₦airaland Forum

By Emeka Mamah Enugu

— The South East Leadership Development Initiative, SELDI, has condemned the call by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the Igbo to contest the presidency in 2019, saying the north should be allowed to complete its tenure in 2023. SELDI’s convener, Mr Ikechukwu Modebelu, who spoke in an interview with Vanguard in Enugu said Igbo would likely get the country’s presidency after the north had completed its tenure, warning that no Igbo man should be deceived into running for the office as there was no vacancy in 2019.


Modebelu said Obasanjo was setting a booby trap for the Igbo by asking them to contest the presidency in 2019 when the north had not completed its tenure under the zoning arrangement. He said: “Our region remains one of the major regions that has not had power. We must get prepared for the position by building our own leaders. “Our region needs industries and that is why we are talking about the think-home policy. A study carried out by one of the associations which make up the Ohanaeze Ndigbo socio-cultural association, the Aka- Ikenga, between 2010 and 2011 showed that Ndigbo had over 450 companies between Ota and Lagos axis alone, making the area one of the most industrialised in Africa.


“We need to also encourage our people to invest at home to create employment for our youths, who feel discriminated against in the country. “We must assuage the feelings of young Biafrans that Ndigbo are being treated as if they are not Nigerians by dousing their agitation. “Our elders must have the wisdom of to douse the agitations of our youths by informing them that we are still part of this country between now and 2023 for us to get our people prepared for the position before we can meaningfully campaign for the presidency in 2023.”


Modebelu, however, commended the President- General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, over his recent tour of Rivers State and promise to meet Governor Okowa of Delta State, saying that the boundary of Ndigbo started from Asaba and ended at Ikwere in Rivers State.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/03/igbo-presidency-realisable-2023-seldi/

lalasticlala

Now these are brilliant real Igbos speaking..
Not some hate filled liepod miscreants.

I will mobilize and support for an Igbo President in 2023.

Please Nigeria needs a competent president at this developmental stage and not quota system president.

Please in 2019 we should endeavor to get the best regardless of his tribe or religion.

Hahaha

Igbos:
[s]Now these are brilliant real Igbos speaking..
Not some hate filled liepod miscreants.

I will mobilize and support for an Igbo President in 2023[/s].

Your moniker is offensive.

Will the 'Igbo' president have to work with the current 'Abdusalami constitution' which is purely a 'pro-north' document. Yes he will be forced to.

So you see why IPOB will always maintain that Biafra is what is needed not Igbo presidency that will benefit only ONE IGBO MAN with life pension.


That's why it remains difficult to win an argument against IPOB, they see very far.

MasterofNL:
Your moniker is offensive.

IDGAF About that.

Igbo presidency is very realizable in 2023.

However, the Igbos must play politics with maturity especially the foot soldiers.

Personally, I like to see an Igbo become president in 2023 but the hate, bile and curses heaped on others just because of some unfounded marginalization is not the way to go.

Again, the Igbo as a race is not united to agree on a common ground when it comes to politics.

“We need to also encourage our people to invest at home to create employment for our youths, who feel discriminated against in the country. “We must assuage the feelings of young Biafrans that Ndigbo are being treated as if they are not Nigerians by dousing their agitation. “Our elders must have the wisdom of to douse the agitations of our youths by informing them that we are still part of this country between now and 2023 for us to get our people prepared for the position before we can meaningfully campaign for the presidency in 2023.”

This guy makes too much sense. Hopefully, the Igbos' opinion and policy makers will imbibe this spirit.

Nothing can give Igbos more joy than having their own country. Northeners have ruled this country for decades, yet they are still backward in every aspect of life. Presidency is not their priority. Stop this deception.

Exactly what i said the other day. This is the time these guys have to start building bridges across the country, strengthen existing ties, and stop being confrontational and abusive towards everybody.

You don't strong-arm Nigerians into making one of yours the President. Asari Dokubo and his likes know this for a fact.

Igbos should stop seeing everyone as their enemies and stop viewing everything that happens to them from a tribal perspective- do away with the nnamdi Kanu's ideology. It has proven time and time again to be counterproductive.

DropShot:
Igbo presidency is very realizable in 2023.

However, the Igbos must play politics with maturity especially the foot soldiers.

Personally, I like to see an Igbo become president in 2023 but the hate, bile and curses heaped on others just because of some unfounded marginalization is not the way to go.

Again, the Igbo as a race is not united to agree on a common ground when it comes to politics.

When the time comes and the see indeed how possible it is, they would be forced to unite. Nobody wey no like better thing.

DocHMD:
Will the 'Igbo' president have to work with the current 'Abdusalami constitution' which is purely a 'pro-north' document. Yes he will be forced to.

So you see why IPOB will always maintain that Biafra is what is needed not Igbo presidency that will benefit only ONE IGBO MAN with life pension.


That's why it remains difficult to win an argument against IPOB, they see very far.

We are talking about HUMAN BEINGS (Igbos) and you are here calling ipob.

Not realisable in a million years except if they are prepared to form alliance with the other tribes. I know they can't though, for superiority complex sake!

omenkaLives:
When the time comes and the see indeed how possible it is, they would be forced to unite. Nobody wey no like better thing.

Since 1999, there has not been a single time the Igbos united behind an Igbo candidacy.

I see it as an indication of treachery in a way.

Ojukwu was soundly rejected by the generality of the Igbos. What stopped the Igbos from uniting behind him even if OBJ could still have won?

PMB chose an Igbo running mate on three occasions and on each of those times, he didn't win in Igbo land. Perhaps, if the Igbos had supported him en-mass in one of those times, a president of Igbo extraction would have been achieved.

I'd like to be proved wrong though!

It is also important for us to do a bit of restructuring in this country.

It would be good to implement parts of the recommendations of the 2014 national conference.

Ok

DropShot:
Since 1999, there has not been a single time the Igbos united behind an Igbo candidacy.

I see it as an indication of treachery in a way.

Ojukwu was soundly rejected by the generality of the Igbos. What stopped the Igbos from uniting behind him even if OBJ could still have won?

PMB chose an Igbo running mate on three occasions and on each of those times, he didn't win in Igbo land. Perhaps, if the Igbos had supported him en-mass in one of those times, a president of Igbo extraction would have been achieved.

I'd like to be proved wrong though!

These nuances are not cast in stone. Time changes a whole lot of things including attitude. I have no doubts they'd get their acts right.

DropShot:
Since 1999, there has not been a single time the Igbos united behind an Igbo candidacy.

I see it as an indication of treachery in a way.

Ojukwu was soundly rejected by the generality of the Igbos. What stopped the Igbos from uniting behind him even if OBJ could still have won?

PMB chose an Igbo running mate on three occasions and on each of those times, he didn't win in Igbo land. Perhaps, if the Igbos had supported him en-mass in one of those times, a president of Igbo extraction would have been achieved.

I'd like to be proved wrong though!

Igbos are smart and they have kept their own part of the bargain. If we had supported the above, the power equation would have been destroyed and it would have been against us since 2003.

We did not reject Ojukwu, we only played the politics of zoning and Ojukwu was not the best face for Nigeria's presidency, stemming from the fact that he led Biafra. If all igbos had voted for him, would you have voted for him too? No! So we could not risk it and being neglected in the country's political equation.

Yoruba plans to throw its hat in every election cycle going forward and present a Presidential candidate.

The zoning is not in constitution of Nigeria.

realhumanity:
Igbos are smart and they have kept their own part of the bargain. If we had supported the above, the power equation would have been destroyed and it would have been against us since 2003.

We did not reject Ojukwu, we only played the politics of zoning and Ojukwu was not the best face for Nigeria's presidency, stemming from the fact that he led Biafra. If all igbos had voted for him, would you have voted for him too? No! So we could not risk it and being neglected in the country's political equation.

In 1999, the zoning was only to the South which SE/SS is part of. I understand that OBJ was highly favored then though.

In 2007, 2011 and 2015, had the Igbos played the smart politics by aligning with the North (PMB) then, perhaps a president of Igbo extraction could have emerged by now.

DropShot:
In 1999, the zoning was only to the South which SE/SS is part of. I understand that OBJ was highly favored then though.

In 2007, 2011 and 2015, had the Igbos played the smart politics by aligning with the North (PMB) then, perhaps a president of Igbo extraction could have emerged by now.

You are not quite correct.

In 1999, the general impression was that a Yoruba man should be president because for the first time, a clear winner of a presidential election was denied the office and not only that, he was imprisoned and killed alongside his wife.

So they don't want biafra again? These guys sef

Igbo presidency can only work on restructured Nigeria or in the act of its process...


Igbos have no confidence with the present fraudulent federal system.

DropShot:
In 1999, the zoning was only to the South which SE/SS is part of. I understand that OBJ was highly favored then though.

In 2007, 2011 and 2015, had the Igbos played the smart politics by aligning with the North (PMB) then, perhaps a president of Igbo extraction could have emerged by now.

There was an alliance with Yaradua, who was from the north. The power equation was destabilized by the emergence of a southerner, Jonathan. So, since the north has taken their mandate back, it is in our own interest to wait till 2023.

Igbos:
Now these are brilliant real Igbos speaking..
Not some hate filled liepod miscreants.

I will mobilize and support for an Igbo President in 2023.

Igbo presidency is nonsense. Do you see Igbos agitating for it any more?

What good will the Presidency be for us in a messed up country like Nigeria?

What sane Igbo would even wabt to be president of a messed place like Nigeria?

I would rather if my people stay away from the presidency of Nigeria, it is cursed.

omenkaLives:
We are talking about HUMAN BEINGS (Igbos) and you are here calling ipob.

I've observed them and I have observed your thoughts for months. They sound far more convincing and intelligent than you Sir.

Sir, your rants about Kuje, 'Cownu' and 'beans' didn't do much to convince neutral minds that IPOB is not the way forward. Your comrades will concur albeit silently.

realhumanity:
Igbos are smart and they have kept their own part of the bargain. If we had supported the above, the power equation would have been destroyed and it would have been against us since 2003.

We did not reject Ojukwu, we only played the politics of zoning and Ojukwu was not the best face for Nigeria's presidency, stemming from the fact that he led Biafra. If all igbos had voted for him, would you have voted for him too? No! So we could not risk it and being neglected in the country's political equation.

You are very wise, see the way the dropshot guy was sounding as if they (yoruba and hausa) 'loved' Igbos so much he would have voted for Ojukwu. Laughable!

We know better and we also know that people are far more politically aware today than they were in 1999 and 2003.

DocHMD:
You are very wise, see the way they dropshot guy was sounding as if they (yoruba and hausa) 'loved' Igbos so much he would have voted for Ojukwu. Laughable!

We know better and we also know that people are far more politically aware today than they were in 1999 and 2003.

If or whenever an Igbo man becomes president, the other regions will be itching to remove him because they are used to not having them heading affairs. There will be so much outcry of nonexistent corruption and other vices just to remove him and put it back to where it was.

Igbo presidency, though good, but it will be tantamount to tarnishing the image of Igbos more at the federal level.

realhumanity:
If or whenever an Igbo man becomes president, the other regions will be itching to remove him because they are used to not having them heading affairs. There will be so much outcry of nonexistent corruption and other vices just to remove him and put it back to where it was.

Igbo presidency, though good, but it will be tantamount to tarnishing the image of Igbos more at the federal level.

The level of hatred and propaganda that will be ushered in during an Igbo president's tenure will be unprecedented in the history of mankind.

'Oh he is omo nna, he wants to steal our money, Ibo too like money.'

'Oh he is building Onitsha seaport, Calabar port and Port harcourt, so that he can make lagos port useless'

'This Igbo nyamiri president wants to build Enugu, owerri and Asaba so that Lagos and Kano Airports will become non-functional'

These are the common anti-Igbo narratives that you'll hear during an Igbo man's presidency, and if you are conversant with the prevalent political mindset of anti-Igbos (who now claim to be just anti-IPOBs) you will embrace the IPOB gospel.

MasterofNL:
It is also important for us to do a bit of restructuring in this country.

It would be good to implement parts of the recommendations of the 2014 national conference.

....no, no, no, the only easy way for Igbo to gain the presidency is to rezone Nigeria East West instead of North South!

It baffles me how non Igbo sit here and discuss Igbo issues......maybe because they are special