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[email protected] Phoenix, AZ, USA

ACTUALIZING THE IGBO PRESIDENCY PROJECT

rominent Igbos have been canvassing for an Igbo President in 2003. According to news reports, the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze Ndigbo, has now identified three political parties for the actualisation the Igbo presidency project. Although I am not an Igboman, I strongly support the project on the following grounds:

Firstly, I strongly believe in rotational presidency as a way of enhancing a sense of national belonging and ensuring that no section of the country is marginalized in perpetuity. Every Nigerian, irrespective of his or her ethnicity or place of birth, must have a sense of that he can aspire to become the President of the country during hsi lifetime. Given the ethnic numerical imbalance in the country and the ethnocentric nature of politics and voting, it is only rotational presidency that can ensure the realisation of the above objective.

Secondly, given the large number of ethnic groups in the country, the presidency should rotate among the six zones and also between the North and South in an alternate fashion. A simple rule for rotation should be established such as rotation in alphabetical order between the North and South and among the six zones which will yield the following sequence: NC, SE, NE, SS, NW and SW.

Thirdly, given the power of incumbency and our inability to ensure a level playing field, no incumbent President (or Governor or Local Government Chairman) should be allowed to run for re-election to the same position (i.e., a second term).

Fourthly, with due respect to the minorities, the Igbos constitute one leg of the tripod on which the Federation rests. The other two legs (West and North) have had their fair share of the Presidency. The only Igboman (Gen. Ironsi) who became Head of State by accident was brutally murdered after only six months in office. Since then, the impression has been created that the Igboman (and the minorities from the South-South zone)! can only aspire to No.2 citizen.

In 1992, the unwritten “law” that the Presidency was the exclusive preserve of the North was broken in what was regarded as the best election we have ever had in this country. To ensure that the “law” stands, the election was annulled and winner (Chief MKO Abiola from the South West) was jailed and eventually died (murdered?) in detention. To compensate for this injustice and ensure the continued survival of the country, the North agreed in 1999 to relinquish their strangle-hold on the Presidency . Hence, the Presidency was rotated to the South West and the two contesting political parties fielded candidates from the same zone -South West. It was thus a contest between two “brothers” (Obasanjo and Falae).

To compensate the South for long period of Northern Presidency, most Northern politicians seem to have agreed to allow the Presidency to remain in the South from 2003 to 2007. This is quite a good gesture that serves the national interest. The South must th! erefore reciprocate by agreeing that Presidency will go to the North in 2007. Perhaps the only presidential candidate from the South West is the incumbent President (OBJ) who had served as (military) Head of State before, albeit by accident.

If OBJ is allowed to contest the election in 2003 and if he wins, then the South East may not have a shot at the Presidency until 2011 at the earliest, and the South-South until about 2018. More importantly, although OBJ may have good intentions and may have tried his best, unfortunately his performance during the past four years has left much to be desired. A cursory look at his scorecard clearly shows that he have failed on very many fronts. He promised uninterrupted electricity supply before the end of 2001 but NEPA still generates more darkness than light. His promised to fight corruption but the country appears more corrupt today than ever, at least as evidenced by the report of Transparency International.

The economy has not improved either. Even the slight improvement (white-washing) of the country’s international image has been watered down by Sharia issue, continued violence and insecurity. There has been little or no progress in building national unity. In fact, the country appears more divided now than at any other time in history. The poor and disingenuous handling of the Sharia and the offshore/onshore dichotomy issues has widened the cleavages in the country, opened new and old wounds and driven a wedge between sections of the country (e.g. North and South South).

In fact, as I read the address by Dr. Ekwueme when he launched his election bid, I could not but agree with all the points he made. I became more worried when I read a prophetic article titled “His Excellency, the President of Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Ahmed Yerima” written by Dr Tonye David West, Jr and published in www.nigeriaworld.com

It is therefore time to change. OBJ must emulate Nelson Mandela. He will be doing a greater service to himself and his beloved country if he decides not to run and allows a candidate from the South East zone to get the PDP ticket. Similarly, the other parties should do same so that we will have a contest among candidates from the same SE zone. By so doing we may a smooth election and avoid the type of violence that is being predicted in 2003.

On their part, the Igbo leaders must try to avoid using the term “Igbo Presidency” because it is too ethnic to the ears, demeaning and sends a wrong message to non-Igbos. In 1999, the Yorubas did not clamour for “Yoruba presidency”. Even the North had never emphasized “Hausa/Fulani presidency”. We cannot rotate presidency on ethnic basis but we can do so on zonal basis. Thus Igbo politicians should be using the term “South East Presidency” which is more appealing.

Furthermore, to actualize this project, they must work assiduously to ensure that SE candidates get the presidential tickets of the major parties, especially the PDP. They must field only one candidate from the SE zone during the presidential primaries of each of the parties. They should hold their own mini-primaries to choose such candidates and all other candidates must cooperate with the selected candidates. As for the PDP, they must work on key supporters of OBJ to “decamp” and support the SE candidate. They should now reach to the SS politicians who are now aggrieved over OBJ’s refusal to sign the offshore/onshore abolition dichotomy bill. They should also reach out to the Northern politicians and re-assure them that their interests will be safe-guarded.

In fact, if they can get Atiku to join the SE candidate as a running mate, this will seal OBJ’s re-election dream. This can be achieved under an agreement whereby the SE candidate will step aside for Atiku in 2007. This will be in the interest of Atiku because it will enable him to distance himself from the failures of OBJ and ensure an easy shot for the Presidency in 2007. May the dream of a SE Presidency come true in 2003.

Dr. Emmanuel Ojameruaye works for the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH), based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. He is on cross-posting assignment from The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria where he was Head, Community Development (Western Division)