There have been
suggestions by some Nigerians, including former president, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, that the Igbos in South-east Nigeria should produce the next Nigerian
president. Our correspondents gauge the mood from across the nation.
Shortly after
Obasanjo’s proposal for an Igbo presidency in the foreseeable future, a group,
the Southeast Youth Vanguard (SEYV), was unequivocal in describing the
ex-president’s call as “a mischievous crusade.”
The group’s national
coordinator, Jason Njoku, in a statement, said the comment was aimed at causing
tension, ill-will and confusion in the country.
The SEYV said the call
by the former president would have been seen as an act of a friend, benefactor
and statesman if he had dealt well with the Ndigbo when he held the presidency
for eight years between 1999 and 2007.
The group said
Obasanjo’s insistence on a second term in 2003 at a time when their son, Second
Republic vice president, Alex Ekwueme, wanted to get the job, jeopardized the
chances of the South-east and other zones in the country.
On his part, the
founder of the National Democratic Liberty Party (NDLP), Alhaji Umaru Mohammed
Maizabura, said Obasanjo was not sincere on the matter.
“Please we should all
forget about what Obasanjo said, he is causing unnecessary tension in the
polity,” Maizabura, who is the national chairman of NDLP and its
presidential candidate, said.
“Obasanjo was right to
have advocated for an Igbo presidency, they deserve to produce the president
but he fully knows that in the interest of peaceful coexistence, there is this
arrangement that the North and South would be rotating the presidency after
every eight years and so, why is he crying more than the bereaved at this
material time?” Maizabura asked.
With this in view, the
Nigerian political climate had for over a week or so been beclouded with an
intense debate as to the desirability or otherwise, of the call.
Obasanjo, who urged
Igbos to contest for the presidency in 2019 when he hosted the leadership of
the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun State chapter at his Abeokuta
Hilltop residence on Tuesday, January 27, said he was in support of the return
to regional governance, as it would solve the problem of marginalization.
“Irrespective of the
thinking of the people ahead of 2019, I personally think that the South-east
should have a go at the presidency too,” Obasanjo said.
DAILYTRUST
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