BY EMMANUEL MGBEAHURIKE, Owerri
The president general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof George Obiozor has called on Ndigbo to stop the lamentation over the denial of the presidential tickets by the two major political parties in the country.
The Ohanaeze president, however, admonished Ndigbo not to Lament much but wait for the verdict of history and expressed conviction that in the end, the political manipulation would end in “a pyrrhic victory for those who rejoice and celebrate injustice.”
The South-East presidential aspirants in the two mainstream political parties had lost in the primaries with some not getting any vote despite the overwhelming agitation for the region to produce the next president based on equity, justice, and fairness, and in the spirit of rotational presidency between the North and South.
While Senator Bola Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor from the South-West, emerged the presidential candidate of the ruling APC, former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the North-East emerged the PDP presidential candidate in elections that were allegedly ‘dollarised’, that is, for the highest bidder.
However, Obiozor, who had remained silent about the outcome of these primaries, broke his silence on Saturday morning in a statement titled: “What does Nigeria want from Ndigbo?”
The former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States of America, said, “Now it is clear that the Nigerian national political elites have successfully orchestrated to deny the South-East an opportunity to produce the president of Nigeria come 2023.
“By this machination, some Nigerian leaders have demonstrated gross historic injustice towards Ndigbo, beyond our expectations.”
Obiozor, stressed that Nigeria, by its deliberate injustice, has failed the Rotary Club International four-way tests, “which are: first of the things we think, say or do: Is it the Truth? ,– Is it fair to all concerned? , will it build goodwill and better friendship? and – will it be beneficial to all concerned?”
“While urging Ndigbo not to lament much but wait for the verdict of history, he expressed conviction that in the end, this political manipulation would end in a Pyrrhic victory for those who rejoice and celebrate injustice.”
Obiozor, who conveyed his statement through the National Publicity Secretary of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, commended Nigerian statesmen and patriots across the country, who supported the idea for the South-East to produce the president of Nigeria in 2023, based on Nigerian proven history of rotation of power between the North and the South as well as commitment to equity, justice, and fairness.
