Posted by Vanguard on
IN what appears like a riot act to the Igbo people, Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State has said that it is a crime and a taboo for them to oppose the bid by the South-East to produce the nation's president in 2007.
IN what appears like a riot act to the Igbo people, Governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State has said that it is a crime and a taboo for them to oppose the bid by the South-East to produce the nation's president in 2007.
His colleagues from Ebonyi and Imo, Chief Sam Egwu and Chief Achike Udenwa as well as the deputy governor of Anambra State, Dr. Okechukwu Nwankwo, echoed his sentiment when they resolved at the 11th caucus meeting of South-East political leaders to fight with vigour for the realisation of the Igbo president project.
The meeting took place weekend at Umuahia, Abia State capital. 'This is indeed the first time in the history of Nigeria that Ndigbo are showing a genuine concern to the emergence of Nigeria's next president of Igbo extraction in 2007. But how far we can go depends on us," Kalu said at the caucus meeting.
He identified 'the personalisation of the presidency project" as one mistake that was made in the past, noting that 'it is a collective project" that would guarantee the freedom of the people of the zone.
'It is, therefore, criminal and indeed a taboo for any full blooded Igboman or woman to rise up against the collective interest of our people", he said.
The governor stressed the need for all stakeholders in the project 'to forget whatever differences we might have with one another and embrace the spirit of tolerance and forgiveness for us to make any impact".
According to him: 'The greatest step we can take towards actualising our target of producing a president is to begin now to reconcile with one another".
He stated that 'peace and unity are inseparable to our march towards self-rediscovery".
Egwu, Udenwa as well as Nwankwo took turns to stress the need for a collective and concerted effort towards the realisation of the objective.
They called for greater vigour and commitment by all stakeholders towards the project and resolved to collectively fight for the interest of the zone.
The governors said that recent developments in the country, especially the sit-at-home order organised by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has posed greater challenge to them.