Billionaire oil magnate, Prince Arthur Eze has said that Igbo must love themselves and be willing to support each other if they want to be president of Nigeria in 2023.
Eze who spoke to journalists during a church service in Ukpo, Anambra State, on Sunday, claimed that the Igbo people do not love another and are not united.
He said that Igbo indigenes cannot be Nigeria’s president if they continue to dislike and fight each other at every given time.
“For the Igbo to be President, they must love themselves. Do they love themselves? We must love ourselves before we can become president of Nigeria,” he said.
“Politicians are causing hatred in Igbo land, they find it difficult to work with each other. Each desires to work for their own selfish interest.
“Another thing is that we must see a way to work with northerners. I love northern leaders and they love me too. They are very easy to deal with. When I was struggling to be somebody in life, they took me in with trust.
“Only God can find the kind of Igbo man that has the character to help. Without that kind of character, we cannot unite to become president of Nigeria. That is why the north is succeeding, and we need to liaise with them too to be able to become president in 2023.
“I went to the North, they didn’t know who I was. They gave me $12m for the construction of Kano TV in 1980. I didn’t have one naira then. It was the same thing in Katsina, Borno and Kaduna. Then, they put me in oil business. They didn’t care where I came from. Tell me any Igbo man who can do that?” Eze asked.
Eze advised the Ndigbo not to crave for a President of Igbo extraction but a President who would champion their interest irrespective of his tribe. He declared that he would support a good leader as Nigerian President irrespective of the person’s ethnic group.
This is coming barely one week after Prince Arthur Eze said Ndigbo will be eternally grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for “showing love to the people of the South-East” through federal projects.
Eze also commended President Buhari for what he called the massive provision of economic and infrastructural facilities in the South-East geopolitical zone.