The President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo says the people of South East Nigeria desire a Nigeria driven by equity, merit and fairness to all citizens.
Nwodo said this on Tuesday in Enugu during the Business Conference of Ohaneze Ndigbo in the Diaspora organised by the Igbo World Assembly (IWA).
Ohaneze Ndigbo is the apex socio-cultural orgainsation of Ndigbo while IWA is made up of members of the organization in the Diaspora with membership in 37 countries.
Nwodo, who presented the keynote address, cautioned the people of the area, especially the youths against falling to antics of anyone or groups that would want to incite them against the country.
He said that his position had been that Nigerians were better together, adding that Ndigbo considering the investments they had made in the country would have a better deal in such conflagration.
The president general also advised the people of the zone to take advantage of the 2019 general elections to support a government that would change the narrative in the country.
Nwodo said that the yearning of majority of Nigerians was to institute a system of government that would re-engineer the economy akin to what obtained in the first republic.
He said that the only way to achieve this was to restructure the system of governance.
“Four zones out of the six in the country have set the agenda for restructuring. I appeal to our people to go out and vote during the election because your warfare is your vote,” he said.
Nwodo said that he looked forward to a time when the children of highly placed politicians in the country would share the same classrooms with less privileged Nigerians as was the case in the first republic.
Earlier, the Chairman of IWA, Chief Nwachukwu Anakwenze, said that the group would mobilise the people of the area and other Nigerians for the elections.
Anakwenze said that their support for any political party would be based on the position of such party in the restructure debate and rule of law.
“We are happy that the ball is set for another election and among other things, we demand for a debate by the presidential candidates to enable the electorate make informed choices,” he said.
He said that it was sad that some politicians from the zone were promoting selfishness which he said was condemnable.
“One of our goals is to regenerate the relationship with our brothers and sisters from the South-South region and work for the sustained security in our area.
“We are resolute in making peace and combating the adversaries that have plagued us.
“We do not believe in promoting ethnicity but in a system where all sections are treated equally,” he said.
Nwachukwu said that political leaders from the area rather than promoting selfishness were expected to derive their authority from the people that gave them their mandates.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured mentorship lectures for the youths. (NAN)