Igbos don't need presidency to succeed - Uwazuruike

Chief Goddy Uwazurike who is the president emeritus of Aka Ikenga has said that an Igbo presidency will not bring anything special to Ndigbo as they are used to surviving without government’s help.

In an interview with The Sun, Uwazurike he said there is nothing special an Igbo presidency.

He said: “I don’t think there is anything exceptional about Ndigbo producing a president. But I say the person must be of Igbo origin, intelligent and wise to listen to the voice of the people. He must be sociable because Ndigbo alone can’t make him president. He must be ready to assuage the fears of the people. Igbos have built wealth for themselves with little or no government help; other tribes built with government loans and grants, not the Igbos. For these, he needs to be ready to allow others learn from him. An average Igbo man is hard working; it is that hard work he is bringing to the government. He would not relent because he knows that he is carrying the image of the entire Igbo race.

“This I tell you, when an Igbo man becomes the president of this country, he would create a level playing ground. He is not going to favour Ndigbo with export grant. He would favour all that wants to establish here in the country. All an Igbo man wants is electricity and roads. It is painfully these are the things missing in the country, most especially in the south-east. These roads are federal roads, not states road. Therefore, if you provide the appropriate electricity, the Igbo man will do wonders. He does not need to travel to Lagos or Abuja for contracts. Igbo suffers for everything in this country and still makes it. What most people don’t like about the Igbo man is that he does not forgets where he is from. It is also in the nature of an Igbo man to be outspoken when things do not favour him.”

On whether the presidency can go to the south east in 2019, Uwazuruike said it was very possible.

He said: “2019 is achievable. I can tell you, in the struggle for power, nothing is impossible. You must say “I am” before people say “you are.” In other words, we from the southeast, we are ready. All we ask is the same understanding that was used in 1999 that produced Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae, the same understanding that produced Muhammadu Buhari and Yar’Adua. We are not asking for much. Igbos are downtrodden. They are looking through the glass ceiling, while their counterparts from other ethnicities climb higher. They are denied for no better reason than where they come from. 2019 is achievable. I stand by it.”