A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party from Southeast Nigeria, Chief Emeka Kalu, has said Nigeria will continue to struggle until it has leadership that understands, respects, and is capable of serving the interests of all Nigerians rather than the interest of a particular region which thinks power belongs to it.
He regretted that political powers that should serve as platform for administering unity, love and speedy development have now become instrument of corruption and marginalization.
Kalu who made his feelings known in an interview with DAILY POST in Umuahia, Abia State, also said the Buhari administration has created a situation where certain groups believe they are not being well treated as an integral part of the country, hence the agitations for self determination.
He therefore advised the current government to listen to and understand his cause of agitations in the country, especially the issues of marginalization, and refrain from its abuse of the Federal Character Principles which states that appointments are to be done based on equal and balanced representations from the six geopolitical zones of the country.
He said, “There is nothing wrong with Nigeria as a country; she is blessed with profit-yielding economic and natural resources with admiring environmental beautifications; Nigeria has talented citizens who are productive, innovative and industrious. Her only problems are lack of purposeful leadership and the ills of ethnic hatred that had deepened against national unity and even development.
“This effrontery begets marginalization of some ethnic nationalities by others who see themselves as sacred for being in power. Political administration as a channel through which leadership is brought to the doorsteps of the people has become a stroke of punishment and ethnic unhealthy rivalry.
He said until the nation has a purposeful leadership with the interest of all Nigerians at heart, "we will continue to experience the ills of crisis, insecurity and agitations from groups or set of people who feel marginalized and maltreated by the government of the day."