_BY JUDE NDUKWE_<\/p>\n
Rotimi Amaechi’s recent declaration that the Igbo should forget about
\nthe presidency in 2023 “For refusing to support the APC\u2026\u201d is both
\nself-adulating and hypocritical, and must be treated as the rant of a
\ndrowning and diminished political gladiator.\u00a0 Such asinine statement can
\nonly come from a man who has been dealt a political sledgehammer blow
\nbeyond ‘below the belt’ straight to his fragile scrotum by his own
\npeople in Rivers State at the last general elections.<\/p>\n
Nobody should blame Amaechi for making such a statement concerning the
\nIgbo and the 2023 presidency. Nobody is subjected to the kind of
\nhumiliation he endured in the hands of his own Rivers State people and
\nremains the same! He must have looked to the Igbo for his medicine to
\nrecover from the post-election trauma and depression he is suffering
\nfrom, unfortunately, he is not asking nicely.<\/p>\n
While it is criminal and tyrannical to attempt to deny a people their
\nlegitimate aspiration to the highest office of the land as enshrined in
\nthe constitution, Amaechi should be told in clear terms that Ndigbo have
\nnever succumbed to such blackmails as he is currently peddling and will
\nnever succumb to it. Former Secretary to the Government of the
\nFederation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, Junaid Muhammed, a former legislator,
\nYari Shettima, president of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, all
\nnortherners, and several others, had spoken in a concerted manner
\nagainst the idea of the presidency returning to the south in general in
\n2023 as expected.<\/p>\n
Ndigbo cannot be threatened with the presidency. They are so wired in a
\nway that they so cherish their independent-mindedness, that they can
\nnever trade it for anything, not even the presidency. Ndigbo have rights
\nand they must not be subjected to puerile threats of a presidency that
\nhas brought the worst curse upon the people whose son currently holds
\nit. As a minister of the Federal Republic, Amaechi ought to know that
\neven with little or no federal government presence in the Southeast over
\nthe years since the end of the civil war, the Southeast has remained
\nmore developed, more advanced and fares far better in every area of life
\nand indices of development compared to all the regions of the north
\nwhere the current president hails from. It is puerile and preposterous
\nfor any right thinking Nigerian to attempt to threaten Ndigbo with
\nNigeria’s presidency that has brought more curses to the current holders
\nwho grind their teeth in tears, chuckle in sorrow and swim in blood even
\nwhen almost all our security architecture are also concentrated in their
\nhands.<\/p>\n
From Awka to Nnewi, from Enugu to Onitsha, from Abakaliki to Aba, to
\nOwerri etc, the Southeast is far more developed than northern regions
\nthat have produced the presidency over the years. Or has Amaechi not
\nheard of Abiriba in Abia State, fondly referred to as ‘Small London’
\nbecause of its exotic architectural masterpiece and breathtaking
\ngreenery that dot its landscape? While fellow citizens from the north
\nstill have dwarf mud houses with thatched roofs as their prized assets,
\nliving in unbelievably squalid conditions, you can hardly find such mud
\nhouses anywhere in the East. Yet, the Igbo have not been president of
\nNigeria since over fifty years ago. And when one considers that Ndigbo
\nwere reduced to nothing after the civil war, their properties seized all
\nover the federation and made to start life all over again with a meagre
\n\u00a320, coupled with a deliberate scheming backed by infantile excuses
\nlike that made by Amaechi for them not to be president, one cannot but
\nwonder how they have been able to rise, like the ancient Phoenix, from
\nthe ashes of life, to soar so high far and above those who boast about a
\npresidency that is of no benefit to its supposed beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
How come the regions of the north that have produced the presidency time
\nand time again are the most backward, the most illiterate, the most
\ndiseased and the most poverty-stricken region in the entire country? Is
\nthat the kind of presidency anyone should be threatening Ndigbo with?<\/p>\n
The fact is that Ndigbo have never lost in their choices of political
\nleadership since 1999. They have always won and will always continue to
\nwin, whether at elections proper or afterwards. Where they seemingly
\nlose as a people in their support for any candidate, they eventually
\nturn out to be the ultimate winners as events unfold. For example,
\nalthough former President Olusegun Obasanjo is Yoruba Christian, the
\nIgbo rallied round him and gave him their total support in 1999 and
\n2003. Obasanjo did his best and his legacies are still there for
\neveryone to see up till today. After him came the late Shehu Musa
\nYar’adua, a Hausa\/Fulani Muslim, the Igbo gave him their full support
\nand he emerged president. Reasonable people will agree that Yar’adua was
\na sincere and detribalised leader who was already making good progress
\nuntil death snatched him away from us. Then came Goodluck Jonathan, an
\nIjaw Christian, upon whom fate bestowed the unenviable task of leading
\nthe nation after the demise of his boss. When he sought to seek
\nleadership through the ballot, the Igbo also gave him their full support
\nboth in 2011 and 2015. Today, barely four years after, Nigerians wished
\nthey never \u2018voted\u2019 him out. In 2019, the Igbo aligned with Alhaji
\nAtiku Abubakar, a Hausa\/Fulani Muslim who has gone to court to possibly
\nreclaim the mandate he believes Nigerians overwhelmingly gave to him.<\/p>\n
All the while, Amaechi\u2019s current boss, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)
\nhad contested for president thrice and for those three times, the Igbo
\nroundly rejected him while they gave their support to his opponents in
\nthe PDP. In 2015 when he eventually won the election, the Igbo still did
\nnot vote for him because they are blessed with the clairvoyance to see
\nbeyond where the likes of myopic Amaechi see. Today, even Buhari\u2019s
\nbackyard is writhing under the threats of bandits, kidnappers and
\nterrorists who, almost on a daily basis, raid villages, sack
\ncommunities, kidnap community leaders at random and for ransom and kill
\ninnocent Nigerians at will. The situation is so bad that emirs that used
\nto be conservative in their reactions to such issues especially when
\nthey have \u2018one of their own\u2019 as president, are lamenting and
\nlampooning, even Islamic clerics are loudly bemoaning the brutish
\nsituation as the military and the police are obviously helpless as
\ncriminals operate freely in most of the northern region.<\/p>\n
The situation is so bad that while Governor Yari of Zamfara State got so
\nfrustrated he openly threatened to resign as Chief Security Officer
\n(CSO) of his State, Governors Shettima of Borno and Masari of Katisna,
\nBuhari\u2019s home state, wept openly. Are these not the reasons the Igbo
\nrejected Buhari and refused to support him at the polls? He may have
\n\u2018won\u2019 the election in defiance of Igbo votes but is he not
\njustifying the reason the Igbo did not vote for him with the parlous
\nsecurity situation in the country? Why must anyone think that the Igbo
\nmust vote in a particular way before they can have a shot at the
\npresidency? For anyone that \u2018wins\u2019 an election without Igbo votes,
\nsuch a person will only end up justifying the Igbo\u2019s stand against him
\nin due course. And it is already happening. Until the nation learns to
\ntoe the same line with the Igbo in making their political choices, she
\nwill continue to be worse off for it.<\/p>\n
Finally, Amaechi cannot play God over the Igbo or any other person or
\ngroup of persons. As a mere mortal man, he is quick to forget how he
\nbecame governor of Rivers State. He also seems to forget so quickly how
\nAbubakar Audu died as he was about rolling out the drums to celebrate
\nhis electoral victory in 2015. All these are to remind Amaechi that God
\nplays a role in the affairs of men, and when He decides that it is time
\nfor a person or group of persons to take power no matter how
\ninsignificant they might be, no powers can stop such a divine decision.<\/p>\n
Amaechi in Igbo literally means \u201cDo we know tomorrow?\u201d His other
\nname, Chibuike, in Igbo also means \u201cGod is the All Powerful\u201d, in
\nother words, power belongs only to God and He gives it to whomever He
\nwills no matter the conspiracy of men in high places.<\/p>\n
APC does not own Nigeria and is not the only party in Nigeria, and as
\nsuch it is an insult to the sensibilities of others for APC chieftains
\nto claim ownership of the presidency and arrogantly arrogate absolute
\npowers to themselves in determining who becomes president and who does
\nnot.<\/p>\n
_—JRNDUKWE@YAHOO.CO.UK_; TWITTER:@STJUDENDUKWE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
_BY JUDE NDUKWE_ Rotimi Amaechi’s recent declaration that the Igbo should forget about the presidency in 2023 “For refusing to support the APC\u2026\u201d is both self-adulating and hypocritical, and must…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n