Text of a World press conference by the Ohanaeze Youth Council-Oyc led by Comrade Igboayaka O Igboayaka on Tuesday 15th February, 2022 at NUJ press center Owerri, Imo State.
Gentlemen of the press
I welcome you to this Special press conference which centers on the Need for Nigeria President of Southeast Extraction 2023 with the theme: Nigeria President of Southeast Extraction: We Shall Fight Like Gen. Gowon To Keep Nigeria One.
In view of 2022 presidential primary elections, the apex youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide- Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) has caused caution the leadership of All Progressives Congress, (APC) and People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) to jettison any conspiracy to deny Southeast presidential Aspirants tickets in the forthcoming primary elections.
We call on the ruling party, APC and the main opposition party, PDP, and other Frontline political parties who are lovers of equity, fairness and justice to cede their presidential tickets to Southeast.
In the history of Nigeria, Gen. Gowon remains a symbol of unity, apart from Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who laid the foundation of Nigeria Unity. Therefore, in the same Spirit, Igbo youths Worldwide would not hesitate to fight to a finish in their quest to maintain the legacy of the former Governor, General Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and former Head of State Gen. Gowon, hence sustenance of the Nigeria Unity is concern.
Undoubtedly, Gen. Gowon fought with everything within his disposal in 1967/70 to keep Nigeria one. To this effect, every necessary arrangement has been made both in Southeast, South-South and the 25 states in Nigeria were Igbos are second largest populated tribe, to stage a mass-base resistance against any politician or political party that will make a move to deny Southeast presidential ticket.
We will massively shake Nigeria for the sake of Nigeria’s Unity.
Just like Gowon dealt ruthlessly to those who stood against Nigeria Unity, hence Nigeria President of Southeast extraction remains the only surest means to keep Nigeria one, Igbo youths shall stage a democratic fight and civil disobedience to achieve this goal by every means necessary.
Hence Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Gen. Gowon evidently remain the symbol of the present unity of Nigeria today, we shall replicate an act that will give Nigeria a sustainable unity, and that symbol remains to fight for the Nigerian president of Igbo extraction by conventional and unconventional means.
Therefore, Ohanaeze Youth Council(OYC) urges political parties to refrain from the protracted injustice and marginalisation of the Southeast region, we call for every action and emphasize on the indispensable need for a sustainable united Nigerian nation.
At this juncture, we believe that the delay in APC national convention is to have proper arrangements to consider yielding her presidential slot to Southeast, but if the conspiracy in APC is to cede the National Chairman of the party to Southeast as a plan to deny Southeast Presidential tickets, they should hastily disengage from such injustice and marginalization, otherwise if they dare to subvert justice, Nigeria will be like a Ship hit by Tornado before 2023.
There has been gross deprivation, marginalisation and victimisation suffered by the Southeast region over the years. This has resulted in emergence of so many separatist groups and youth restiveness in the Region. Consequently, in the spirit of equity, fairness, justice and unity, power should be taking round the three Zones in Southern Nigeria, ranging from the Southwest, South-South and Southeast.
By every level of logical reason and equity, power rotates between Southern and Northern Nigeria. When it came to Southern Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, the Southwest took the slot of president. In 2007 power shifted to Northern Nigeria, Unfortunately due to the death of President Musa Yar’adua from 2009 to 2011 power shifted to Southern Nigeria and South-south took the president from 2009 to 2015. In 2015 to 2023 the president shifted to Northern Nigeria, hence it’s coming back to Southern Nigeria and the only Zone that has not produced a president in Nigeria, and Southern Nigeria is Southeast. Therefore, Nigerian president of the Southeast extraction is a necessity, very sacrosanct to redefine the unity of Nigeria.
At this point, we want to draw attention of the world and Nigerians against the unpatriotic statement of Atiku Abubakar on Friday 11 February, 2022, when a group known as ‘Let’s Fix Nigeria’ visited him at his residence in Abuja. Atiku said and I paraphrase: “There is no zoning in the constitution; there is none”. That he was a member of the constituent assembly that drafted the current constitution and there was nothing like that.”
It’s truism that there’s no zoning in constitution, but there’s federal Character in the constitution which accommodates every zone, state and ethnicity in position sharing. Therefore, Atiku Abubakar can’t be bigger than Nigeria, it’s the idea of federal Character that metamorphose into conventional Law that the president of Nigeria should rotate among the various Zones.
It’s therefore necessary at this point, we call the attention of Sen. Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Gov. Aminu Tembuwal, Atiku Abubakar and other presidential Aspirants that are not from Southeast that their ambition is not more important than Nigeria’s peace and unity. They should henceforth bear in mind that their presidential ambition is a national threat against the peace and unity of Nigeria, and such threat will lead Nigeria into disintegration.
It’s important to put Nigeria and the World on notice today that after our longtime inquiries to the common opinions in Igbo land about the political and economic survival of Ndigbo. There are two kinds of people; those who are fighting for actualization of Nigerian president of Southeast Extraction 2023 and those who are fighting for Self- determination in Nigeria political project. These two options are before Nigerians and the world to make a choice. These two options are inevitable in our time today.
Finally, Ohanaeze Youth Council has viewed any Presidential aspirants in APC and PDP in 2022 primary election that’s not from Southeast vying for President of Nigeria as an agent of disunity and anachy in Nigeria.
The Nigera president of Southeast extraction is a solution to peace and unity in Nigeria which Ndigbo have offered to every patriotic Nigerian.
We call on eminent Nigeria stakeholders, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Former head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, Gen. TY Danjuma, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Former President Goodluck Jonathan, President Mohammadu Buhari and others to rise up and endorse Nigeria president of Southeast extraction to save Nigeria from sinking.
