Politics
AN international group, Igbos for A Progressive Nigeria, IPAN, has emphasised the need for Igbos to work harmoniously to utilise every available opportunity to achieve Igbo Presidency in 2023.
IPAN observed that it would be through unity and consistency of purpose that can pave the way for an Igbo person to emerge as president in the 2023 general elections.
The IPAN National Chairman, Lawrence Onuzulike, said this at Awka, while observing that greed, hatred and inconsistency of purpose might thwart the presidential dreams of an Igbo person.
Onuzulike noted that Igbos are the political giants of Nigeria, but had been rebuffed politically.
According to him, it is wrong that people who produced the first President are no more in the political scheme of things in Nigeria.
“We want to come together, speak with one voice, fight for our rights, and take what belongs to us for the development of the South East.
“We want a united Nigeria, where all Igbos will be a part of the scheme without marginalisation. We must be loved equally.
“Nigeria belongs to us too. We are Nigerians and not black Americans, who are begging to be accepted in America.
“We should stop saying give us the presidency; who is giving you the presidency? We are joint owners of this country and should take what belongs to us.
“We formed this organisation because we discovered that Igbos have been down degraded politically, from being the first President of the country to Senate Presidency and now to nothing. We are no more in the forefront in the political scene.
“An average Igbo man thinks his problems are caused by other ethnic groups. No, we need to change this perception. We may have been treated badly during the war, but we must forgive and forget. We preach love every day, but inside us we don’t love.
“We are not getting the development we want because we are fighting everyone. It is time to reunite and dialogue with others so as to start getting what we want.
“IPAN stands for Igbos for a progressive Nigeria. It is an organisation formed to unite all Igbos all over the world and to bridge the gap between Igbos and other regions of Nigeria.
“We are tired of being seen as people who can’t be satisfied; people who are always fighting. We want to come together as brothers and sisters.
“We want to forgive so that whatever development that is happening in any part of Nigeria will also happen in Igbo land. We want to unite all Igbos and fight for our common interest.
“We should be mindful of who we are projecting. Our problem is that we keep projecting a certain person in one party. It should not be a one party affair.
“It is a time to achieve the presidency, the way to go should be through dialogue, in a peaceful way. We don’t issue threats. We should dialogue to convince.
“Don’t forget we have important Igbos in every party, we need to work together to promote every Igbo in the different parties. We should love ourselves.
“Sometimes the Igbos in one party, hate other Igbos in another party. To me this does not make sense. We cannot promote Igbo presidency without learning how to forgive.
“Let me give an example, Odumegwu Ojukwu ran for presidency of this country against Olusegun Obasanjo, but Obasanjo defeated him in the South East. It was a big disgrace to the people of the region that we did not support our own.
“When Kingsley Moghalu vied for presidency, the Ohaneze Ndigbo publicly endorsed Atiku Abubakar.
“Why must we endorse Atiku openly, even in the newspapers? Ohaneze should be neutral in order to represent the interest of Igbos. They should support every Igbo and offer them a level playing ground.
“We are currently condemning Buhari, but he is the one that has completed the construction of Zik’s Mausoleum for us.
“We need to come home and invest. I bet you, there are Igbos in Lagos and other states who have not visited Igboland over the past 20 years. We are busy running to other states. The same states we feel that hate us,’’ he said.
– Nov. 9, 2020 @ 9:59 GMT |
Tags: 2023 Elections: We need unity to achieve Igbo presidency – IPAN
