The leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Edwin Clark has warned that there will be no Nigeria if the next president doesn’t come from the South-East extraction.
Edwin Clark Calls For Igbo Presidency
The elder statesman, who spoke during a chat with AriseTV on Tuesday, said the Igbo are still treated as second-class citizens decades after the civil war.
Clark, who condemned the unfair treatment handed to the South-East, described Nigeria as a “three-legged pot”, explaining that “one leg is in the north, the two others in the west and east”.
He added that Nigeria “has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the civil war”. He said the presidency must go to the South-East in 2023 to heal the Igbo’s wounds.
The 94-year-old said, “My idea of zoning the Presidency to the South-East is well-known. No Nigerian will like to live in a country where certain people believe that they have the only right to lead.
“The APC believes the 12 million votes by President Muhammadu Buhari might be eroded if it is zoned to the South. The PDP is also considering zoning to the North. This is unfair.
“When Lord Fredrick Luggard created Nigeria in 1914, it did not say some people are superior to the other. Nigeria was a three-legged pot.
“One leg is in the north, the two others in the west and east. But one was destroyed during the war, and Nigeria has not been steady. Nigeria stood on three legs, and it has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the Civil War.
“Gowon should have allowed the Igbos to go if they are to be treated as second class citizens. You have no moral justification for keeping second class citizens in your country.
“There will be no peace. Their children are growing up and asking questions. If zoning which will heal the Igbo leg is not done, Nigeria is not straight.
“So if you say zoning is dead or rotation is buried, then there will be no Nigeria. Nobody will remain in this country as a second class citizen.
“The North believes their population can be used to oppress other Nigerians. This is not acceptable. The era of that has gone. There are many good Northerners but the Fulani-oriented ones want to dominate everywhere.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Ohanaeze Ndigbo had recently slammed the Northern Elders for opposing the zoning of the 2023 presidency to the Southern region of the country.