A gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 general election, Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi, has advocated for Igbo people to be given the opportunity to produce the president of the country.
Gbadamosi, the candidate of the African Democratic Party (ADP), explained that the move was important to solidify the unity of the country.
He said it was unfair that every other geopolitical zone in the country except the South East has produced the president.
Gbadamosi stated that it was better for the country to break up if the South East would continue to be denied the opportunity.
He said, “I think it is unfair that the Igbo people have been shut out from the office of the President of Nigeria for as long as Nigeria has existed.
“I think it is grossly unfair and it is deliberate. I think it is also to the detriment of our unity if indeed we want to remain a united country, then we need to give everybody a chance because if we are not ready to do that, we need to break up and everybody should go to their separate ways.
“We say we are one united country; everybody must be given a chance to steer us in the direction they think would make a place for everybody. The northerners have had their chance from different parts of that region (North-Central, North-East, and North-West).”
Gbadamosi warned against the north retaining power beyond 2023, saying it was not “feasible”.
The ex-guber candidate added, “If they insist then let us break Nigeria. Let each region go their separate ways. It is either that, or we have a loosed confederation with an option to secede, depending on the available option upon the start of the confederation.
“I disagree with those that say the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable because there is nothing in this world that is created by humans that is not negotiable. It is only the law of God that is not negotiable.
“Are they saying the unity of Nigeria is some kind of gods that we must worship? If the concept of Nigeria is not serving the people that live in that space then let’s break it and let each person go and paddle their own canoe.
“Those that are saying if we break up some of us would go hungry let us go hungry because it is the hunger that made Singapore what it is today.
“Singapore has zero oil and yet they have three of the biggest refineries in the world. We have this problem of being unified with people who have no ambition.
“If Nigeria is not working, just like the Soviet realised that the USSR was not working and they broke up and allowed each country to go and do their own thing and are making huge technological advances, we should do that.
“It is not about size for those that keep arguing that we are better when we are bigger.”