The people of the South-East region, an area predominantly occupied by the Igbo tribe will never produce Nigeria’s president from their extraction until they humbly plead other Nigerians for it.
Junaid Mohammed, a second republic lawmaker, made the remarks while noting that those threatening to produce the next Nigerian leader or secede from the country are wasting their time.
Since the return to democratic rule in 1999, the South-East region has not produced a president from its extraction despite being one of the major ethnic group in the country.
Some residents of the area while claiming to be marginalised are threatening to secede from the country and are supporting the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB), a proscribed group championing the secession cause.
Since President Muhammadu Buhari won his re-election bid, the call for who will succeed him in office has rented the air with some, including the Igbos, opining that it is the turn of the South-East region.
Although there is no zoning agreement in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) it is believed that power will shift to the Southern protectorate, leaving the South-West as top contenders in the ruling party.
But some individuals considered influential in the Northern protectorate, including Mohammed, are clamouring for power to remain in the area.
Mohammed is also of the opinion that the South-West, predominantly occupied by the Yoruba tribe, should bury the thought of succeeding Mr Buhari in office.
“As far as I am concerned, if they, the Yoruba, believe that they have a divine right to have the Presidency in 2023, I think that they are being misguided,” the former lawmaker was quoted by Sun Newspaper to have said in an interview.
Mohammed warned that the South-East should not align itself with the South-West due to the alleged betrayal tendency of the Yoruba. He also explained how the Igbo can achieve their age long dream of producing a president from their extraction.
“But part of the problem today as I see it is that they are trying to repeat what they did to the Igbo historically. They would say “well, we are together, we would do everything together”. But when the time comes, they (Yoruba) will simply take their own way and do things to their own advantage. That is their look out and the look out of the Igbo people because apparently the Igbo people do not want to learn from history and that is a tragedy.
“And those of you who imagined, like our brothers in the Southeast, that they can put a gun on us all and say give us the Presidency or else, they are wasting their time.
“It is not going to happen until they do the needful, which is sit down and do their homework. Go round and persuade the rest of Nigerians that the destiny of this country, the wealth of this country, the security of the country, if made available to them, is going to be in good hands. That they are going to be fair, they are going to be more responsible, and they are going to do what perhaps others have not done in the previous administrations. Until you do that, this is the only way you can get the Presidency,” Mohammed was quoted as saying.
