincerity of the Buhari administration.
The Social Investment Programmes have not discriminated the South East, every state has a fair share of the government’s investment in the poorest peoples. There is no discrimination.
There is so much more I could list. I have chosen just a few items to highlight how much this three and a half year old administration has done - with very little resources. It tells us that there is sincerity of purpose, there is a desire to deliver and there should be a chance for consolidation.
The people of the South East don’t need promises from insincere political nomads who could have carried out the promises they make now then when they had the power and resources to do so. Our people need work done. And we are seeing this with President Buhari. He has my support.
Dr. Thompson Udenwa
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