Chukwuemeka Ezeife |
He decried what he described as consistency by the present All Progressives Congress (APC) government in pushing the Igbo out of the country.
Speaking with the Sun, the former Governor stated that though the Igbo believe in the unity of the country, they will not reject themselves if they are rejected by Nigeria.
He said, “So, a new Nigeria must come, a new Nigeria is in the offing, a new Nigeria must come with new structures and new arrangements.
“I cannot give timetable to God because I think God has seen that we are going towards disintegration and I don’t think God wants us to disintegrate.
‘Fortunately, the people who are pushing us towards disintegration are the people who will lose most by disintegration.
“How come the Fulani are antagonising the rest of Nigeria? How many are they? May God make the other Nigerians love the Fulani; this is the first step.
“How many hectares of land do they have other than antagonising and taking over?
“I am sad that Nigeria is as it is but I am happy that a new Nigeria is in the offing and must come to show that God made no mistake creating a gem of a country called Nigeria.”
Speaking on the quest for Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2023, Ezeife added, “On the issue of presidency in 2023, we are ready, uniting ourselves to go and even kneel down to the North and beg them, kneel down to the West, beg them, kneel down to the South-South, beg them and kneel down to the Middle Belt and beg them.
“Some Northern youths came to my house in the village to tell me that they support a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2023.
“Many groups in the Middle Belt have also shown their support for Nigerian president of Igbo extraction in 2023.
“The Buhari government has been pushing the Igbo consistently out of Nigeria; the elders have been resisting the push, but the young ones are ready to push back.
“If you are denying us citizenship, what are we doing here? We are pleading and not threatening anybody. But if they reject us, we cannot reject ourselves.
“The Igbo have always pushed for one Nigeria and there is no real difference among us, so anybody saying the Igbo are disunited is wasting time and deceiving himself.
“The government that exists today is anti-Igbo and has been pushing the Igbo out of Nigeria in many, many ways. What Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is asking for is exactly what the government is doing to the Igbo.
“But we the elders are hopeful that God will intervene and will restore equality for all Nigerians.
“What happened was that the Federal Government reneged on the Aburi agreement, therefore rejecting our people and when our people were trying to run back home from the North, they were killed in the Middle Belt by Middle Belters who formed majority of the people the Federal Government used to fight the war.
“But today, the Middle Belters are no longer usable as tools, they didn’t know what they were doing, they were deceived into killing the Igbo, but now, they have woken up. Who declared the war?”