Of course, I am a Nigerian and primarily from an ethnic group. Before you think this is a piece about someone claiming that his tribe is marginalized, I am from the Southwestern axis of the country. Specifically, I am from Ibadan Oyo State.
I have chosen to fill you in on this because I am a neutral voice to a great extent when discussing this subject. However, I am listening to the voice of reasoning and deciding to act in that light. This is why I am saying that THE IGBO’S HAVE BEEN CHEATED FOR TOO LONG.
This is not just about the presidency but it concerns infrastructural development as well. For example, I lived for a while in some southeastern parts of the country. I have visited all LGA in Ebonyi state and lived for a few years in Enugu state.
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, the rail system does not work in this part of the country. This is ironically sad seeing how places like Aba and Onitsha are some of the mainstays of commerce and trade in this country.
As a Yoruba boy, I am well aware that you can take a train down south in Lagos and end up far north in Kaduna and beyond. This is just one of the several examples that explain how marginalized the Igbo’s have become in a system that is supposed to respect them as a major ethnic group.
Another way Igbo have been marginalized is the area of the presidency of the Nigerian Nation. Except for during the first republic when Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe became president under the platform of the NCNC, no Igbo person has held this position since then.
Even as far as military dictatorship is concerned, only Aguiyi Ironsi led the country and that was very short-lived. I have been hearing a lot of comments on why it is near impossible for an Igbo person to become president of this country.
Some people say that the Igbo’s are not united enough to make a serious claim. There is some sort of truth to this but it is not enough reason. History has shown this as explained by Pastor Tayo Ayorinde – the Leading Pastor of the Kings City Believers Church.
The clergyman explained that “what is wrong in OFFERING IT TO THEM (Igbo’s). This is even if it is in the spirit of fairness. Post-June 12 and after the death of Abacha, the whole nation knew that having a Yoruba president was the only way to assuage the agonies of the annulment of that election and the death of the winner who was a Yoruba man. That was why in 1999 it was an all-Yoruba affair…OBASANJO/FALAE. Don’t forget that Dr. Alex Ekwueme was a founding father of the PDP. This was even before IBB went to bring in OBJ. Yet the man magnanimously let go and the Yoruba’s were ”OFFERED” the presidency. Nothing stops an Igbo man from becoming president now. Except, of course, our insincerity!”
Truth be told, it is high time the nation at large stops sidelining the Igbo’s. Enough is indeed enough!
