2023: Let Igbo Produce President Before Zoning Is Cancelled – Abuja Catholic Priest

Rev Fr George Ehusani, Executive Director of the Lux Terra Leadership Foundation, has thrown his weight behind the calls for Nigerians to elect a president of Igbo extraction in the 2023 election for the sake of fairness and equity.

Ehusani said if the country must jettison the existing arrangement of rotational presidency between the North and the South, the South-East should first be allowed to produce a president.

“Let it (zoning) go round the six geopolitical zones first before we cancel it. I believe it is gross injustice and unfair to say the South East should ignore it. We should not. Beyond that, in the South East we can get the kind of engineers we are talking about to fix the knocked engine. If we are looking for mechanics to do that, we will get them” the priest said at a roundtable organized by Development Specs Academy (DSA) at the Army Resource Centre, Abuja.

He spoke on the topic ‘State of the Nation’ which was one of the six themes of the roundtable organized for thought leaders, advocacy groups, and journalists, amongst others.

At the event, Ehusani urged Nigerian youths to reject old politicians who have brought the country to its current state.

He likened the country to a car with knocked engine and which only a mechanic with good record of performance can fix.

“The Nigerian vehicle is knocked, nothing appears to be working well,” he said while calling on the youths to take advantage of numerical strength to elect competent leaders.

“It is time for the youths 18 years and above wake to wake up from their slumber. We keep thinking of some messiah to come fix Nigeria. It’s in us. The way Nigeria is run before now won’t save us.

“You the young people need to reject them. They have failed. We cannot afford to vote the same people that have driven us to the precipice. All those responsible for ruining Nigeria should be rejected roundly.”

Also speaking at the event, Professor Chris Ogbogbo, former President of the Historical Society of Nigeria, said there was need for the youths to acquaint themselves with the country’s history to better understand the challenges facing the country and proffer solutions.

“You don’t understand where we are coming from, so if you don’t appreciate where we are now and as a consequence, your future would be bleak,” Ogbogbo said.

He recalled that those who occupied leadership positions in the post-colonial period were mainly youths, saying “a good number of them made their mark on the national and international scene when they were under 30s.

“I know, when I was president of the Historical Society of Nigeria, my main mandate as President was to fight for the restoration of history in the primary and secondary schools’ curriculum for 34 years.

“The bulk of you who are here now did not study history in secondary school or primary school. At a senior secondary school level, it was up to 90% to know history.

“You don’t appreciate where you are coming from and that manifests the decision you’re making today, so it was in 2018 that several stakeholders said let us bring it back.”