Major General Ijioma Nwokoro Ijioma (retd.) has lamented that, 55 years after the civil war, Nigeria is yet to forgive the Ndigbo and grant them the privilege of occupying the office of the president.
General Ijioma, the guest speaker at the July edition of Ikengaonline’s virtual town hall meeting on Thursday night, expressed shock that despite the genuine commitment to the unity and progress of the country demonstrated by Ndigbo, other tribes in the country are still reluctant to embrace them as one of their own.
This is as he slammed the Igbo political elite, particularly the South East Governors, for not doing enough to advance the cause of Ndigbo collectively.
He expressed grief that despite sacrifices by Ndigbo to unite and move Nigeria forward, “Nigeria is yet to forgive Ndigbo.”
“Our people at the end of the war wholeheartedly wanted to be reintegrated into Nigeria and have done everything possible to convince Nigerians that we are Nigerians, but I want to observe that despite these efforts, it seems that there is an agreement by Nigerians that the war hasn’t ended”, Gen. Ijioma lamented.
Gen. Ijioma wondered why it is proving difficult for Nigeria to trust an Igbo man for the presidency while other major tribes in the country had taken their fair share of the prime job.
“If President Tinubu runs his second course in 2027, that will be eight years. Then add it to eight years of former President Obasanjo, making it 16 years for the Yoruba nation.
“Add it to the six years of Jonathan, and eight years of Buhari, that is 30 years and these were 30 years of political exclusion. By 2031, the presidency goes to the North and if you take another eight years you are talking about a total of 38 years of continued exclusion of Igbo from the Nigerian presidency.
Gen. Ijioma who accused Nigeria of being afraid of Ndigbo, explained that contrary to the unfounded suspicion against the race, Ndigbo, more than any other tribe, are genuinely committed to the unity of the country.
