Crusader against South-east marginalization and former Abia state governor Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu believes the Yoruba are better positioned now more than ever before to back the emergence of an Igbo as President of Nigeria in 2015.
Fresh from consultations with eminent countrymen across the south, Kalu declared that the Yoruba by nature abhor injustice. And having realized that the South-east had suffered pathetic neglect for so long, some strong individuals from that region could lead the campaign for change.
According to Kalu, “Give it to the South-west. They always raise personalities against injustice. It did not just start with Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was ready to confront colonialism with bare hands. Prof. Wole Soyinka risked his life and went to jail not really because his friend Christopher Okigbo died in Biafra; he had a soft spot for the Igbo who suffered so much persecution. The road to 2015 will throw up more such men and women.”
He maintained that the perceived cat and mouse game between the two largest groups in the south did not mean they could not come together for more than political convenience, arguing that both understood themselves beyond power sharing.
“There is so much between us. During the war, you found some Igbo living in Lagos. Chief Philip Asiodu even served in the Federal Government inspite of the loss of his brother Sidney to the bullets of Nigerian troops. Tony Igwe was busy playing soccer and Obisia Nwankpa sweated out in the gym. At the same time, Prof. Vincent Ike’s wife a Yoruba was part of the Biafran war efforts. Even the daughter of Lagos Oba Adeyinka Oyekan was married to a Biafran naval officer, Ohiaeri-Duru. To cap it all, one of the gallant Yoruba officers who saw the war, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade had since condemned it as unnecessary. That is why the Yoruba stand out,” said the ex-governor.
Speaking further, Kalu explained that the long sought after handshake across the Niger will be witnessed in the 2015 Presidential elections since the Yoruba may not have eyes on Aso Villa following Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s unprecedented goodluck.
“Let me point out that the South-west will prove their love for the South-east in 2015.That is the best way to bury all the accumulated suspicion between both groups. For me, I know the Yoruba could stand up and be counted. The war years showed it. There was this Yoruba soldier who applied the brakes of his army truck to save the life of an Igbo pedestrian near Orlu at the end of the war in January 1970.An accompanying officer was so furious that he took control of the vehicle,drove for about 10 kilometers and forced the driver out into the dark. Time was 1.00a.m.’Ejoo oo, ejoo oo'[please, please] the soldier pleaded. All to no avail. Fortunately, the drop zone was in Isu right in front of the house of the first Igbo Dental-Surgeon who had worked in Ibadan before the crisis. And he took the soldier in. The lesson is that there are more Yoruba out there who cannot kill Igbo dreams in 2015,”Kalu summed up.
