By Ezra Ukanwa, Abuja

A group, One Nigeria Project Foundation, ONPF, Wednesday, called on all Political Parties, stakeholders and other non Nigerian citizens to play fair by giving the Igbo extraction a chance to become the next president of Nigeria, ahead of the 2023 general elections.

The President of the foundation, Engr. Jarvis Jakpa, while soliciting for presidency from the Igbo extraction, during a press conference in Abuja, said if presidency is given to the Igbos who he claimed have over the years suffered marginalisation, would promote National Integration and development.

He further stated that since Nigeria’s independence, and the emergence of democratic dispensation in Nigeria, all the regions had had their chances in championing the course of the nation but the Igbo nation.

Jakpa, while bemoaning the state of the nation advised various political parties to heed to democratisation of ethics in politics, stating that zoning will sure move Nigeria to its promised land if strictly adhered.

He said: “The security situation in Nigeria today is, to say the least, terrifying with the onslaught of Boko haram, herdsmen kidnapping and bandits ravaging all parts of the country. The country has witnessed massive holocaust perpetrated by the Boko Haram terrorist group for years now and is still terrorising several parts of the nation till date. It is on record that several villages have been sacked with huge casualties to human lives and properties Schools have been attacked and hundreds of students taken into captivity with many of them still at large.

“The nation security apparatus light weapons, arms and ammunitions and other contrabands to enter through our porous borders into the country, thereby deminishing our national territorial integrity.

“The political front is no less harrowing with the lopsided distribution of social amenities, infrastructural development and economic wealth of the country. This ugly trend goes contrary to the principle of true federalism that speaks against sectionalism nepotism and ethnocentricity and is capable of dismembering the sovereignty of our beloved nation. The lop-sidedness in the distribution of powers among the different parts of the country speaks volumes, inequity and lends credence to the perceived fear of the annexation and neo-colonization of the nation.

“Where inequity reigns and insecurity hold sway, societal development will remain a mirage. Today nearly every sector of our national life has become epileptic ranging from the Power sector, health care, education and infrastructural development. While more smaller and stable countries in Africa that once depended on us for survival are advancing in all sector, Nigeria is retrogressing. This has resulted in the near extinction of manufacturing and service providing business concerns that would have provided jobs for the teeming unemployed graduates and skilled personnel in the country.

“Nigeria has weathered several setbacks in her nationhood ranging from numerous coups and counter-coup, the civil war and the quest for secession and self-determination struggles borne out of perceived marginalisation.

“Since unity and oneness demand equity and a sense of belonging, it becomes imperative that sectionalism, marginalisation be eschewed from our polity. It is to this end that the one Nigeria project advocates support for Igbo presidency come 2023 as a recipe for a continued one united Nigeria.

“Since independence, and the advent of the democratic dispensation in Nigeria, all sections of the nation has had a shot at the presidency except the Igbo nation. The North, South and West have at one time or the other been at the helm of affairs in the government if the nation leaving the Igbos out of the equation. This has raised several salient questions; is the Igbos not part of the Nigerian nation?

“Does the Igbos not have the capacity to rule? Don’t they have a say in the political equation in Nigeria? Unless this imbalance is resolved and the Igbos is given a shot at the presidency the claim of which we believe they do, for they have the capacity and are very well in all fields all over the world. Marginalisation, domination and exclusion will become apparent and create ample room for divisiveness and eventual disintegration of our sovereignty.

“It is against this backdrop that One Nigeria Project is embarking on a nationwide campaign for an Igbo presidency come 2023, to forestall a likely disintegration of our beloved country Nigeria.

“As the 2023 election approaches, we are soliciting the support of all well-meaning Nigerians to join the struggle to keep Nigeria one by supporting our laudable course and ensuring that the social-economic and political imbalances and visible aberrations are decisively addressed. By so doing we can hope to have a viable and progressive One Nigeria where we can co-exist in unity, peace and prosperity for all Nigerians.

“The sovereignty of the country is under serious threat with several socio-economic, religious and political abnormalities prevalent in our society today. The nation is bedevilled by banditry social, ethnic, religious and political challenges. With these aberrations being experienced in all spheres of our national life, the peaceful co-existence of the diverse ethnic groups that make up this country can hardly be guaranteed.”