The South East caucus of the All Progressives Congress has urged pro-Biafra protesters to abandon their cause or it will cost the Igbo ethnic group the chance of producing the president of Nigeria come 2023.
In a statement by spokesman of the party’s South East leadership caucus, Mr Osita Okechukwu, the APC’s zoning formula will produce an Igbo presidential candidate in 2023.
The statement, which was released on Sunday, comes in the light of recent civil disturbances across the South East and South South geo-political zones by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).
Okechukwu said “whereas we agree that there is gross unemployment, discontent and despondency among youths in the land; however it is not peculiar to the South East alone.
“The gross unemployment is nationwide and would be addressed holistically, luckily our son distinguished senator Chris Ngige is the minister in charge of employment.”
He appealed to the agitators to embrace dialogue as a better option to protests and civil unrest. “Our record shows that it’s better to jaw-jaw than to war-war.
“Dialogue is the best solution, albeit we are doing relatively well across the country and our human development index is one of the highest,” he stated.
The statement read in part: “Ndigbo must be strategic in our agitation, as every evidence suggests that we would be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the progressive and prosperous Nigeria being constructed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We cannot act like the rodent inside the deep hole for years, only to revolt when it was about to be freed.
“Methinks that this is not the best of times to hype and escalate the agitation for Biafra, because President Buhari has pledged to resuscitate the dilapidated federal roads in the South East, revamp Enugu Coal, fix 2nd Niger Bridge and other physical infrastructure.
“For Mr. President, his word is his bond. Critical analysis posits that after his 2nd tenure, it will be the turn of the South East to produce Nigeria president of Igbo extraction.
“Is it not paradoxical that the Pro-Biafra agitators were not this hyper-active in the sixteen years when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a party Ndigbo gave unprecedented and overwhelming support, without commensurate reward, was in power at the center?
“Does it mean that the promoters didn’t see anything wrong when former president Goodluck Jonatlhan, our adopted son, allowed federal roads in the South East to unimaginable decay, couldn’t award the 2nd Niger Bridge on contract bases like Owete Bridge and couldn’t revamp Enugu Coal?
“Available evidence shows that the promoters of the mass action are suspect, as they neither sampled the views of majority of Ndigbo at home or in Dutse – Jigawa, in Akure – Ondo, in Oron – Akwa Ibom nor Ndigbo in Lagos, Kano and Abuja.”
Okechukwu based the rationale for his appealing for calm on an understanding within the APC that the zone will get a chance to produce the president in 2023.
“Going by the zoning convention, equity and natural justice, surely the president will rotate to the South in 2023.
“And when the president rotates to the South in 2023, we have all the cards stacked in our favour to appeal to our brothers in the South West who have had eight years stint and our South South brothers who had five years plus in the presidency since 1999 when the 4th Republic commenced.”
He continued, “every rational indicator favours Ndigbo and so, we need to guide our hate propaganda and wait patiently to harvest the turn of the South East. To be frank this is the golden opportunity for us to join the mainstream, and it should not be scuttled by Pro-Biafra agitators.”
