By Ummi Ismaeel, Minna
The Chairman Association of Eze Ndigbo of 19 Northern states and the (FCT), Abuja, Dr. Pampas Ngozi Nwahiwe, has appealed to Ndigbo to unite for them to produce the next president of Nigeria in 2023.
Nwahiwe, the Eze Igbo of Minna, made the appeal at the one-day special prayer session for Ndigbo in Nigeria and in the Disapora.
He also placed a curse on any Igbo man that would work against his kinsman in the 2023 Presidential election.
He said, “It will not be well for any Igbo man who works against his kinsman in the 2023 Presidential election. It will not go down well to any Igbo man who knows what will kill or destroy fellow Igbo man and his/her businesses”.
The traditional ruler who spoke in Igbo during the event at his palace, in Chanchaga, Minna Niger State capital on Sunday, extolled the virtues of the Igbo man for boasting of candidates who have more than what it takes to become Nigeria’s next President.
Nwahiwe and other speakers on Nigeria’s polity were unanimous in registering their support for an Igbo President in the coming dispensation because, “The Igbo man has something to offer Nigeria if given the chance to prove their worth”.
Besides ensuring equity, justice and fairness for all regions, the Igbo gathering maintained that an Igbo president in 2023 would also not only guarantee peace, curtail insecurity but boost the economy of Nigeria.
On the security situation, Nwahiwe, apparently reacting to the Sunday afternoon kidnap of 21 passengers traveling on a state government bus, appealed to the federal, state and local government areas to do more in securing the lives and properties of the citizenry.
Also, President of Igbo Community Association (ICA), Niger State, Dr. Valentine Oparaocha, appealed to Nigerians not to despair but have faith in God, stressing that Nigeria would certainly overcome its current socio-economic and security woes.
Oparaocha said that the event was organised to seek God’s intervention in the multi-dimensional challenges bedeviling Nigeria, Niger State and the Igbo in particular, while appealing to his kinsmen in the state, Nigeria and in the Diaspora to be more peaceful, show love for one another in whatever they do and wherever they may find themselves.
Catholic Bishop of Minna Diocese, Most Rev. Martins Igwemezie Uzoukwu, who led other clerics of Igbo extraction in the state on the intercessory prayers, challenged the Igbo not to forget their roots and to always pray for God’s guidance and direction in whatever they do.
Bishop Uzoukwu, who spoke through Rev. Fr. Emeka Amamchukwu, also asked the Igbo and indeed Nigerians to return to their creator in moments of trials such as what Nigeria is passing through now, stressing, “Nigeria’s problems seem to have defied all known solutions.”
