Biafra agitators have been advised to halt their secession struggle and focus on producing a president of Igbo descent ahead of the 2019 general election.
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia state, Donatus Nwankpa, who gave the advice, believes the agitation for a Biafra Republic is not a viable option for the Southeast zone of the country.
“For the Biafran agitators, I think Ndigbo need two things: One is that they should try and produce a president of Nigeria,” he dtold the News Agency of Nigeria in an interview.
“They should try and work hard to see that a president comes from the Southeast.’’
Nwankpa said a president of Igbo extraction would make the ‘no victor, no vanquished’ declaration at the end of the 30-month Nigerian civil war more realistic.
He, therefore, urged prominent Igbo politicians to mobilise their resources and contacts to negotiate for an Igbo president.
Nwankpa further said Ndigbo needed to ensure massive infrastructure and economic development of the zone.
“An Igbo man is hardworking, industrious and creative.
“He does not need government empowerment, which to me, only makes people lazy.
“The Igbo man needs good roads, regular power supply and a conducive economic climate to drive his enterprise to the peak,’’ he added.
Nwankpa, a one-time state legislator, also spoke on the growing agitation for the restructuring of Nigeria along regional lines.
