Yoruba cooperation key to realizing Igbo presidency – Group

A pan Igbo grassroot socio-cultural organization, The Imeobi Igbo Forum has called for the cooperation and support of the people of the South West to ensure the emergence of an Igbo president come 2023.

It said the cooperation of the Yorubas with Ndigbo was crucial to producing Nigeria President of Igbo extraction.

In a statement signed by its President, Dr. Mike Ikegulu and Secretary, Barr. Chibuike Nwabeze, the forum maintained that Nigeria could only arrive if Igbos and Yorubas purposefully, sincerely and effectively cooperate and work together politically.

The group added its voice to the statement of Chief Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Anambra State Governor who posited that “Nigeria’s colossal failure is as a result of the unenlightened competition between the Igbos and the Yorubas”.

It urged both Nations to shun short sightedness and drop prejudice resulting from age-long differences which made them allied with groups other than each other to the detriment of the greater good of Nigeria.

The statement partly read, “The cooperation and support of the Yorubas can produce Nigeria President of Igbo extraction which will offer Igbos opportunity to unleash their love and release their ingenuity to the development of Nigeria for Nigerians.

“Both Nations significantly delivered Independence to Nigeria.

“The Igbos don’t need to campaign for it. Equity demands it. The Yorubas fought against the injustice meted against Abiola and with the support of the entire South saw the emergence of Obasanjo.

“Imeobi Igbo Forum calls on Nigerian nationalities to follow the lead of Tanko Yakassi and Edwin Clark in the advocacy of zoning the presidency to the South East.

“We believe that if allowed, Igbos can replicate the experience that resulted in the then Eastern region becoming the fastest growing economy in Africa.”

The forum lamented that sleeze, mendacity, corruption, treasury looting, poverty and insecurity have become the order of the day which is the opposite of the dream of a land of promise nursed by the forebears from these two nationalities when they fought and delivered Independence to Nigeria.

“Let the Igbos and Yorubas stop living in the past. Throw away suspicion and rivalry which tantamounts to mortgaging the present and future interests. God can fix Nigeria through Ndigbo to restore the dignity to our national ethos”, it stated.