From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Former Anambra governorship aspirant and renowned industrialist, Dr Chike Obidigbo has advocated for an agreement to allow the southeast take the first slot at the presidency with the proposed one single tenure of six years rotational presidency in Nigeria.
Obidigbo who made the position in a press briefing in Awka during the weekend warned that unless it is clearly stated that the rotation will begin from the South East , the constitution review would mean another pathway for violent confrontation and friction in the country.
He said the planned constitutional review would produce another master plan to further delay Igbo emancipation in an open society and egalitarian country if the long years of Igbo emasculation and marginalization is not addressed, frontally.
According to Obidigbo, the continued marginalization of the Igbo people poses a significant threat to the thriving of Nigeria’s democracy.
He pointed out that the country’s history since the end of the Nigerian civil war in 1970 has been marked by a deliberate effort to suppress the Igbo nation, despite their efforts to build bridges with other tribes.
He said the recent celebration of 25 years of democracy in the present dispensation by members of the National Assembly failed to address the pressing issue of equitable distribution of political power and argued that this oversight was a stark reminder of the lingering injustices faced by the Igbo people.
“It is worrisome that despite the creation of six geopolitical zones, which was expected to provide equal opportunities and inclusive leadership, the Southeast has not been supported to produce the president of this country.”
“This imbalance in the leadership of the country underscores the sore political points of lopsided allocation of number of states per zone. While other zones have as many as seven and six states each, Southeast is being punished with just five states. This is sad when you consider that national cake is shared out on state-by-state basis.
“The Nigerian state has continued to behave in such a way as if isolating the Igbo is the best policy option to guarantee the country’s unity,” he said.
Obidigbo also tasked Igbo leaders on their tenacity for Igbo cause noting that both the constitution review and planned national census would test the leadership acumen, historical understanding of the present crop of Igbo leaders if only they could limit their appetite for primitive accumulation and engage themselves in deep and creative thinking about the enthronement of a just society, especially for Ndigbo.