2023 Presidency: Nigeria Playing With Fire If Zoning Is Discarded — Ohanaeze Hits Bauchi Governor
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof George Obiozor, has declared that anyone ignoring zoning of the presidential ticket “is playing with fire.”
The Nigerian voice had earlier reported Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State' statement where he said it was time for the north to produce President Buhari's successor.
When contacted, Prof George Obiozor said, “In fact you are inviting disaster for Nigeria. You are not a friend of this country and a friend of this current administration because there’s no surest way for any government to be declared failed in Nigeria than to tamper with this sensitive, precarious balance between North and South which is indeed the inheritance bequeathed by our founding fathers which is part of national expectation in politics".
He added: “There is no way you can change the rules of the game in the middle of the game. Nobody should try it. I hope those of us who are 80 or nearing 80 across the country should tell the young men not to play with fire and not to play with the destiny of Nigeria.
“There are certain sensitive institutions you don’t touch. They are sanctum sanctorum of a nation. In fact, it is indeed political sacrilege for anybody to boldly tell Nigerians that you are doing away with rotation of North and South for political convenience because of the same reason which led to tragedy before.
“Are we children? Power ought to be shared in Nigeria between North and South, and rotation is part of power sharing. Let the parties do what they want, but the correct thing was done by the parties in 1999.
“The worst thing you can do in a federation is to marginalise any section of your country. You don’t make them good citizens by marginalising them. You don’t make them good citizens by not giving them a sense of belonging. You don’t make them good citizens by denying them of their rights.
“So, the politicians have to be sensitive because Nigeria became a country that was negotiated. A nation with history is negotiated.
“Unless the politicians are suffering from amnesia or forgetfulness, then they can continue to deceive themselves that somebody can ignore a particular section of Nigeria and govern it peacefully. You cannot ignore any particular section of Nigeria and govern peacefully.”
Obiozor reiterated that the Southeast has enough capable people to govern Nigeria even better than those who have ruled before.
His words: “Which part of Nigeria has more sophisticated and more trained people than the Southeast? Is it in number of university graduates? Is it in number of superstars in any field of life you can find in Southeast?
“Somebody said competence is the name of the Southeast, and the world knows it. If you refuse to use the Igbo competence here, it is your loss.
“Look at the international community. Mention any organization, including the international police contingent, an Igbo is a star there.
“The point I am trying to make is that from the beginning, there has never been a lack of talent or leadership in Igboland. We have qualified people, more qualified than almost all others who have ruled before.”