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I am not endorsing Igbo marginalisation - Ngige

- Senator Chris Ngige denied endorsing Igbo marginalisation because they did not vote for Buhari 

- He insisted that Igbos however made a bad investment in voting Jonathan

- The minister said the Buhari administration is carrying out projects in the region

Senator Chris Ngige who is the minister of labour and employment has called on Igbos to be strategically positioned for 2019 saying he did not endorse Igbo marginalisation. 

Vanguard reported that the minister stated this in response to backlash he faced for saying Igbo people should not complain about marginalisation as they failed to give Buhari votes.

Ngige in a statement through Mr. Nwachukwu Obidiwe who is his special adviser on media said he was misquoted as he did not in away say Igbos deserved to be marginalised. 

He said: "We put all our eggs in one basket despite clear signs we shouldn’t. We should therefore not allow such ill-advised investment to repeat in subsequent elections. My position which I passed as a caution in that interview is that Ndigbo should start to strategically position themselves for 2019 and avoid a repeat of what happened in 2015.

 Other zones are already strategizing and we must not be caught napping. Just as all reasonable politicians in the South East accept that we played bad politics in 2015, we should effectively put it behind us. 

The resilient nature of the Igbo allows no room for self-pity. We have met greater challenges and surmounted them.

“It is for this reason that I and the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the South East have been welcoming our leaders like Chief Jim Nwobodo, Senator. Ken Nnamani, Senator. Emma Agboti, 

Senator. Nkechi Nwogu, Senator Andy Uba, Chief Chukwuemeka Nwogu – my predecessor in the Ministry of Labour, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, former Minister of Health, former Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime and host of others who have seen the need for this. However, as I said in the interview, the bad investment of the 2015 is not enough to marginalize anybody. 

The present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari does not look in that direction. I and other APC leaders in the South East shall continue to make sure that the Igbo are fairly treated. “Every piece of information is not for the pages of newspapers but I wish to re-assure that we are doing much more than what eyes can see to ensure that the South East is not left behind in the distribution of infrastructures.

“For example, work is going on simultaneously on all the major federal roads in the South East; Enugu- Onitsha, Enugu- Umuahia-Abia-Port Harcourt,

Port Harcourt -Owerri, Oba-Nnewi– Arondizuogu- Okigwe, to mention a few while Julius Berger has been mobilized for the 2nd River Niger Bridge. 

When last did that happen in the South East? There is also the Benin-Onitsha rail line which was not originally in the Jonathan-PDP rail masterplan. We have included that. By my pedigree, as the former President General of Aka-Ikenga for eight years, member of Ohaneze Strategic Committee and member, 

Imeobi Ohaneze, I will advise that our people should cry no more over spilt milk as there is enough room to feed the cow well and get milk in better quantity and quality. That is politics for you. A word is enough for the wise.”

NAIJAFINIX.com had earlier reported that Femi Fani-Kayode lashed out at Ngige for saying Igbo people should not complain about marginalisation as they did not invest in Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign.

In a series of tweets via his official page, Fani-Kayode who has been a staunch supporter of the Igbo people’s agitation lashed out at the minister of labour for his comment.

NAIJAFINIX.com team hit the streets to ask Nigerians if they can list a few achievements of the present administration. Watch their reactions below:

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