Ohanaeze Ndigbo: Power Is Not Given By Emotions But By Playing Politics -By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu

As the 2023 elections draw closer, there have been reactions from different parts of the country with majority of the Southerners alluding to the fact that it is now their turn to produce a president to lead the nation at the end of President Buhari’s administration.

However, the South seems to be divided on where the next president should come from. The Igbos who have been neglected and almost pushed out national politics are championing for an Igbo man to emerge the next president.

Prior to this however, it is on record that the first person to make the move of presenting himself as a candidate for the next election is the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The question on the lips of many Nigerians is why did the Easterners waited for a big player like Tinubu before they started declaring to run for the highest office in the country?

The Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex Igbo social-cultural organization has been employing different techniques available to make other parts of the country succumb to their request.

In what looked like a blackmail, the group has been issuing lots of statement in which they are sending strong, or appeals if you wish to other Nigerians to vote for an Igbo man come 2023.

Recently, the President of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide, George Obiozo said Igbos are prepared and deserve the presidency.

In one of its move, the group wooed the Area Consultative Forum in a meeting it held in Kaduna.

During the meeting, the Ohaneze Ndigbo Secretary General, Okechukwu Isuguzoro said ” The North should give us the opportunity, because we know that the North plays the role of kingmakers in the nation’s politics. We are here to ask you to support an Igbo man for the presidency. There should be no more abusive words between the North and the South East, as was the case in the past.”

The statement above though qualifies partly as negotiation, it however lacked the logic of a winning mentality. It is a defeatist approach.

The Ohanaeze ought to know that power is not given on a platter of gold or emotions and begging the North to give an Igbo man an opportunity to be the next president in 2023 is defeatist in nature.

Instead of putting its house in order first, the group is merely joking around using emotions to blackmail other parts of the country to give them a chance.

To the best of my knowledge, the group is yet to present a candidate that has a pan-Nigerian spirit and not just regional politicians.

For the avoidance of doubt, Peter Obi seems to be a good candidate the region can present as a presidential aspirant in the coming elections. But David Umahi, Rochas Okorocha and the rest are also coming up to take the highest political position in the country.

This action alone will count against the South-East, there will be divided votes and the Igbos need to know that the country has left the era where you play only regional politics and use emotion and cheap blackmail to win the National politics.

For long, the Igbos have been playing their cards in one basket. Majority of the regions votes at the national level had been to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

As the structure of Nigeria is now, the South Easterners need to join other parties, the APC if need be and come out from their cocoon to play national politics.

It is a truism that the region has been enmeshed in a lot of violence for some months now. The agitation of secession from Nigeria as been championed by IPOB and its founder, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has thrown the region into a big turmoil and hardship for the people.

The constant killings and attacks of civilians as well as security agencies should be a concern to groups like the Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

The wanting killings of security agents by hoodlums suspected to be IPOB without abatement is tarnishing the image of the region. Aside that, the constant sit-at-home protest being announced by IPOB and enforced by hoodlums is crippling the economy of the region, which in turn adds to the hardship of the ordinary man on the street whose main goal is to make a living.

The South East leaders have been unable to rise to the occasion by stopping the wanton killings and destruction of properties and also clampdown of the hoodlums enforcing the sit-at-home protest.

To bring this article to closure, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo and indeed the South Easterners should know that for them to be the next president of Nigeria. They must first believe in the unity of the country and stop playing the victim card.

They should also quench any thirst for secession and call IPOB and its leaders, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to order.

Ohanaeze should also take notice that the group needs to invest in the media as the platform plays a critical role in championing its course for a President come 2023.

Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu is a Post-Graduate Student at NIJ, Lagos

Omotoyosiwrites on Twitter