Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has expressed his belief that it is unjust to solely blame the Igbos for their attempts to secede from Nigeria, arguing that the country’s three major ethnic nationalities have historically sought independence.
According to Obasanjo, he often felt a sense of sadness whenever he heard groups of people asserting that no Igbo man could become Nigeria’s President due to the ethnic nationality’s involvement in the bloody January 15, 1966 coup.
He made these remarks while addressing a 20-man delegation of the League of Northern Democrats, led by former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Tuesday, October 22.
The elder statesman recalled a significant push from the North to secede from Nigeria, which he referred to as the “vehicle of Araba.”
“I think all of us in Nigeria have to rethink… It bleeds my heart when people say because the Igbo had carried out a secession, an Igbo man cannot be the president of Nigeria.
“I say what nonsense? There is no section of Nigeria that has not planned a secession. What is ‘Araba’ in the North? The North planned to break up Nigeria. Ahmed Jooda, a very good friend of mine, said that.
“What is treasonable felony? So, who among us can say I am better than the other? None! So, let us put our heads together and build a country together,” he said.
