Igbos are Not Allergic to Nigeria’s Presidency
There is hardly any argument in the Nigerian polity on how unfairly the Igbo have been treated in the Nigerian federation. Yet, there is hardly a logical or convincing reason why they do not get their fair share in the Nigerian state. It is certainly not for lack of push or lack of relevant persons. But even if that was the case, deliberate effort should be made to comprehensively integrate the Igbo folks into the Nigerian system.
Those who seem to argue that the Igbo are not fit to rule this country have nothing else to cite other than the banal issue of the Nigerian civil war of over fifty years ago.
The Igbos are the most gregarious set of people in Nigeria. The joke has often been made that wherever you go on this earth, if you don’t find an Igbo man there, better run away fast. It is very true. I recall how, 31 years ago, during our NYSC “endurance trek” into a distant forest (close to Cameroun) in Benue State, the only place we could find coke to buy (in the middle of nowhere) was being operated by an Igbo man. They are just everywhere. What is more, they do not just inhabit a place, they possessively settle in a place. In the part of Lagos I live, an entire flank of an estate has been completely bought over by Igbos. That they are masters of entrepreneurial drive is clearly beyond argument.
But anytime it comes to political issues, they are not only treated shabbily, but with a disdainful slice of tokenism.
Nigeria is said to be on a demographic tripod: the Hausa/Fulani, the Yoruba and the Igbo. In-between and among these three dwell the many other minority groups, including my Urhobo folks men and women.
How can it be thus explained that even in the convenient calibration of the Nigerian state into six geo-political entities, it is only the South East geopolitical bloc that has five states, while others have six states each with even the North west having seven states? Why was the South East “short-changed”? It is even an annoying irony knowing that this idea of geo-political groups was the brain child of late Dr Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo man.
There is a deliberate attempt to incapacitate the Igbo nation. Both the military oligarchy and the political elite of this country have always sought to scheme the Igbo nation into a state of subservient force. Were it not so, how can it be explained that the beside having just five states instead of six, the entire number of Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the South East (95) is less than the number of Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the three northern states of Katsina, Kano and Jigawa States (105)? And to know that even the last two states (Kano and Jigawa) were just one state initially.
At that, not only will the three northern states cited, have more representation at the national parliament, they will also have a larger share of the national cake, when it is shared on the basis of number of local government areas per state. How skewed can a federation be!
It is bad enough that in terms of geographical aggregation, the South east has been grossly undermined, yet it is far worse that even in political leadership, they will perpetually be thrown under the bus. Why can an Igbo man or even woman not become Nigeria’s President? Why are they not usually reckoned with when we are searching for who can lead this country? 2023 is around the corner again. Political discourses seem to focus essentially on the two other strands of the tripod: Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba. Why is the Igbo man not a first choice, knowing that since Independence, nearly 62 years ago, the Igbo man has not quite led the country, save the short stint of Aguiyi Ironsi’s military rule? In our peculiar multi-ethnic configuration, political leadership should be on a turn-by-turn basis, so everybody can have a sense of belonging. The argument that let the best from anywhere emerge seems too elitist for our level of national development. We are not there yet as a people.
That is why the likes of, Yemi Osinbajo, Ibikunle Amosun, Dimeji Bankole, Tunde Bakare , (all from Ogun State), Bola Tinubu, Kayode Fayemi, Ajayi Boroffice etc., from the South West geo-political zone are being enjoined to step down, even by the Afenifere group.
What is good for the goose should also be good for the ganders. The Igbos are Nigerians as well.
In the second republic, the farthest the Igbo man could go was to be the Vice President (Alex Ekwueme) to Hausa Fulani (Shehu Shagari). In the troubled third republic, the farthest the Igbo man could get was senate presidency. The Igbo man is hardly considered fit to head the Nigerian Army or even the Nigeria Police or the DSS, except in few far-in-between cases.
It is this unfair treatment that is making the Afenifere, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) as well as many other fair-minded Nigerians including former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Olu Falae etc., to demand that the Igbos should be given a chance to lead the country, if for no other reason, but political expediency. There are many qualified Igbo men who have signified interest in the position, across both leading political parties: the APC and PDP. But they must do away with the crab mentality.
The Ohaneze Ndigbo, the sociocultural umbrella group of the Igbo must work on their men to love one another. All the aspirants of Igbo extraction cannot become President all at the same time. They should look inward and even unto other Igbo aspirants from outside the core South east geographical enclave and sort themselves out. This is their chance and turn. They should grow beyond wanting to play second fiddle.
What happened in 2003, when even South East governors voted against their own (Alex Ekwueme) in the PDP primaries, (preferring Obasanjo for their own selfish reasons) should not be allowed to happen again. After all, the Igbo man is not allergic to the nation’s presidency.