Why Igbos should not bother about presidency in 2019 – Orji Kalu

Former Governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said that Igbo people should not bother about producing Nigeria’s president in 2019. Speaking to Punch, Kalu stated that if President Muhammadu Buhari doesn’t want to run, another candidate from the North should be pikced to complete their eight-year tenure. “We have a sitting president in the All Progressives Congress and if he is not running again in 2019, the North should complete their eight-year tenure but I would advise President Buhari to run because he is entitled to a second term under the constitution,” he said. Kalu also told Igbos to wait until 2023, before they think of producing a president. He added: “Yes. The Igbo will produce the president in 2023. If Buhari is not running in 2019, another Hausa man should be allowed to complete his second term. When Yar’Adua died, Jonathan came but if he had listened to the people’s advice, this situation will not be there because if I were Jonathan, I would have ruled for six years and allowed other people to run. “Other tribes have produced a president, so it is the turn of the Igbo too. Obasanjo was elected president in 1999 despite the fact that the Yoruba did not vote for him. He lost in his ward; I was there on the Election Day. So, any Igbo man that is widely accepted can be president of Nigeria. How did Obasanjo and Buhari become president? Are they better than any Igbo man? The answer is no! The issue is that if they know how they made Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan and Buhari president, they should also make an Igbo man president so that there can be complete unity and we would forget about the civil war because not making an Igbo president will still remind our people that the marginalisation which started after the civil war has not ended.”

Nigeria at 57: Why we must remain united – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has assured Nigerians that the country will surmount all it’s challenges and emerge stronger. Jonathan gave the assurance in his message to mark Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary . In a statement signed by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, Jonathan called for oneness and accommodation. He said, “As a nation we are moving on. On October 1, 2010, we celebrated our golden jubilee as an independent nation. “Again, in January 2014, we celebrated our centenary. And, today, October 1, 2017, we are celebrating our 57th independence anniversary. “It may seem as though we are passing through insurmountable challenges, but I am very intimately aware of the can-do Nigerian spirit which will help us surmount our present challenges. “Let me also seize this opportunity to call for togetherness, oneness and accommodation for all. We must accept the fact that none of us is as great as all of us”

”Everyone In Nigeria Is Living In Danger And Fear” – Femi Falana

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana in an interview with Punch has said it is an irony that those clamouring for the division of Nigeria are not consistently at the regions considered as their origin – while Nnamdi Kanu(IPOB leader) together with his wife has dual citizenship, Yerima Shetima (leader of Northern coalition that gave quit notice to Igbos) lives in Lagos. He said; ”’It is an irony that Kanu, who is leading the struggle for the balkanization of Nigeria, has dual citizenship, while Mr Shettima Yerima, who gave the quit notice to Igbo people in the North lives in Lagos. Everybody’s life is in danger. Nigerians are shot dead in their homes by armed robbers or on the roads by soldiers or policemen or by armed herdsmen on their farms…Even President Muhammadu Buhari had to be flown to Britain for medical attention because his life was in danger here.” He says it is not fear that made the Buhari administration to declare IPOB a terrorist organisation but the belief that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable. Therefore, anyone who threatens the unity of Nigeria has to be crushed or jailed. On Aisha Alhassan’s statement saying she would support President Buhari in 2019, He said; Madam Aisha Alhassan is a conscious reactionary lady…Like the President’s wife, who said she might not campaign for her husband (in 2019), Mrs Alhassan has boldly said that she would prefer Alhaji Atiku to Buhari in 2019. Unfortunately, her preference is not anchored on ideology or principle.