File: Igbo elders
Igbos have been neglected and seen as slaves in Nigeria, says elder statesman and former Aviation Minister Mbazulike Amechi.
Just last week, Senate President Bukola Saraki had stated that a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu is backing President Muhammadu Buhari for 2019 because he (Tinubu) is eyeing the presidency in 2023.
Nigeria practices an unofficial rotation of power between the North and South with the Igbos largely of South East extraction touted to produce the next president after Buhari in 2023.
However, the recent revelation by Saraki has cast doubts on that with Amechi saying it is only a confirmation of how the Igbos have been treated in Nigeria.
“What Saraki said is obvious because those who follow the politics of Nigeria know that it is the game that is going on now,” he told Sun News.
“We are not surprised. The Igbo have been neglected and not seen as part of the Federation of Nigeria, but as slaves in the country.
“I have read in the papers that the military is going to launch Operation Python Dance 3 in Igbo land alone.
“If they don’t want the Igbo in Nigeria, let the people of the North and the West say they don’t want the Igbo again in Nigeria and Igbo will go their way.”
He lamented that Igbos “are not equal partners in the federation and the earlier they conduct a plebiscite the better for us, so that the Igbo can go. And that is where the case of the IPOB is justified.
“We are not begging to remain in Nigeria. Let them allow plebiscite in Igbo land and Igbo will decide whether they will not stop to be part of this nonsense or not.
In addition, he urged Buhari not to contest in 2019 but rather allow another person from the North to finish off his second term so an Igbo man would take over.