By Fred Chukwuelobe
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, a pastor in the Redeemed Church, has asked the Yoruba nation to work for a president of Yoruba extraction in 2023 by voting for President Muhammdu Buhari in 2019.
The Secretary to the Government of the federation, Boss Mustapha and some politicians of Igbo extraction have asked the Igbo nation to vote for Buhari in 2019 as the surest way to clinch the presidency in 2023.
Many of these two groups are chanting “4 is better than 8”, a reference to giving Buhari 4 more years and denying Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), votes in 2019, which could lead to his serving for two terms of four years each.
As a Nigerian and of the Igbo nation, I’m not interested in an Igbo man becoming president of Nigeria. The way Nigeria is currently structured, an Igbo man being president will not create additional STATE for the South East geo-political zone. Currently, of the 6, the South East is the only one with 5 States.
An Igbo man being president will not change the terrible and wicked structuring of Nigeria, which currently makes Kano and Katsina bigger than the whole South East in votes, population and revenue sharing.
An Igbo man being president will not change the composition of the armed forces, the police, the NNPC, and other offices of government, which currently favour the north against other zones.
An Igbo man being president will not automatically reorganize the civil service, which is currently populated by poorly-qualified and incompetent workforce.
No Igbo man can, on assumption of office, change these without a fight from those favoured by the dysfunctional system.
But that’s not even my problem; my problem is that Prof. Osinbajo is “a man of God” and he’s preaching ethnic politics. Yet, many Igbo people foolishly attend the church of which he’s a high ranking pastor and believing they’re serving the same God. Listen, all politics is local. All religion is equally local. The Oyibo (Colonial masters) used it well. And we are yet to learn our lessons.
Igbo politicians who are asking the Igbo nation to vote for Buhari to get the presidency believe in their hearts that this is possible. And some people are shouting 4 is better than 8 and campaigning against an Atiku ticket that gives their brother, Peter Obi, an opportunity to be in Osinbajo’s shoes.
I’m not even getting this write-up right because I’m confused. I honestly don’t know what to say. This is more like a mumbo jumbo.
If you ask me, the only person I’d like to hear from is whoever supports the restructuring of the polity. Unless we restructure this country, we can’t make progress. Kano will destroy alcoholic beverage sold by the Igbo and collect the highest VAT from alcoholic beverages consumed by the Igbo.
Kano and Katsina collect more revenue from the federation account than the five South East States. Votes from members of the national assembly from the North will always cancel out that of the entire South.
Ndigbo, is that the country you’re aspiring to rule? What kind of power do you think you can wield in this sort of arrangement?
I’m just rambling. I may not be making sense because I’m confused.
*Chukwuelobe, a veteran journalist, wrote in from Lagos
