The President General of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor, has declared that the status of Ndigbo in Nigeria will be determined largely by where the next President of Nigeria emerges from.
‘Wherever the country picks its president from in 2023 will send a strong message to Ndigbo,’ Obiozor said in a statement he issued in Owerri on Monday.
He said to avoid the potholes of the past and to secure the future and preserve national unity, “the Nigerian political elite must avoid the prevailing political myopia and contrived amnesia surrounding Nigerian political history over the imperative of North-South rotation.
‘I understand clearly the dilemma faced by these leaders but Nigerian politics is at a point of no return where national destiny is at stake and where patriotism and political wisdom must supersede personal ambition.’
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo president general, therefore, pleaded with the nation’s political class to drop all fears and prejudices against Ndigbo and to forge a common front to move the nation forward.
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He noted that Ndigbo as an ethnic nationality is blessed with a good number of capable, Nigerian patriotic and credible personalities who are eminently qualified to govern the country and meet the expectations of the citizenry through equity, justice and fairness.
In a swift reaction, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has pointed out it agrees with the position of Ohanaeze and believes the Ndigbo need justice, equity and fairness but not blame game.
ACF, in reacting to Ohanaeze’s statement that the status of Igbos in Nigeria will be determined by where Nigeria’s next president emerges, however, said if Ohanaeze will reconsider their position in the Federal Republic of Nigeria after the 2023 elections, the forum cannot stop them. “It is their democratic right to do so,” it stated.
The ACF through its National Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel Yawe, explained that, unlike the Ohanaeze which was formed to fight for the rights of Ndigbo exclusive of other Nigerian ethnic groups, the ACF was formed to cater for close to 200 ethnic groups who occupy 72% of Nigeria’s landmass and who were known to belong to a region of Nigeria, known as Northern Nigeria.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
