Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, an Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation has insisted that zoning the presidency to the South-East will ensure unity. He said the Igbos had been wanted to rule Nigeria since 1960.

This is contained in a release signed by presidential-general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo George Obiozor on Monday.

“Igbos have been campaigning for their rights to leadership in Nigeria since 1960, hence the complaints of marginalisation in critical areas of politics and government,” he disclosed.

Mr Obiozor, a former Nigerian ambassador to the United States and Israel said the current state of the nation underscored the need for a president of Igbo extraction.

According to him, wherever the next president of Nigeria comes from will send a strong message to Igbos.

“Nigeria will, above all, once again experience resurgence of nationalism with enthusiasm under a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction, with malice towards none, and charity to all,” Mr Obiozor reasoned.

The former ambassador also said there was no better time for Nigerian politicians to embrace patriotism and political wisdom and jettison personal ambition.

Mr Obiozor assured Nigerians that a president of Igbo extraction would bring into office, a sense of peace and harmony to the country, ensure the imperative of national unity and commitment to good governance with dedication, decency and decorum.

The Ohaneze leader admonished political elites to take serious note of denial of justice to any group or groups in the history of Nigeria.

“We need a leader who can unite us as one nation and one destiny and not one Nigeria with disputed destinies as incrementally observed in our history in recent years,” he explained. “How many Nigerians are more popular than Ndigbo political elites within and outside Nigeria who have a high visibility and popularity in Nigeria and outside?”

He argued that “it is part of the prejudice Ndigbo complain about that when the opportunity for leadership comes to them, our rivals and political adversaries always try to shift the goal post whenever Ndigbo are within the penalty box.”

Mr Obiozor added, “In a country where you have a glaring statistics of power sharing history as Nigeria, there is absolutely no doubt that it is politically and morally defensible and justifiable for power to shift to the South and to the South-East.”

(NAN)