Ndi Igbo can bring Nigeria to a halt if… – AmaechI

ELDER Statesman and First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi is the last man standing in Southern Nigeria among the generation of nationalists who fought for the nation’s independence. He is also the only surviving minister from the South that served in the first post-independence cabinet. The quartet in that cabinet still surviving are Shehu Shagari, Shettima Ali Mungono, Inuwa Wada and Maitama Sule all from the North.
Amaechi’s place in history nonetheless, he notes the chasm between the values of the founding fathers and the current generation of leaders who he asserts are engrossed in rapacious looting of the country’s common wealth. In this exclusive interview, Amaechi also raises issues with the place of Ndigbo in the nation’s history noting what he describes as a systematic policy of undermining the presence and place of the Igbo race in the polity. Excerpts:
HOW has life in the village been?
I was born in the village here and then in my early life, I was taken out of the village to pursue secondary and higher education, then the struggle for independence began. I later moved to the public service as a parliamentary secretary and later minister.
Nigerians expect that those of you that fought for the country’s Independence should be consultants of some sort. Are you recognized by those at helm of affairs?
Not at all. Governments in Nigeria now are by-products of the military junta that destroyed the country and destroyed the dreams of the founding fathers of this country and the subsequent regimes have inherited the hostility of the military. The governments are hostile to history and many of them don’t want to know about the history, particularly the political history of the country.
That is why in many places, the politicians who founded the country, particularly from our side of the country, that is, the Igbo side, are not given their due recognition. In places like the North or the West, the nationalists are being honoured.  With a pointer to Anambra State in particular, it is either they are ignorant of the history or something else.