BY ANAYO OKOLI

UMUAHIA — A coalition of 21 Igbo youth organisations is planning a rally in Umuahia, Abia State capital to drum up support for the presumed ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 election.
The youths also said that similar efforts would be carried out to ensure the state Governor, Theodore Orji, over his desire to contest the Abia Central Senatorial seat

The groups in the coalition include, the South-East Coalition of Youths and Pressure Groups; South-East Democratic Movement, all Ochendo Youth Organisations, Conference of South-East South-South Youth Leaders and Ukwa Ngwa Political Forum.

According to the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the coalition was supporting Jonathan because he had been in the “forefront of restructuring Nigeria, which would be of immense benefit to Ndigbo.”
He said Jonathan’s proposed national conference would lead to the restructuring of the country, and thus wipe out tears from the faces of Ndigbo who had been the “weeping child” of the Nigerian federation.

“While other geopolitical zones in the country have at least six states each with the North West having seven, the South-East has only five states. This was even as the sharing of federal allocation in Nigeria is based on the number of states and local governments that you have.

“So, you can see the injustice, we have suffered over the years. We are fully behind the President because he has shown genuine commitment towards restructuring this country,” Isiguzoro noted.
He also said they would use the opportunity of the rally to task President Jonathan on state of federal roads in the South-East and amnesty for Igbo youths, among others.