Okwesilieze Nwodo, a former
chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says the elite in the
south-east will join Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB), to demand for Biafra Republic if the region does not get the presidency
in 2023.
Kanu has been in the forefront of
the agitation for Biafra over the claim that the Igbo are being marginalised in
Nigeria.
In an interview with Vanguard,
Nwodo hailed Tanko Yakassi, elder statesman, who called for Igbo presidency in
2023.
He said the Igbo have been
persecuted for over 50 years, advising those who want a secure future for their
children to elect an Igbo man as president.
“Yakassi’s call is very fair and
that is the correct thing. “In the first republic, the country was led by
Tafawa Balewa, in the second republic, it was led by Shehu Shagari and then,
those of us in PDP made a very strong case to move the presidency to the south-east,
because even the military people were all from the north, apart from Aguiyi
Ironsi who presided over for a very short time,” he said.
“For 50 years now, we have been
persecuted for having fought for freedom. When will this marginalisation stop?
Anybody who loves Nigeria and who wishes Nigeria well should go for Igbo
Presidency in 2023 for unity, fairness, equity and for Nigeria to move forward.
“It is only an Igbo man who will
not marginalise any part of Nigeria because we constitute the semen that holds
the country together. We are the only tribe that you find in every nook and
cranny of Nigeria; doing business and developing wherever they are as if it was
their own place.
“I don’t believe that the Igbo
are not united, there has never been a time when any region produced a
consensus candidate, everybody emerged through primary elections.
“There is no zone that has
produced a candidate by consensus. It doesn’t matter how many people are
interested, they will be subjected to party primaries and the person with the
highest vote will win.
“I agree with Nnamdi Kanu in
everything he says about the marginalisation of the Igbo. He, more than any
other person has put it on the international map. If Nigeria tells the elites
from the south-east that they would be treated as second class citizens in
Nigeria, and that they can never be president, almost all of them will go with
Kanu to fight for Biafra.
“Anybody who wants to be a
second-class citizen can support whoever he wants. Any Igbo man who wants to
bequeath a secured future for himself and generation yet unborn should support
this call for Igbo presidency.
“In the spirit of fairness and
equity, Nigeria should give the presidency to the south-east in 2023,
otherwise, we will join him and fight for Biafra.”
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