Against the background of agitations for a president of Igbo extraction the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is seen in some quarters as the face for the actualisation of the agitation for the Igbo presidency. How far can he go? TOPE SUNDAY asks in this report.
Ahead of the 2023 presidential election, the atmosphere is tense and agitation for the President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor is in top gear.
Opinions are divided; expectations are very high among the supporters of the presidential candidates. Four candidates stand out and are grouped as the leading contenders for the country’s number one seat.
Major contenders in the race are the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu; candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; that of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi; and that of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Engr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
Igbo presidency
The agitation for Igbo presidency is a long standing issue and is becoming a repeated song with the feeling of being betrayed and neglected by some sections of the country.
A Catholic Cleric, Rev. Fr. George Ehusani, had in May this year, canvassed support for the Ndigbo to produce the next president in order to give them a sense of belonging in the scheme of things in the country.
Ehusani, who spoke at a Round Table in Abuja, likened Nigeria to a car with a knocked engine in dire need of a good engineer that can fix it back to the path of growth and development.
He believed that the Ndigbo were blessed with an array of tested professionals from all walks of life to address the problems of the country.
Obi’s emergence
The former governor of Anambra state and running mate to Atiku in 2019, Mr. Peter Obi, who is now the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, is believed to be the third force considering his growing popularity, and swelling fan base on the daily basis since he announced his intention to govern Nigeria.
Obi, while declaring his intention in May, vowed to move Nigeria forward if he is given the opportunity to lead the country.
But as some Nigerians like former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, and a right activist, Deji Adeyanju, in their tweets, cautioned his supporters to stop abusing or threatening any Nigerian with an opposing view to his aspiration.
However, in his article titled: “The scuttled quest for Igbo presidency,” Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, who described the Igbo presidency as legitimate demand, expressed the fear that some leaders from the zone could scuttle it.
He said: “The quest for Igbo presidency is a legitimate demand. Suffice it to say that other regions are morally bound to oblige Ndi Igbo to this exalted position.
“Considering this, some regional establishments have queued behind the idea. However, notable Igbo political leaders will stop at nothing to undermine it. A good number of them do not even believe in it.
“Most Igbo politicians who are sustained by other regional perks, interests and political investments will ensure it never sees the light of the day. They are content with playing second fiddle. For them, it is better to protect their family political patronages and friendships across the Niger than supporting Igbo presidency.
“In fact, it is politically trite to conclude that Igbo people do not seem to have a direction and purpose. They do not even slightly know what they want.
“In politics, nothing good comes out of a cacophonous posturing. This is what Igbo people, especially their selfish leaders are known for. The quest for Igbo presidency may no longer be tenable in 2023. The good intentions of those who worked hard for the presidential slot to be ceded to the South-east in the interest of equity, justice, and fairness are already dead.’’
He, however, added: “Peter Obi is the only ray of hope for an Igbo presidency. He exemplifies the kind of leadership the nation deserves at the moment.
“His antecedents bear testimonies for him. Among his contemporaries; no corrupt charge was preferred against him by any anti-graft agency in Nigeria.
“The problem with Nigeria is known to him, and he has the remedy at the tip of his fingers. His goals are on the table. The task is how to pull the rug off the feet of the old fraudulent political establishments. It can still be done!”
‘Igbo presidency achievable if…’
A Legislative aide at the National Assembly, Abuja, Aliyu Usman, told Blueprint Weekend that the Igbo president was achievable if Obi’s supporters and promoters build a network of friends, allies and associates across the country and leverage on them for their candidate’s political ambition.
Usman, however, warned that if his supporters force Nigerians to surrender the presidency to him because he is of the Igbo ethnic stock, his ambition may become a day-dream.
“I am tempted to ask what Igbo presidency means. If it means a Nigerian of Igbo ethnic stock becoming president by playing the game of politics like everyone else and beating others to the party’s ticket and winning at the polls, then that’s fine. I will support such a candidate if he/she ticks all the boxes for me. But if it means that everybody should surrender the presidency to somebody simply because he is of the Igbo ethnic stock, then I will say it is a day-dream.
“People who want to become president build a network of friends, allies and associates across the country and leverage on them for their political ambition.
“I repeat, to become president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you should build bridges not burn them. Unite people, not divide them. Use entreaties, not threats and a phantom claim to some entitlements.
“Therefore, branding the agitation for the South-east to produce the president as an Igbo presidency ethicizes the agitation. As far as I know, power is not negotiated on the basis of ethnicity; doing so would weaken the chances of ethnic minorities.
“That would have made it impossible for someone like Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who was not an ethnic Hausa or Fulani, and became Prime Minister, or even Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for example who became an elected president even though is not of either Igbo or Yoruba stock, the majority ethnic groups of the South.
“Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party has done well so far with his presidential run at the moment. I am not sure Obi is branding his ambition as an Igbo presidency. He just wants to be the president of Nigeria. The Late Emeka Ojukwu did the same thing in 2003. That’s the way to go. Let him put in the work and build a formidable platform, people and resources like Buhari and the Jagaba have done.
“Now, in every democracy, it is the people that elect the president. Every president is a direct choice of the people. If the people are convinced, they will elect an Igbo man. I have no doubt but to wish for the presidency or blackmail the other people to power will not work.”
