The Second Niger Bridge’s naming after the president, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has been criticised by the Indigenous People of Biafra as being unacceptable.
The South-East governors and other stakeholders chose to name the bridge Muhammadu Buhari Second Niger Bridge after consultation, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, stated during the Tuesday commissioning of the bridge in Onitsha.
The IPOB spokesman, Emma Powerful, responded to the news in a statement on Thursday, calling the South-East governors’ conduct “a betrayal” of the local populace.
Therefore, Powerful requested that the governors and politicians change their minds on the bridge’s name.
“The bridge should be named after Dr. Alex Ekweueme, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu, Dr. Sam Mbakwe, Prof. Chinua Achebe, Col. Achuzie, or many other deserving Igbo natives that anyone can suggest,” the statement says in part.
“It must not be permitted to name the Second Niger Bridge after Buhari. The bridge needs to get a new name that honours Igbo achievement.