On 2nd July, 2024 the former Nigerian Minister of Education, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike during an interview with Vanguard while reacting to the current security challenges facing the South Eastern parts of the country, revealed that their situation in Igbo land was more than individual championships, and if they were going to survive they must survive as a group, not as individual States because what they have now was a tragedy, and it was as if they were headless.
According to Vanguard, the former Nigerian Minister of Education, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike said "Our situation in Igbo land is more than individual championships. We need a group championship if we are going to survive. We must survive as a group, not as individual states. What we have now is a tragedy. It is as if we are headless. I don’t know where most of our people at the helm of affairs want to go or what they want to be remembered for. Leadership is all about legacies. I can look back today and see what I did when I was Minister for Education in the Second Republic; how I initiated Open University, how I initiated the University of Science and Technology, etc. There were no private or state universities until I became Minister of Education under Shehu Shagari."
Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike added that what they have in the Southeastern parts of the country was pure tokenism because they occupied positions in the country as if they did not deserve the positions. He also added that because of their lack of cooperation that was why the administration of the President of Nigeria, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu only appointed five Ministers from the region and everybody kept quiet.