Oba Ebenezer Akintunde Akinyemi, the Eselu of Iselu Kingdom in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State, has stated that he is in support of an Igbo man becoming president in 2023.
Eselu who made this known at the weekend while reading an open letter he addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, to newsmen in Abeokuta, said the southeast was gradually turning into a “war zone” and only Igbo presidency could guarantee peace in the southeast and Nigeria.
He called on Nigerians to support the Igbo people by voting for someone from the southeast saying “the Igbo had been subjected to injustice and inequality”.
The letter read;
“Mr. President, it is my belief that Your Excellency too sees, hears and feels the tension in our dear country which can be traced to some cry over injustice and inequality from the southeastern part of our great country.
“I want to state without sounding immodest that the entire security challenges bedeviling this country from the southeast will disappear within a twinkle of an eye, if and only if, all sections of this great country can come together to pave the way for the emergence of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction in the year 2023.
“Without any doubt, the wound inflicted on Nigeria through the Biafran war will continue to linger in the minds of well meaning Nigerians. The question now is ‘how long are we going to hold the sin of the Biafran war against the people of the South East?’ For the sake of peace, I want to plead that Nigerians should forgive and forget the 1967-1970 Biafran debacle”.
He also urged Buhari to dialogue with secession agitators;
“I want to appeal that Your Excellency should use dialogue rather than clamping down on the secession agitators in the country, especially in the southeast which now looks like a war zone.
“It is a fact that the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu has been rearrested to face the charges against him, but dialogue with all sections of the country will help to nip in the bud, the various security challenges which sprung up in the southeast and other sections of the country.
“If dialogue is adopted, it will definitely prevent more of Nnamdi Kanus from springing up in the southeast and the country in general. I am also pleased to remind you, sir, that the peace we enjoy today in the Niger Delta Region is due to dialogue and not war sir”, The letter by the monarch concluded.
