Dr Junaid Mohammed, His Ilk And The Hate Game – Igbos Don’t Scare Easily! By Mazi Onyeagba Joseph

Believe it or not, the “One Nigeria” project is still a mirage and may never be actualised if key political and influential offices are left in the hands of Dr. Junaid Mohammed and his ilk!

Dr. Junaid, the Convener of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, and delegate representing Kano state at the just concluded National Conference spoke out about his hatred for people from Nigeria’s South East, a region populated by Igbos.

He was speaking recently with newsmen about issues in the country and could not help but make it clear that he believes the Igbos constitute a problem in the country and he challenged anyone who disagrees with him to “go to hell”.

Answering questions on his recent arrest by the Department of State Security(DSS) after some allegedly inciting comments from him, Mohammed said he was arrested because the Director of Operations of the DSS was an Igbo man.

“The order for my arrest came directly from the Director of Operations, an Igbo man. Apparently, he does not like anyone who says anything uncomplimentary about Igbo people and their greed. I think he was particularly very unhappy because I said Igbo have taken charge of the economy and that they have also grabbed most of the land especially for estates in Abuja where they don’t have any historical claims or any other logical claim to even one square foot of land,” he said.

Speaking further, Junaid Mohammed described the Igbos as a shameless ethnic group with “greed, selfishness and contempt for other ethnic groups”

“If saying about 42 per cent of the key positions in the economic sector of Nigeria is dominated by Igbo, if that is what they call tribalism, then I stand by that tribalistic statement because these are verifiable facts and whenever I made that statement, I mentioned names and positions and institutions”.

“For example, I said the most powerful person in this country is the Minister of Finance who is in fact, the de facto Prime Minister. What it means is that she is the de facto head of government. For a person who was not elected and the legitimacy of the government that appointed her still in doubt, anybody who thinks saying this is being tribalistic, so be it. They can burn to ashes and go to hell”.

“Two, I said the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is also an Igbo person, next I said the DG, Nigerian Economic Summit Group is an Igbo man, the DG, Sovereign Wealth Fund, is also an Igbo person, the DG, Securities and Exchange Commission is also an Igbo person, the DG, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria is also an Igbo person, other ministries which are very critical to the running of the economy like aviation, are also in the hands of Igbo people. So, what are we talking about?

“Igbo remains one ethnic group in Nigeria that is so devoid of any shame to show their greed, selfishness and contempt for other ethnic groups. I said and I will still say that the first time Igbo officers staged a coup and assassinated wholesale the political leaders of most other ethnic groups was when we had General Aguiyi Ironsi as the Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces. He was involved in the coup where the entire political leadership, the military and economic leadership of other regions especially the North was decapitated under him and he was from Umuahia.

“The next time we had another Igbo man as Chief of Army Staff was at the height of the Boko Haram insurgency and that man was (Azubuike) Ihejirika, who also comes from the same Abia State, from the same Umuahia. So, if this is what they use to call me a tribalist, then they can go to hell,” Mohammed said.

The above arguments outlined by Dr. Junaid are similar to those of a character exhibiting Paranoid personality disorder.

What is wrong in Igbos manning 42 per cent of key positions in Nigeria if they possess the required credentials and are intellectually and academically sound?
Someone needs to remind Dr. Junaid Mohammed and his ilk that the civil war has ended and that ‘Igbophobia’ does no one any good. Change is constant in life and no one can stop/turn-back the hand of time.
Merit must be placed above personal, ethnic or religious sentiments in appointing/electing people into key positions.

How can we achieve national integration  without economic and social integration? Dr. Junaid accused Igbos of “grabbing” lands in Abuja for the purpose of building estates. I am not aware of any law baring Igbos from building estates in any part of the country through legitimate acquisition of lands, “Historical or logical claims” cannot override the laws of the country.

Finally, he accused the Igbos and the people of Umuahia of being responsible for the security woes of the country and the North in particular. Do we need to remind Junaid  that at any particular point in a multi-ethnic group country like Nigeria, an ethnic group must dominate the leadership of the country? This was the case circa 1966; but paranoids like Junaid viewed the coup through their myopic ethnic and religious lenses and adjudged it an ‘Igbo Coup’, the rest is now history.

The good people of Umuahia may also need to remind the Juniads that someone promised that “Nigeria Will Be Made Ungovernable”, and that person is not from Umuahia. If Dr. Junaid abhors the possibility of an Igbo as the head of any security agency, is it unusual that attacks by the dreaded Boko-Haram sect climaxed under Gen. Ihejirika? Certainly, he is not alone in this hate game.

Envy, jealousy, hatred and tribalism cannot stop the hands of time. The Igbos are rising, just as the Sun does from the East.
The days of slavery are over, the born to mentality cannot survive in this jet age. The playing field must be level and everyone must compete equally with the sole aim that the best, and nothing less will emerge!

To every hard-working Nigerian out there, I say, keep the good work going; someday, you will get to the summit.
Condemn and correct any Junaid you find out there. Yes, today, they are attacking the Igbos; it may be your ethnic group tomorrow.

Mazi Onyeagba Joseph.
joe_2n@yahoo.com