Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
A coalition of Igbo youths under the aegis of Anambra State Youth Solidarity Movement (AYSM) has described the presidential ambition of Labour Party candidate, Mr Peter Obi, as a sabotage to the Igbo tribe.
The group said Obi’s ambition and quest for presidency is detrimental to the Igbo race and does not stand for the future of the Igbo in the political calculations of the country.
Addressing journalists, Wednesday, on behalf of the AYSM in Awka, the Anambra state capital, Chukwubuikem Uloka, the group’s spokesman, urged the labour party candidate to withdraw from the contest and join hands in negotiating the political future of Ndigbo and the people of southeast.
He said: “Following, the very timely, strategic and historic treatise released by the erudite professor, the executive governor of Anambra state, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, on the future of the Ndigbo in the political calculations of Nigeria.
“Ndigbo must be now wake up and adopt the political sagacity and gusto of late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, of which it seems our Yoruba brothers have learnt quickly and are now implementing. The Zionist politics of bridge building gave Ndigbo our best chance in the political history of Nigeria.
“When an Igbo man was president of Nigeria in the 60’s, and another Igbo man as Senate president, the same Zikist politics of alliance gave Ndigbo the Vice Presidential and House of Reps Speakership slots in 1979. That is what Ndigbo has forgone for wishful thinking and mob action which has repeatedly gotten us nowhere.
“Let’s not be emotional about it, no Igbo man can be president of Nigeria without a formidable alliance with at least an arm of the other major regions that made up Nigeria. Our brother, Peter Obi, does not have this alliance and knows very well that an irate social media mob does not and cannot make him president.
“Truly, Peter Obi’s presidential sojourn is a sabotage to Ndigbo. What he has only succeeded in doing is increasing APC’s chances of winning the election by depleting the votes of the Southeast for PDP.
“The implication is that the South easterners will have to stay out of power for a minimum of another 16 years. If Peter Obi truly loves Ndigbo, he should step down forthwith and strategies with other well-meaning Igbo elites in charting a way forward for Ndigbo.
“The presidency is not won on the premise of wishful thinking and hullabaloo of an untamed mob, who probably does not even understand the need for a pathway for Ndigbo in their quest for the topmost seat in Nigeria.”
Condemning the series of social media attacks targeted at the Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, it advised angry mobs to desist from such actions, noting that henceforth, such would not be tolerated but treated with corresponding response.
It also urged Ohanaeze Ndigbo to engage with the frontliners in the forthcoming presidential election, and secure bankable negotiations for Ndigbo and for Igbo political renaissance and pathway to the country’s presidency.