From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Two elder statesmen, Chief Jim Nwobodo and Chief
have counselled that giving an Igbo person the chance to become the next President of Nigeria would promote peace in the country
Nwobodo told Saturday Sun that the problem in Nigeria today was that social injustice had become the order of the day. He noted that it was high time that an Igbo man became president of Nigeria.
The former governor said for the sake of justice, equity and fairness, the people of South East should be allowed a chance to produce next President of Nigeria.
“If today Buhari comes and says let’s give the Igbo man chance to rule Nigeria, there will be peace. But I have said it before that if they don’t give an Igbo man a chance to rule Nigeria, there will be no peace,” Nwobodo urged. Iwuanyanwu on his part debunked insinuation by a northern group that the Igbo were blackmailing other Nigerians with their demand for a President from the South East.
Insisting rather that the Igbo quest for the Presidency is a legitimate right, he added that the demand has been a collective agreement by Nigerians for the South East to take to take its turn in zoning after the north.
“It is a legitimate demand, stating a fact that Nigerians have agreed. It’s not when Igbo want to get it that they would want to change the goal post. We paid our dues in Nigeria, Igbo are the most patriotic Nigerians, they are found everywhere developing wherever they go. I don’t know why they should be shelving aside the issue of zoning when it comes to the turn of Ndigbo. We all agreed that there would be federal character, that means zoning, you can’t have federal character here and you wouldn’t have in another place.
“There’s no geo-political zone that cannot produce a president, but we say, if you give it to the Igbo, it will bring peace and fairness. Nigeria has agreed for it to rotate to north and south. Now that the north has takenits turn, it’s now the turn of the South,” Iwuanyanwu said.