The Northern Leaders under the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, have said that the Ohanaeze, Afenifere, and Ijaw Leaders, would never again determine who rules Nigeria.
Chairman of the Arewa Forum and former Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Coomassie, who stated this on Saturday night, revealed that there is nothing wrong or unusual about the current alliances, and fence-mending among prominent groups, as the elections will be determined by the people.
Recall, that the leaderships of Afenifere, Ohanaeze, and the South-South, including the first Republic Information Minister, Chief E. K. Clark, had held series of meetings since the emergence of Dr. John Nwodo, as President-General of Ohanaeze, in a move to enable the South to speak with one voice on topical political issues in the country.
Before going into a closed door meeting, on Thursday, Leaders of the South-South and South-East geo-political zones had called for the restructuring of Nigeria, to make all citizens of the country equal partners and partakers.
They added, that a synergy among the nationality group was critical to the political and economic development of the country, especially as it affects the 2019 elections and beyond.
Reacting, the ACF said: “Wait till 2019 elections. I can tell you that these groups will not determine the direction of the elections in 2019. Rather, the only people who will determine it are the electorates. They are the people who will make the choice and go to the polls to cast their votes”, he said.
However, reacting to the ACF’s Leader’s statement, an Ohanaeze chieftain and former Governor of old Anambra State, Chwukwuemeka Ezeife, said much as the Igbos need the support and cooperation of all ethnic and professional groups to produce the next President of Nigeria, the statement reflected the psychosis of some Northern leaders who see rulership of Nigeria as their birthright.
“Such statements reflect the psychosis of superiority; they believe that Nigeria depends on them and they make all the decisions on issues that affect Nigeria. They have continued with that mentality, but they should remember that God created all of us equal, with the capacity to aspire, and we all have the rights on the basis of equity.
“God did not create Fulanis and make them superior to other people in Nigeria. Do not mind the Jihad they fought and took over the kingdoms of Hausaland. We are all waiting for 2019, and then we will see who laughs last.
“We need their cooperation, we must say that. The Igbos in the South-East need the cooperation of the North-East and North-West to produce the President of Nigeria, to liberate the country. But we must avoid statements that point towards arrogance,” Eziefe said.
Similarly, Afenifere has taken a swipe at the ACF’s position, urging Coomassie in particular, to wake up and smell the coffee, because the era of feudal arrogance, where his section of the country deludes itself of owing the country, is over.
Afenifere’s Spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, who said this, added that such statement smacks of a mentality that is not only anti-progress and insensitive to the needs of other sections of the country, but also negates the feelings canvassed by other sections of the country which are vital for success.
“He is deluding himself, by giving the impression that his corner of the country owns Nigeria. That is the deception of the century. All that is required is for all other nationalities to be united in speaking with one voice about the need to restructure the country, because there lies our development.”
