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By Rejoice Ihedioha.
Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC)) has called for the representation of the South East zone in the upcoming 2023 presidential election.
A release signed by the National President of the group, Comrade Igboayoka .O. Igboayoka, called on the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC the main opposition party, PDP, and other frontline political parties who are lovers of equity, fairness and justice to cede their presidential tickets to the Southeast.
The OYC president who stated this at a press briefing held at the NUJ Secretariat along Port Harcourt road, Owerri on Tuesday, Febuary 15,2022 said,” In the history of Nigeria, Gen Gowon remains a symbol of unity apart from Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe who laid the foundation for Nigerian 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 Head of state Gen Gowon and former Governor General Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, in the sustenance of Nigeria’s Unity.
He added that just like Gowon dealt ruthlessly with those who stood against Nigerian Unity, so has the Nigeria President of Southeast extraction remained the surest means to keep Nigeria one, adding that Igbo youths shall stage a democratic fight and civil disobedience to achieve this goal by all means legally necessary.
The group further urged the political parties to refrain from the protracted injustice and marginalization of the South East region, calling for every action aimed at the indispensable need for a sustainable United Nigerian nation. Also noting that the delay in the APC national convention should however yield to the presidential slot as failure to do so will make Nigeria be like a ship hit by a tornado before 2023.
“There has been gross deprivation, marginalization and victimization suffered by the southeast region over the years. This has resulted in the 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 taken round the three zones in the southern Nigeria, ranging from the Southwest, south south and south east”, he said, adding that power rotates between the Northern and southern Nigeria, and that the other southern region has participated therefore it is rightfully a necessity for these agitations.
“It’s important to put Nigeria and the world on notice today that after our longtime inquiries into 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 the 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 to make a choice as they are inevitable in our time today”.
“However, it is very necessary for a Nigerian president of south East extraction as power is rotated in the two other zones, adding that it will help to redefine the unity of Nigeria. He also countered the statement made by Atiku Abubakar on Friday 11 February 2022 during a visit by the ‘Let’s Fix Nigeria’ to his residence in Abuja. Where Atiku said “there was no zoning in the Constitution” “though there is no zoning, there is a federal character in the Constitution which accommodates every zone, state and ethnicity in position sharing.”
He described the non Igbo presidential aspirants in APC and PDP in the 2023 election as agents of anarchy and disunity in Nigeria. They further called on eminent Nigerian stakeholders, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of state Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, Gen TY Danjuma ,Gen Yakubu Gowon, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, former president Good luck Jonathan, President Mohammadu Buhari and others to rise up and endorse a Nigerian president of Southeast extraction to save Nigeria from sinking.
