Chief Goddy Uwazurike, President emeritus of Aka Ikenga, a lawyer and a delegate to the 2014 Conference of Nigeria has dismissed the allegations of Dr. Junaid Mohammed that President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo begged to be made president of the country. He said Junaid’s clam was another attempt by the North to sow seed of discord in the South. He spoke on other national issues.
Second Republic Senator, Dr. Junaid Mohammed in a recent interview alleged that President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo knelt down to beg him and Lawal Jafaru Isa, former military administrator of Kaduna State to be made president. What can you say about that?
The allegation is preposterous. It is preposterous because he (Junaid Mohammed) is not in the same group nor does he have the same capacity as Chief Nwodo. Two, Chief Nwodo goes to meetings when his counterparts on the other side call for meetings. So, the question is what capacity does Junaid Mohammed or Col Lawal Jafaru Isa have that will make Chief Nwodo to go and see them. So, for what reason will the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo kneel down before motley group of people who have no electoral weight begging them to make him the President of Nigeria. All they are doing is trying to bamboozle everybody; they want us to believe what doesn’t exist in this country. It was a carefully crafted and misleading interview granted by a man who is just seeking relevance.
Are you saying that Chief Nwodo and Dr. Mohammed have never met at any form of meeting?
I can meet with the President General of Ohanaeze today, I can meet with the leader of Afenifere, I can meet with the leader of the Niger Delta. I can meet with the leader of the Middle-Belt Forum and I can even meet with the leader of Arewa group, what does that mean? These people are not spirits; they are human beings. But Dr Junaid Mohammed is talking rubbish; the President General of Ohanaeze never met him and they could not have met because five and alive must go together.
You issued a statement wherein you said Dr. Mohammed is doing a ‘hatchet job’, do you know who his paymasters are?
Understand what is going on now, 2023 is the issue; it is in the forefront of all groups and all tribes. Watch and follow everything that has been happening since a Fulani governor came out to say the North will continue in power and that they will not allow Bola Tinubu or any Igbo to come near; it is called flying a kite. Another one came out to support him, then another one said they don’t trust the Igbo and another one said he would prefer having Tinubu than an Igbo man as president, finally another one said they can rule for 100 years. These are all manoeuvers. Truth is that they want us to see the Fulani as the ruling class in Nigeria, two is that they want to put the Yoruba and the Igbo at loggerheads with each other. That is the smart move they always make whenever it seems that the Ohanaeze, the Afenifere and the South-South people and the Middle Belt people have success in their meetings; they will always bring one divisive factor. But this time we are ready for them. The whole purpose of Junaid Mohammed’s statement is to sow seeds of division among the Ohanaeze, Afenifere, Middle-Belt and South-South people.
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Like you said, 2023 is at the forefront of all activities in Nigeria today; many believe it is the turn of the South East. We also gather that some Igbo groups have been meeting to that effect, and they are looking for a candidate that is at least 70 years of age. Is 70 years not too old an age for the ideal candidate?
The political parties will select their candidates, the thing they will decide upfront is which zone will produce the president. But there is a school of thought that says it should be thrown open, that whichever zone, whether the North or the South can produce the president, that is their own idea of a masterstroke. However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)firmly believes in zoning among the key zones. The PDP’s angle is that each zone must be given an opportunity to produce the president. But looking at the individuals, it is too early to say this or that individual will be there. The first thing is to understand that this power must go around, that whatever comes around must go around. If that is, so then the Igbo, and when I say the Igbo, I mean the Igbo in the South East and South-South must produce the president. Talking about the candidates, tell me who in this country can stand up to Peter Obi, whether in competency or presentation; tell me who can stand up to Chukwuma Soludo, who can stand up to Pat Utomi, even Nnia Nwodo, who else can stand up to him? So, when you are talking of merit, we have no problem with merit, they have merited it by learning and by their speech because you can’t have a president who cannot speak before the world. You cannot have a president that somebody will interpret what is being said for him. So, the Igbo have hundreds of presidential candidates that will represent us and we will showcase them. All we are saying is don’t discriminate against us, don’t gang up against us.
You mentioned Peter Obi, Chukwuma Soludo and Pat Utomi among men who could fly the presidential ticket any day. Soludo and Utomi could not even win the governorship election in their respective states and you talk of the presidential election?
Election and electability are not strait-jackets that must go in a certain way. The Igbo have people who are presidential materials. What I did was to mention men and women who can speak and command respect from people. Kingsley Muoghalu joined a small room party. Ditto Oby Ezekwesili. Barth Nnaji, the Nwodo brothers, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Senator Abaribe, Dr Ogbu are all people of integrity and performance. So, I am not saying that once they appear, they will win. Packaging is key, next is the type of party, also track record is important. Prof Ngozi Okonjo Iweala remains a star any day whenever this nation wants a president respected home and abroad. These people I mentioned are not into come and chop political policy. Rather, they will use the commonwealth for the good of the public. This may be the reason some people are mortally afraid of an Igbo person becoming the president of Nigeria.
Dr. Junaid Mohammed spoke of the Igbo who “have the history of being part and parcel of the family that brought the civil war”. Why is he still talking about a war that ended 49 years ago?
Junaid Mohammed is upset; he is one of those people suffering from obsessions or Igbo phobia. There are a good number of them out there and they are all part of a cabal and they cannot be trusted. Is Junaid Mohammed himself trustworthy. The kind of problem we have today, it is like there has never been a Fulani man who was supported by the Igbo. In 2011, the Igbo carried Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and voted for him, they didn’t vote for Buhari, a fellow Fulani man. Remember in 2007, the presidential election was between two Fulani. In 1999, the election was between two Yoruba and the country went along with both elections. It is only of late that we are hearing power belongs to us and it must be us; if it is not us, this country will be destroyed. A man making this kind of incinerating statement can he be trusted with power? It is only Junaid Mohammed, he will just be talking, but there is a limit to what somebody will just be talking; it is called self- control.
Still on 2023, the South West zone is already prompting up Bola Tinubu as their candidate while the South East still seems to be shopping for one?
The South East is not looking for a candidate, we have candidates. All the people you think have a candidate don’t because you cannot sit in your room, call a press conference and declare yourself a candidate.
What will happen if come 2023, the North have their way and retain power?
I am not a prophet, but I can tell you that whoever attempts that is actually positioning this country in the wrong direction and if it is going in the wrong direction, it will be heading towards doomsday prediction. I will refrain from saying anything more.
In 2014, you and Junaid Mohammed sat together at the national conference where the way to move Nigeria forward was agreed on and among the recommendations was power rotation between the North and the South and among the six geo-political zones. Why is he singing a different tune today?
The good thing about that conference was that literally all the tribes in this country were represented. Secondly was that African Independent Television (AIT) aired it live, thirdly was that the Chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi now of blessed memory came out openly to say that nobody for once teleguided him. The deputy chairman, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, who is alive was harassed by a motley group of people who said that if he is not removed, they will not take part. Kutigi being a very intelligent man presented the matter before the plenary. Junaid Mohammed and his clique were there and those who were against Akinyemi all chickened out. We defended Akinyemi because he is a fine gentleman. Both the chairman and the vice-chairman were balanced and all decisions were reached on consensus except in few areas like increasing oil derivation allocation from 13 percent to 20 percent. We said Mr. President, under the constitution you are supposed to do that. That national conference remains a threshold, a landmark conference. Why would somebody refuse to implement it, after all, the report was agreed on and a communique issued? All the grumbling in Nigeria today is because that conference report was not implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari. In the fullness of time, a knowledgeable man will come up and look at that report stage by stage and ask what is the problem?
After two months of closure, President Buhari has announced the release of ₦10billion for the rehabilitation and expansion of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, runway. What do you say?
The airport has been closed for nearly two months, and the southeast leaders are now asking the Federal Government to come and do something. It is the government’s responsibility. When they said there was no money, they had forgotten that one of the officials of the parastatal had said work was ongoing and that N300million had been paid and the contractor will be on-site the following week. With the President’s announcement, they have shown that all these are lies. The renovation can only be starting now because the president has made a pronouncement. You know in this country before the contract is signed, it must be cash-backed. Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja took less than six weeks after it was closed to reopen and Akanu Ibiam international airport Enugu is getting to four months? People going from Ebonyi or Enugu state to catch a flight from Asaba airport, how will they go? Enugu -Onitsha road is a death-trap and it is a federal road. If on the other hand, they want to use the Owerri airport, they will pass through Okigwe-Owerri road which is also a death-trap; it is also a federal road. So, while we can say thank you, Mr. President, for what you have done, we must also add that it is a responsibility, not a favour.
Source: SUN
