OHANEZE Ndigbo leader Chief Nnia Nwodo has predicted that Nigeria would witness a dramatic turnaround in her fortunes should a president of Igbo extraction emerge at the next elections in 2023.
Although not constitutional, Nigeria’s component parts have a gentleman’s agreement that the presidency will rotate between the north and the south of the country. President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure will end in 2023 and being a Fulani northern Muslim, it is expected that the next president will come from southern Nigeria.
Each half of the country is made up of three geo-political zones, which in the south is made up of the southeast, south-south and southwest geo-political zones. However, since the return to democracy in 1999, the southwest has produced President Olusegun Obasanjo. while the south-south has produced President Goodluck Jonathan, so the next president should come from the southeast.
Chief Nwodo, who heads the umbrella organisation representing all Igbos, said Ndigbo have all it takes to make Nigeria great and become the true giant of Africa. He spoke while congratulating Kaycee Madu, the newly-appointed justice minister in the Canadian province of Manitoba, who happens to be of Igbo extraction.
In addition, Mr Nwodo appealed to the federal government to stop marginalising and victimising the Igbo, so that their latent potentials could be harnessed for the good of all and the advancement of the country. He added that Ohanaeze Ndigbo is highly honoured by the exploits of Mr Madu in Canada as an Igbo son.
Chief Nwodo added: “On behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, I commend the sterling qualities of Mr Kaycee Madu, as well as other Igbo sons and daughters who have excelled so much outside the country, such as the recently appointed first black vice chancellor of Leeds Trinity University in the UK, Professor Charles Egbu, and many others. The exploits of Igbo sons and daughters both within and outside the country are indices of the cerebral capability and ingenuity of the people which Nigeria could exploit to advance its development.”
