The Central Working Committee (CWC) of the South East Revival Group (SERG)
has declared the emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as a
good omen for the country at large and the south eastern Nigeria in
particular.
While hailing the process that led to the outcome of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) convention in Rivers State, SERG in a statement
signed by its national coordinator and CWC chairman, Chief Willy Ezugwu
noted that “a strong signal has come from the PDP that it can get its acts
together.
“For the first time in recent years, the PDP seems to have gotten it right
by its choice of presidential Candidate, a man who believes in
restructuring.
“The South East Revival Group, therefore, urges the candidate of the PDP
to bring to the table his comprehensive plan for the south east
development in line with his restructuring agenda.
“Beyond the promises of the past, which remained largely unfulfilled by
the current governing party and the former ruling parties after the civil
war in Nigeria, the PDP and its candidate must at this time present to the
long neglected people of the old Eastern Region an implementable agenda
for the region’s accelerated development.
“Since after the civil war, Nigeria’s successive leaders abandoned the
Yakubu Gowon’s 3R programme of reconciliation, reconstruction and
rehabilitation, a policy that would have totally healed the wounds of the
past.
“This is such that after the 30-month hostilities, the eastern region and
her economy have continued to be deliberately de-developed by the Nigerian
government at the center.
“The effort to get the National Assembly erase the scars of the past by
establishing, through an Act of Parliament, a South East Development
Commission also failed under the current President Muhammadu Buhari
administration.
“Nigeria, as a country, has continued to have divisive leaders, with
little or no attention paid to the south east in terms of infrastructure
development and formulation of deliberate policy to engender economic
growth in the region.
“Rather, men and women of the region have continued to be mistreated in
many ways because of where they come from to the extent that they were
issued quit notice from the north.
“We cannot continue to roll out tanks to quell the agitations for a sense
of belonging in the south east. It is true that some of the agitators are
misguided but there is merit in the agitation itself.
“The Nigerian government, over the years, has been consciously throwing
the baby away with the bath water and that saw the arrest and incarnation
of Ralph Uwazuruike and lately the missing Nnamdi Kanu and other
agitators.
“No matter how misguided any of the agitators for the development of south
east may be, the truth remains that the region needs deliberate attention
and it’s time for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and PDP to show commitment to
reconciliation, reconstruction and rehabilitation of our region “, the
group stated.