By Innocent Anoruo
Ndigbo Cultural Society of Nigeria (NCSN) has withdrawn its demand for the resignation of Environment Minister Laurentia Mallam and her Director, Kehinde Odusanya over the construction of the second Niger Bridge.
NCSN President Udo Udeogaranya expressed delight that the Environment Ministry has given approval for the commencement of the project.
The group welcomed the report that the ministry complied with all due processes and Mallam issued an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) interim certificate for the commencement of the project, Udeogaranya said in a statement.
He applauded the ministry’s public pledge to monitor the progress of the project, to ensure that all EIA processes are followed to complete the bridge.
But NCSN knocked the All Progressives Congress (APC) for “playing a very dirty politics” and degenerating the issue into disparaging perceived political opponents over a project that will serve all Nigerians, including generations unborn.
The group counselled APC members to take their politics away from Igboland “because Ndigbo are receiving reports from their children living in APC-controlled states, and their reports are terribly unworthy to demand votes from Ndigbo.
It claimed that Ndigbo are committed to President Goodluck Jonathan, “even if that stance is seen as a mistake in some quarters. We want to make that mistake to the end, as we are not known for betrayals or abandoning allies half-way.”