Activist Deji Adeyanju has expressed the need for the presidency to be zoned to the South-East region of the country in the spirit of fairness and equity.
Adeyanju, while speaking in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, said it was the turn of the Igbo to produce the next President of Nigeria, adding that no region had more stake than others.
He said, “In the spirit of fairness and equity, the two leading political parties should zone the office of the president to the South Eastern region. An Igbo person should be our next president because no region should have more stake in Nigeria than the other.
“I think an Igbo presidency would be beneficial to everyone because the Igbo are naturally business inclined. An Igbo man will create a lot of business opportunities in Nigeria.
“Secondly, we need national healing across the divides. We have been divided for too long. Electing an Igbo man as the next president of the country is the first step towards achieving national unity.”
Speaking further, Adeyanju said, “As Professor Chidi Odinkalu stated some time ago, the impression that people go into civil societies to transition into politics is not a good image for civil society. This is not to say activists should be foreclosed on participating in politics.
“No, after all, late former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was one of the greatest activists in his younger years during apartheid. However, I do think that activists do not make the best leaders.”
He said Nigeria was currently under a totalitarian government where any person with dissenting views or actions could be arrested, imprisoned or even killed.
