March 28, 2024

 

The Pan-African Youth Union Commissioner for Youth Political Participation, Oladele Nihi has tutored an Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo following its claims on rotational presidency which according to him “has proven noneffective over time to address the needs of ordinary Nigerians”.

Recall that Yahaya Bello of Kogi State had said rotational presidency was unconstitutional. This prompted apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to say that Bello was too young to appreciate the principle.

Reacting to Ohanaeze’s comments, Nihi through his Chief Press Secretary, Kelvin Eleta, said this is not the time to be discussing issue of rotation when Nigeria’s unity is seriously threatened, insisting they should rather focus on ways to address the needs of ordinary Nigerians.

“Nigeria is currently experiencing a thick wave of youth emancipation in terms of governance and active involvement in politics, and as unity remains the required yeast to sustaining and boosting the country’s spirit of oneness, Nigeria should by now be over the issue of rotation; as it has proven non-effective over time to address the needs of ordinary Nigerians,” Nihi stated.

Asking the Igbo group to state categorically any benefit the region has recorded since zoning has been a dogma, Nihi questioned; “Is the South and particularly Southeast now stable and developed as desired? Should regions have to continually wait for eight years before they could feel the touch of leadership? And lastly, Nigerian youths will be glad to know of the appropriate constitutional backings that support zoning.”

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He, however, encouraged the well-known social cultural group to keep aside issues of zoning and play the “I am a Nigerian” card; adding that “every Nigeria should be accorded equal chance of approaching the pool whenever the need be without any territorial restrictions and ethic hurdles”.

In his closing remarks, Nihi affirmed that the Kogi State Governor might probably be studying accountancy in the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, when “the elders who made a decision capable of affecting generations unborn without thinking of its repercussions”, but insisted that “a decision that was made out of cloudy intentions cannot be a yardstick for the current generation to work with”.

“The said decision is one of the major catalyst of ethnic reintegration in the country, and cannot stand.

I appeal to the Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to join hands with Nigerians and millions of Nigerian youths appealing to Yahaya Bello to run for presidency, just as the South-South Youth Leaders Forum (SSYLF) has declared support for him after a three-day coastal rally in honour of the Kogi State Governor in the Niger Delta, and engraved him as the symbol of a new Nigeria. Join us and let us play the “I am a Nigerian” card as the time to be one is now!” He said.

 

(Vanguard)

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