A varsity don and lecturer at Abia State University, Prof. Okezie Rocks Eze has stated that the Igbo needs the support of other regions and tribes in Nigeria before it can produce the President of Nigeria in the 2023 general election.
Speaking while presenting a paper as a Guest Speaker during the 2023 Igbo Political Project conference organised by Ndigbo Royal Heritage (NIROH) Worldwide, Eze, a Professor of curriculum studies and Educational Technology said the politics of Nigeria is not played in isolation but rather in an all-embracing method where the multi-ethnic and diverse interests of the power brokers are accommodated.
He called on the Igbo to shun divisive tendencies and work hard as a group to present their best feet forward instead of fighting whether a suitable candidate can come from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi , Enugu or Imo.
While lauding NIROH Worldwide for preparing the roadmap towards 2023 with the conference, he said those who understand politics begin early and on time in building bridges and grooming leaders across .
“For us to get to Aso Rock Igbos must play the politics therein and there is no politics we can do in Nigeria to get there without seeking the cooperation of other ethnic groups that will work.
We need other region’s support, the Yoruba, the Hausa, the Fulani etc to succeed through Aso Rock. Democracy is all about government of representation” he said.
President General of NIROH Worldwide, Dr Paul Okoye in a keynote address advised the Igbo to strategise, invest in the right people and work hard in order to acquire power and emerge the President of Nigeria after the 2023 general elections.
Dr Okoye said the Igbo still have much work to do as the 2023 election gets underway and warned that the Igbo may stand to lose 2023 election if they fail to understand that power cannot be gotten on a platter of gold.
Recommending effective strategy, investment and hard work as recipe for the Igbo success in the 2023 project, he also advised the Igbo to drop ethnical campaign and jettison the clamour for an Igbo president but rather work for a president of Igbo extraction with the support of other regions in order to make the road to Aso Rock in 2023 possible.
He said Igbos must drop the blame game as it creates an impediment to their onerous match to Aso Rock and should also realise that there is no known nation on earth where freedom and power is free but they have to be fought for and conquered by the interested people.
He advised that Igbos should not beat the drums of war again but rather play the right politics in order to get power and reminded them of the reality in Nigeria today that whoever aligns with the North rules the country.
“Igbos therefore must say never again apparently because nobody can break up a country in peace, the fallout is war. It is time to come to terms with the realities of our existence and try other credible and valid alternatives. We are not cognisance of the fact that only a president of Igbo extraction can take us to Aso Rock and not an Igbo president. We fought war out of sentiment and fail to accept that President cannot be gotten by sentiment or deceit.
“No one builds a house without architecture to design the house, same for cars, aircraft and the rest. The Umuahia conference is to draw a project and evolve a strategy to Aso Rock” he said.