The Eselu of Iselu Land, a first class monarch in Yewa division of Ogun state, Oba (Dr.) Ebenezer Akintunde Akinyemi JP, FCIMN, (Akaosu I) has called on the need to allow a Nigerian President of South Eastern extraction to emerge in the year 2023.
In an letter addressed to President Mohammadu Buhari, a copy made available to Blueprint correspondent in Abeokuta Sunday, the monarch maintained that the entire security challenges bedevilling the country from the South East will disappear within a twinkling of an eye, if all sections of the country can come together to pave the way for the emergence of a Nigerian President of Igbo extraction in 2023.
He added that if dialogue is adopted, it will prevent more of Nnamdi Kanus from springing up in the South East and the country in general, saying that the relative peace being enjoyed in the Niger Delta region is due to dialogue not war.
The letter also reads, “When my father narrated the story of the Biafran war of 1967 – 1970 to me, I realised that despite the millions of lives which were lost, many properties of the State were also destroyed.
“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 Nigeria should forgive and forget the 1967-1970 Biafran debacle.
“I want to appeal that Your Excellency should use dialogue rather than clamping down on the secessionist agitators in the country, especially in the South East 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 have sprung up in the South East and other sections of the country.
“If dialogue is adopted, it will definitely prevent more of Nnamdi Kanus from springing up in the South East 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 not war”.
The monarch however commended the achievements of the Buhari led administration in the areas of railway, local government autonomy, fight against corruption and insurgency, saying that they are landmark and will never be forgotten.
