2023 : Nigeria needs an Igbo president for equity sake – Brig. Gen. Okoloagu (rtd)
Brig. Gen. Joseph Okoloagu (rtd) is a member of Board of Trustees (BoT) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and also a board member of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). In this interview, he speaks on the electoral process, the need for a president of Igbo extraction, and the role that the North will play in the 2023 presidency, among others.
Since the last general elections that returned President Muhammadu Buhari, there has been increasing call for a South Easterner to succeed him when his tenure elapses in 2023. What is the South-East bringing to the table?
What the South-East is saying is that every other zone has taken a shot at the presidency since the beginning of this republic. It is only proper that the Igbo take their turn at the presidency. But like we know, Nigeria operates democratic governance, founded on the rule of law, with party politics.
I want to make it abundantly clear that it is fair and proper to let the Igbo have a shot at the presidency. But it can only be done on a party platform. If the party the Igbos are using now is okay to give them the presidency, so be it. But if the party they have been patronizing is not strong enough to give them the presidency, what I am advocating is that, for peace, equity and good conscience, there should be a president of Igbo extraction and not necessarily an Igbo president when Buhari leaves office in 2023.
Again, I humbly appeal to my revered President Buhari to ignore the hostility of the Igbo youths against him and his administration and be a nobleman, to make sure at the end of his tenure, an Igbo man succeeds him.
If my people are allowed to continue the way they are going and the presidential democracy we are practicing is adhered to in its strict sense, I don’t think, the Igbo can get the presidency. No zone in Nigeria can produce a president without the support of other zones, especially, the North, and to some extent, the South-West. That is why I said, in all good conscience, if equity is to be employed in our politics, it is only proper that a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction is penciled down now and groomed properly because whether we like it or not, I have served Nigeria in different capacities, as a soldier for almost 35 years and as a politician for over 15 years.
I can conveniently tell you the way the system works. Invariably, the North is the kingmakers. Whoever they want to be president of Nigeria today, will become. It may hurt some people that I am saying so. I am a man of just one word, I ditch it out the way I see it because I have played this politics both in the military and in civil life because man is a political animal.
What is your take on the concern that the agitation by IPOB will affect the clamour for president of Igbo extraction?
I don’t know why people like making issues out of nothing. I fought the civil war. I have lived through the civil war and I am here today. Let me tell Nigerians the gospel truth, Biafra is not an option. The only way Biafra can materialize is when there is a natural disintegration of Nigeria.
If in the course of our experience in governance, any section of the country has the misconception of lording it over other section of the country, Nigeria will disintegrate naturally. The kind of unity that existed in 1967 no longer exists today because the various ethnic groups have been emancipated politically and culturally. The three dominant tribes in Nigeria, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba better not think of making the mistake of lording it over other tribes in Nigeria. I pray Nigeria remains one because no disintegration takes place without a huge loss in both human and material resources. When I said Biafra is not an option, I have looked at it from a matured man’s prism.
Politically, militarily and otherwise, I say, Biafra is not feasible. The youth won’t like me because I said this. But I must say it the way it is. Biafra is not a viable option in the face of unquantifiable Igbo investments in Nigeria.
Another angle to it is, we built this country together and there is no wishing away, with the founding fathers like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and the rest of them. These are people who laboured to build this country. Any agitation that takes no cognizance of how we started will be like putting the cart before the horse.
Why are concerned about the investments of the Igbos in other parts of the country?
Investments are tangible things. I want to say that the Igbo have numerical strength in Nigeria because anywhere you go to in Nigeria, most of the artisans you have there are Igbo. If you want to buy drug from the chemist or pharmacy, most of them are Igbo people. Any tribe that thinks Igbo can be wished away is making a mistake and that informs my suggestion that the political kingmakers should start looking for a president of Igbo extraction.
Though, the Igbo don’t have the right political alliance under the current circumstances, they have identity and characters abound that can fit into the presidency and these are gentlemen of Igbo extraction, from whom the kingmakers from the North, West and East can come together and say, for justice and fair play, let this man be given a chance. He or she can run under my party, the APC because it is a party to beat.
So, it is in the best interest of the Igbo, if you will, to start romancing with the APC. I don’t know how to hide my feelings. If not, how do you explain a situation where, in the South-East, if you must go to the Senate or the House of Representatives, you must belong to the PDP and the few that have broken the jinx now are men of deep pocket. Their positions in the APC as a party also helped them.
Until our democracy matures to a point where people’s votes count, this manipulation will continue, call it the PDP or the APC. The PDP is crying now, this is what we watch happened under them for 16 years. Except we are able to cure the malaise of electoral malpractices, we are not going anywhere with democracy.
What is your assessment of Buhari government so far on the issue of carrying every segment along?
Nobody is perfect. He might not have satisfied every expectation in his appointments. But in executive system, you appoint those you think and believe will help you to succeed. President Buhari should be assessed based on the many successes he has recorded. It is under his watch that Nigeria recovered her territory from Boko Haram. It is under his watch that the TSA was instituted, which has reduced wastages and corruption in the running of government.
It is under his watch that borders closure came to be which has boosted patronage of local farm produce and reduced smuggling of petroleum products which is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. The improvement in agriculture, power is another one. It is under his watch that for three years, I, as an old man, don’t have to sleep at the filling a station to get PMS to travel for Christmas or New Year. When you look at these positive things President Buhari has done, you realise that it is God that gave him power. More importantly, it is under the watch of Buhari that Nigeria experienced highest infrastructural rehabilitation and development. Today, you can travel to Kaduna by rail. And in the South-West, you can travel to Abeokuta and beyond.
However, that cannot be said on railway transportation improvement in the South East and South-South. But that does not obliterate the massive railway infrastructural development in the country. Furthermore, the quality of road network has significantly improved in the country more than any other administration in recent times. Unfortunately, the road networks in the South-East particularly and South-South cannot compare favourably with the quality of improvement in these infrastructures nationwide.
If my people are allowed to continue the way they are going and the presidential democracy we are practicing is adhered to in its strict sense, I don’t think, the Igbo can get the presidency