Omoniyi Salaudeen

In reaction to the ongoing scheming for the 2023 presidential race by some sections of the country, a prominent leader of thought in the Southeast and former governor of old Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has warned the stakeholders against denying the Igbo the slot, warning that anything contrary would push the race out of the country. In this interview, he chronicled how Igbo had been shortchanged both in political and economic spheres. Excerpts: 

 

Omoniyi Salaudeen

In reaction to the ongoing scheming for the 2023 presidential race by some sections of the country, a prominent leader of thought in the Southeast and former governor of old Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has warned the stakeholders against denying the Igbo the slot, warning that anything contrary would push the race out of the country. In this interview, he chronicled how Igbo had been shortchanged both in political and economic spheres. Excerpts:

The race to 2023 is still far off though, the scheming by the state actors is already on. What is your position on this? 

I have said it before, if the Southeast is denied presidency in 2023, Igbo citizenship of Nigeria should be forgotten. It is automatic. Olusegun Obasanjo from the Southwest had done it; Muhammadu Buhari is the president now. There is no other tribe except the minor ones that has not done it. So, if Igbo cannot do it, Igbo citizenship of Nigeria is lost automatically. And it will be Nigeria pushing the Igbo out of the country like Buhari has been doing. In every way, Nigeria is pushing the Igbo out. The final push is to allow the presidency elude the Southeast in 2023.

That sounds like a threat or intimidating… 

(Cuts in) Who is intimidating who? Is it the person who is being rejected or the person rejecting? Nigeria has been pushing Igbo out of the country. If Igbo presidency is rejected in 2023, it will be a total confirmation that they don’t belong. Maybe because Southeast is a little far, you don’t know what is going on there. When you get a list of new appointees in government, what you notice is the absence of Igbo men. When you see the list of military disengagement or disengagement from Federal Government, you will find preponderance of Igbo men there. So, who is pushing who? In the economic aspect also, our people are not allowed to excel. If Innoson Motors were to be established in any of the West African countries, he would be pampered. But here, Innoson has had a bitter experience until the court came to his rescue.  Our importers also have their containers waiting to be cleared at the ports. Ifeanyi Uba and so many other Igbo businessmen are falling in economic activities. In the collection of names of those involved in Internet fraud by the FBI, you find Igbo prominent there. The good about the Igbo, we don’t know. We only know about the bad ones and even exaggerate their misbehavior. Do you know that today, if the National Security Council is meeting, there will be no Igbo there. I am only telling you this to know the minds of the Igbo.

Are you insinuating that the Federal Government concocted the list or you are suspecting the US conspiracy?

Some people reacted to it and said Chinedu invested something that he sold for one billion dollars and nobody is questioning it because it is an Igbo name. Our people will do everything to make money. So, I am not surprised that they are there. But again, there is another list containing 26 Nigerians that are to be killed in Saudi Arabia, not one Igbo is there.  Maybe that was geographical specialization.

As they say, democracy is a game of number; it is about alliances and negotiation. What do you think Igbo should begin to do now to prepare the ground for the 2023 presidential race?

My brother, you are right where you stand and you are standing in the right place. But what do you call democracy? Why is Atiku not in government now? Why is it that there is no shaky shaky in government about it? I just came back from health pursuit and I stayed long in the US, I don’t want to go back to talking too much about politics in Nigeria. The truth is enough that if Igbo are not wanted as president of Nigeria, they are not wanted as citizens.