THE race for the successor of President Olusegun Obasanjo gathers momentum every other day. Before now, each geo-political zone, except the South-West where the incumbent occupant hails from, has been espousing reasons why the chance to occupy the Aso Rock villa must be reserved for it.
First, it was the South-East governors who fired the first shot. Rising from their meeting in Enugu some months back, the governors made a passionate case that the Igbos should be given the go-ahead to produce the next president in the name of equity.
But the Northern governors countered them soon after. In their communique at the end of their own Northern Governors Forum in Kaduna, the 19 governors vowed that they would not compromise on their resolve to get back power, having conceded it to the Southern part five years ago.
And most recently, prominent leaders of the South-South region met in Abuja to brainstorm on the way forward. It was a galaxy of who is who in the zone. From Dr. Joseph Wayas to Chief Anthony Anenih, Chief Don Etiebet among others, speaker after speaker was emphatic that the time has now come for the neglected people to take their destiny in their hand.
Thus, the only way to correct previous deprivations and injustices, they reasoned, would be to have their own man in charge of Nigeria’s affairs. They found further justification in the fact that it is only the South-South that has not produced a Nigerian president while the Igbos enjoyed it for six months.
Such have remained the agitations for the elections that will come three years away until last Sunday when the South East Leadership Forum met in the residence of the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie and came up with a call that was, on its face value, very unrealisable. Among other positions, the Forum had called on all political parties to give their distinct presidential tickets to only Igbo candidates.
That thinking raised sundry questions. Is it possible that all or the major parties can reserve their slots for only Igbo contestants? How is that going to be achieved? How is this different from 2003 when the zone presented five presidential candidates who ended up splitting the votes among themselves in the few areas where election could be said to be fairly credible? What is the zone doing to reach out to these other regions, or does it think that it can win inspite of others?
Chiefs Jim Nwobodo and Ike Nwachukwu contested under the platforms of different parties in 2003.
Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke contested the ANPP primaries and was among others who pulled out when it was obvious that the governors had settled for former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari with late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo as his running mate. Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife also contested the AD primaries in 1999. Thus, Weekend Vanguard sought the views of these heavyweight Igbo politicians among others on the desirability of this position and how practicable it could be. Enjoy it.
Ume-Ezeoke: Why others must support us
CHIEF Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, Second Republic Speaker of the House of Representatives was the chairman of the South-East Political Leadership Forum that met in Enugu on October 17.
Yes, I believe that it is better for every party to zone its own presidency to the South-East. In the South-East Political Leadership Forum, all the political parties are represented, particularly the ANPP, APGA, AD and PDP. They are all in this forum. So, our target is to get all these parties to zone their presidential candidacies to the South-East so that when we meet down there, we then make a choice of the party and the candidate. It is possible because it did happen in Nigeria in 1999.
This is quite different from what we did in the 2003 general elections. You know, many presidential aspirants from the South-East jumped into the race but there was no proper coordination and that affected performances at the primaries. You also know that some of us were just cheated out and it was obvious and the whole people of this country saw what happened.
You must also know that at that time, we had no forum and there was no coordination by any group. Nobody masterminded the process. But with the existence of a political forum to mastermind and coordinate the 2007 presidential primaries and elections, things are bound to be different. We are doing out home work this time around. There is no other way we can make it except by agreeing on a political party.
The political forum I’m talking about is not a political party and cannot contest election but we can agree on a platform of a political party to go about it. The opinion of many of us is to get as many political parties as possible to zone their presidential candidate to the South-East and a committee has been set up within the forum to go round the country and begin its sensitisation campaign.
If you look back, that was exactly what happened in 1999 when all the parties zoned their presidency to the South-West. That meant that all the contestants in the presidential election were from the South-West. That is exactly the kind of thing we are talking about. And we have already started setting things in motion to actualise that. It is the right step and we believe that is the only way out. It will work. I’m confident about that. But we know the support of other Nigerians to make it happen.
We also all know that Igbos are marginalised in this country. Igbo issues are treated with kid gloves. The other day, Professor Achebe, a prominent Igbo man recognised worldwide rejected a national honour conferred on him. He gave his reasons but I can tell you that beyond that, he is unhappy with what Igbos are suffering in this country. It is unfair and I think it’s about time to turn things around and the only way is to show Igbos they are part and parcel of this country by having a Nigeria president of Igbo extraction. It has become a necessity because Ndigbo are not happy in this country.
Nigeria should not push Igbos out of this country, says Ezeife
Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential aspirant in 1999 was also former governor of Anambra State and political adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It was possible for Yorubas to clinch the exalted position in 1999 and 2003. It was possible anytime they decided on the Hausas. So, if Nigeria wants an Igbo man to become president of Nigeria, it’s also very possible. That is the minimum of what the Igbos are asking for. Failing to do so, it means Nigeria is pushing the Igbos out of Nigeria.
Now, you may think that many Igbos who came out in the past did not make it. How could they have made it when it was zoned to the North? The party that had the greatest chance of producing the president was PDP. How many Igbo people came out of PDP? The only one, Dr. Alex Ekwueme that came out was edged out.
Those who are saying that Igbos did not support Ekwueme are talking nonsense. It’s arrant nonsense. There are so many people capable of being president from the South-East. If we did not come out, they will say nobody aspired. But we did and the Igbos gave him tremendous support. Unfortunately, those in control of the system did not want him.
No man in this world has enjoyed the kind of support Igbos gave Ekwueme in Jos. No man, no Yoruba, no Hausa has enjoyed that kind of support. The whole Igbos supported Ekwueme in Jos.
There is confusion now in the system. We don’t know what the problem is. Is it that they have zoned it to the North or that many Igbos are contesting? There is always a problem.
The governors of ANPP joined the governors of PDP to say that it was zoned to the North. It was the same governors of ANPP that betrayed Buhari in 2003. Nobody is asking questions. They say one stupid thing about Igbos and every Igbo man believes it. It could be just a brainwashing idea. Why are our people, even the very educated ones like that?
The whole scenario baffles me. The issue now is not how Ndigbo make it but how does Nigeria make it? I have made my opinion very clear. I have a clear idea how the Igbos can make it but I have no idea how Nigerians would react because it is Nigeria that will make it possible. If you look at the way things pertaining to Ndigbo are being treated, you will be worried. Look at the Okija issue. Then, think of Ngige. And the strange thing here is that our people accept every wrong thing said about them, including the very educated Igbos.
But on the issue of presidency, the Igbos alone cannot make an Igbo man president of this country. We have to appeal to the other groups and we are appealing to Nigeria, we appeal to the North, we appeal to the South-West and we appal to ourselves, to the South-South, our other brothers in the South-South. We should go around these places explaining and campaigning. It is possible for Nigeria to repeat what it did in 1999 when it produced only Yoruba candidates. They did it before and it worked. They can do it again except they want to push Ndigbo out of Nigeria. It is the turn of our people to produce the next president and Nigeria can make it possible.
Now, we are all aware that Professor Chinua Achebe, a prominent Igbo and Nigerian leader of world acclaim rejected the national honour conferred on him. It is an expression of his anger on the way his people are being treated in this nation. There are many angry Igbos everywhere who do not have the opportunity to express their anger. The Igbos and the Niger-Deltans are the most cheated people in this country and nobody is doing anything about that.
Our people are complaining but are being ignored. I commend Achebe for stranding out to do what he did when it matters most. I’m all out in support of the way he expressed his anger. It’s commendable and the whole world heard him.
