Again, Igbo Presidency under threat, says Anglican Bishop

The Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Niger, Dr. Alexander Ibezim yesterday lamented that Igbo presidency might suffer setback with the growing marginalisation against the ethnic nationality in the federation.

Ibezim, also Anglican Bishop of Awka Diocese, said that the presidency should rather be about equity and competence of the Igbo man when sharing positions and other things in the country, rather than being a gift.

He expressed this concern at a session with journalists in Awka, the Anambra State capital yesterday, noting that it was very clear to everyone who knows Nigeria well, that the Igbo people were being marginalized.

At the session, Ibezim listed the imbalance in the number of states in the Southeast; non-representation at the security council and the inability of any Igbo man to have ruled Nigeria before as some of the reasons to believe that the Igbo people were deliberately being marginalized.

He said: “There is no need to talk too much about it. Anybody that is a good Nigerian knows that an Igbo man is marginalized. We have been marginalized for a long time. So, anything that comes to an Igbo man is like a gift.

“That is why some people are talking about restructuring Nigeria today. It is not an individual affair, but a collective pursuit. Presidency is not about being an Igbo man or not. The main thing is to maintain equity and justice so that people in the land will be happy,” he said.

Speaking on the Anambra State governorship election coming up in 2021, the bishop argued that his church “has been praying for peaceful election, and that a very competent person would emerge.

“Of course in Anambra State, we have been praying for a competent leader to emerge. We also want equity in the election. Anambra State is our state.

“Everything about this election must be done holistically so that no group of people will feel marginalised religiously, politically or otherwise.

“What we are praying for is for equity to be in our state. Competence should be the climax of the election. Competent leaders should be elected to govern the state,” he said.