Chief Edwin Clark, an Ijaw leader, has said former military head of state, Yakubu Gowon, should have allowed the Igbo’s to secede from Nigeria during his tenure.
Edwin Clark was replying to comments made by Ango Abdullahi, chairman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), after he said the next president should emerge through merit and not zoning to the southeast.
But the 94-year-old disagreed with the statement, saying the Igbo’s are still treated as second class citizens since the Biafran civil war.
Speaking on AriseTV, Clark described Nigeria as a “three-legged pot”, explaining that “one leg is in the north, the two others in the west and east”.
He added that Nigeria “has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the civil war”.
Clark said the presidency must go to the south-east in 2023 to heal the Igbo’s wounds.
“When Lord Fredrick Luggard created Nigeria in 1914, it did not say some people are superior to the other. Nigeria was a three-legged pot,” he said.
“One leg is in the north, the two others in the west and east. But one was destroyed during the war, and Nigeria has not been steady. Nigeria stood on three legs, and it has never been steady since one of the legs was destroyed during the Civil War.
“Gowon should have allowed the Igbos to go if they are to be treated as second class citizens. You have no moral justification for keeping second class citizens in your country.
“There will be no peace. Their children are growing up and asking questions. If zoning which will heal the Igbo leg is not done, Nigeria is not straight. So if you say zoning is dead or rotation is buried, then there will be no Nigeria.”
