Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe has declared that under no circumstance would the Igbo race be subjected to second-class citizens in Nigeria where they have equal stakes with other major tribes.
The senator representing Abia South in the National Assembly made the declaration after he was conferred with the chieftaincy title of “Mmiri Oma Nasoro Oha 1” (the good flowing river) by Amuzu Ubakala Autonomous Community in Umuahia South local government area.
Abaribe was also a former deputy governor. He has since declared his ambition to succeed Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in 2023, saying his vocality at the Red Chamber was borne out of his conviction that Ndigbo is no stranger but a major stakeholder in the Nigeria project.
According to him, any attempt to relegate the race to the background or make them play second fiddle would amount of effort in futility.
Abaribe insisted that Ndigbo must be accorded their honour, rights, and privileges as equal stakeholders in Nigeria, considering their numerous contributions and sacrifices towards the development and sustenance of the country.
He promised to continue to defend the cause of the Igbo race irrespective of the political risks involved.
“When a man was needed to assure our son, I came out to prove that we are no second-class citizens,” Abaribe declared amidst thunderous ovations from the mammoth crowd.
Earlier in a remark, the traditional ruler of Amuzu Ubakala, Eze Chukwuemeka Iruke, said the honour was in recognition of Abaribe’s outspokenness at the Senate; and for attracting a road project to a community outside his senatorial district.
“Without you, Ndigbo would have been voiceless at the senate this dispensation”, the 78-year-old monarch declared.
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Eze Iruke said he was yet to believe that the nightmarish road linking Obinubi with Mgbedala, which had been a puzzle since his 78 years of sojourn, could be built and asphalted.
Earlier in an address, the President-General of the community, Rex Uwakwe, extolled the heroic efforts of Abaribe at the Senate, and also applauded the patriotic efforts of one of their illustrious sons, Nwokoma Okorie, who they said ‘attracted’ Abaribe to the community.
