The chairman of the South East
Governors Forum and governor of Ebonyi State, Chief David Umahi, on Tuesday
lamented how he was embarrassed and humiliated in New York City during the just
concluded 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Umahi, who said he accompanied
President Mohammadu Buhari to the UNGA meeting, noted that he was specially
singled out, humiliated and searched, just because he is a Nigerian.
Umahi made this known while
addressing a mammoth crowd of Ebonyians who attended the 59th anniversary of
Nigeria and Ebonyi state at 23, that took place at the Pa Ngele Oruta township
stadium, Abakaliki capital of Ebonyi state.
The governor further noted that,
he will be travelling with President Mohammad Buhari again to South Africa to
find solution to the lingering crisis between Nigerians living South Africa and
the citizens of the host country.
According to him “Let me assure
Ebonyi people and the entire southeast that the closure of the Akanu-Ibiam
International Airport at Enugu was for the safety of our people.
“As the chairman of south East
governors forum, I had a meeting with Mr president and we have agreed on
modalities for quick execution and of cause comprehensive over haul of that
airport.
“We are seeking for a special
funding with Mr president and as i travel with him, i will also reveal to him
how much we have gone in the release of the funds for the quick completion of
that project.
“We have provided two coaster
buses, 10 pick up vans and a brand new liaison zone office in Owerri, this will
assist our people who are travelling to the airport there.
The governor, however, warned
against speaking ill of President Buhari and governors of various states in the
country, noting that castigating the President will not add any value to the
progress of the country.
“Castigating leaders openly will
not add any value to what we seek rather our eyes should be on the ball.
“We must as Nigerians do
everything to uphold our cultural value and better ourselves outside the
country. The way we are treated outside the shores of this land is not
encouraging, we must have to do empirical evaluation of ourselves, we get
devalued a lot in other nations.
“I got calls from people in
Ghana, saying that a lot of them are about to be sentenced, some people have
been imprisoned for 1000 years and some 500 years imprison.
“And so, it is important that as
Nigerians, we should reevaluate our statues and our values because the way we
are treated even as a governor, you don’t wear governor at the airport.
“When I was in America, they
singled some of us out and conducted a thorough search, it is an intimidation.
We will not continue to live in such manner that bring humiliation to our
nation, it is very important,” he noted
It is you who single out yourself sometimes. In your case may be because of the way you dressed. Culture and traditions are good. My dear governor, remember the adage that says, when you are in Rome, you behave as Romans. Perhaps you looked different than others in your team and this might raise suspicion. You never know. They are trained to conduct tests on anything suspicious. Although, I do not support profiling, however. national security and individual security are paramount. May God heal our lands. Everything is bleeding and I feel your pain. May be if you had put on a suit, the search on you may not have occurred. And if it did occur, may be it will b more friendly. Life is full of lessons. I hope they apologized to you after!!!
ReplyDelete