‘Why Igbo can’t produce President’

The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey, yesterday in Lagos, said an Igbo man cannot be President of Nigeria because of lack of unity in leadership roles.

According to him, Igbo are hardworking, resilient and law abiding, but fall short of leadership role because of lack of recognition of leadership ethics and discipline.

Enwo-Igariwey, who was the guest speaker at the public presentation of the Igbo centenary book, 100 Years of Amalgamation: Igbo, What Hope in Nigeria, by a Lagos-based journalist, Peter Anosike, said every Igbo wants to be leader at the same time.

According to him “if we can solve this problem by trying to learn from our mistakes and believe that there can only be one leader at a time, then we can succeed as a people.”

He said Igbo had huge investments all over the country and that with all the respect and recognition they had earned, they still lacked unity over leadership tussles, as could be seen even in town union meetings.

He said: “It does not have to be the strongest or the richest. Anyone can be supported to succeed. If we unite, people will be afraid of us.”

Chairman of the occasion, Chief Nwabueze Obi, Executi-ve Director, Cabotage, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, said: “We are nomadic. Over 90 percent of our investments are outside Igboland.

“If you go anywhere and do not see an Igbo man, then it is not habitable. If we can channel these gifts to have a united front, we can succeed.”

He appealed to all Igbo to be submissive to authority.
Nigerian Vanguard