Second-Republic lawmaker, Dr Junaid Mohammed has said that the South-East’s ambition to produce Nigeria’s president in 2023 can’t be achieved through force.
He added that resorting to blackmail, insults or threats would achieve nothing, noting that dialogue and persuasion were preferrable alternatives.
Mohammed spoke on threats by some persons threatening that Nigeria would break up if the 2023 presidency was not zoned to the South-East.
The Kano-based sociopolitical commentator warned against plunging the nation into another war in the guise of agitating for the presidency.
Going down memory lane, the retired politician recalled a comment by pioneer Premier of Midwestern Region, Chief Dennis Osadebay on the Nigerian Civil War.
“Chief Osadebe once said that Biafra misadventure was a mistake. First and foremost, Igbo need Nigeria, but Nigeria does not need Igbo. Chief Osadebe was an Igbo man who came from present-day Edo and Delta states.
“So, if they imagine that they can finance IPOB or Ohanaeze to insult and abuse whoever they want to insult, by so doing, by putting a gun on our head and say that it is now their turn to produce the next President of Nigeria, I tell them to go ahead. Let’s see who will blink first,” Mohammed told Sunday Sun.
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He added that zoning and rotational presidency were undemocratic ideals that should not be encouraged.
Advising the South-East on the best course of action, Mohammed said, “The only option to assume power is to persuade other people who have a stake in that power. Persuasion is the only way.
“But, you can’t think that killing of unfortunate northerners in Umuahia, attacking them in Port Harcourt using IPOB or hiding under EndSARS protest to kill people who don’t have anything to do with shenanigans or who exercise the power of who gets what will give you power. No, it won’t.
“In a democracy, the only way is to persuade people to vote for you. But if you think you can do it by force we will wait and see how it goes.”