Political debates are heating up Nigeria for the 2015 presidential
elections. The debates are divided among regions, political divides and
individuals in the country. Ndigbo are the most affected in these
un-organised debates. Bystanders are watching some Ndigbo make a mess of
their people in a disgusted manner. Many of them, who are in the employ of
the present government, want continuity, whereas others in and out of the
government want the president of Nigeria to come from the Igbo extraction,
in the next election. To a former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Orji
Uzor Kalu, it would be un-frankness if the president of the country did not
come from Igbo in 2015.
Kalu buys into the debate that Igbo must produce the president of this
country in 2015; he has floated an organisation called Njiko Igbo in that
regard. Njiko Igbo is his project aimed at uniting Ndigbo for this task.
Kalu’s insight into this project speaks positively volume, as a politician,
influential businessman and founding member of the ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP). His love for Ndigbo and the unity of Nigeria is
unquestionable; he is incessantly travelling out of the country to seek for
Igbo unity and attract investors into Nigeria. To this fact, Kalu can be
said is one of the foremost image-makers of Nigeria in this democratic
dispensation.
As a country that is rated in the comity of nations as developing, Kalu
believes that Ndigbo should not relax in their oars and watch the political
events of the country being handled by people from other regions of the
country as from time to time; Ndigbo should be able to identify political
opportunities for their engagement and growth. He believes that politics
has become a key focus of Nigerians. In this regard, he has been to many
countries in Europe, USA., Guinea, Sierra Leone, Togo, Congo and partially
visited Namibia and Angola for the continuous preachment for the unity
among Ndigbo and by extension, the Nigerian people.
Upon that there are a lot of governance challenges today in Nigeria, Kalu
believes so much in the axiom that no matter how hot anything may be, it
will cool down someday. Kalu has been clamouring for the boost in security,
economy and the spirit of many Nigerians that are discouraged, because of
the challenges facing the country – manmade and natural-made – especially
as the president had pleaded to Nigerians to give his administration up to
2013 to reform the country.
This is already 2013 and what Nigerians continue to read on the newspapers
and listen on the Radio and TV are cases of official monumental frauds
among the ruling class instead of records of breakthroughs in developmental
strides that need urgent attentions. Any group or person from Igbo can say
what he or she likes but one thing remains open: Kalu works with his
conscience. He has often said it that Njiko Igbo is not going to fight any
opposing agenda of this grand move to actualise an Igbo Presidency. Kalu
would say, “We are only negotiating and begging to see that justice is
done.”
Ndigbo cannot be fulfilled Nigerians once the continuous relegation of them
is orchestrated as their fate not to clinch the exalted office of the
president of the country. In an interview, one of the auctioneers of Igbo
presidency to other regions in Nigeria come 2015, a woman from the
South-East, said that what she knew was that 2015 is a mirage for the Igbo,
because Nigeria has an incumbent (president) and that he may run for a
second term. “Even if the president says he will not go for second term,
I’m not sure that northerners will agree that an Igbo should go. Let’s plan
for 2019, which is more realistic,” the woman said.
It is very unfortunate that someone who is known as a politician from the
South-East can condescend that low, by becoming an apologist of
northerners. She forgot that the northerners had held Nigeria down for
uninterrupted 35yrs, recycling power among themselves. This is against what
Kalu has severally said that those persons from other tribes who have ruled
Nigeria for years did not have two heads as against one head.
Kalu believes in the possibility of an Igbo presidency in 2015, and he has
started to build bridges of dialogue and form strong partnerships across
any warring opinions. Kalu is not alone in this movement; many of his
supporters are of the opinion that this Njiko Igbo project is feasible.
Many dignitaries from other tribes are also aligning with this vision, a
fact that has buttressed that Njiko Igbo is breaking any cultural and
political barriers that had held Ndigbo down for ages, and is making sure
that other regions see reason why there should be an Igbo presidency in
2015.
It is however imperative to say that no matter all the auctioneers that
have surrounded this Igbo presidency project because of their personal
political lucre in this present government, Kalu who has bought the idea of
Igbo presidency should continue to put in his best forward, and should not
mind those voices begging for the Igbo presidency beyond 2015. Ndigbo
should not beg for the presidency because they do not signify weakness both
spiritually and otherwise.
