Analysis | By Nduka Nwosu | 28. 04. 2022
The argument no doubt has gained momentum about now, on why Nigeria’s next President should come from its Southeast zone.
The Igbo intelligentsia has in the last few months been showcasing some of the best in its First Eleven, just to convince the rest of the country on why the next President of Nigeria should come from the Southeast. This is against the backdrop of some wobbly body movements by two Southeast governors, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Okezie Ikpeazu, backing Governor Nyesom Wike’s Presidential bid,
The Southeast Leadership, parading some of the best and brightest in the zone, is no doubt the core Igbo group at the vanguard of this push, that is, among the many, using the theme: Ahamefula (may my name not be forgotten) as its focus.
As a group, it remains unrelenting in its quest and clarity on what needs to be done now. It met in Enugu in March urging all Easterners in all political parties especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All-Progressives Congress (APC), to stand firm in the demand for equity and fairness. “Indeed, we do need to hear the Southeast demand resonating in all political fora across the country. We believe that we shall get justice in the end” the group asserted, in its press release after the meeting.
The heart of the matter is that the Southeast has suffered marginalisation since the end of the civil war and has not been favoured in the sharing of the top political office of president. Since the 1995 Constitution provides for the rotation of the presidency which should be the turn of the South, it is important the rest of the country supports the Southeast candidacy for President in 2023.
However, Ohanaeze Ndigbo last Saturday stated it was in support of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction irrespective of geographical demarcations that have since the advent of the military separated Ndigbo in the Southeast from their kit and kin in Ikwerre Rivers State and the Delta region. That automatically changes the equation admitting Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, Nyesom Wike, and Godwin Emefiele, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, who until recently was the poster boy of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction, as Igbos of the Delta Region seeking to fly their party flags for the Presidency. But that is beside the point.
Regardless of these shades of opinion, the critical mass remains a Nigerian President of Southeast extraction. Rotation means the South should present the major Presidential candidates, one of whom should succeed President Mohammadu Buhari in 2023. The issues right now are in the public space.
The contention of Ahamefule and the various groups campaigning for an Igbo Presidency is that no Igbo has been Executive President of Nigeria in the past or since the coming of the Fourth Republic. Nnamdi Azikiwe was a ceremonial President, while Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was Prime Minister. Nigeria’s first military Head of State, Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi, had barely settled down when he was assassinated; Vice President Alex Ekwueme had the goodwill and opportunity to succeed President Shehu Shagari but the military in 1983 truncated the Second Republic. Again in 1998, Ekwueme played a leading role in the founding of the PDP but lost at the Presidential primaries. Ogbonnaya Onu, APP Presidential flag bearer stepped down for Olu Falae when the Alliance for Democracy and his party formed an alliance. Olu Falae became the flag bearer at a time the Yoruba was favored to produce the next President with Olusegun Obasanjo as the candidate for PDP.
The Southeast since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999 has always cast its votes for Presidential candidates from other zones, especially those contesting under the PDP. It did so for Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Yar’Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan; it believes therefore that the time has come for the rest of the country to agree that this zone should produce the next Nigerian President.
The Southwest has had a President for eight years, a Vice President about to complete his eight years in office, and therefore should not be clamoring to succeed President Buhari. It is without doubt an insult for a part of the country that was active in the founding of a great nation as Nigeria, is endowed with all forms of human capacity whether in the academia, trade, commerce, or politics, to be told it does not have what it takes to produce a Nigerian President.
The Southeast will not give Nigerians a crook as a President; it will not put forward people whose mindset favours squandermania and prebendalism.
*Peter Obi
PDP’s Presidential aspirant Peter Obi has stated clearly there will be no sharing of the national cake behind the counter, and that he would block loopholes for extravagant expenditures as he did as Anambra State Governor. He carries an impressive track record that is trustworthy.
*Anyim Pius Anyim
Anyim Pius Anyim as Senate President was central in ensuring that President Obasanjo’s Third Term bid, through an alteration or falsification of certain parts of the constitution, was frustrated. He served under Jonathan as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and has enough knowledge on how to drive the affairs of government at any level.
*Sam Ohuabunwa
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa is a corporate boardroom tactician who has been involved in giving the various governments of the day, a visionary package, a blueprint for driving the economy to global relevance.
*Kingsley Moghalu
Professor Kingsley Moghalu has impressed the youths by representing their interests in his manifesto; his brief antecedent at the CBN and the UN speak volumes of his capabilities.
What the Southeast needs before May 28 is to canvass for a consensus candidate among its many aspirants especially for the PDP and the APC with or without the candidates from the North and the South south stepping down.
On the APC side, there is need for the candidates from the Southeast to agree on a single candidate. Governor Dave Umahi, former governors Rochas Okorocha and Orji Uzor Kalu et al, must agree on presenting a sole candidate to contest the presidential primaries of the party.
*Single Consensus candidate
A single consensus candidate from the Southeast will send a strong message to the delegates coming to the convention that the Southeast has defeated the naysayers, the nattering nabobs of negativism according to Ukpabi Asika, that when it matters the voice of a united Southeast will resonate for effect. For those using the youth disturbance in the zone as a reason to deny the Southeast its lot about now, need they be reminded the reason for this youth restlessness is anchored on the marginalisation of the zone in the Nigerian project. Who will be happy to be stepped down as a prospective university candidate with a score of 300 in favour of another with a score of 80, in the name of federal character? The examples are endless. Joblessness, nepotism, et al breed restlessness which has spread across the country, not just the Southeast.
The country is plagued with poverty, disease, illiteracy, in particular insecurity and terrorism that have surpassed those of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (.ISIS). What the country needs is an altruistic, committed leader who works for country and not his pocket. The Southeast has an abundance of men of integrity whose strength of character will help to turn around the country’s destiny.
A Nigerian President from the Southeast will give Nigeria direction come 2023. Shakespeare wrote of a tide in the affairs of men, omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in mistakes. On such a full sea are we now afloat. Give it to the Southeast and see a new Nigeria of great possibilities, secure, economically buoyant and with leaders that can rewrite the poverty capital script, a Nigeria where tribe and tongue may differ but has one cause-unity of purpose.
•Mazi Nwosu is a journalist and lives in Lagos
Published by: metrowatchonline.com
