Convener of the Movement for the Actualisation of Nigerian President of Igbo Extraction (MANPIEX), Joe Nwokedi, in this interview, spoke on the benefits that will accrue from electing an Igbo president in 2023 and other national issues.
You are the Convener of MANPIEX, what prompted the formation of the movement?
After diligent observation of Nigerian politics and the structure and different entities that formed the country, that is the North, the West, and the East, before Nigeria was later split into six geopolitical zones, you will discover that the Igbo, who are a major part of the original tripod, with the exception of the six months aborted regime of Gen J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi, have not had the opportunity of ruling Nigeria. Initially, we didn’t consider it a big deal because we are in a democratic society where anybody can pilot the affairs of the country, but as time went on, we discovered that the leadership over time has not got to the level of tackling the challenges and need to build the kind of nation that will make Nigeria great. We also discovered that the vision and dreams of our founding fathers, like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, K.O. Mbadiwe, Dr. Nwafor Orizu, Mbazuluike Amaechi and other prominent Igbo had of Nigeria at independence have not been fulfilled. The other tribes of Nigeria have tried their best in that highest office to make sure Nigeria achieves its goals, but it seems their best was not good enough. Looking at that original tripod, it is only the Igbo that has not been tried in the Office of the President. We believe that equity demands that equal should be treated equally; we believe that the Igbo should have their fair share of the Presidency, not just because it will satisfy the agitation of the people but because it will bring out policies and programmes that will benefit the generality of Nigerians.
The Igbo are entrepreneurs who manage men and resources, we grow wealth from nothing to established business empires and we believe that we can bring this to the leadership of Nigeria and make the country evolve. In a nutshell, the essence of forming MANPIEX is first to address the issue of inequity and unfair treatment of the Igbo in the affairs of Nigeria and second to bring quality leadership that will reflect the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo to Nigeria.
What would you say to critics who wonder why the Igbo agitate to lead Nigeria and at the same time groups within the Igbo homeland agitate for Biafra restoration?
The truth is that one gave birth to the other. The Igbo did not intentionally decide to go to war, it was a war of necessity, a reactionary war. It was the mismanagement of the January and July 1966 coup that culminated in the civil war. At the end of the war, the hero of Biafra, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu admonished the Igbo to become fully integrated into the affairs of Nigeria. In 1970, at the end of the war when no victor, no vanquished was declared, the Igbo willingly submitted to the Nigerian project. Those in the North went back, those in the Middle Belt went back and those in the West came back, they embraced Nigeria but Nigeria has found it difficult to embrace the Igbo. If anybody should have a grouse, it is the Igbo because they lost their property, lost their positions, and those in the army lost their ranks and seniority. The Igbo lost everything and more than three million lives were lost; the Igbo started from nothing, they forgot everything and embraced Nigeria, but Nigeria has not embraced them. It is the injustices and treatment meted out to the Igbo that trigger the Biafra restoration agitation.
With the agitation for Biafra restoration, insecurity has crept into the South East. How can the region hope to lead when the homeland is in crisis?
You cannot use the insecurity in the South East as a yardstick to measure qualification to aspire for the presidency. There is high-level of insecurity in the North. There are only pockets of crisis in the South East, it is not like it is so widespread that people cannot move around. What we have seen is the occasional burning of Police stations by people to register their protest. There are no cases of gunmen going into the market and shooting people. It is more like the same kind of protest against oppression that the South Africans used when Nelson Mandela was in prison. If the causes of the grievances are addressed, the agitations will cease. But, leaders of the South East are already talking to these groups and I believe they will listen.
One of the tools of protest adopted by IPOB in the South East is the sit-at-home, which hurts the Igbo who have to close their shops and lose their daily earnings more than the Federal Government the grievances should be directed at; what do you think?
The sit-at-home was used to call attention to the incarceration of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, it is more like a solidarity movement to demand the release of Nnamdi Kanu. When it started, everybody sympathised because it was a way of attracting national and international attention to the South East because of the way Nnamdi Kanu was brought back from Kenya illegally. But going forward, we have discovered that it has negative economic consequences on the economy of the South East. Right now, people including the current governor of Anambra State, Prof Chukwuma Soludo are talking to them about the economic implications and they are listening. I believe with time, it will be resolved.
Becoming President of Nigeria requires contesting on the platform of a political party, is MANPIEX interfacing with the political parties to realise its quest?
We have programmes mapped out to engage with the political parties. We have programmes to appeal to the conscience of people and persuade them to identify with our course on how to build a vibrant and prosperous nation. We will engage with the political parties, before the end of this April, and everybody will feel our impact.
Are you also talking to the aspirants from the South East who have picked nomination forms to perhaps decide who is most suitable?
Our major concern now is to ensure we have a good number of aspirants across the political parties. We don’t want to embark on a project that will make it look like we are being sponsored by someone, that will jeorpadise our mission. That is why for now we want to engage at the level of the citizens and major political parties about why they should support a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction before we start talking to the aspirants. If eventually the aspirants emerge as the standard-bearers of their respective political parties, then we can talk to them; for now, we want as many of them as possible to show interest.
Do you subscribe to engaging mercenaries as suggested by Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el’Rufai?
I don’t because our problems today were as a result of engaging mercenaries. The bandits terrorising us today are mercenaries brought In during the 2015 elections and because the people that brought them in could not meet the terms of the bargain, they entered the forest and unfortunately they have weapons. If Gov El’Rufai should bring in mercenaries and equip them with weapons to fight these terrorists, what happens after they defeat the terrorists? I will rather suggest that Gov El’Rufai borrow a leaf from what Peter Obi did when he was governor of Anambra State. Upper Iweka in Onitsha was ungovernable, but Peter Obi empowered the police and the army with the security votes and they restored order. The reason why the terrorist seems to have the upper hand is that they fight to die while our security forces fight to live.
There is a phobia many Nigerians have of the Igbo, what assurance is MANPIEX giving that to the citizenry?
I want to assure Nigerians that a president of Igbo extraction will be good for the country. Every Nigerian irrespective of sex, religion, or tribe will be happy with it because it will unite and move this nation forward and recover our honour and prestige in the committee of nations. A president of Igbo extraction will heal the wounds of the country and restart the journey to nationhood which was aborted in 1966. An Igbo as president will take Nigeria as one because the Igbo have investments in all parts of Nigeria. A president of Igbo extraction will not marginalise any part of Nigeria because it will be marginalising his people there.
(The Sun)
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