Ohanaeze Ndigbo youth insist on Igbo presidency come 2023 and wants Enugu airport fixed immediately

PAN-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has charged prominent Igbo leaders to unite and ensure the southeast geo-political zone gets presidency in 2023 when President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure ends.

Although not constitutional, Nigeria's component parts have a gentleman's agreement that the presidency will rotate between the north and the south of the country. President Muhammadu Buhari's tenure will end in 2023 and being a Fulani northern Muslim, it is expected that the next president will come from southern Nigeria.

Of the three geo-political zones in the south, only the southeast is yet to produce a president as the southwest and south-south have produced presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan respectively. It is thus believed that the only fair thing would be for Ndigbo to produce the next president.

Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth said that nothing would prevent the Igbo from getting the presidency in 2023. He noted that millions of dollars would be raised at the end of 2022 to support whoever the youths nominate amongst the current southeast governors or former governors as their presidential candidate.

In a statement he issued alongside his secretary Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, Mazi Isiguzoro commended all the Igbo especially those who participated in the 2019 Igbo day celebration held in Aba. During the celebration, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth, however, condemned the non-commencement of work at the Enugu Airport, which has been shut for refurbishment.

Mazi Isiguzoro said: "We urge all Igbo presidential aspirants to start to activate their contacts towards building bridges across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council in diaspora has promised to raise a huge funds running into millions of dollars by the end of 2022 to support whoever the youths nominate amongst the current southeast governors, or former governors as the Igbo presidential candidate ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

"Also, Igbo youths attention has been drawn to the closure of Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu for 34 days now without any commencement of any rehabilitation work going on. We don’t want to believe that there are sinister motives and intentions by the ministry of aviation, to infect untold economic  hardship and sabotage the efforts of southeast governors to the successful upgrading of Enugu Airport by putting all the night landing facilities to accommodate international flights during the  Christmas period.

"We are alerting President Muhammadu Buhari and the southeast governors of non-commencement of work at the Airport. If no contractor is seen on the site between one week of this public condemnation, there will be heavy protests and civil disobedience in Abuja and across the Igbo speaking states against the minister of aviation on this matter.

"We wonder why Lagos/Ibadan expressway rehabilitation work is ongoing day and night and there’s non-commencement of rehabilitation work at the Enugu Airport. Igbo youth also call on Igbo investors and business moguls to relocate their businesses back home and support the realisation of the Enyimba Economic City Aba project."