By Henry Umoru & Tony Edike
ENUGU — AHEAD of the 2011 general elections, the National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, said yesterday that any Igbo man or woman aspiring for the position of the President or Vice from the South East geopolitical zone should jettison it.
Nwodo spoke against the backdrop of Sunday’s resolution by South East governors that none of them would vie for the office of the president or vice president in the forthcoming elections.
Addressing a mammoth crowd at a reception organized in his honour by Enugu State government at Okpara Square, Enugu, yesterday, Nwodo stressed that what was required by Nigeria now were leaders with courage, vision not tribe.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan who was represented by Alhaji Ahmed Ali Gulak, Coordinator, Goodluck Support Group, also called on Nigerians to put aside the idea of religion, region or state as major consideration for who becomes the leader of the country in the next general election.
Obi, Orji storm PDP reception
Nwodo, who was highly elated at the event which was attended by political leaders of the South East, all the governors of the South East, including governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji, who recently dumped the Peoples Progressives Alliance, PPA, for All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and his Anambra State counterpart, Mr. Peter Obi, stressed that unity for once had come to Igbo land through his appointment as PDP national chairman.
He said: “For the respect, for the honour and dignity the governors have for my person, it means unity is coming to our land. I salute our governors, I salute the people, I salute you because you are sending a message loud and clear across Nigeria that the Igbo can be united, you are sending a message that even when we have diversity in Igbo land, we have unity.
“You are sending out a message today that in Nigeria, we can sit at home and sacrifice, we can strategize and plan for the future of Igbo and Nigeria. A statement was made here, we are not going to be president, we are not going to be vice president, but we want the gains of democracy for our people.”

He's a Godforsaken saboteur of the igbos. Does that mean the igbos lack leaders with courage? He is as dumb as his looks!

^^^^
WTF. He is right that Igbos should not contest the presidency in 2011. We shall do so in the future. There are other more important things for us to do this time.


An aside: apart from the pride of it,  there is no advantage of being Nigeria's president to the region where he comes from. The Igbo president would not steal for all ndigbo, just like Obj did not do for Yoruba and IBB, Abacha and Abdulsallam did not do for the entire North.

Mr Fire:

An aside: apart from the pride of it, there is no advantage of being Nigeria's president to the region where he comes from. The Igbo president would not steal for all ndigbo, just like Obj did not do for Yoruba and IBB, Abacha and Abdulsallam did not do for the entire North.

How is the weather up in La-la land there today? ROFLMAO!!

This is a total absurd to the igbo folks.why should they step down for jonathan ? Since the race is open to everybody due to jonathan's stu.pidity to contest by all means out of greed thereby causing further ethnic disunity among nigerians,then igbo,yoruba,hausa and others should contest with him if he cant respect the rotational presidency idea.

~Bluetooth:

This is a total absurd to the igbo folks.why should they step down for jonathan ? Since the race is open to everybody due to jonathan's stu.pidity to contest by all means out of greed thereby causing further ethnic disunity among nigerians,then igbo,yoruba,hausa and others should contest with him if he cant respect the rotational presidency idea.

It is not the case that the Ibos are stepping down for Jonathan - No. They have agreed that it is in their best interest to clean up Ibo land before it is too late and rather than governors kicking off some silly campaign, they would best serve their people by actually getting down to doing the job they were hired to do.

This generally applies to state governors and their connected officers. I don't think the average Ibo man is barred in anyway by this.

As for Jonathan, He is yet to declare he wants to run for office, and if anything, it is best he does not given that he has his hands full creating a lasting legacy for himself with this opportunity he has. I doubt he will get the people's vote if he does not show himself worthy of a second term though. On the otherhand, considering the company he keeps, he might not really care what the people's mandate is in the end.

It is not just Nwodo saying this, five SE govs said so earliar and even excluded themselves from pres or VP positions, and they are not all in PDP. Bluetooth, please speak for your own people and leave Ndigbo alone on this matter. Thanks.

It is not about PDP or Jonathan. According to the governors, Igbos will support whoever will address Igbo marginalization and political imbalance even if it is a northerner or a Yoruba or Jonathan. But we shall not be taken for a ride in that process.

Mr Fire:

It is not just Nwodo saying this, five SE govs said so earliar and even excluded themselves from pres or VP positions, and they are not all in PDP. Bluetooth, please speak for your own people and leave Ndigbo alone on this matter. Thanks.

the igbo seem to be clueless to me than the yoruba.Nwodo chunning out orders to the igbo is totally unnecessary.An agreement which was made between them shouldn't be a public matter afterall,that was the same way they agreed on rotational presidency initally.if i may ask you.why would credible igbo men stepdown for the presidential seat if the floor is opened to everybody.is he afraid of somebody pulling some stunts behind jonathan ?

Kobojunkie:

It is not the case that the Ibos are stepping down for Jonathan - No. They have agreed that it is in their best interest to clean up Ibo land before it is too late and rather than governors kicking off some silly campaign, they would best serve their people by actually getting down to doing the job they were hired to do.

This generally applies to state governors and their connected officers. I don't think the average Ibo man is barred in anyway by this.

As for Jonathan, He is yet to declare he wants to run for office, and if anything, it is best he does not given that he has his hands full creating a lasting legacy for himself with this opportunity he has. I doubt he will get the people's vote if he does not show himself worthy of a second term though. On the otherhand, considering the company he keeps, he might not really care what the people's mandate is in the end.

since jonathan has not made his intent known,Nwodo should not have made that kind of comment.people that are against zoning always said it is undemocratic and a strategy to win election.ok fine.why is Nwodo asking igbo not to contest if not that he's also strategising for jonathan.is that democratic ? No

~Bluetooth:

since jonathan has not made his intent known,Nwodo should not have made that kind of comment.people that are against zoning always said it is undemocratic and a strategy to win election.ok fine.why is Nwodo asking igbo not to contest if not that he's also strategising for jonathan.is that democratic ? No

I just explained to you why he said what he said. He is simply echoing decision reached by the Ibo governors who themselves are sort of united in the fight against crime which has been on the rise in the eastern states.
Regardless of Nwodo's intent here, the decision had already been made and he was simply echoing what had already been said. Again, Zoning has nothing to do with Ibo land but with the PDP, which he only happens to be a member of. That does not change the fact that Ibos are free to vote PDP or non.

Bluetooth=ignoramus?

Kobojunkie:

I just explained to you why he said what he said. He is simply echoing decision reached by the Ibo governors who themselves are sort of united in the fight against crime which has been on the rise in the eastern states.
Regardless of Nwodo's intent here, the decision had already been made and he was simply echoing what had already been said. Again, Zoning has nothing to do with Ibo land but with the PDP, which he only happens to be a member of. That does not change the fact that Ibos are free to vote PDP or non.

Nwodo is the chairman of pdp.in the spirit of democracy,echoing the minds of a few individuals at the detriment of others is unacceptable.you can't tell me that all igbo folks are happy with that decision.if the coming election is to be seen as free and fair,the internal democracy within the pdp would be a determining factor because they are the ruling party.A crack within it affects nigeria democracy.

~Bluetooth:

Nwodo is the chairman of pdp.in the spirit of democracy,echoing the minds of a few individuals at the detriment of others is unacceptable.you can't tell me that all igbo folks are happy with that decision.

UUmm. . . . Now I am not even sure what you are arguing here. Nothing of the spirit of democracy says Governors cannot decide not to run for office. Democracy allows the freedom to or not to run.
Again, Nwodo is only echoing the decision already reached by the governors and leaders affected.

~Bluetooth:

if the coming election is to be seen as free and fair,the internal democracy within the pdp would be a determining factor because they are the ruling party.A crack within it affects nigeria democracy.

Again, PDP has nothing to do with Free and Fair Election in the Country called Nigeria. Whatever the state of internal democracy within the PDP, it should not stop a Nation from having a free and fair election, ruling party or no ruling party.
People need to stop equating PDP and PDP issues with Nigeria. PDP is akin to a fraternity whose rules should only affect members and not the members of the public.

Kobojunkie:

UUmm. . . . Now I am not even sure what you are arguing here. Nothing of the spirit of democracy says Governors cannot decide not to run for office. Democracy allows the freedom to or not to run.
Again, Nwodo is only echoing the decision already reached by the governors and leaders affected. Again, PDP has nothing to do with Free and Fair Election in the Country called Nigeria. Whatever the state of internal democracy within the PDP, it should not stop a Nation from having a free and fair election, ruling party or no ruling party.
People need to stop equating PDP and PDP issues with Nigeria. PDP is akin to a fraternity whose rules should only affect members and not the members of the public.

we don't need to deceive ourselves that the problem of pdp doesnt affect nigeria.take the house of reps matter for example. . Nigerians are worried about the instability of nigeria which is caused by this party.how can you address the instability of nigeria if nothing is done about the party ? I used to hope the opposition parties would be equal to the task before until i lost my hope in then.should i continue to wait till the opposition parties could take the challenge and do something about pdp ? I havd no option but to become interested in the affairs of pdp and how it affects nigerians.the likes of soyinka,utomi,late fawehimi,Akande,falae and others are credible but they are not strong enough to challenge the evil ruling party.the other day soyinka was complaining of getting tired of fighting alone because he wanted an opposition that would be string enough to challenge the pdp.if pdp can be checkmated,a larger percent of nigeria problems would be solved

~Bluetooth:

we don't need to deceive ourselves that the problem of pdp doesnt affect nigeria.take the house of reps matter for

Actually, that is the problem. It shouldn't but because we in Nigeria like to OBSESS over the irrelevant, we have given the PDP so much power. PDP internal policy ought not to affect the country in much the same way that AC policy does not.

~Bluetooth:

example. . Nigerians are worried about the instability of nigeria which is caused by this party. how can you address the instability of nigeria if nothing is done about the party ?

Being concerned about instability in the country is one thing but pretending INTERNAL PARTY POLICIES affect the nation is another. So what if the PDP is the ruling party, the party is still bound by the Laws of the Nation.

~Bluetooth:

I used to hope the opposition parties would be equal to the task before until i lost my hope in then.should i continue to wait till the opposition parties could take the challenge and do something about pdp ? I havd no option but to become interested in the affairs of pdp and how it affects nigerians.the likes of soyinka,utomi,late fawehimi,Akande,falae and others are credible but they are not strong enough to challenge the evil ruling party.the other day soyinka was complaining of getting tired of fighting alone because he wanted an opposition that would be string enough to challenge the pdp.if pdp can be checkmated,a larger percent of nigeria problems would be solved

Is it possible that you fail to see why the people you have listed up there are not powerful is mostly because we, the people, have chosen to FOCUS too much of our attention on the PDP and have essentially, given less or no time to the others? Realize that in a democracy, the power is in the hands of the people.
The reason Gani and co have yet to make headway is because we are instead focusing our attention on the PDP and the corrupt and essentially the cries of the real heroes are being neglected. Gani stood alone to his death in his cause. Through the many cases, how many of us actually stood side by side with him? I don't mean coming on nairaland to comment but actually making contributions, helping pass our flyers and educating others of what is going on and how there is a way to change it , and maybe signing petitions, protesting to see things change? How many? Gani could barely get a crowd of a couple hundred to stand with him when he was out trying to help us. How then do we expect things to change if we are too distracted to even lend our support to the good?

Kobojunkie:

Actually, that is the problem. It shouldn't but because we in Nigeria like to OBSESS over the irrelevant, we have given the PDP so much power. PDP internal policy ought not to affect the country in much the same way that AC policy does not. Being concerned about instability in the country is one thing but pretending INTERNAL PARTY POLICIES affect the nation is another. So what if the PDP is the ruling party, the party is still bound by the Laws of the Nation. Is it possible that you fail to see why the people you have listed up there are not powerful is mostly because we, the people, have chosen to FOCUS too much of our attention on the PDP and have essentially, given less or no time to the others? Realize that in a democracy, the power is in the hands of the people.
The reason Gani and co have yet to make headway is because we are instead focusing our attention on the PDP and the corrupt and essentially the cries of the real heroes are being neglected. Gani stood alone to his death in his cause. Through the many cases, how many of us actually stood side by side with him? I don't mean coming on nairaland to comment but actually making contributions, helping pass our flyers and educating others of what is going on and how there is a way to change it , and maybe signing petitions, protesting to see things change? How many? Gani could barely get a crowd of a couple hundred to stand with him when he was out trying to help us. How then do we expect things to change if we are too distracted to even lend our support to the good?

it's common for ruling parties in nigeria to tend to dominate and crush opposition to a stand still.I used to admire the AD before they got infected by pdp and lost the six southwestern states except laogs that quickly saw the danger ahead and opted out to form AC.pdp have corrupted nigeria that we tend to roll with them anytime and which ought not to be.Everybody wanted a party that will dole out cash,face caps,rice,salt,umbrella and other material things during campaign which Gani couldnt do because of his real intention to make difference.people see election period as the only time they can benefit from politicians and until that mindset changes,aspirants that can't buy peoples' mind to win election may not hold political offices.

when igbos and ijaws have decided to work together,the expected fear amongst the ''owners of nigeria'' would not in any way be surprising.this means the divide and rule is dying its natural death.

We heard this in 1999, then 2003, even 2007, that Igbo should focus on this and that. Yet today, Igboland is devoid of Int'l Airport, Seaport, Steel Factory, 2nd Niger Bridge, etc.

Nonsense, but then again, Nwodo is enjoying, so he'll say anything to retain the crumbs

mens dept:

We heard this in 1999, then 2003, even 2007, that Igbo should focus on this and that. Yet today, Igboland is devoid of Int'l Airport, Seaport, Steel Factory, 2nd Niger Bridge, etc.

Nonsense, but then again, Nwodo is enjoying, so he'll say anything to retain the crumbs

An Int'l Airport is now being refurbished for Enugu
Talking about seaport, are you going to force the sea into Igboland or did you mean inland river port? If so, do we have inland ports elsewhere in Nigeria?
Why a steel factory? Why not any other factory?
A second Niger Bridge contract is being awarded.

Igbo do not need the presidency now as an Igbo president may also not be able to atrract any of these things you mentioned. We need to look inward now and then outward later

mens dept:

We heard this in 1999, then 2003, even 2007, that Igbo should focus on this and that. Yet today, Igboland is devoid of Int'l Airport, Seaport, Steel Factory, 2nd Niger Bridge, etc.

Nonsense, but then again, Nwodo is enjoying, so he'll say anything to retain the crumbs

~Bluetooth:

This is a total absurd to the igbo folks.why should they step down for jonathan ? Since the race is open to everybody due to jonathan's stu.pidity to contest by all means out of greed thereby causing further ethnic disunity among nigerians,then igbo,yoruba,hausa and others should contest with him if he cant respect the rotational presidency idea.

I like the Igbo unity it really lets you see the fear and hate come out of the other tribes (Bluetooth and Mens Department),  Clearly bluetooth doesnt care about how the Igbos are treated he just hates the fact that they are reaching common ground. And no the race is not open up 2 Igbos, they've made an agreement and THAT IS FINAL! The Igbo will be more powerful from here on.

@  Mens Dep't specifically all that u've sed that is devoid in Igboland is the same way in Yorubaland too lol,  And after your 1993 incident( tear, tear)  and the the destruction which came from your own in 1999, Yet today your people are still DEVOID 

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK IGBOS!

some of us are rather myopic in thinking.the north has ruled nigeria for so long without any meaningful development.the north does not mean hausa/fulani.what should be looked at is the signs of justice and equity coming from our current president.he does not need to treat igbos specially but rather give us equal opportunities with the rest of nigeria.

One 1:


I like the Igbo unity it really lets you see the fear and hate come out of the other tribes (Bluetooth and Mens Department),  Clearly bluetooth doesnt care about how the Igbos are treated he just hates the fact that they are reaching common ground. And no the race is not open up 2 Igbos, they've made an agreement and THAT IS FINAL! The Igbo will be more powerful from here on.

@  Mens Dep't specifically all that u've sed that is devoid in Igboland is the same way in Yorubaland too lol,  And after your 1993 incident( tear, tear)  and the the destruction which came from your own in 1999, Yet today your people are still DEVOID 

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK IGBOS!

you guys are only being emotional because you are benefitting from the permutation.would you also have the same opinion if jonathan happens to be a yoruba man ?.will there be a coalition between the south west and south east to allow him to run for the presidency despite being a yoruba man.

Abagworo:

when igbos and ijaws have decided to work together,the expected fear amongst the ''owners of nigeria'' would not in any way be surprising.this means the divide and rule is dying its natural death.

~Bluetooth:

you guys are only being emotional because you are benefitting from the permutation.would you also have the same opinion if jonathan happens to be a yoruba man ?.[b]will there be a coalition between the south west and south east to allow him to run for the presidency despite being a yoruba m[/b]an.

that is a point you raised there.but the yorubas have had their turn and could not do much to change(justice and equity) nigeria.excellence should be respected

Abagworo:

that is a point you raised there.but the yorubas have had their turn and could not do much to change(justice and equity) nigeria.excellence should be respected

i want to take you by your word.i need just a '' yes or no''

Abagworo:

when igbos and ijaws have decided to work together,the expected fear amongst the ''owners of nigeria'' would not in any way be surprising.this means the divide and rule is dying its natural death.

uumm . . . Is it that you enjoy living in this bubble or something? I don't think this is about Ibos and Ijaws being UNITED till world's end, they are simply uniting to fight the problem they encouraged, and allowed to build in the first place. Only some months ago, these militants were freedom fighters for Ibos and Ijaws alike. Now so many have become a huge nuisance to the same Ibos and Ijaws and the two groups have decided to finally see the problem for what it is and realized that they cannot continue to IGNORE the cries and blood of their own people.

Abagworo:

some of us are rather myopic in thinking.the north has ruled nigeria for so long without any meaningful development.the north does not mean hausa/fulani.what should be looked at is the signs of justice and equity coming from our current president.he does not need to treat igbos specially but rather give us equal opportunities with the rest of nigeria.

I think you should attack this in the right context. Rather than trying to create some delusion of grandeur or an illusion that this final realization by the Eastern leaders puts some imaginary fear in your so-called owners of Nigeria .

This has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING To do with the North. There is no sign of justice and equity coming from the current administration considering the administration has yet to even consider tackling anything along those lines. After the last declaration in the East, what has changed? His most recent big job was putting himself against FIFA. If that is what you consider justice and equity, then rock on!! Lol

Anyways, I just wanted you to look at this for what it really is, and that is a realization by the Ibo governors that this problem in is not to be blamed on the rest of Nigeria. That they have resolved to tackle this issue leads me to believe they are finally getting the message here . . you create a problem, you fix your problem, not offload it on others thinking it will somehow make you more important or needed.

Even better, I am glad they are finally not spewing the same old about how not controlling the police force means the people should continue to suffer. They have finally learnt to use what they have, which has been the Ibo way by the way, to get what they really need, and in the right way.

ok . . . lol Unity among the SS and SE is nice.

But let it be known now that Westerners will never step down for any yoruba, igbo, ijaw,hausa or anyone else.

We dont believe in stepping down for eachother or for other groups- we dont do follow follow.

So If Jonathan wins in 2011 come 2015, 2019 to the future- If a CREDIBLE CANDIDATE like FASHOLA is on a presidential ticket- He OR we will not step down for ANY person.

We dont believe in follow follow- If any person is a credible candidate in a credible party -THEN CONTEST Ethnicity or region should not matter.

@kobojunkie.are you aware that jonathans administration is the first time the southeast,rivers and akwa-ibom are buying petrol at thesame price with the rest of the country?

Abagworo:

Nwodo, who was highly elated at the event which was attended by political leaders of the South East, all the governors of the South East, including governor of Abia State, [size=15pt]Theodore Orji, who recently dumped the Peoples Progressives Alliance, PPA, for All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and his Anambra State counterpart, Mr. Peter Obi, stressed that unity for once had come to Igbo land through his appointment as PDP national chairman.[/size]

I actually find this funny I mean- Why would opposition partys attend a function that was for PDP?

I mean- it doesnt make sense. Thats like tinubu and fashola attending a PDP function because the chair is a yoruba- thats more of ethnic politics
lol nnnnaass-

sjeezy8:

I actually find this funny I mean- Why would opposition partys attend a function that was for PDP?

I mean- it doesnt make sense. Thats like tinubu and fashola attending a PDP function because the chair is a yoruba- thats more of ethnic politics
lol nnnnaa

Why did the Yoruba opposition party, Alliance for Democracy (AD) not contest the election against PDP (Obasanjo) in 2003?

Abagworo:

@kobojunkie.are you aware that jonathans administration is the first time the southeast,rivers and akwa-ibom are buying petrol at thesame price with the rest of the country?

You are saying the Federal Government set the price in the Eastern part of the country higher than the price in the rest of Nigeria before then? Care to provide some information to help me understand this because I never really thought to blame the federal Government for this.

Mr Fire:

Why did the Yoruba opposition party, Alliance for Democracy (AD) not contest the election against PDP (Obasanjo) in 2003?

they dine with the evil party and that led to leadership problem that crumbled the party.

~Bluetooth:

they dine with the evil party and that led to leadership problem that crumbled the party.

Is that the answer to my question? Why did they decide to dine with the evil party instead of contesting against the evil party?

Mr Fire:

Is that the answer to my question? Why did they decide to dine with the evil party instead of contesting against the evil party?

obasanjo knew that AD would win the local govt election in the south west but he needed delegates votes that would make him return to office.the only thing he could do was to cause a leadership problem among them to ruin the party.tinubu is close to obasano personally but that didnt stop him from seeing the danger ahead and pull out quickly to form Ac.