I just listened
with concern to an All Progressives Congress APC inspired news commentary and propaganda aimed
at swaying Ibo support for General Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidential ambition.
The commentary which was aired in the Imo state Broadcasting Corporation IBC,
made a lot of claim about how the people of Niger Delta especially the Ijaws
have been perennial betrayals to the cause of the people of Ndi Igbo.
The writer during the course of his highly
uninformed commentary sought to give the Ibos a false hope that General
Muhammadu Buhari will go for only a term in office after which he will hand
over to an Ibo son as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. After
listening to his piece, my concern became very palpable when one of my good
friends whom I respect very well came around my house to inform me that he is
ditching the Goodluck Ebele Jonathan project for the Buhari project because he
believes that the Ibos are likely to get the presidency faster under the former
military dictator than through our dear ‘Ebele Azikiwe’.
Listening to the
tantrums of this my dear friend against somebody he has passionately supported
earlier, I then understood the impact of the propaganda I listened to on radio.
As much as I
respect the fact that the Ibos have been more than due for the Presidency all
these while in our political history and development, I do also seriously
believe that they must not in the cause of looking for the Presidency at all
cost allow themselves to be deceived by persons who have shown strong disdain
to their very existence. If they do, it will be likened to a married woman who
has been barren for long and due to her condition, decides to commit adultery
with the belief that she may get pregnant only to realize that she has
desecrated her marriage by sleeping with her husband’s greatest enemy.
True to speak, the
people of the Niger Delta region may not be said to have been the greatest supporters
of the Ibo cause. From the days of the civil war, to the Presidential ambition
of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe as well as that of the late war lord Chief Odumegwu
Ojukwu, people of the Ibo land certainly, after studying the level of support
it received from their brothers in the south south before now may resist
supporting somebody from the Niger Delta or Ijaw stock. Be that as it may, it
is worthwhile to understand that during those days, there certainly were Ibos who
did not support those causes. The late Nnamdi Azikiwe reputedly did not support
the war and took proactive measures to make the project fail. He was tagged a saboteur
by a large section of Ibos. His ambition to govern Nigeria during the second
republic suffered heavily due to the way most Ibos perceived his support for
the Biafra cause. Then President Alhaji Shehu Shagari during the quest for a
second term in power granted the late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu Presidential pardon
in his bid to decimate the votes of the late Owelle of Onitsha.
Today, based on
second thought, it is imperative to understand whose interest will be promoted
if the Ibos decide to vote against their younger siblings from the south south.
First and foremost, if the leadership of the APC really did believe that the
Ibos are next in line for the presidency, they would have used an Ibo man as
deputy to the old retired general who is carrying their presidential flag. A
lot of people have suggested that Buhari is too old and may go the Yaradua way.
As much as I believe that it is only God who owns the lives of everyone, we
must also look at it from the perspective of those promoting this line of
argument. What about if it turns out to be true? What then happens to the Ibo
quest for presidency? If not for anything, it will rewind for another 16 years
if not more because Osibanjo who many claim is planted there to take over from
Buhari should he go the Yaradua way will definitely not hand over to an Ibo son.
He will want to do his full term and hand over to somebody who definitely will
not be an easterner
The radio commentary
that precipitated this reaction while propagating that Buhari will rule for
only four years and hand over to an easterner failed to realize that the
Hausa/Fulanis are an intelligent stock of people. If Buhari based on the issue
of age feels he lacks the energy to go for a second term, he definitely will
not hand over to an Ibo man. He will most probably, give it to a younger
northerner like Kwankwaso, Tambuwaal or another element from the north who will
want to exercise his constitutional right to go for a second term. Who will
gain in such a scenario?
Let us flash back
and remember that it was the fear of Alex Ekwueme succeeding Alhaji Shehu Shagari that precipitated the
General Buhari led coup of 1983. Do we then support such a person whose region
has vowed to vote out President Jonathan today because he is not from the
north? My answer to that question is definitely NO.
President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan during the course of his administration has shown strong regard
for Ndi Igbo and no propaganda no matter how sugar coated can take that away
from him. From the Minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy
nay Prime Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, to the Secretary to the Federal Government
Sen. Pius Anyim and others, our dear President through his appointments has not
shown that he disregards Ndi Igbo. We should also recall that it was this same
President that appointed an Ibo son as Chief of Army Staff something those
clamouring for their votes today failed to do when they were in power.
The greatest enemy
of the people of Eastern Nigeria today just like during the civil war days are
the elements supporting the All Progressives Congress APC. A party whose major
interest is to foist both Hausa and Yoruba hegemony on the people especially
the vast minorities that make up our federation. This is what we all as lovers
of a free Nigeria must resist. Ibos will have their turn and it will definitely
not be by supporting Buhari rather it will be by supporting justice and equity
which President Jonathan today, represents.
Comrade Nwokoma
Messiah is the National Coordinator of the YOUTH SAY YES CAMPAIGN INITIATIVE
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