TheCable

Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader, says Yakubu Gowon should have allowed the Igbo to secede during his tenure as military head of state.

In a chat with AriseTV on Tuesday, the 94-year-old said the Igbo are still treated as second class citizens decades after the civil war.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are yet to decide on the zoning of their presidential tickets.

The uncertainty has fuelled polarising comments from groups across different regions.

On Thursday, Ango Abdullahi, chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), said the next president should emerge through merit and not zoning.

He had also said the concept of zoning or power shift is “dead on arrival”.

In reaction, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) replied that it would amount to “deceit” if political parties refuse to zone their presidential tickets to the south.

Adding his voice to the debate, Clark described Nigeria as a “three-legged pot”, explaining that “one leg is in the north, the two others in the west and east”.

He added that Nigeria “has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the civil war”.

Clark said the presidency must go to the south-east in 2023 to heal the Igbo’s wounds.

“When Lord Fredrick Luggard created Nigeria in 1914, it did not say some people are superior to the other. Nigeria was a three-legged pot,” he said.

“One leg is in the north, the two others in the west and east. But one was destroyed during the war, and Nigeria has not been steady. Nigeria stood on three legs, and it has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the Civil War.

“Gowon should have allowed the Igbos to go if they are to be treated as second class citizens. You have no moral justification for keeping second class citizens in your country.

“There will be no peace. Their children are growing up and asking questions.  If zoning which will heal the Igbo leg is not done, Nigeria is not straight. So if you say zoning is dead or rotation is buried, then there will be no Nigeria.”