By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani Kayode, over the weekend said that a large swathe of opinion from his zone of the South-West is rooting for a President of Igbo extraction, adding however that a lot needs to be done.

He said that an Igbo presidency is one of the things that will help ameliorate what happened to the Igbo in the past and help move the country forward.

Fani-Kayode, who spoke to journalists in Onitsha after a tour of facilities being put in place by the Governor Willie Obiano administration, said: “I know that where I come from, there is a very large opinion that is pushing for Igbo President, like Adebanjo, who is the deputy leader of Afenifere who speaks for us and he has made our position clear that the next President should come from the South-East.

“It is their due; it is something that will go a long way to achieve peace and stability in this country. It will be fire that will quench the agitation for the balkanization of the country to a certain extent and it will make the Igbo feel that they are part and parcel of Nigeria again.

“Let us not be tied down by our historical experiences and this is the time for us to move forward. And if we are really going to move forward, then one of the things we should do to ameliorate what happened to the Igbo in the past, like the death of three million people during the civil war, is to give them a sense of belonging. No other tribe had suffered that and I believe it was a massive atrocity.”

He explained that his ongoing tour was part of building bridges across the country, insisting that it had nothing to do with party politics, religion or region.

The former Minister observed that for him to be in an All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) state even as a member of the opposition party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and being welcome in such a marvelous way is a great honour.

He described Governor Obiano as a remarkable person, saying that what he has achieved is extraordinary.

He added: “The truth of the matter is that the East is blessed with some of the best governors in the country.

“I am very familiar with what is going on in Ebonyi State under Governor Umahi, in Enugu under Governor Ugwuanyi and I must say that Anambra is very high up on that list. These three states are particularly doing so well and their people have every reason to be proud of them.

“In Anambra, for instance, the crime rate has dramatically reduced. I remember when the state was rife with kidnappings, but that has completely disappeared over the last few years. “The state is peaceful and when you consider the fact that Governor Obiano is in good terms with the federal government, which is controlled by another political party, the governor must be commended.

“The tendency is for people not to remember what the situation was when development comes. I live in the North and I know how terrible it is in some parts of the North when it comes to the issue of kidnapping and banditry.”

While insisting that the Igbo deserve to produce the next President of Nigeria, he urged them to reach out to other tribes in the country for support.

Fani-Kayode, who has been on tour of some states in the South-East geopolitical zone, said that it conveys some negative thoughts about Nigerians as a people that no Igbo man had ruled the country under democratic dispensation.

He added: “Anybody that looks at the historical facts will agree that an Igbo man has never been the chief executive of the Nigerian nation, that is, the President or the Prime Minister. There was a ceremonial President in the first republic, but he didn’t have any power.

“Apart from Aguiyi-Ironsi, which was a military leader and we knew how he ended, no Igbo man has led the country. I think it says a lot about us as a people.

“I would have thought that this is one of the things to be done in other to bring stability in the country. If that is going to happen, then it is incumbent upon the people of the East to ensure that they win the support and confidence of the stakeholders from outside the East.”

Projects visited by the former Aviation Minister visited included the ongoing Cargo Airport project at Umueri, which he described as one of the legacy projects being executed by the Governor.

He stated that he had “seen good development in terms of the international airport being constructed by the Governor. We just toured the runway and it is the longest runway in the country.”

Continuing, Fani-Kayode said: “The project will dwarf every other airport in the country and also draw development to the state.

“I am a former Aviation Minister and I should be able to tell you about the project I saw on ground. I am sorry that the Governor is packaging it as a surprise and I have let the cat out of the bag out of excitement.”