The Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of the Niger, and Anglican Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Grace, Most Reverend Alexander Ibezim has lamented that the state of marginalization of Igbo People in Nigeria today was such that anything that came to them is looked upon as a gift.
He said it 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.
Ibezim who spoke to journalists on Saturday on the Igbo presidency of 2023 project said it is very clear to everyone who knows Nigeria well, that the Igbo people were being marginalized.
He listed the imbalance in the number of states in each zone in the country, non-representation at the nation’s 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.
“Well, there is no need of talking too much about it. Anybody that is a good Nigerian knows that an Igbo man is marginalized. We have been marginalized for long, and 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. It (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, Ibezim said his church has been praying for a peaceful poll, and that a very competent person will 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, so everything about this must be done holistically so that no group of people will feel marginalized either 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.
