Anthony Iwuoma
Ahead of the national convention of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to cpick its flag bearer in the 2023 presidential election, a stalwart of the party in Imo State, Chief Amah Franklyn, has made a case for the Igbo, especially former Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, to be considered for the ticket.
What is your take on the quest of the Igbo to produce Nigeria’s president in 2023?
Indeed, so much has been said and written about the Igbo presidency project. It is not a mere agitation but also one founded on justice. For the sake of equity, the next president of Nigeria should come from the South, south-east in particular. Unfortunately, while the South-west agrees that power must rotate to the South, they also insist on producing that president. That is wickedness. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, should have no business running for this ticket. Let’s forget the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, because it has already messed up and shall pay for it. Nobody is saying they are not qualified to run. Each of them can make a good president. What we are saying, however, is that the South-west has been president for eight years and vice president for another eight years, making cumulative 16 years. But where is fairness if the South-east that has not come anywhere near is shunted out again? We cannot be telling the North to allow power shift to the South whereas the South does not want power to shift appropriately among the constituent zones.
So, who do you think is best suited for the ticket in the South, or South-east?
The lot falls on Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, immediate former Minister of State for Education. He was the first to purchase the presidential nomination and expression of interest form. He was the first minister to resign from his coveted job as minister without prompting by anyone because having declared his interest to run for the presidency would, it would conflict with his interest as minister. What could be more honourable than that? The others waited to be ordered to resign by the president before they did. I think he has shown enough capacity and integrity that is lacking in this country and deserves to be rewarded because, indeed, like he also said, Nigeria needs to establish rules and order. A society that is not governed by rules will end up in chaos. That is why we have so much confusion in the polity. People believe so much in money and power. Once you have either of the two, you become virtually untouchable. It is worse when you have both; it ought not to be so.
People accuse him of not consulting like others?
On the issue of consultation with delegates, you are already witnessing what that really means. It simply means money bazaar. Our politics has been monetised. That is exactly why we lack the boldness to confront the looters in government because they settled us upfront and owe us nothing again. They are only in business to recover what they had invested. This is a travesty. So, as much as Nwajiuba respects the almighty delegates, he would also want them to be alive to their conscience, at least, for the sake of the future generation. He should not be seen junketing about when campaigns have not started.
Why do the igbo really insist on the presidency in 2023?
There is no gainsaying that the Igbo deserve to have the presidency in 2023. The reasons are obvious. This is not the time to recount the wrongs done the Igbo. It is more like the time to begin to atone for some of them, beginning with the presidency. One of the things the Igbo complain about is injustice. Why is it now that the Igbo should be considered to produce the next president that the parties no longer want to respect the zoning arrangement? It is interesting to hear those that argue that zoning is unconstitutional; zoning will not throw up the best candidate. It is all a lie. So, zoning was not unconstitutional until now, because it the Igbo turn. Talking about merit, which, among the political actors in both PDP and APC is more capable than Peter Obi and Nwajiuba? PDP has already lost this election by giving Atiku Abubakar its ticket. This is not saying that Atiku is not capable. We are talking about fairness. If people believe that there should be no fairness in politics, they should fear God whose the earth and all therein is.
But critics say the Igbo are not united enough?
Disunity among Igbo is a bland argument any day. How many Yoruba are in the race; what has happened to their unity. How many northerners are in the race; what happened to their unity? Why is the Igbo case different? The Igbo are a unique people with their unique ways. However, I expect and appeal to the Igbo contestants still in the race to do what the northerners did for Atiku. Though they are all capable and can give Nigeria a good government, they should drop their ambitions and rally round Nwajiuba who is the Igbo best bet to pick the ticket. Doing so does not belittle them in anyway. Rather, it would boost their credentials as Igbo patriots who care more about the collective good of the Igbo than self the reasons are obvious reasons.
What obvious reasons?
At 55, Nwajuiba is the answer to the youth running this country is here. He has also packed a lot of experiences traversing the three arms of government and is right when he says nobody has the kind of credentials he has.
He holds a doctorate degree in law; he is a former lawmaker where he excelled as chairman of the works committee and nominated as the Best Legislator in the House of Representatives in a United Nations Democracy Study published in 2002. Until recently, he was also the minister of state for education and had previously served as chairman of Tertiary Education Trust Fundm, TETFUND. Nwajiuba was one of the foundation members of the APC. In fact, he served as Secretary of the Constitution Drafting Committee that produced the constitution of the new party in 2013. What they did was to bring the progressives together, married their views and drew up a constitution fit for a congress of progressives, as could be seen in the name of the party. He had been a member of the All Peoples Party, APP, when he contested and lost the Imo State governorship on its platform in 2003 and 2007, respectively. He also ran again in 2011 on the platform of the Congress for Political Change, CPC, but also lost. He was, however re-elected as member, representing Okigwe South Federal Constituency on the platform of Accord Party in 2019. He ran to the Accord Party because of impunity of the leaders of the APC in the state at the time. That he won despite the odds shows the kind of politician that he is. However, he soon returned to the APC but resigned from the house after being appointed minister by President Buhari.
Don’t you think insecurity in the South-east is a disadvantage?
I will not deny the fact that the South-east is currently challenged security-wise. The agitation for the state of Biafra took a violent turn, unfortunately. However, the actors in this are still subject to investigation. Are there people taking advantage of the crisis to create more trouble? The Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, has consistently denied most of the allegations. They have also canceled the scorching sit-at-home order, which was a very thoughtless idea, yet some people insist on observing it, killing and maiming people. What is happening now is eerie and against the belief and traditions of the Igbo who value the sanctity of life. Imagine beheading an innocent man and placing his head by the roadside, or killing a pregnant woman with her four children. These are unlike the Igbo. If the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are not Igbo, then who are they? The security agencies should please gather intelligence and unmask whoever is behind these and bring them to book. Politicians and other actors should also be suspects; ritual killers too. However, having said that, it is not worse in the East than it is in other areas. These are probably youths that have been frustrated to take to crime by forces beyond their control, including unemployment and underemployment. The worst culprit is marginalization of the Igbo. Imagine PTDF, awarding thousands of scholarships lately with no single easterner. I hope the report is a social media hoax. The stupid excuse is that they could not go to South-east to interview applicants because of insecurity. Where is this kind of wickedness done if not in Nigeria? And when the people tell you to let them go since you don’t want them, you term it something else. Which insecurity are they talking about in the South-east? Did they not go to the North-east and North-west, bastions of Boko Haram insurgency and banditry? Nigeria must deliberately correct the impression that the Igbo are a mere appendage in this country. The time to do that is now and the ball is in the court of the APC by allowing Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba to fly their flag in next year’s presidential election.
