A former Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has said the most difficult thing for an Igbo man to do is to go on his knees, but added that it was time for the region to swallow its pride and start begging every other region for the presidential seat.
He said the South-East is ready to kneel down, even prostrate and beg, if doing so would convince other regions to give them the opportunity to produce the next President come 2023.
Ezeife who stated this at the United for Better Nigeria Initiative National Convention in Abuja on Saturday, said it was the right time for Ndigbo to produce the next President. But noted that the presidency is not something that is given but earned through hardwork.
“So I found Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and other groups in this place talking about the need for federal character. If you do it that way, there will be unity, if there is fairness, equity, justice, you will have unity and progress,” he said according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
“In the absence of those, you see where we are now. It is not a matter of to give us president, we don’t give, you have to work for it, the Igbo does not prostrate.
“The Igbo man does not kneel down but this time, we are prepared to kneel down to every part of Nigeria, every group, every ethnic group in Nigeria, we are prepared to even prostrate because we believe in this country.”
Ezeife has made similar call for the South East to humble itself, saying it is the easiest way to achieve its goals in a country like Nigeria, particularly its clamor for the presidency.
He said, "The Almighty God in heaven has agreed that come 2023, a South Easterner will take over power as president of Nigeria. But we as a people must work for it. We must work hard for it.
"We must beg the North, Northeast, Northwest, Middle Belt. We must beg the Yoruba; we must beg the South-south. We must beg all groups in Nigeria, lobbing them, beg them and if it demands kneeling down, the knees will not get stuck on the land. We want one Nigeria.
"It is the best for the Igbo because we need large space for economic activities. Our people want large space for economic activities. I understand the people who are fighting for Biafra. You can’t beat a child and tell the child not to cry. Yes, all the things done against the Igbo make fighting for Biafra justifiable.
"It’s not only the Igbo that want to go out. Federal Government is pushing the Igbo out of Nigeria and we are saying no. We insist to remain. But the younger ones mostly don’t know that we should look into long future not immediate because our great great grand children will enjoy Nigeria better than the present."