Ahead of the 2015 general Elections, all geo-political zones have tried to sell the concept of the next president emerging from their respective sector, there have been pressure groups, campaigning and sometimes bad mouthing other zones involved. But of all these zones, it seems the most prominent has been the northern part of the country. This is a zone that believes it was robbed of its “right” to a second tenure and they have done all within their power to make this known to all that bothers to listen, but yesterday a pan-Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has asked those clamouring for a President of a Northern extraction to banish such thought.
President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State chapter, Chief Tobias Idika, in a statement on Tuesday, bemoaned the plight of the Igbos within the country’s political configuration, saying it appeared that people of the South-East were no longer Nigerians.
He said, “The truth is that it appears the South-East is no longer part of this country. If it were to be in an ideal society, where justice and equity reign supreme, our brothers from the North should have had that moral obligation to graciously surrender power to the South-East at the expiration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.
“For informed minds, the history of politics and power sharing in this country has never favoured the South-East since independence and it is obvious that since the civil war, our brothers from the North believe that we are a conquered people and should not be considered in the socio-political cum economic arrangements in Nigeria.
“The same power they seek was with them for over three decades, and yet the North is counted as the poorest and most backward in terms of education and human development. It then means that those who clamour for power in the North do so for their own selfish aggrandisement.
“What is the need of clamouring for power when they cannot use it to develop their region?”
He added, “The point I want to hit on the head remains that immediately after President Goodluck Jonathan, power must shift to the South-East. Ndigbo must have their turn and it is non-negotiable. My advice to our brothers in the North is to be considerate and stop seeing political power as their birthright. At this point, one begins to think that some cabals in the North manufactured the Boko Haram just to stampede Nigerians into agreeing to their terms of taking power back.”
Giving what could be described as a blow-by-blow account of Monday night’s carnage perpetrated by the Islamist Boko Haram sect in Kano, Idika,who is also the President-General, Leaders of Ethnic Communities Resident in Kano State, said 45 people lost their lives.
According to him, it was not the first time non-indigenes were being targeted by the group.
He, however, commended the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 1, and the state Commissioner of Police, Musa Daura, who, according to him,were at the scene of the incident for an on-the-spot assessment.
He said,”On Monday, July 29, between 9 and 9.30pm, terrorists invaded Sabon Gari, an enclave for non-natives and planted Improvised Explosive Devices, which exploded almost simultaneously at Enugu/Igbo Road, near International Hotel and on New Road, directly opposite the popular Ado Bayero Square, precisely at No. 38, 39, 40 and 41.
“At 41, New Road, Christ Salvation Pentecostal Church was also bombed at the peak of evening worship. Ohanaeze’s account can confirm 39 deaths on New Road and six on Igbo/Enugu Road. Also, unspecified number of people got injured. The team of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Kano State chapter, arrived the scenes at about 9.30pm and witnessed the moving of dead bodies and the wounded by security agencies, mostly the Army.