There was fanfare yesterday in Awka, Anambra State capital, as the city as thousands of youths from the 21 local government areas of the state turned out for a rally in support of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The rally, held at the famous Alex Ekwueme Square, caused a major traffic jam along the Enugu/Onitsha Expressway as the jubilant youths took the celebration beyond the venue to major roads of the city.

Threats issued days in advance by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOD) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) that they would not allow the pro-Buhari rally to take place did not deter the Buhari supporters, who rained praises on the President, who incidentally returned home that morning after 50 days medical vacation in London.

Addressing the crowd, the National Media Director of #We Stand For Buhari#, organisers of the event, Comrade Chijioke Onyekaonwu, said their support for the President was hinged on their decision to resist anything that would hamper the emergence of an Igbo President in 2023 after the tenure of Buhari.

His words: “History always repeats itself, but the Igbo proverb, ‘A tree does not prick a man’s eyes twice’, says it all as regards the Igbo political interest as it stands now.

“The Igbo political opportunity to clinch the presidency in 2015 was lost due to the political rascality and selfishness of the Igbo political elite who abandoned the project for a Northern candidate to complete the Yar’Adua administration’s second tenure which would have culminated in an Igbo presidency in 2015.

“Rather, they followed a suicidal support for the Jonathan Presidency, which ultimately killed the Igbo’s opportunity for the Presidency in 2015.

“We therefore support this administration to exhaust its mandate to give way to an Igbo Presidency in 2023 and we will resist any individual or group of persons who wants to elongate this process by disturbing this present administration.

“We have come out in large number to tell President Muhammadu Buhari that Ndigbo completely support his administration, and we will do whatever that is constitutionally permissible to make sure that his plan to make our lives better is achieved.

“We will stand against any person or group that tries anything whatsoever to derail this administration, and we will be very vocal in our stand that President Buhari is our president and he will remain so, while things change for good within his two-term tenure.”

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