AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY CHIEF ANTHONY FRANK OBINEME {OBUAGUDINDU}, SOUTH EAST COORDINATOR/DIASPORA LIAISON OFFICER PANPIEC ON THE OCCATION OF ALA IGBO DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION {ADF} RETREAT ON THE 7TH JANUARY, 2020 AT MAYFAIR HOTEL, EGBU ROAD OWERRI.

DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANTS OF THIS EVENT
MEMBERS OF PANPIEC
MY LORDS SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

On behalf of PANPIEC, I welcome us all to this historic event. PANPIEC is an umbrella body of all organizations championing the Nigeria Presidency of Igbo Extraction in 2023. It is an equity and justice project geared to ensure the political stability of Nigeria in 2023 and beyond.

The quest for political justice in Nigeria is not different from similar quests that made Barrack Obama became the President of United State of America some years ago. It is not different from the political justice that made Nelson Mandela the President of South Africa after several years of political marginalization of blacks in South Africa.

An Igbo occupying Aso Rock in 2023 will mark the true end of the civil war. It is both an emotional, psychological and physical phenomenon. It does not even mean that Igbo land or Nigeria will become an Eldorado. Yes, it may leapfrog our country but beyond that, there is a need to assure present and future generation of Igbos that we are not slaves in Nigeria. Of all the geopolitical zones in Nigeria, it is only the South East and the Igbo in general that has not produced the Nigeria president. Some people argue that the Igbos did not vote President Muhammadu Buhari and so should not expect the APC to give them presidential ticket in 2023. Some others want the South West to be considered while some die hards even want the North to retain power in 2023. It will be grievous however, for our Yoruba brothers to contemplate having another shot when their Igbo neighbors have not had the opportunity even for once. It will be a moral challenge for those who grandstand for the North to take another shot in 2023.

Whether Igbos voted for President Buhari or not in 2015 and 2019, the fact is that the rest of Nigeria and the political parties have to and need to work towards the election of an Igbo person as the President of Nigeria in 2023 for the peace and political stability. This is the mood of the nation today. We have seen cases where candidates from other geopolitical zones became president without the support of their people. We have seen cases where even someone from a political and demographic minority became president to satiate and satisfy justice and equity factor in Nigeria. The same thing should apply to the Igbo whether they voted for president Buhary or not.

The Olu Falaye/Olu Obasanjo scenario of 1999 should be replayed in 2023, whereby the two key political parties in Nigeria should field an Igbo Presidential candidates in 2023. The choice will then be among the Nigerian to decide. It will ensure justice, peace, equity and stability of the nation. Eight years of Nigeria President of Igbo Extraction would be a win win situation for Nigerians as Igbos are nation builders and developmental champions. PANPIEC needs your support.

We are consulting, reaching out, networking and building bridges with other stakeholders in Nigeria. It is a platform for all Nigerians regardless of tongue and tribe. The issue of agitations by Igbo youths for a state of Biafra is not a reason to deny the Igbos their own turn to produce a president of Nigeria. The bloody agitation by the Boko Haram for a Caliphate in the North, the agitation by the Oodua People’s Congress for Oduduwa nation, and the agitation by the Niger Delta militants for a Niger Delta Republic did not stop their people from producing occupants of Aso Rock at different times. Igbo nationalists were at the fore front of Nigeria independence. They live and develop all parts of Nigeria where they settle. They are nation builders. The agitation for Biafra by the youths is only a signpost to their quest for social, political and economic justice in Nigeria. Nobody should therefore hold us to ransom with the Biafra agitation or use it as an alibi to deny us our legitimate right.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo clamor for restructuring of Nigeria and other clamors for social justice in Nigeria would all be a plus rather than minus to a better Nigeria and so are corollary to agitations for a Nigeria Presidency of Igbo Extraction.

We seek your support for PANPIEC.
Happy New Year and God bless

For Prince Uche Erondu
Director of Media and Publicity PANPIEC