In other words, Igbo now, at least, acknowledge openly that President Buhari is their good friend.
Of course, the President, in his speech, rolled out a good number of things he had done for Igbo of the Southeast, to justify the fact that he has really been a good friend of Igbo people all the while.
The Presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu also took his time to carefully detail things which President Buhari had done since coming into office as President to show his secret love for Igbo people.
As a matter of fact, it would not have been by accident that Buhari chose Late Dr. Chugba Okadibo, an Igbo man, as his running mate, when he first campaigned in 2003 to be president of Nigeria. He actually repeated the same thing in 2017 when he also took Chief Ume Ezeoke as running mate.
But because of what has become to be clearly known as a pathological hatred for Buhari and anything coming from the North, Igbo people preferred to have nothing than to have number two, so long it was the North that was in the front.
Indeed, it has been very clear to political observers and analysts that an average Igbo man, and maybe woman, would have embraced Buhari for all that he had done for the Southeast region if he were to be from South South, after all, in all honesty, what special thing ex President Goodluck Jonathan did for the region that made the Igbos to love him so much?
From all indications, Igbo, and a few disgruntled corrupt-fighting-back Yoruba elites, are the ones that have carried their hatred of anything North and Muslim, to high heaven.
The Igbo in the Southeast need to re-orientate their psyches and psychological make up to accept the fact that all Nigerians, including them, are brothers and sisters or are friends that must interact for the good of this country.
The traditional title, confirming that Buhari is GOOD Friend of Igbo, should be the beginning of this much needed understanding of our oneness, pursuing one destiny.
And so, clamouring for another country out of Nigeria or discreetly supporting same by the Igbo, at the time a Northerner is at the helm of affairs: the country they know very well they cannot have, would only complicate the issue of nation-building.
We pray that henceforth, no Igbo man and woman would show any form of hatred to Buhari, whom the traditional institution in the land confirmed to be their good friend.
Doing so would mean that Igbos or section of them, have chosen to hate their good friend.
[myad]
