Nonsochukwu Uwa, Owerri
The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has called on Nigerian leaders to gather and put pressure on the political system the same way they did in 1999 in favour of the South-West region that produced the president in the country.
Uzodinma said this when he hosted Igbo leaders at the Government House in Owerri at the weekend to honour the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Professor George Obiozor.
Uzodinma argued that at that time, the South-West had cried against political marginalisation of the region. And as a result of the pressure, leaders of the country rallied round and gave their support to the South-West.
According to the governor, “I am worried that while the Igbos have an unassailable case over their post-civil war treatment and plight in the Nigerian federal project, the logic of that case may be compromised by the temperamental actions of non-state actors, to the peril of everyone. This is why I think that the time has come for every patriot to rise and address the Igbo question. What cannot be taken away is that for too long Igbos have cried out profusely over their plight.
“This plight is comparable to the plight of the South-West over the annulment of the June 12 election. Following that annulment, the South-West felt short-changed. They cried out for justice. While some groups did so responsibly, others resorted to violence. The instructive thing here is that at a point the patriotic zeal of the political class in Nigeria was touched and they rose in unison to acknowledge that the Yorubas had cried enough and that it was time to wipe their tears.
“That was why the two major political parties in Nigeria fielded only Yoruba candidates for the 1999 presidential election. Of course, even a political neophyte knew that this was not accidental, but a well-planned act by a group of patriots who had placed the unity of Nigeria uppermost in their minds. It is now obvious from every indication that Ndigbo have also cried enough about their marginalization. It should also be clear to the political class that the time has come to wipe these historical tears of Ndigbo. What is more, most of the patriots who engineered the plan that made the South-West produce the presidential candidates for the two major political parties in 1999 are still alive and active in politics.”
“That same undying love for the country that inspired them to do what they did for the South-West in 1999, should inspire them to do the same for the South-East in 2023. The West, the North, the East and the South are all important in our quest for national unity. This is a clarion call on the political class to do the needful. As the saying goes, ‘e mee nwata ka emere ibe ya, obi a di ya nma’ This simply means, that the only way to make a child happy is to treat him or her the same way you treated the other child,” Uzodinma said.
Among the leaders who attended the Igbo leaders’ meeting, were former presidents of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nnia Nwodo, Gary Igarwey; former military governor of old Imo state, Ike Nwachukwu; former senate presidents, Anyim Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara; former governor of Imo state, Ikedi Ohakim; Chairman Elders Council, of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu; Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe; First Republic minister, Mbazulike Amaechi; among others.
