WHEN THE ENEMY IS WITHIN Nigeria appears ready for an Ibo presidency.
The question is whether the Ibo are ready for themselves, contends NNAMDI EBO For decades, the story of the Ibo in Nigerian politics has Nigeria appears ready for an Ibo presidency.
Since the end of the civil war and the Federal Military Government’s proclamation of “No Victor, No Vanquished” on January 15, 1970, the Ibo of the five South-Eastern states have struggled to be fully integrated into the Nigerian political and social firmament.
But to tell it only as a story of what Nigeria did to the Ibo is no longer honest.
Ibo marginalisation by Nigeria has abated considerably and is no more an issue in the sense it once was. What confronts the Ibo now is far more painful: the Ibo marginalisation by the Ibo themselves, against their very own. Out of the three major tribes — Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Ibo — the first two have produced Military Heads of State and Presidents. For years, that was explained with a familiar jinx: “Nigeria is not ready for an Ibo presidency.” That jinx is now broken — not by the Ibo, but by other Nigerians.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with THISDAY.