Consultant Surgeon and former President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dozie Ikedife, who has set an agenda for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction after Muhammadu Buhari, speaks with Senior Correspondent, OKEY MADUFORO, on expectations of his people from the President-elect.
How would you react to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC), candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, in penultimate Saturday’s poll and President Goodluck Jonathan’s acceptance of the outcome?
I must truly admit that, for once, we in Nigeria have witnessed an election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that did not result in violence. In as much as there is no perfect situation at every election in Nigeria, the March 28, 2015 presidential election showed a great measure of fairness.
We saw Peoples Democratic party (PDP) stalwarts lose senatorial and House of Representatives elections to the opposition party. In the past, it had been a bandwagon thing. It had been PDP all the way to the presidency, and at the end there had always been scores of protests and litigations in the courts.
Also, if you study the results closely, you would discover that there were some states where APC and PDP were expected to win, yet they lost. There were some states where the margin of victory was too close to call. Besides, Nigerians as a people were indeed desirous to perform their civic responsibilities.
Coming to the victory of Buhari, I must say that it is a welcome development for our polity and our democracy. The man had been in this contest three times earlier– against Olusegun Obasanjo, (the late) Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. Today, he has emerged victorious. He had announced that the 2011 general election would be the last he would take part in, but call it sheer providence or a twist of fate that made him reconsider his position and threw himself to the contest.
That also means that Buhari means well for the country. Of course, we all can tell the story of his short time as Head of State and how he instilled discipline, probity and accountability in our country. It was zero tolerance to corruption. So his return to power would also act as a purgative on the society and the country at large.
Buhari campaigned so hard. Despite all the verbal attacks and those challenges that go with the electioneering, he remained focused and determined to win.
It is also my view that there had not been such a healthy campaign in Nigeria, as issues were brought to the front burner, and almost every Nigerian, irrespective of how lowly-placed, became interested in the electoral process and wished to take part in the exercise.
I congratulate the General and wish him luck as he mounts the country’s saddle of leadership. I also want to make it clear that we should not see President Goodluck Jonathan as a loser. Yes he did not win, but most certainly he is not a loser when you come to consider certain points.
Even in the face of attacks on his government, he never lost his temper. He allowed the opposition to have their say. He also proffered reasons for whatever actions (or inaction) that he took while in office. It was indeed under his regime that opposition political parties won elections against his party, PDP, and he accepted it and went further to congratulate the winners.
Under his administration, the most peaceful election so far in Nigeria was conducted, and even when he lost, he accepted the result and congratulated the winner. So one cannot say that Jonathan lost; he displayed sportsmanship. That is the spirit of the game. Nigerians and future aspirants to elective positions should learn from the actions of President Jonathan.
What is the position of Ndigbo in Buhari’s administration?
A section of the public had explained that the Igbo were not in majority or lack the numerical strength in the APC to produce a running mate for Buhari and that may have been the reason the Yoruba of the South West got that position. Well, for whatever reason, they may be right or wrong, but I have always said that our people should not put their eggs in one basket in any political dispensation.
However, it is a new dawn for Ndigbo with Buhari as president. You will recall that I presented a speech in Onitsha during the South East Economic Summit (SEEC) organised by the APC. In my speech, I reminded our people of how Buhari had picked former House of Representatives Speaker, the late Edwin Ume-Ezeoke as running mate, on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Later, he picked another Igbo man, the late Chuba Okadigbo, as his running mate, still under the ANPP. At some point, he had considered the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, the former National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) boss, as vice presidential candidate. But the choice of Pastor Yemi Osinbajo yielded results in the 2015 general election.
What is now left is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate, which, at that Onitsha Summit, we urged him to give Ndigbo, especially the post of a Senate president.
Nigeria stands on a tripod of Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Ndigbo is yet to be considered, while the Hausa and Yoruba are occupying the posts of president and vice president.
We also have other positions such as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and other top ministerial positions at the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
Do you see him addressing the issue of absence of infrastructure in the South East?
It is a fact that we in Igboland are eager to build a stronger alliance with other geopolitical zones in Nigeria. There is no part of Nigeria that you will not see an Igbo. We are everywhere, whether in academics, business, sports and what have you. We go to a town that is not our own and establish business there, and even develop the place for them. So we are the most detribalised Nigerians, yet people do not appreciate our efforts in the development of the country.
In terms of infrastructure, we need a toll-free bridge across the River Niger. So, there is no reason for imposing with a tolled bridge on our people.
There have been similar bridges built in Nigeria without toll. So why must our own be different? Already, Buhari has promised us a toll-free bridge and we are confident that he will do that.
Again, we have a son of Igbo land that has invested so much on the Nkalagu Cement Factory. The factory and the man in question need to be assisted, so that jobs would be created and the economy of the South East boosted. Our people do not need river port, but a seaport and a dry port. The Niger River should be well dredged up to Calabar.
We also need improvement on power supply, so that our industries would grow. I am also glad that the president-elect also made similar promises to Ndigbo. This is the time to act on them as our leader.
Also, he promised to take care of our federal roads and ensure that contracts awarded are executed on time with prompt payments made. Another area that was discussed at that meeting was the creation of more states in the zone.
Is your zone still in need of the presidency, even if these requests are granted you?
Why not? After the tenure of Buhari, we believe and are sure that the next president of Nigeria will come from Igbo land. The South West has had its own share, just like the South South. It has now gone to the North; next would be South East.
The first (and only) time Ndigbo had it at the top was during the First Republic when we had the late Nnamdi Azikiwe as president. But we had a Northerner, the late Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the Prime Minister who was running the government. So by any means, Ndigbo have never produced an Executive President of Nigeria. Even the late General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, who was a military head of state, did not last and we all know what happened to him. Despite all these, the Igbo have remained loyal to the country called Nigeria. We have always supported other zones to produce president. This is pay-back time. President Goodluck Jonathan of the South South had our massive support in 2011 and we took him as our brother. Olusegun Obasanjo also had our massive support, even when our brother, the late Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu was contesting on the ticket of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
When Yar’Adua contested, we also gave him support and he became president. Same is the case with Buhari. Yes some people may say that we did not give Buhari the number of votes that Jonathan got, but Buhari had the constitutional 25 per cent spread in the South East.
I also must add that it is not only in the APC that we want the presidential ticket, but also in all other political parties in Nigeria.