2015 presidency: Plot to stop North thickens

Ahead of the 2015 general elections, top political players and groups in the South-East, South-South and North-Central geopolitical zones have lambasted the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) over a recent comment on who takes the mantle of leadership in 2015.
National Publicity Secretary of the Northern apex political group, Anthony Sani, was recently quoted to have said that zoning has gone into oblivion in the country after electing president Goodluck Jonathan who’s a southerner in 2011.
However, all the groups and politicians have dismissed Sani’s comment, saying that it is uncalled for and unpatriotic.
Describing ACF’s assertion as whistle of the wind, top members of apex sociocultural organisation of the southeast, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, have vowed that it is Igbo or nobody in 2015.
Some Igbo front-line leaders such as president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. Ralph Uwechue, and the Owelle of Onitsha, Chief Chukwuwa Azikiwe-the first son of the first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, and a former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu have insisted that in line with equity and fairness, zoning should be rotated among the six geopolitical zones and not between not and south only.
Uwechue recalled that in 2007, all the three organs of the Federal Government were headed by Northerners, who emerged on the basis of zoning along the lines of the six geopolitical zones and not between the North and South.
He maintained that the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Senate President David Mark and Justice Idris Kutigi, all Northerners, were spearheading both the executive, legislature and the judicial arms of government on the ground of zoning.
He said: “Nigerians, irrespective of their political associations, have accepted the six zonal arrangements and not the conflict-prone demarcation of the North and South.
“The problem we have, and it is important to take note of this, is that Nigeria is still not where it should be in terms of national integration. We have not arrived there. We are in the process.
“If we pretend that we have arrived, we will be like somebody moving into a house without a roof, thinking that the house is completed. Until the roof comes on the house, it cannot give you the needed protection. We still have sectional interests in this country,” Uwechue said.
Also reacting, Azikiwe insisted that a southeasterner should also be given the mandate to pilot the affairs of the country.
While recalling that his father, the late Nnamdi Azikiwe was a ceremonial President, Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi was an executive head of state only for six months, he made a clarion call to all Ndigbo to put all hands on deck in order to achieve the 2015 presidential ambition. “we must realise that this thing is got by give-and-take, negotiation and diplomacy. It is not by force.”
He said, “I think we should put our best foot forward; find those of our people that have good relations with the other zones; those who are trusted; listen to them in order to get Igbo president.
“And also, the timing should be right. We will try as much as possible to get it soonest. But let’s be careful so that we don’t antagonize some other zones.”
Speaking further, Azikiwe noted that: “Forty-two years after the Civil War, it is an insult for somebody to tell you that the Igbo cannot be president. If all these tribes can be president, who among them is more qualified than an Igbo man? We are the salt of this nation; we are the best thing that has happened to this nation.”
A former National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, Mazi Bismark Orji, supported Azikiwe’s stand, stressing that, “This time around, we are very wise and we would not sing in discordant tunes again so that we don’t miss this opportunity.”
He debunked the recent media reports that the Igbos are not ready for their quest for 2015.
“That is just a figment of some people’s imagination. Whether they like it or not, we are more united now than ever ,” he said.
Joining the league, organizations in the South-South, viz. the South-South Peoples Assembly and the Ijaw National Congress, have faulted the ACF’s new position on zoning.
The National Secretary of the SSPA, Chief Anyakeme Whiskey, described the ACF position as both sham and criminal.
Whiskey said that the South-South would rule the nation for eight years despite the zoning hullabaloo.
He reminded the ACF on how they had enjoyed power for 38 year since the country’s freedom in 1960.
Whiskey said: “Chief Olusegun Obasanjo came in 1999; whether he performed or not, Nigerians gave him eight years. If the ugly arms of death did not claim the life of former President Yar’Adua, nobody would have stopped him from staying in office for eight years,”
However, the Ijaw National Congress (INC) has said that it was early to start talking about 2015 Presidency which is about 3 years from now.
The National Secretary of the group, Mr. Robinson Esite, said those talking about 2015 are not serious minded people. He said they wanted to distract the current administration.
He maintained that our leaders should confront the devastating flood and the Boko Haram insurgence which have claimed many lives instead of singing 2015 song.
He said, “Our position is that this is not the time to talk about 2015 election; it is too early
“At the appropriate time, it is only Nigerians who can decide on who would rule them, it is not the duty of individuals or a group of people to decide who would become president. Nigerians are yearning for dividends of democracy and nothing more.
Also, the President-General, Afonja Descendants Union in Ilorin, Alhaji Olola Kasumu has thrown his weight behind leaders of the South-East geopolitical zone for their quest to mount the nation’s throne of leadership in 2015.
He said: “Arewa is destroying the spirit of this country. The group is an empty organization, they have no chance again. I am a lover of unity. I do not want this country to break.

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