By Adesina Soyooye
Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has reinstated that he is Igbo, and cannot be denied or deprived of his Igbo identity.
Okowa, a Medical Doctor turned politician is the Vice Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He was chosen by Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, from a shortlist of three names. The other two were Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and Akwa Ibom Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
Okowa spoke on Arise Television, Saturday, on the heels of critisms against his acceptance of the VP slot by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum. The Forum had accused him of betrayal for accepting the slot when he was the one who hosted a meeting of Southern Governors where they agreed that the seat of the President rotates to the Southern part of the country from the Northern part of the country after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure.
With Okowa’s choice for the VP slot, many also decried that the South-east has been removed from the Political calculation by both the PDP and the All Progressive Congress, APC, which Presidential candidate is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. His running mate would come from the North.
But Okowa says perish the thought that the Igbo were schemed out by the PDP. He says his candidacy represents both the South-south and the South-east. Okowa explained that even though he is from Delta in the South-south zone of Nigeria, he is from the Igbo speaking area of Delta, and cannot be denied of his Igbo root. For good measure, the Governor said he represents the old Eastern region.
Okowa: “For me, yes I’m from Delta State. I’m definitely an Igbo man. There’s no doubt about that. I’m from Delta State in the South-South, but if you’re looking at the Igbo across the country, I’m an Igbo man, I can’t be counted out and that is the true situation.”
On what informed his choice, he said:
“The issue of the Vice Presidency has not been on the debate. Where it will go to is actually premised on the fact that when the Presidential candidate emerges he looks for what possible zone and what person can work with me and what can be part of the team that can make us actually succeed in governing the people aright. I think that is what informed the decision.
Emphasising how his emergence has killed two birds with one stone, Okowa said:
“I am just a lucky person. Being from the South-South I am also an Igbo man and to that extent, I fit into all the divides, because my brothers from the South-east, I’m part of them. I am also part of the South-South, but that does not stop the agitation for the future as it stands for the Igbo for the presidency of this country.”
He said Atiku’s emergence is good for the South-east, as it would give more weight to the demand of a President of South-east extraction in future.
Okowa: “There are two geo-political zones that feel shortchanged. The North-East (where Atiku is from) and the South-east geo-political zone, because none of them, no son from these zones have actually been President of this Nation. They obviously have a point and I believe that we sympathize with them.
“And I believe also that since one of us has emerged from the North-East at this point in time, it’s a good sign for the future, that if the North East has the opportunity and by God’s grace Atiku becomes the President, then it’s a good sign that the South-East will have the opportunity.
“Because the next point in time what we will be talking about is that the South-East itself is the only zone that is left and they will lay claim to it.”
On the allegation of betrayal, Okowa said it does not arise because Party is supreme. Since the Presidential candidate came from the North, he said, it means the VP candidate will come from the South. Otherwise, he argued, a crisis would arise. “The unity and progress of the country is more important than anything else”, he said.
