By James Orji
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohanaeze Ndigbo says the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu is capable of plunging the country into serious political crisis. The group spoke few hours after the former Lagos State Governor told President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja his intention to run for president.
Tinubu told reporters after meeting with Buhari that ‘I’ve informed the President of my intention but I have not informed Nigerians yet. I’m still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve not set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people will I consult.
“You will soon hear, all you want to hear is the categorical declaration. You’ve gotten that truth from me that I have informed Mr. President of my ambition, and you don’t expect more answers than that.”
The development, obviously, did not go down well with the Igbo group who has been clamouring for one of their own to succeed President Buhari when his tenure expires on May 29, 2023. Ohanaeze has demanded for power shift to the south east on the basis that no person from the region has ruled the country as a democratically elected president.
Therefore, Tinubu’s declaration, on Monday, did not go down well with the group who felt that Igbo could be relegated to the background in the next political dispensation.
Responding to the issue Ohanaeze spokesma Alex Ogbonnia, said it would be unfair and an injustice if politician of Igbo extraction is not allowed to become president next year. It said Tinubu is embarking on a fruitless exercise.
Ogbonnia told The Punch that “It is a project that is dead on arrival. Because God is a universal entity that he is always interested in truth, fairness and equity. So for anybody embarking on anything that is not rooted in equity and justice will not succeed and this is a countervailing force that has sustained this world from the beginning.
“So Tinubu knows that he is embarking on a cause that has no foundation in anything: foundation in equity and justice, and of course is a project that will not succeed.”
He said further that Tinunbu’s Presidential ambition will plunge the country into serious political crisis, adding that the collective aspirations of most Nigerians at this time is for the president to come from the region,“because there is this collective conscience that has been guiding this country. The collective conscience is to culturally determine what is right and what is wrong and to pursue the one that is right and ignore the one that is wrong.
“But all the same, those who have really gone against the convention has often lost, you know at a point General Sani Abacha wanted to continue but he lost; Goodluck Jonathan ran against the current he lost any other person that tries to go against the convention and the current will always lose it. Mr Tinubu is working across purposes with the foundations of this country – foundation rooted in equity and justice.
“He knows that this is the turn of the Igbo and instead of supporting for the Igbo to emerge for peace to reign, for the corporate existence of Nigeria to remain intact, he decided adding to the problem and crisis. So for one to succeed as a matter of facts, patriots should consider the collective interest – the group interest more than self-interest. But in this case now Tinubu is more interested in self-interest. He considered self-interest above group interest or corporate existence of Nigeria. And that is selfishness at its height and any country that has such people is always in problem.
“Ohanaeze’s position is that Tinubu knows that he is doing the wrong thing. He is embarking on a project that is not rooted in equity, justice and fair play, and is against the common current of the conscience of the people and to that extent he will surely lose,” Ohanaeze spokesman said.
Tinubu had said yesterday that his lifelong ambition is to become the president of the country, adding that he’s eminently qualified to run for the office despite the reservations held by some Nigerians.
