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Tag: Igbo presidency

  • 2023: Igbo presidency now non-negotiable

    SIR: Nation-building is not perfunctory; it is deliberate, planned and decisive.

    A country as enormous, diverse and delicate as Nigeria cannot evolve organically when a part of it is marooned and confined in the fringes of political exclusion. The argument has always been, “the Igbo are not ready”, and “they are not playing the right politics”. But this argument is classically insipid and hollow.

    Some people have also argued that the Igbo are “putting their eggs in one basket”.  This is also a moot point. The Igbo are no different from the Yoruba, the Hausa and the Fulani in the game of politics.

    A plethora of interests has always driven the politics of these ethnic groups. If we are agreed that interest is the highest common factor in the political calculations of these groups, then we cannot berate the Igbo for choosing to swing whichever way they want to.

    For example, the southwest was measured in its vote for Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, but the southeast was generous in its vote for him. And in 2003, the southwest was unwilling to support Obasanjo, but the southeast adopted him, and even voted more for him than for its leader, the late OdumegwuOjukwu.

    The point is, the various ethnic groups have always played the politics of interest. The political exclusion of the Igbo is not because “they are not playing the right politics”, it is rather because of systemic strait-jacketing.

    Since 1999, the highest position an Igbo has occupied is “senate president”, a position which the group even lost in 2015, and if we are to go back to the second republic, “vice-president”. Obviously, this is a political chasm. We cannot pontificate on unity when this nagging political sequestration exists.

    Really, at this time, it will be hypocritical to discountenance ethnic distribution in choosing the next president in a country that is much fractured and that is unhealing from years of in-fighting.

    Also, it will be ludicrous to reduce this important issue to ethnic exhibitionism. We cannot submerge this conversation, no matter how tenuous and irritating it is. We must “jaw jaw”.

    I believe healing will begin for Nigerians when political justice is seen to have been done to all. At that point we can build a country defiant to disunity. But political justice must be done to all first to get to this stage.

    In the name of all that binds us as a country, we must begin now to work for a “red cap with an asi-agu” in Aso villa in 2023.Nigeria is for all of us, and we must work towards a society where justice breathes in the busy streets of Aba; where it hovers across the brown roofs of Ibadan, and where it strolls on the fine sands of Sokoto.

     

    • Fredrick Nwabufo, <fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com>

  • 2019: Igbo support for Buhari still intact – Nwosu

    Former Chief of Staff to the Imo State governor, Uche Nwosu, Friday dismissed the reported endorsement of the Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, by a section of Igbo leaders as a ploy to create the erroneous impression that the Igbos are backing the PDP.

    He said that the support for Buhari by the Igbo is still intact.

    Nwosu stated that the endorsement by the selected leaders at the Enugu Summit does not reflect the position of Ndigbo and will not affect the chances of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Southeast.

    Read Also:PDP: Buhari, APC jittery over our candidate’s acceptance

    According to him, the Southeast has nothing tangible to show for its support for the PDP during its sixteen years in power to warrant the endorsement of its Presidential candidate or any other.

    The former Chief of Staff, who is also a stronger contender for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), assured that despite the post primary crisis rocking the party (APC) in the zone, President Buhari will still record landslide victory.

    In his words, “we are not losing sleep over the recent endorsement of Atiku by some Igbo leaders; the action will not change the reality on ground. The Southeast will deliver Buhari in 2019 because it is our best option. We cannot be distracted with the PDP’s Greek gift of Vice President, our focus as a people should be Igbo Presidency in 2023.

    “One important question we should be asking ourselves as Ndigbo is what did we benefit from the PDP for the 16 years it was in power to warrant the endorsement of its candidate, as against what we have recorded within the three years that President Buhari is in power”.

    He continued that, “most of the political decisions of some of our leaders are self-serving and not in the overall interest of the Igbo but this time we are committed to pursuing the best political option for the Igbo, which is supporting President Buhari’s second term.”

    Nwosu also added that, “the fact that majority of our party members are not happy with the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole over the manner he handled the party primaries across the zone does not affect our support for President Buhari. In fact it is beyond personal considerations, it is about the interest of Ndigbo and we will deliver President Buhari in 2019. The support for President Buhari is borne out his unequalled integrity and uprightness, which is what the country needs most now”.

  • ‘Denying Igbo Presidency in 2023 will spell doom for Nigeria’

    The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide on Tuesday stated that any maneuvering aimed at denying Ndigbo the Presidency come 2023 will spell doom for the nation.

    This was part of the resolutions reached by the group during its meeting in Abakaliki where it deliberated on several issues affecting Ndigbo economically and politically in the country.

    Read Also:‘Biafra ‘ll work against Igbo Presidency’

    In a statement issued at the end of the meeting by the Secretary General, Okwu Nnabuike and Deputy National Public Relations Officer, Ado Osaka of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, the group stressed that 2023 Igbo Presidency was not negotiable.

    It argued that handing over power to Ndigbo was for justice, equity and fairness to reign in Nigeria’s political arena.

    “The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide met today  in Abakiliki,  Ebonyi state being 28th August 2018 and deliberated extensively on issues affecting Ndigbo Economically and politically and resolved as follows.

    “OYC insists that 2023 Igbo Presidency is not negotiable, and it’s our date with destiny and any maneuvering may spell  doom to the unity of the Country, as the recent unjust appointments since 2015 by the Presidency resulted to the rise of Biafra agitation, and those seeking Igbos votes in 2019 across Nigeria where Igbo reside must consider handing power to Igbos for justice, equity and fairness in 2023, those clamouring for restructuring should think twice, and no Northern President will restructure a system that favours the north more than the Southerners, it’s only a Southern President will restructure Nigeria.

    “Ohanaeze Youths frown at the report that some cabal in APC had perfected plans to return power to South West instead of South East immediately after President Buhari quits Power. We still insist that the Presidency should refute such negative plot or it will make Ndigbo to consider other political options before them in 2019″.

    “We are aware that irrespective of INEC officials denying Igbos their constitutional
    rights in some parts of Nigeria to collect their PVCs in 2015 outside Igbo land, our voting strength in South west is equal to that of the indigenes, even in the North. We have more than 12million registered Igbos in Northern Nigeria and 5million Igbos in south West”

    “OYC insists that APC had not fulfil their political promises to the people of South East, which includes the campaign promise of President Buhari to revamp Enugu Coal mine which had been politically closed for 45years now, irrespective of the Projects the Presidency insists they attracted to South East, but if APC continue to give priority to other zones more than South East, it may spell doom for them, APC need Ndigbo More than Ndigbo needs them.

    The group also congratulated the Governor of Abia state, Okezie Ikpeazu and the people of the state on the 27the anniversary of the creation of the state.

    “OYC congratulate the Governor and people of Abia state on their 27 anniversary since the creation of Abia in 1991 and insists that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu have what it takes to transform Abia state, we observed that since 1999, Abia state have been unfortunate in governance, but since 2015, even with distraction from opposition, Governor Ikpeazu had performed more than any Governor that had governed Abia since 1999, but salute the Abia indigenes courage to stand  behind Governor Ikpeazu and support his government.

    “The group also backed Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu’s single term proposal for Presidents and Governors.

    “We support the single tenure of 6 years for President and Governors proposed by Senator Ike Ekweremadu, we believe it help to unite Nigeria than divide us.”

  • Igbo Presidency: I stand the best chance, says Okorocha

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday said he is the most favoured politician to become the first Igbo President.

    The governor, who addressed reporters at a breakfast meeting at the Government House in Owerri, the state capital, noted that he has more followers beyond the Southeast than any other Igbo politician.

    But he regretted what he called the pull-him-down attitude among Igbo political elite, saying: “It is unfortunate that we, the Igbo, don’t celebrate our own. We are only interested in how to destroy our own.”

    Okorocha said he would not rely on the support of the Igbo to pursue and actualise his Presidential ambition.

    He said: “I stand a better chance of making the Presidency in 2023, but my greatest challenge will come from the Igbo. It is our character. It will be a foolish thing to imagine that the Igbo will support me.”

    On President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election, the governor said the Igbo were mobilising to give him landslide victory.

     

  • Kalu predicts Igbo presidency in 2023

    Former governor of  Abia State on Friday predicted Igbo presidency in 2023 after the completion of President Mohammad Buhari two terms in office.

    He advised Buhari to ignore the letter written to him by Olusegun Obasanjo serious, saying  the former President  has no moral ground to criticism any administration.

    According to him, Obasanjo is the “least Nigerian to talk about morality in Nigerian politics.”

    Speaking with reporters during his advocacy tour of the Southwest after a courtesy visit to the palace of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, in Ike Ife, he said Obasanjo only wanted to hit up the polity and cause trouble in Nigeria with his letter.

    Speaking on the possibility of president Buhari winning the second term, Kalu said, “Buhari has done a lot of jobs. People might be thinking he is not doing anything, Nigeria is a very difficult country to hold together and he held ot together.

    He said: “President Buhari is not a thief. The were massive lootING before he came. I’m not saying Buhari is the best, he has his own patch, but the Buhari I know for over 30 years, he doesn’t believe in having house in Abuja and cars everywhere. I came to assure this region that Buhari is an honest man. He is more committed to the Nigeria than those condemning him.”

    Kalu, who commended Oba Ogunwusi for preaching peace and taking peace across the nation, said: “Even some leaders have decided to be letter writers, I want to thank you for obeying what the Quran and the Bible said by supporting our president.

    “I want to thank you for bringing peace. No leader is perfect. Every leaders has his patch. Some leaders like to criticize people but, when they were there as a leader, they didn’t want people to criticize them. They didn’t know that it is always good for leaders to have respect for other leaders.

    “We realise that the country is almost broken. We are taking message of hope and peace to the people. You can see some ex-presidents want to take it upon themselves to start causing problems, writing letters that are unnecessary to our community and our polity. This is the same president I wrote letter to when I was the governor and he refused to answer to the leter.

    “You press people know about that letter where I accused president Obasanjo on many occasions of corruption under his table which he know is the truth. So, he is the least Nigerian to talk about morality in our polity.”

  • 2019: Is Igbo presidency feasible?

    2019: Is Igbo presidency feasible?

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo stirred up a hornet’s nest recently when he canvassed for president of Igbo extraction in 2019. Mixed reactions have trailed the comment. Prominent Igbo politicians appear to have reservations over the idea, insisting that the challenges facing Nigeria have gone beyond who becomes president. They say the best approach is to restructure the country and allow each region to develop at its own pace. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI and Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examine Igbo’s quest for president.

    WITH the recent report that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown his weight behind the emergence of a president of Igbo extraction in 2019, the quest for Igbo president has returned to the front-burner of national discourse.
    The former president gave the support when the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun State chapter, led by Bishop Tunde-Akin Akinsanya, visited him at his Hilltop residence, in Abeokuta for a special New Year service. He noted that injustice and marginalisation are the instigators of conflicts along ethnic and regional lines in the country.
    Be that as it may, a school of thought believes that the Igbo cannot be said to be serious when they vehemently argue that they are marginalised, because they have always been part and parcel of the leadership. After all, an Igbo man from Anambra State in the person of Dr. Alex Ekwueme was Vice President from 1979 to 1983. Another Igbo man from Abia State, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, also served as the de facto Vice President to military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his capacity as Chief of General Staff from 1985 to 1986.
    Besides, a number of Igbo sons and daughters have occupied sensitive positions in government since the return of civil rule in 1999. For instance, between 1999 and 2007, four Igbo politicians were Senate President. They are: Senators Pius Anyim, Evan Enwerem; Dr. Chuba Okadigbo; and Adophus Wabara. Anyim who hails from Ebonyi State was also the Secretary to the Government of the Federation during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
    In addition, the immediate past Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is an Igbo woman. Before her were Dr Chu Okongwu and Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, who served during the military era. Through dint of industry and hard work, the Igbo dominate the property market in Lagos and Abuja and they are found everywhere in the federation doing business and prospering. They appear to have put the bitter experiences of the civil war behind them and have moved on. During the last general elections, several legislators originally from the Southeast were elected to the House of Representatives, representing Lagos State. According that school of thought, the notion that the Igbo are unjustly treated within the Nigerian federation is therefore a big lie.
    But, another school of thought is of the view that the Igbo have been deliberately relegated to the background in politics. Such observers usually point to the fact that, except for a brief period (six months) in 1966 when the late Major-General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi governed, following an abortive military coup, an Igbo has never governed the country in its 56 years of independence. They say the Hausa-Fulani has dominated the leadership of the country, particularly during the military era. This school of thought says whatever the Igbo has achieved since the end of the civil war could be attributed to their resourcefulness, industry and dint of hard work, particularly in the area of commerce.
    For this group, it is only when they see an Igbo son or daughter occupying the exalted position of president that they would accept that the third largest ethnic nationality has been forgiven for their perceived sins. The Igbo has been agitating for one of their own to emerge as president since the return to civil rule in 1999. But, such calls have not been strident enough, suggesting that they are not serious about producing the number one citizen in the foreseeable future. Critics say the undoing of the Igbo is that they lack the organisational acumen to close ranks and marshal out their strategy to occupy the number one position.
    But, in a sense, the Igbo is not alone when it comes to the cry of marginalisation; many ethnic nationalities are using it as a strategy to ask for a greater share of the national cake. Indeed, it has become a national pastime. For instance, during the Jonathan administration, the Yoruba were the ones complaining of being marginalised.
    During the First and the Second Republics, ethnicity was not a factor in deciding who occupies the number one position. It took the injustice meted out to the late Chief Moshood Abiola, a Yoruba from Ogun State and the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election that was annulled by the military, for this to come about. In the First and Second Republics, the Yoruba were mainly in the opposition and did not have the opportunity to rule the country. But, owing to the events surrounding the June 12 debacle, Obasanjo who hails from the same state with the late Abiola became a beneficiary of the annulment in 1998, because he was released from detention and more or less handed the ticket of the then newly formed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This was meant to assuage the feelings of the Yoruba, the second largest ethnic group in the country, over the June 12 saga.
    This came with the proviso that, after Obasanjo’s two terms of eight years, power was going to return to the North. In this way, the PDP enshrined zoning or power rotation in its constitution. The emergence of Jonathan, following the death of Yar’Adua, was an ‘accident’ and the North made it clear that it was not best pleased by what amounted to being sidelined politically.
    Though zoning or power rotation is not enshrined in the constitution, it is now widely accepted by all and sundry as an integral part of Nigeria’s political culture. The result of the last presidential election suggests that the North spoke with one voice, irrespective of party affiliation; with Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who hails from the zone, receiving an overwhelming endorsement of the electorate in that part of the country. Indeed, it was the breaking of ranks by some members of the PDP over the breach of the zoning arrangement among other things that caused the defeat of the former ruling party.
    According to observers, a charitable view of the benefits of Obasanjo’s clamour for Igbo presidency is only symbolic, because Baba as he is fondly called is hardly the right person to speak for them. Besides, the timing of his comment is also not the very best. According to critics, Obasanjo ought to have utilized the opportunity he had as an elected leader for two terms and his well-known single-mindedness of purpose in pursuing desired goals to lay a solid foundation for democracy.
    Rather, according to such critics, he used same to enthrone imposition and lack of internal democracy in the PDP. He engineered the emergence of his successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, who was paired with Dr. Jonathan to pave the way for the emergence of the latter in the corridors of power. This is based on the premise that the late Yar’Adua was ill at the time he was imposed on Nigerians; a fact that Obasanjo must be privy to. The Owu-born former president’s distortion of the power rotation arrangement was a key issue in the last general elections.
    As a result, many prominent Igbos are not amused by the former president’s latest sermon. For instance, human rights lawyer and social activist, Monday Ubani, questioned the credentials of Obasanjo in trying to champion the cause of the Igbo. He said he would be pleased to see an Igbo emerging president of Nigeria, but he cautioned his compatriots to be wary of the former president’s intention.
    Ubani said: “As an Igbo son, one of the signs I am looking forward to see in the nation as a clear sign that indeed the war against the Igbos is completely over is the emergence of an Igbo son/daughter as the elected president of Nigeria! I will like to see it materialise as quickly as possible.
    “However, in actualising that dream, I will like Igbo presidency to be result oriented; one that will not carry bags of liabilities. Recall that former President Obasanjo is not innocent of the present social, economical and political malady the country is presently engulfed in. He brought a sick Yar’dua to take over from him who later died. While it was not expedient and logical, he urged and campaigned for the ascendancy of former President Jonathan to the presidency, despite stiff opposition from the North that they needed to complete their eight years tenure.
    “We all know how President Jonathan ended with his tenure. The remote liabilities of the present government of President Muhammadu Buhari are also traceable to Obasanjo. While the fire he lighted is raging, he is stoking another fire by urging the Igbos to go for the Presidency in 2019. What manner of man is Obasanjo? What is his clear intention for Nigeria? Does his attitude for Nigeria befit that of a true statesman?
    “My Igbo people should reject his bait. Unless the two major tribes Hausas, Yorubas and other tribes are by consensus agreeing to shorten the journey of Ndigbo in 2019, the best, logical and incontestable period for Ndigbo to produce the president of Nigeria is 2023. Any struggle for it in 2019 may put Ndigbo in bad light and may even jeopardize their chances in 2023. Our efforts, statements, actions now should be tailored towards 2023. If we put our house together, unite and chose the best amongst us, the presidency is just there for our asking. No sane Nigerian will contest our right to produce the president in 2023.”
    Similarly, former factional National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Maxi Okwu, was skeptical about the motives behind Obasanjo’s support for Igbo presidency. He described the former president as a faulty messenger and recalled that he stopped former Vice President Alex Ekwueme and former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, from achieving their dreams of leading the country.
    Okwu said the issue has gone beyond who becomes Nigerian president, adding that the best approach now is to restructure the country and allow each region to develop at their own pace.
    His words: “When did Obasanjo suddenly start loving the Igbo? To me, some progressive Igbo like us see that the issue before us is not that of who becomes Nigerian president; let them restructure the country and allow us to develop at our own pace. We are seeking restructuring and if that fails, can we now begin to think about being asked ‘do you want to stay in Nigeria or not?’ – Referendum. This is what we want. Nigeria’s presidency is not the issue even to all Nigerians.”
    Former presidential candidate and Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, believes that Obasanjo’s comment can be interpreted in many ways, depending on one’s perspective. On the bright side, he said it tickles Igbo fancy, because it has helped to put the issue on the front burner of national discourse. He said he supports Igbo presidency, adding that is the reason his former party, the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), zoned the presidency to the Southeast in 2003, which enabled the late Biafra warlord, Chief Chukwueka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, to run for the position on the platform of the party. He added that the UPP has continued with that tradition.
    Okorie said: “Even though rotational presidency may not be the best for Nigeria at this point in time, my own position is that the Igbo should not be missing in action in the political arena. This is where I value Obasanjo’s statement, because except a party zones the presidency to the Southeast, the Igbo man may not have the latitude to run for the position.
    “But, on the other hand, what I expected Obasanjo to do was to tow the line of Ibrahim Babangida, who said if the Igbo present a candidate, he would gladly support such a candidate. From the look of things, the North would retain the APC ticket in 2019. On its part, the PDP has expressly zoned the ticket to the North in 2019.
    “As far as I am concerned, based on present experiences, Nigerians are now moving in the direction of referendum, restructuring the country, devolution of power, fiscal federalism and state and community policing. So, any political party that does not promote those ideologies will have challenges of selling itself in 2019.
    “The Yoruba socio-political organisation, the Afenifere, has already indicated that any party that does not have restructuring in its agenda, should not bother to come and campaign in the Southwest. That is the new direction that I am talking about. So, it is either a political party is for self-determination or for the maintenance of the status quo.
    “In fact, the chances of an Igbo emerging as the president in 2019 have never been brighter as it is today. The UPP has an advantage, because its manifesto promotes the ideologies I have enumerated.”
    Second Republic politician and one of the founding members of the PDP, Chief Guy Ikokwu, put it even more succinctly. He picked holes in Obasanjo’s call that the Igbo should be allowed to produce the president in 2019, saying it would suicidal for them to do so in the prevailing unitary structure of Nigeria, saying the way forward is to restructure the country, to unleash economic development from all parts of the country.
    Ikokwu said Obasanjo had a golden opportunity in 2005, when he convened his National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC), to restructure Nigeria and return the country to true federalism, but he bungled it. He added: “That would have meant devolution of power to the states and regions, which would have given Nigeria a very strong economic base and we would not have been in recession that we are now.”
    The season politician said given the current unitary system that the Igbo prefer restructuring of Nigeria to presidential ambition. He said: “The last Igbo man who ruled Nigeria under the unitary system was General Aguiyi-Ironsi. He was murdered in the July 1966 counter-coup. Why will another Igbo person want to assume presidency of Nigeria under a unitary system as we have today when the last person was murdered?
    “Ndigbo are not ready to make the same unsavoury mistake again. Majority of Ndigbo are not interested in the Nigerian presidency in our skewed and dysfunctional constitutional system, which is presently unitary, instead of truly federal. Therefore, the Igbo are at the forefront of the quest for justice, fairness, equity and equilibrium for all parts of Nigeria and the six geo-political zones, which will make Nigeria to become the pride of Africa and no longer the ‘big for nothing’ entity we are referred to in West Africa and the rest of Africa.
    “The restructuring of Nigeria can be done this year because all the documentation has been done by all stakeholders and groups in the country. It should not take more than two months; between now and Easter. The authorities can hold a referendum by June. The moment that is done, the economy of Nigeria will be turned around immediately, because there will be renewed hope from everybody. Let the best thing for the country to be done now. We should no longer postpone the evil day.”
    But, others like former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, hailed Obasanjo for his comments. He added that the former president was calling for Igbo presidency, because he understands the dynamics of the nation’s politics. He said: “Obasanjo is key to Nigeria’s politics; you may not like his social behavior; you may not like his political behavior; you may have many things you don’t like about him, but what you cannot take away from him is that he understands Nigeria’s politics.
    “I think God reveals things to some people, because it is obvious what he said is a reality. Some people know it already and have been hoping on it. But, one of the things you can praise him for is the knowledge that Buhari has debased Nigeria in seriously pushing down things out of Nigeria. Everywhere, at Aba, without any provocation people were killed; at Onitsha, while they were carrying their Bible, they were killed; now again for something not concerning Nigeria, but Donald Trump, 50 young men were massacred for no just cause. They were not carrying sticks, not to talk about knife or gun.”
    But, is Igbo presidency really desirable? Ideally, observers say where the president comes from does not really matter, as long as he presents himself as the president of the whole country and governs with that spirit. But, it is the way Nigerian politics is evolving that is making the Igbo to assert their right to govern the country. Such observers say the Igbo must put their acts together, if the truly want to produce the president when power reverts back to the South, because nobody would give you power on a platter of gold.
    Second Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Muhammed, frowned at Obasanjo’s call for Igbo presidency, saying the former president’s statement was irresponsible and was not made in good faith. Muhammed said though “every ethnic group has the right to aspire to produce president and every Nigerian that satisfies the constitutional requirements can aspire to become the president, but it cannot be at the instance of an individual”.
    The Kano-born politician said: “Already, we are having problems with zoning or rotation of the presidency between the North and the South, now you want add ethnic dimension that a particular tribe should produce president in 2019. I find Obasanjo’s advocacy troubling. In democracy, it is the people through their votes that decide who becomes president.
    “It is up to Nigerians to decide, not for Obasanjo to tell us where the next president should come from. He doesn’t have the power to determine the timeline when an ethnic group should produce president. Obasanjo’s statement was not made in good faith.
    “If we had relied on Yoruba votes in 1999, Obasanjo would never have become the president of the country then. He failed to win in his ward, local government, senatorial district and state, because he was rejected by the Yoruba people. He is not the type of person to advocate that one ethnic group should produce the next president.”
    For an Igbo president to emerge, Muhammed said the Igbo people should reach out to other ethnic groups, adding that they must also admit the blunder of their kinsmen in military that resulted in the killings of the Prime Minister, the late Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the North, the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello and the Premier of the Western Region, the late Chief Ladoke Akintola.
    Former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, agrees with Muhammed. He said though there is freedom of speech in the constitution, which allows individuals to express themselves on political issues, but no one has the power or privilege to say the president should come from a particular ethnic group.
    Babatope said it the peoples’ vote that will decide and that it is not what anyone can just decide. He added that every Nigerian has the right to become president and that this also applies to every zone or region, but not for an individual no matter how influential he or she may be.
    Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State may not fit into the mould of those insisting on Igbo presidency. But, all the same, he has been the rallying point for many of his compatriots who desire to see an Igbo becoming the president of Nigeria in the near future. Okorocha was one of those who had the foresight, by being a founding member of the APC; many of the Igbo politicians who defected to the ruling party in recent times and are now falling over each other today, to curry the favour of the party leadership for one position or the other, did not see what the Imo State governor saw, before the party was formed.
    After the APC presidential primary in 2014, he said his reason for contesting for the ticket is to give the Igbo a sense of belonging in the fold. Indeed, he has been urging the Igbo all along to rally round the progressive camp, because that is where they are likely to be given the opportunity to rule Nigeria.
    Speaking recently during the inauguration of the APC Southeast Ward Mobilizers and Supporters Club, at the Ahiajoku Convention Centre, Owerri, he said the Igbo presidency is feasible under APC. The Imo State governor said the former ruling had relegated the Southeast zone to the background, despite its contribution to the growth and success of the party.
    He said: “I am highly elated that our people are responding to this clarion call that has to do with our collective destiny and aspiration. It is a clear fact that the Igbo have been relegated to sixth position in the political equation of our nation, not minding the fact that we formed one of the tripods upon which the nation stands.
    “In a situation where no Igbo man occupies the seat of the President, the Vice President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the ruling party gives credence to the fact we have been relegated to the background by the PDP. But my assurance today is that our tears would be wiped away in APC as we have no doubt started well and will definitely finish on a very good note in this new party.
    “Let me state categorically that Igbo presidency, which appeared impossible in PDP, would be actualised under the platform of the APC. Therefore, I make bold to say that the APC is truly an Igbo party and should be embraced by the entire Igbos.”

  • Obasanjo canvasses for Igbo presidency

    Obasanjo canvasses for Igbo presidency

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has subtly made a case for other geo-political zones that have not produced a President since 1999 to have a taste of it in the interest of justice and fairness.
    The Southeast is yet to produce a President while the Southwest, North and minority Southsouth have had shots at the Presidency at different times.
    Obasanjo said it was his view that the Southeast should produce a President as Ogun West Senatorial District in Ogun State should also produce a governor soon.
    The ex-President spoke yesterday when the leadership of Ogun State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Tunde-Akin Akinsanya and other people visited him at his Hilltop home for a special New Year service.
    According to him, in justice and neglect lie the instigators of conflicts along with ethnic and regional lines in the country.
    Obasanjo said it was part of his resolve for a just and fair country that informed his decision to work for a Southsouth President in 2009.
    He said: “Irrespective of the thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that Southeast should have a go at the Presidency too.
    “The same is happening here. If Ijebu and Egba have produced the governor, it is only fair and just to allow the Yewa or Ogun West to also produce a governor. Or else, one day, they will also stand up and take up arms against this injustice against them. That is my personally position on this.”
    The former President cautioned Nigerians against unguided comments over Southern Kaduna crisis.
    Obasnjo said unenlightened comments about the violence were largely responsible for the escalation of the situation.
    He said: “My findings so far show that everyone is talking from the position of strength. People are not talking from knowledge of what they know. This is not helping. We must be able to dump all our sentiments to overcome the challenges.
    “Just like other cases of injustice around us, we need peace. It is only peace with justice that can solve all these crises. Genuine peace is what everyone is craving for and this can only come when there is justice.”

    Bishop Akinsanya described Obasanjo as a special gift to Nigeria and the world, considering his exploits and fatherly role in Nigeria and beyond.
    The cleric hailed the former President for facilitating the building of Ecumenical Centre in Abuja, adding that the state chapter of CAN was working on a similar project in Ogun State.

  • PDP’s betrayal of Igbo presidency

    SIR: Nigeria’s political setting is in chaos at the moment because the PDP cut the principle of zoning which is needed for peace especially in a fickle country like Nigeria with a complex history. I wish they did not.

    More than a decade into the fourth republic, the social process for integration of all Nigerians into the polity is still abysmal, caused by leaders who have refused to see the big picture to follow nationalistic causes.

    Only credible patriotic leaders can help change this drift. In Nigeria we look at perfect or near perfect situations and advocate it for our peculiar circumstance. Rotational presidency is what we need right now to keep this nation at peace and united. The political class and the masses must first become like Moshood Abiola and disabuse their minds of ethnic and religious sentiments and then we shall be ready for ‘let the best man be.’

    Right now we are at, ‘let there be peace, cohesion and unity’ level, and we need to begin from where we are. I see the wisdom in rotational presidency from the point of our ethnic diversity; this would give everyone a sense of oneness and stakeholder-ship.

    Nigerians pray that the stoppage of rotational presidency by the PDP which was enshrined in their party in principle will not push this country on the brink of chaos, disaster and collapse of statehood.

    Recall the shooting pains that Yugoslavia suffered as a result of illogic propagated by inept and conflict-ridden leader like Slobodan Milosevic, even though that complex-country was united by Josip Broz Tito with his nationalistic ideas a moment earlier and it was to his credit that, that country witnessed peace throughout his reign until his death.

    One wishes that a ruling party for more than a decade would have taken Nigeria to a height beyond pointing the finger at the ‘other side’ for the travails of ‘this side’ which has turned our country into, ‘this side’ and ‘that side’.

    I expected that this party would have gone on a mission to negotiate with all Nigerians, to appeal to sense of right and wrong, but not on a war mission, to separate us. I anticipated that, after more than a decade of democracy, we would have been the pride of Africa. I thought at this time of our history that two of the majority tribes would have done terms as presidents and had looked forward to an Igbo Presidency in 2015 after which it would rotate to the other three geographical regions. At best we could have experimented with a single term of four years for all regions on principle championed by the PDP unmindful of the two terms per candidate as enshrined in our constitution.

    I believe that power struggle should not result to the ruin of Nigeria, it should not be a close-minded ‘do-or-die affair’ that has seen many a nation go down into a deep hole.

    The PDP has failed to look along the lines of reaching out to the ‘other side’ to win national goals and stop sponsoring hatred, bigotry, treacherous power tussle and lots more which counter-produces them in same measure in all regions? It has cuckolded the South-east into a holy matrimony with a president from the South-south instead of nuptials to the nation and discounted their importance as a majority political force in Nigeria. It remains to be seen if the East having burnt their bridges will get support from other majority tribes and other regions in the future should a candidate from that region seek the highest office in the land.

    It is hoped that when the majority tribe eventually takes back power from the minority that Nigeria will not become another Iraq where Saddam Hussein a Sunni minority Muslim and Iraqi maximum ruler refused all requests to engage with the Shia majorities. And as soon as the Shia majority had their chance with foreign backing, after consolidating their hold to power they consequently went on a war path with the Sunni and alienated them the way Saddam, did them.

    A terrible prospect.

     

    • Simon Abah

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State

  • Re: Igbo presidency and the Yoruba example

    read the article with the above title by Dapo Thomas in The Nation Newspaper of Sunday 21st July 2013 with a lot of trepidation, and I am particularly at a loss to the generational dispensation this commentator belongs to. The essay read like some kind of road map for the Igbo race, the dos and don’ts that will give the Igbo the much sought after Nigerian presidency – the crowning glory of Nigerian politics. He made the quest for this trophy sound like the proverbial gold medal of excellence in the murky and often treacherous path to the most coveted prize in the land.

    Part of my worry stems from the fact that history and truth was liberally doused with a fair sprinkling of half truths and outright fiction to say the least. The office of president was made to look like it belonged to any specific tribe or ethnic group for that matter. The allusion is that there is an Ijaw presidency for the minorities, the Obasanjo -Yoruba presidency and the Umaru Yar Adua Hausa-Fulani presidency. Far from it, we need to begin to look at the Nigerian presidency beyond the musical chair formula whereby the lucky person serendipitously stumbles on the prized chair.

    As an individual, I think the Igbos stand eminently qualified to occupy the Aso Rock villa any day. More so, there are so many men and women of Igbo extraction who have distinguished themselves in the service of the motherland. It is equally important to state that, so also is any other Nigerian with the mental capacity and other attributes desirable in a Nigerian president. The present template for aspiring to the most exalted office in the land sounds like a sharing of pie which is done turn-by-turn. This being the case, Nigerians cannot really demand for much from the man or woman who gets the pie. The reasoning becomes -after all, it is our communities turn to ‘enjoy’ what your people enjoyed before!

    As a Nigerian who had my formative years in the post-civil war era, and raised in a multi-cultural and plural ethnic environment, my affinity for any particular ethnic world-view is tinted by the other cultural influences of my growing up days. Therefore I look at the postulations and counsel of the writer to be quite out of sync with the present realities and global trends. The advise to my Igbo brothers is to embrace a bigger Nigerian dream that transcends your ethnicity. A Nigeria or world where everyman like Martin Luther King saw many years ago, will not be stereotyped and confined to any ethnic straitjacket with its numerous encumbrances. Dapo Thomas may have expressed genuine concerns about the frustrations of a richly endowed group like the Igbos, failing to utilize their abundant skills and resources to claim the presidency 43 years after the civil war. The means and method he advocates runs against the grain of the typical Igbo man and indeed the political ideology of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (Zik). Zik never preached tribal politics, but embraced a politics of nationalistic inclusion which saw him building bridges across Nigeria’s diverse ethnic divide.

    For the records, the Igbos never set out to divide the country through a war, due to any perceived neglect or marginalization. The Igbos and others of southeastern extraction were visited with a pogrom in northern Nigeria as a result of a coup d’etat lead by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. After the counter coup which ousted General Aguiyi Ironsi, it appeared as if there was a latent agenda to eliminate all Igbos in parts of the then northern Nigeria. The police and security organizations appeared hapless in the face of the heinous crime of terror unleashed on my fellow Igbos. The Igbo was left with no option than to flee from the north as their safety was no longer guaranteed. The sense of insecurity within the Nigerian state led to the declaration of Biafra and subsequent decimation of over 1 million easterners and southeasterners. The rest is history like they say.

    Nigerians should advocate for a country built around ideologies rather than individuals and ethnicity. Ideas outlive men. I must admit that Awoism is primarily about an idea, not about Awo the man. What the Awoist need to sell to Nigerians is the ideology. The Igbos and any other ethnic group for that matter can embrace any progressive idea that can better their lot within the federating states of Nigeria, in as much as that idea does not promote ethnic dominance over national interest. The ideological platform should guarantee equal access to the highest office based on ability and capability to lead.

    The Igbos will become ultra suspect if they go ahead to create a definitive pro-Igbo agenda, I will like the Igbo to come up with ideas that can embrace all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, tongue, gender or religion. That way they can begin to shed the weigh of suspicions and prejudices that has dogged their every move and pronouncement since the civil war.

    What this generation of Nigerians need is to promote a Nigeria where the best are recognized and rewarded rather than a patronizing kind of politics that promotes tribal candidates over more qualified and capable leaders.

    Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Azikiwe reigned in a totally different era. The writers claim that the Igbos has not been able to produce an Igbo politician with the intellect, clout and credibility of Zik is a distortion of truth to a near seismic proportion. You can as well say the same for India since Mahatma Gandhi. The Igbos has suffered all type of prejudices within the Nigerian state. Suffice it to say that the dynamics of Nigerian politics has moved beyond the traditional tripod of north-east-west. Failing to read the handwriting on the wall will be a major political miscalculation on the part of any politician vying for relevance at the centre.

    The road map for the Igbo and any Nigerian interested in leading Nigeria in the future is to make a firm commitment to work with the rest of Nigeria help create one indivisible Nigeria where everyman can be evaluated based on the content of his character rather than the state-of-origin. The dispensation of ‘kparakpo’ politics will soon be consigned to the museum of political relics. MKO Abiola I must equally state for the records did not single handedly win a mandate like the Dapo Thomas insinuated. Easterners and northerners lined up behind him and the then Social Democratic Party (SDP). He MKO did not sell himself as the Yoruba candidate, he worked with other Nigerians, and his ability to carry others along gave him overwhelming appeal at the polls. We should not forget that his running mate Babagana Kingibe was equally a formidable force in the north and Nigerian politics. This helped to sway the core north to endorse MKO. To give the impression that MKO Abiola was a tribal candidate diminishes the myth of that sacred mandate and the man himself.

    – Otuchikere, a geologist and businessman writes from Calabar

  • Igbo Presidency and the Yoruba example

    Igbo Presidency and the Yoruba example

    Censured and dispraised for their tragic attempt to bifurcate the country, the igbos, forty three years after the civil war, remain the only major ethnic group to be invested with the nation’s presidency. Between 1970 and now, the two major ethnic nationalities-Hausa/Fulani and the Yoruba, and even the minority Niger Delta-have shared that exalted position at different times. In a manner of ex-cathedra, the North and the evolving aggressive minority in power have started fresh portentous political carapace for the re-possession of the presidency in 2015. Confined to the humiliation of their partial incorporation into the nation’s political system despite having shown some remorse for the inglorious civil war, the Igbos now resorted to “neither-here-nor-there” politics. They have tried “centre politics”, “mainstream politics”, “Ihu Oma politics”, “Chukwu ga eme ya politics”, “concoction politics”, “general politics”, “and so on and so forth politics”. The only one they have not tried is “opposition politics”. This political fickleness potentiated them with the number two position-Vice President-in the Second Republic.

    Nettled by the impotence and opportunism of this manoeuvering that earned them only four years of vice presidency in 43 years (this is without any prejudice to Ebitu Ukiwe’s short stay in office), I believe the Igbos need a radical overhauling of their political philosophy by rebranding and articulating it just like the Yorubas have settled for progressive politics. Let the Igbos come up with a dominant political ideology as different from the extant ragtag idiocies which cast them as a group without political discipline. This perception is what is responsible for the derisive treatment they receive from other ethnic groups. No nation is willing to concede its presidency to a group with a perceived image of un-seriousness and political indiscipline.

    I read Godwin Alabi-Isama’s interview with The Nation on Sunday (July 14) and his only contribution to the Igbo presidency jujitsu was this consolatory prophesy: “…the Igbo will rule this country in the near future only if they stop trading and start manufacturing what they are selling.” I need to know what the respected General meant by the phrase “the Igbo will rule the country…” Did he mean “economic domination” or “political control”? If he meant the former, I agree with some reservations because of the Igbo business sagacity. But if he meant the latter, I respectfully disagree with his weak linkage between mercantilism and political control. Economic power not properly deployed for political expediency cannot confer automatic political control on any group. The Igbos are responsible for whatever humiliation they are suffering today within the Nigerian state, not because of the civil war, but because they are deluded by the misconception that their economic power alone can make them relevant. They must understand that their economic power needs to be complemented by a corresponding political power feasible only through a political revolution that they need to undertake with dispatch.

    One thing that may stymie the execution of this revolution is lack of a central figure to play the toughie. Since the death of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Igbos, with profound apologies to few of them with outstanding profiles, have not had another political leader with the clout, credibility, charisma, personality, intellect and national acceptability that the Zik phenomenon epitomized. What we have is the emergence of individual Igbo leaders with antecedents that question their credentials to pursue and promote the kind of political revolution one is canvassing for. Besides, most Igbo businessmen that could be counted upon to undertake this revolutionary agenda are government contractors who may not be ready to sacrifice their economic interests and political influence for an Igbo national cause. They are likely to succumb and kowtow to a vindictive government that may find the pursuit of their political agenda too antagonistic. With this kind of attitude and ennui to the Igbo cause, it is doubtful if the Igbos can come out of this political gridlock.

    In lieu of a credible personage, prosecuting the political revolution through a socio-cultural organization like Ohaneze Ndigbo may not be a bad idea. My only fear, one that has been confirmed by the flighty fragmentation of Afenifere, a similar organization by the Yorubas and the castration of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), is that the organization may be weakened and become polarized by the pursuit of self interests and multiple agendas by individual members of the organization who, under such circumstance, may be pressured into abandoning the collective interest of the nationality for their own political and economic goals. Consequently, the Igbo unity which is required for the reinforcement of the protestation against their privations is kibbled by the shenanigans of loose cannons who prefer the lure of filthy lucre to the collective good of their people.

    The Igbos need to learn one or two things from the Yoruba on matters relating to political revolution. After the demise of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the undisputable progenitor of Yorubas’ progressive politics, another Yoruba national figure, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, emerged. He single-handedly promoted the Yoruba political agenda and also ensured that he committed his resources to the cause until he became the elected President of the country. But he was prevented from enjoying the fruits of his victory through an annulment that threw the entire nation into a political turmoil that led us to where we are today. After his death, the Yoruba came up with the Afenifere revival with the objective of promoting and protecting the Yoruba political interest in a nation where a particular ethnic nationality had a rabid tendency for dominating the political space through deft manipulations. Despite the traditional hatred that the Yoruba progressives have for the conservative reactionaries of the PDP, they still came together in 2003 to give massive support to one of their own, Olusegun Obasanjo who leveraged on the Yoruba factor to cajole his kinsmen into supporting him for the presidency. The Yoruba sentiments, which in a way, facilitated his victory, later came to be the albatross for the fragmentation of the Afenifere. This was when (or should I say this was why?) Bola Tinubu decided to pick up the mantle of the Yoruba leadership

    Emboldened by the conviction that the Awolowo legacy must be preserved, rather than withdrawing and insulating himself from politics after the electoral waterloo of 2003, where all the South West states except Lagos, went to the PDP, Tinubu fought Obasanjo, PDP and even some Afenifere “Iscariots” to a standstill until he recovered all the “conquered” states except one that he lost through treachery. But his ACN party was compensated with the victory of Adams Oshiomole in Edo State.

    Another radical dimension of the Yoruba political revolution was the institutionalization of the Awolowo political ideology and philosophy. Through this process, they have stimulated the propagation and intellectualization of the revolution which was aimed at the socio- political transformation of the Yoruba people, their culture, history, politics, literature and their mentality, instructively, relating to their status, pedigree, role and significance in a polarized polity that is full of power intrigues. Bola Tinubu, the symbol of the revolution, established the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy and appointed Professor Adigun Agbaje, a renowned political scientist, as its pioneer Director-General. In a similar fashion, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the governor of the state of Osun also established the Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance with Professor Moses Akinola Makinde as its Chief Executive Officer. In addition, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi also came up with a Graduate summer school concept packaged by Drs Wale Adebanwi and Ebenezer Obadare with Professor Niyi Osundare as the first guest lecturer.

    The objective of these various institutional initiatives is to ensure that the Awolowo vision for the Yoruba and his political philosophy remain relevant within a complex polity. Awolowo may be dead but through these various intellectual channels and mechanisms, his philosophy and ideology are kept alive and active. But this is not the case with the Igbos who seem to have abandoned the Zikist political philosophy and ideology. And this explains why the Igbos’ political relevance and value within the larger polity are under threat because the Zik vision and political philosophy which should be the theoretical guide for their political participation had long been jettisoned. Any political agenda, either of an individual or of a group, that is not vision-driven is flawed conceptually for lacking a fundamental inspiration that is germane to its attainment.

    Until the Igbo academics, politicians, businessmen, statesmen, bureaucrats, traders and the rest of the citizens come together as a people and as a nation to agree on a common Igbo political agenda and pursue it with focused cohesion, the presidency will remain elusive to them. And more important, is the fact that they need more than Ohaneze Ndigbo to realize this goal. They need to review their “centre politics” or what they call “mainstream relevance” if the revolution was to achieve its political objective. The justification for the Igbos’ undignified embrace of mainstream politics baffles me. I wonder why they have to enslave themselves to an exploitative centre when they have the capability to liberate themselves and their tribe from the oppression of the “amorphous centre”.

    Their argument is that their region will suffer if they play opposition politics. I am convinced that the Yoruba as a people, and as a nation, never had problem financing their infrastructure development and social programs for playing opposition politics. All elected representatives; the governors, members of the National Assembly and all the members of the State Houses of Assembly under the ACN, have keyed into the Awolowo vision of development. Being genuine Awo disciplines, and having imbibed his principle and discipline on governance, all the governors of the ACN in the South West are making judicious use of their internally generated revenue for their infrastructure development and social programs same way Obafemi Awolowo executed his projects and programs when he was the premier of the Western Region. None of the governors in the South West is waiting for federal “handout” for the execution or funding of their infrastructure development and social programs. If the Igbos now claim that opposition politics will cause them development deficit, it only illustrates the fact that their leaders lack the discipline to utilize their resources for the good of their people in a judicious manner.

    While not trying to prick any conscience on the tragedy of the civil war, it is a worthwhile reminder for all ethnic groups in the country to know that war remains a senseless and irresponsible means of achieving one’s political objective. It is lack of strategy and wisdom that makes a marginalized and neglected people to adopt war as a means of achieving their political goal. Modern politics, especially in a democracy like ours, has sufficient mechanisms that can be explored and exploited to compel relevance and participation in the nation’s power sharing at all levels.

    It is in the interest of the Igbos to put their house in order and coordinate their political operations to avoid a situation where the other ethnic groups will just be using them to “count scores” – a derogatory phrase invented by the youth for exploitation.