OKWADIKE, PLEASE NOT IN OUR NAME: NDIGBO WILL NOT BEG TO SERVE NIGERIA.

ICHEOKU says if Ndigbo must first beg, prostrate and bow down before they can be allowed the presidency of Nigeria, what message exactly does that send across the country. That Ndigbo are not Nigerian bona fides that they must be subjected to such oddities which did not apply to other Nigerians who similarly sought the office in the past. Yoruba people did not beg, prostrate and bow down to other Nigerians before their Olusegun Obasanjo was allowed into Aso Rock. Fulani people did not beg, prostrate and bow down to other Nigerians before their Umaru Yar'Adua was allowed the presidency of Nigeria. 

How about Goodluck Jonathan? When exactly did his Edwin Clark led Ijaw people beg, prostrate and bow down to Nigerians before he did a five years stint in Aso Rock? At present, another Fulani man Muhammadu Buhari is in Aso Rock and those nomadic cattle rearers at no time ever begged, prostrated nor bowed down to other Nigerians before their second coming into Aso Rock. So, why must Nidgbo be treated any differently; and as if the stance of these other Nigerians who are demanding the total submission and servile supplication of Ndigbo to them is not enough insult already on our collective psyche, Okwadike Chukwuemeka Ezeife felt that adding insult to the injury is acceptable? 

By accepting their asinine narrative and agreeing that Ndigbo will beg, prostrate and bow down to other Nigerians to secure a berth in Aso Rock, the goatee former governor certainly crossed the line. What use was that statement or has those other tribes which successfully sent their own wards to Aso Rock had any much improved and better life themselves, such that Ndigbo will now become so desperate to also have a better life by also landing one of their own ward in Aso Rock? Why stoop so low if service to the country is the primary objective for Ndigbo seeking the office, as the statement has the connotation that some other ulterior motive is rather driving the quest. The implication is that an already wary other Nigerians will become more apprehensive and more determined not to acquiesce nor allow it to come to fruition. 

What was Okwadike thinking when he made such a pitiful statement and on whose behalf did he exactly say what he said, anyway? He is neither the spokesperson of Oha-Na-Eze Ndigbo nor does he speak for Ndigbo as a people, so under what authority did he speak those words of diminishment. Such unguarded and thoughtless statement should never have been blurted out by Okwadike and should therefore be rejected, condemned, disclaimed and disavowed as not Ndigbo's. It should be dismissed as an irresponsible utterance of a man possibly suffering from some old age related mental malaise, which prevented him from first thinking through and fully understanding the weighty ramifications of what he said. 

Why is such a condescended position acceptable and ok for Ndigbo to go through just for the presidency of Nigeria, especially after seeing how Goodluck Jonathan was transfixed like a deer in the headlight at Aso Rock and couldn't do much for his Niger Delta during his lengthy five years sojourned in Aso Rock. Recall that the Yoruba monstrosity Obafemi Awolowo had asked Nigerians to allow him only 24 hours in Aso Rock, yet Jonathan spent a total of 43,828.8 hours therein without lifting the fortunes of the Niger Delta region. Why does Okwadike think that the same cabal which checkmated Jonathan will not go into an overdrive in policing and sabotaging an Igbo president just to make him or her look bad, incompetent and ineffective? So, why the unnecessary begging for the area? 

Why does Okwadike think that the same cabal will not even engineer a military coup against such an Igbo president using an Igbo military officer as a front? Why sound so desperate for presidential power or has any governor in the Southeast performed so exceptionally well to suggest that a Nigeria president of Igbo extraction will be better than any other president of other extractions, to warrant becoming so desperate to get him or her into Aso Rock and showcase Igbo president. Their records speak for themselves and they are nothing to write home about. Moreso, in a democracy that requires majority of elected congress to get anything done, there are no guarantees that such an Igbo president will not be purposely hamstrung and rendered ineffective by the majority of other Nigerians members of Congress just to discredit Ndigbo. 

ICHEOKU says not even the need for equity is enough to justify Okwadike's statement as such begged for presidency will come with too many attached strings that would simply render such e president lame duck and completely immobilized. What if those other Nigerians make demands for positions in such an Igbo president government that will literally leave him or her in a similar quandary, if not worse, than Aguiyi Ironsi found himself in; and make it possible for present day TY Danjumas to strike mercilessly again? If Ndigbo beg for the presidency and get it, with key ministries and top security positions negotiated out to other tribes, how then is such an emerged Igbo president going to be effective in office and also improve the lot of the Southeast? 

Cardinal rule 101 of any quest for power is never to be in a position of weakness because such a position does not offer something that commands a serious negotiating state. Okwadike should instead of begging, prostrating and bow down for other Nigerians, have concentrated his  energy on how to facilitate the complete withdrawal of Ndigbo from Nigeria; and then relax and watch Nigerians speedily beg Ndigbo to please take the presidency. But that golden opportunity was missed when Mazi Nnamdi Kanu recklessly and carelessly allowed himself to be captured like a mouse in Kenya, and forcibly brought back to Nigeria in handcuffs and leg chains. 

Like former President Donald John Trump said of Senator John McCain, many people prefer those heroes who were not captured; and ICHEOKU subscribes to the sentiment as it applies to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Onyendu was much beloved before his capture. He was the biggest asset for a would have been an assured negotiated Igbo presidency, being the greatest fear of the North from the entire Southeast. But with him now caged like an animal, the North no longer cares about what Ndigbo thinks nor feels as they have weathered the fiercest Mazi Nnamdi Kanu storm and came out stronger and even more determined to continue with their self-perpetuation in power and the marginalization of Ndigbo as a people.

Why would Muhammadu Buhari therefore seriously consider appeasing Ndigbo with the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu when he no longer has any compelling and derivative benefit from doing so. This is why he told the Mbazulike Amaechi led group that he will think about their request to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and did not give them his words that he will release him. A more positively disposed Buhari's government can literally end the case against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu this very minute by filing a nolle prosequi with the court. But the president belong to some people and will likely succumb to the pressure of the 95% and eventually come out to say that after thinking through the request, he arrived at the conclusion that nothing good will come out of releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and decided to leave him in detention. 

The Buhari government no longer has any real motivation to negotiate with the Southeast and it does not matter to them if the sit at home crushes the entire economy of the Southeast, as that there has always been the intention of other Nigerians. They all want the same thing, to bring the Southeast to eternal ruination. Obafemi Awolowo tried; Muritala Mohammed tried; Olusegun Obasanjo tried; even Goodluck Jonathan tried and Muhammadu Buhari is presently prosecuting the same vicious experiment to bring the Southeast down with all the fibers of his being. Has anybody ever wondered why Muhammadu Buhari, who once mooted the idea of negotiating an end to the Southeast crisis no longer appears interested in exploring such leeway. He has his most feared Igbo foe in custody and no longer has a need to negotiate a rest of the mind.

What Okwadike said was an insult on Ndigbo as a people. It amounts to what Ebami Eda Fela Anikulapo Kuti of the blessed memory would call "unnecessary begging for area" and you ask yourself, why? Now other Nigerians are jumping on the statement to castigate and cast aspersions on Ndigbo, with one Abdul-Azeez Suleiman saying that the statement automatically disqualifies Ndigbo from ever being trusted with power in the near future. ICHEOKU says have Ndigbo ever been trusted with power in Nigeria, even in the distant past, to warrant this pinhead's insult? But Okwadike fetched the ants infested firewood with his comment and now this uncircumcised lizard has come to feast on Ndigbo's honor.

Just read here following this bovine's vituperative words and reach your own conclusion as you may please: 

"The bitter truth is that no matter how low the Igbo are willing to go or how long they are willing to keep their knees on the ground, it will be unreasonable to expect other Nigerian tribes, not least the North, to risk entrusting the presidency in them. It is said that once bitten, twice shy and the current northern thinking is beyond the repeated deceptions such as this one by the Igbo which at every turn, results in tragedy. We see the recent belated desperation by the Igbo as nothing but an afterthought that is downright unacceptable. It is deceptive for them to make such overtures after having encouraged and supported Nnamdi Kanu and the atrocities committed against other Nigerians, particularly northerners by his IPOB. If the Igbo must prostrate to anyone, they should prostrate to Kanu as the North has come of age and shall not be deceived or fooled any longer."

ICHEOKU says Okwadike did this to Ndigbo. He created the enabling environment which brought about this (public assault) insult on Ndigbo by this gworo-chewing mallam. Why cut Ndigbo down at the knee with such a statement, thereby defeating the very primary essence for which Ndigbo are seeking the presidency, which is to serve Nigerians and help fix what is broken in Nigeria. Saying that Ndigbo will do just anything to secure the presidency including begging, prostrating, genuflecting and bowing down to other Nigerians telegraphs a particular message that there is a sinister motive behind the Ndigbo's quest for the presidency. Just ask yourself, which Nigerian will not be triggered by the statement with regard to what could possibly happen to them the day after an Igbo person is sworn in as president, that would cause Ndigbo to suddenly be prepared to stoop so low just to secure the presidency. 

ICHEOKU says the Igbo man does not kneel down or prostrate and will not do so to other Nigerians, not even for the presidency of Nigeria. Like every other tribe and group of people in Nigeria, Ndigbo are entitled to seek the the presidency of Nigeria and if they want the presidency, they should be prepared to work hard for it. To do this, they must first jettison the mental encumbrance of feeling that they are "not full citizens of Nigeria", a complex which is inhibiting them politically in Nigeria. We already know that other Nigerians do not like Ndigbo and as far as it concerns Ndigbo, the notions of fairness, equity, unity and justice are but fairly tales and do not apply. So, if Okwadike likes, he can swallow all the prides in this world and beg all he wants to beg, other Nigerians will never willingly and voluntarily hand presidential powers over to Ndigbo. 

Power is not gifted but taken, either violently by force or through cunning, guile and deceit; admitted sometimes it could be negotiated, but you have to first have something to negotiate with, a kind of a real trade off. But Ndigbo have little to nothing to negotiate with, especially now that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been captured and caged. They are also not as strongly united to speak with one voice and act with one common purpose; such as using their economic stronghold to threaten a withdrawal of their services in the country tp force the issue and bring other Nigerians to the negotiation table. Imagine the economic ruination which would befall Nigeria the day Ndigbo decides to lockup their shops/stores throughout Nigeria just for a few days or to go one month without importing any goods into Nigeria. 

But Ndigbo are not yet serious with reasserting themselves in Nigeria and taking back what rightfully is their own portion of the Nigeria political space. So until then, any Igbo president produced through such a beggarly manner will be beleaguered just like Goodluck Jonathan. Such a president will also be beholden to the cabal and other groups of Nigerian people that signed off on their placement in Aso Rock and will spend his or time trying to suck up to them at the expense of Ndigbo. If Nigerians therefore cannot suspend their distrust and morbid fear of Ndigbo to enable them freely vote to elect Onye Igbo as president, so be it. But getting into that office should not come with such eating of poop by Ndigbo and it is not worth selling Ndigbo so short nor for Ndigbo to first lick too many dirty stinking behinds just to be allowed into Aso Rock. Okwadike got it all wrong and what he said is both pitiful and sad; and of course not in our name!