Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a pro-Igbo organisation, AlaIgbo Development Foundation, ADF, has tasked Igbo leaders to remain firm, and focus on their demand for Igbo extraction of Nigeria President.
The foundation reaffirmed its support for the ongoing agitation for Igbo Presidency, stressing that it is the turn of Ndigbo to produce the next president of Nigeria.
Briefing press, after the ADF meeting in Enugu, the President-general of ADF, Prof. Uzodinma Nwala cried out over the marginalisation of Ndigbo in Nigeria, especially the youths who are being forced to take the COVID-19 vaccination whereas their Northern counterparts are not forced to take the jab.
He took exception to the whole treatment with a call that such act should stop forthwith especially as even some Europeans are slacking on the COVID-19 protocols.
According to Prof. Nwala who signed the 4-point communique that bordered on the COVID-19, support for participation in the electoral process in Ala Igbo, the inclusion of state of origin during registration for the electoral process as well as the support for the call for Nigeria president of Igbo extraction, efforts should be made redress some anomalies in Nigeria.
Nwala in the communique expressed their concerns thus: “ADF has noted with regret, the ongoing imposition of COVID vaccination/injection on Igbo youths, especially students writing examinations or seeking employment into Federal establishments.
Prof, Nwala who emphatically said that Igbo voting strength is more than any other zone in Nigeria supported the principles of zoning and rotational presidency.
“Whereas, it has come to our notice that the youths of the Northern states have been insulated from these vaccinations. Infact, a particular Traditional Ruler in the North was reported to have charged the Youths to deal ruthlessly with anyone who tries to vaccinate them.
“It is common knowledge that some European countries have rejected the vaccines and we wonder why the Igbo youths or any youth in Nigeria should become instruments of genocidal experimentation.
“It is the considered view of the ADF that Ndigbo should change their political strategy in our quest for self-determination. In the light of the current state of insecurity and anarchy enveloping Alaigbo in particular and Nigeria in general, we present a new strategy based on the use of the ballot as a strategy for effecting social/political change. There is the need for Ndigbo to appreciate the impact and potency of the ballot in a power struggle. We should stop opposing elections. This strategy is intended to mobilise all pan-Igbo and pro-Biafran organizations to adopt the ballot as a critical force in our struggle for self-determination.
“The entire social fabric in Alaigbo have to be mobilised to participate in electoral politics to elect qualitative leaders and legislators who would stand with the people as against the current situation where our leaders are completely alienated from the people.
“An example of the potency of the ballot as a strategy of power struggle has been well noted in Igboland through the cases of Willie Obiano and Nwoye in 2018 and Chukwuma Soludo Vs. Andy Uba in 2021. In these two cases external forces to impose their agents failed woefully. In other words, if Ndigbo can mobilise the youths to buy into the Politics of the Ballot, nobody can succeed in rigging elections in Igboland.
“ADF hereby calls on INEC to publish the state of origin of registered voters in Nigeria, so as to expose the true statistics of Igbo voting strength in Nigeria. On the other hand, they should facilitate the transfer of registered Igbo voters to their zone of origin to get a clearer picture of Igbo voting strength in Nigeria.
“Moreover, it has been alleged that so-called low Igbo voter registration is an artificial creation of some Igbo detractors in high places. For instance, the machines used for voter registration in the South-East are prone to malfunctioning so as to frustrate the registration of potential Igbo voters.
“Ndigbo constitute about 40-45% of registered voters across the board in most states of the Nigerian Federation but are falsely presented as having low voter registration in the South-East. This false propaganda is part of the media manipulation tailored to fuel the false notion that Igbo are in minority and cannot win the Presidency through the ballot box.
“ADF is very supportive of the ongoing agitation for Igbo Presidency. We support all the organizations and individuals campaigning for a President of Igbo extraction from the South-East geopolitical zone.
“We, therefore, condemn the attitude of some Nigerian politicians who have come to view Nigeria as their father’s orchard. These characters have been permanently opposed to political reforms, especially the democratic principles of rotation of power and zoning, as essential ingredients of democratic principles of power-sharing in the Nigerian Federation. This is the main source of the Nigerian crises. A critical look at the power equation in Nigeria would reveal that one region – the Northern region – has monopolized power since Independence in 1960.
“The South-West has had power under Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo both as a military leader and a civilian president. The idea of another South-West Presidency now is scandalous and must be condemned. Anybody supporting that is not a friend of democratic forces in Nigeria.
“The Igbo were only in power for six months under the regime of Gen. J. T. U. Aguiyi Ironsi. So, it is self-evident that it is their turn to produce the next president of Nigeria,” Nwala explains.
