Okey Onyenweaku
Former Chairman/ Chief Executive officer of Neimeth Plc and 2023 presidential election hopeful, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, has said recent happenings in the country were indications that the marginalistion of the Igbo is about to come to an end.
Ohuabunwa said he believes that everything, whether good or bad, eventually ends, and the suffering of the Igbo and other Nigerians must come to an end.
The industrialist spoke at a virtual media parley organized by the Abia Media Forum (AMF) over the weekend.
He noted that Nigeria was in need of competent and visionary leader to steer the ship of the country to unity as well as enable it achieve its full potential.
According to him, the fact that other tribes and regions in Nigeria are rooting for a president of Igbo extraction was a sign that unity and total healing was beckoning on the nation.
Explaining further, the former President of Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) opined that bringing an Igbo with character, pedigree and background would provide a final healing balm of equity and justice for the country which, according to him, is fast dividing along ethnic lines.
‘’What it says to me is that everything has an end . This suffering must end. Every Kingdom rises and falls. You know, the marginalization of Ndigbo has come to its end. It is about to end. How do I know? Look at what is happening in our Country,” he said.
‘’Even among the Northerners who say, ah! the power must remain with them, I am hearing many of them – many reasonable people – say no! let it go to the South because they have seen that power remaining with anybody is not what determines what happens; it is what is the benefit. If anybody told the North that at this time in the life of our country, a President with military background, with all the great things we knew and know about him, will be this way, nobody would have believe it. So the country is becoming hungry for leadership, but they want competent leadership.
‘’That is why when the Igbo are talking about being supported to produce the next president, many people are buying into that vision. The believe is that it will bring healing; total healing to the country. Beyond that, they think that somebody with a pedigree and background may help to really bring unity in this country.
What does an Igbo man need in this Nigeria?
“What he wants is a good place to do his business; he wants peace, he wants safety, he believes in live and let live. Igbo man is the one who goes to any part of this Nigeria, he establishes, he buys land, he builds his house, he marries, he speaks the language, he raises his children, he regards the place as his second home. There is no other group that does that. So when people are talking about who loves Nigeria and tries to malign the Igbo I get angry.
“We don’t talk about Nigeria’s unity, we demonstrate it, sometimes with our blood, not only with our money. I have challenged everybody, who is the one that has investments outside their homes as the Igbo’s have? So Nigerians are beginning to think that may be it is about time to let the Igbo have an opportunity to show leadership for our country and also they are looking for competence.
Let me tell you gentlemen, if this country is going to be salvaged; the media, the journalists have a great role to play – greater role than they may know – because they are influence peddlers, because they are people that can interpret things to those of us who do not have the opportunity to interpret things.
“The media must run a campaign to insist that we are tired of money politics; we are tired of prebendal politics and we are tired of politics of mundane considerations. We should look at politics of ideas, politics of achievements and accomplishments. Nigerians are looking for an Igbo man to lead and the Igbo should present their best. They have said, we are willing to support the south East but who are you bringing? Is it the same people we are hearing their names, people who couldn’t run their states that you are bringing. What are they bringing to the table? ‘’
