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Ndigbo have two options in 2019 Presidency.
They would either support the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari who is expected to constitutionally serve only another term of four years if he wins the 2019 Presidential election or support another Northern Presidential candidate who would serve eight years or even more depending on the circumstance in the future.
Nigeria was built on a tripod even politically but the Igbo leg of the tripod has never produced an Executive President since independence, so it’s an emotional thing.
But Ndigbo in recent times seem to have been playing politics of the moment rather than RealPolitk , even though some factors that are not under their control have conspired to stymie their political aspirations nationally.
In 2015 , they virtually put their eggs in one basket to satiate their Niger Delta neighbors who seem then to still be nursing the ZIK versus Eyo Ita saga.
On the surface , it looks a robust stand. But then Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, by jettisoning the zoning arrangement of his party in 2015 and even by contesting in 2011, imperiled the Igbo political taproot .
This is understandable. But would the Niger Delta have done so if they were in Igbo shoe. No one can predict.
Probably the sacrifice for which Igbos are still suffering the impact is worth it, perhaps not, but time and the future will tell.
But there is a school of thought that feel Ndigbo should support the re-election of Buhari in 2019 not out of love but out of reality on ground where an Igbo would likely succeed Buhari in 2013.
Yet there is no fool proof certainty in that considering the murky nature of Nigerian politics.
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Some Igbos are of the view that Igbos should contest in 2019 and not wait till 2023 , even if they do not win.
Well , all these views are germane, but this author , being a student of Real Politik think a political bird at hand is worth the unknown one in the bush.
If a patriotic , committed , nationalistic and progressive Northern candidate outside Buhari can be found in 2019 and who is ready to Restructure Nigeria, , unleash the bottled up developmental energies of Igbos , create additional state and local governments in Igbo land (a factor that perpetually keep them at structural disadvantage in Nigeria) and promote citizenship rights in Nigeria, then Igbos should not mind the terminal date of such a person.
It’s better we anchor on a true Nigerian leader from the North who would restore Igbo economic and geo-political rights than even an Igbo that would just be a nominal Executive President in 2019 or 2023 just to satiate our long bruised political emotions.
If we cannot find such a Northerner among the array of present contenders from other camps, then a Buhari that will serve only four years if re-elected in 2019 , despite his obvious weaknesses, and hand over to an Igbo man will be an inevitable option.
Let Ndigbo brainstorm on this.
Chuks Ibegbu, a social and political analyst and the national deputy publicity secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, wrote from Umuawa-Alaocha, Ohuhu in Umuahia North LGA of Abia State.
