By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
A Special Adviser to the Imo State Governor (political), Batos Nwadike has described the apex Igbo sociopolitical body, Ohaneze Ndigbo, as lacking the vision and strategy to influence a president of Igbo extraction come 2023.
In a sharp criticism, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, slammed the Imo Governor over the comment, saying he is pushing for his Vice President ambition, hence he is courting the attention of the north.
Nwadike, who spoke to journalists, accused Ohaneze of speaking from both sides of the mouth when it earlier said that Igbos will be reluctant to participate fully in Nigerian affairs until it is restructured.
The same Ohaneze, he said is now calling on Igbo politicians to brace up for 2023 Igbo presidency, describing it as ‘double speaking’ without focus.
“When Nnia Nwodo said in a conference at Chatham House London sometime in 2019 that the country will be restructured or lose the Igbos participating fully in Nigeria’s political and economic affairs, up till now, the country has not been restructured and Muhammadu Buhari still remains the President. Unfortunately, the realization of Biafra has remained elusive.
“It is quite clear that no section or zone in Nigeria can ascend to the Nigerian presidency without the support of other zones. So, let us tune down our rhetorics of hate and separatism. The curses and shouts have not stopped Buhari from winning all the time.
“No country in the world that has gotten independence through demonstration of their autonomous wishes. It has always been through the whims and caprices of the colonial masters,” he said.
Nwadike who is a former presidential candidate of PMP noted that Igbo presidency will be feasible if the people will come together instead of chasing shadows.
However, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has accused the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma of working towards the position of Vice President in 2023.
Kanu alleged that Uzodinma was working out to establish “Fulani game plan” in Imo State, and be returned for the position of the Vice President.
The IPOB leader made the allegation while lamenting over Fulani settlements in Imo and Abia States.
In a statement he signed, Kanu declared that IPOB was the last line of defence against Fulani conquest of the Southeast.
According to Kanu: “This had always been Fulani game plan. When they said it in 2018, we thought it was a joke but today it has become a nightmarish reality for our people in Benue State.
Hope Uzodinma, the Fulani Supreme Court Governor of Imo State is working very hard to turn Imo State into another Benue State in return for an empty promise of Vice President in 2023.
“Abia State Governor, Chief Okezie Ikpazu now boasts of the two largest illegal Fulani settlements outside Arewa core north”.
