The Nation: Posted by: Our Reporter



The elections are due on Saturday and the presence of the party that has won the presidency and majority seats in the National Assembly in the Southeast is worrisome to some discerning leaders of the geo-political zone. One of them – Chief Ralph Obioha – in this article, entitled: “Let us vote for APC on April 11”, is urging his kinsmen to be on the positive side of history.

My apologies to Igbo are predicated on the reality of check that majority Igbo leaders misled our people and the blame should not be visited on the generality of Igbo. What happened on March 28 was a complete leadership failure and a complete analysis will be disclosed after the April 11 governorship and Houses of Assembly elections. But suffice it to be noted that the unique experiences the Igbo have been subjected to in Nigeria have a lot to do with their mindset to secure safety in the majority.

An inalienable logic when their leaders did not calculate properly that the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) meant that the majority had shifted to the new party.

Some experienced Igbo leaders including Chief Enechi Onyia, a Senior Advocate of Nigerian (SAN), Chief Onwuka Ukwa, Chief Dozie Ikedife and a host of us, observed the dangerous path the Igbo were treading and the depth some of the Igbo leaders were determined to mislead our people. We came together to advise our people to vote for Gen Muhammadu Buhari. We may not have succeeded in winning any of the states in the Southeast for Buhari and it is with pain and not shame that we failed but at least we stopped the outlandish excessive allocation of votes borne out of our loud sanitisation of our people that President Goodluck Jonathan failed the Igbos, Chief Ralph Obioha in the Daily Sun publication of March 26, gave five reasons why Igbo should vote for Gen. Buhari. All that is now history. I urge my fellow Igbo leaders to join me to direct Igbo voters to massively vote for the APC on April 11 for the following reasons.

•The Igbo nation cannot and should not jeopardise its destiny and viability on the flimsy reason of “we are PDP” and as such we shall continue to vote the PDP. It will be absurd to swim and sink with a party. The stark is that the party – PDP - did not reward Igbo adequately for the support, votes and investments the Igbo continue to make to the party. The Igbo should ask the plain question of what the party and by extension the outgoing administration did for the Southeast.

•The Igbo nation cannot gamble with positioning themselves into the Nigeria political equation as things stand now. With no senator-elect on the platform of the majority party – APC – in the Senate, it is obvious that the Senate President shall elude us. The thought of this is painful but our next move can at least show that mistakes made are not repeated.

•The Igbo nation must factor itself into the mainstream of today’s Nigeria and this time with new leaders who henceforth should be accountable. The accountability referred to here is to render selfless service and project the sterling qualities Igbo have earned over time namely: hard work, honesty and unflinching loyality.

•The Igbo nation must reject the buccaneers foisted on us as emergency leaders whose god is money and possess no qualities of leadership and are ready to mislead the Igbo people into political suicide only to turn around and rush to the APC to seek political appointments without shame or remorse.

•The Igbo nation must wear a new thinking cap and indeed think out of the box and do the obvious and the sensible by ensuring a massive and strategic movement to the APC by their votes on April 11 both as an atonement and good faith gesture to demonstrate a change of mind and attitude.

I have received numerous and uncountable texts, calls and visits from concerned Igbo enquiring what we shall do now. Frankly speaking I do not know but what repeatedly strikes me is the call for Igbo to think now with their heads and do the correct political action – vote APC on Saturday.

I should start with Imo State. If for nothing else, we Imonites should admire our Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, for his outstanding vision to allign with the APC and Gen Buhari. Every right-thinking Imo voter should cast his/her vote for Governor Okorocha and APC on Saturday. For those holding some reservations about Governor Okorocha, this is not the time for that as the Igbo adage says: “A man should not be catching rats whilst his house is on fire”. Imo people should be proud of Governor Okorocha and vote massively for him to retain the governorship and vote in his House of Assembly members to strengthen his hand. The Imo State leaders and stakeholders will be shocked of this stand that I have adopted as many are aware that the governor and I are at daggers drawn. This my new position should help them to reconsider the entire precautious position in which the Igbos and Imonites have found themselves and that should help them reconsider their respective positions stand down their personal interests and pursue collective interest.

I am calling on the former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu to rise to the occasion and intervene in Abia State and “manufacture” a new coalition to support the APC governorship candidate to increase the Igbos participation in the new emerging leadership in Nigeria. Governor Okorcha cannot do it alone as the Igbos are wont to realise that one man cannot accomplish much. This move can be accomplished if the Igbo can immediately weigh the enormity of what awaits them in Nigeria where they have little or no representation. If there is one man who can change the Abia situation, that one man is Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu but Abia people have many “one man” just to name a few, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, Chief Onwuka Ukwa, the Wabaras, Senator Uche Chukwumeije, Prof. Uma Eleazu, Senator Nkechi Nworgu and Chief Victoria Akanwa. The political giants should answer the call on Igbo to rescue our people from being shut out of the Nigeria equation. After all, Dr. Ogbonnya Onu, a steadfast leader of the APC is a worthy representative of our people and his hand should be strengthened to effectively work for our people.

Lagos is a major interest both to the Igbo settlers and the owners of the land. Conventional wisdom dictates that Igbo should do the bidding of their hosts who have an APC National Leader Senator Bola Tinubu, who must not be embarrassed. Besides, it is in Igbo’s core and vital interest to massively vote for the APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi. Ambode. The Igbo, as already stated are hardworking and deeply- determined people, who want to excel in their personal and professional vocations. Politics is, to tell the truth, not in their DNA and so they can easily be misled by their “leaders”. Once they are alerted an issues, trust them to do the right thing. It must be noted that when the election of March 28 is clinically dissected, it will expose the fraud played to obtain the figures posted in the election. It is inconceivable to admit that Senator Chris Ngige will be defeated in Anambra State. The location where the manufactured result was cooked-up will one day be revealed. One mistake for the Igbo nation is enough but two mistakes will definitely spell doom. In the remaining few days, Igbo should all become canvassers for massive votes for the APC to ensure our place in the New Nigeria. I strongly believe that if the Igbos massively vote in Imo, Abia and Lagos for the APC, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari will create a situation to properly situate the Igbo.

This is a good piece...

AMBODE for LAGOS...APC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!

great points, i wish people would think like you

Supported.

We need performance not party sentiments. How does voting a party solve our problems.