First son of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chief Emeka Ojukwu Jnr, has turned down overtures of Governor Willie Obiano to return to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Ojukwu Jnr, who barely 48 hours to the Anambra State governorship election defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he is not going back to APGA.
He said he is no longer interested in playing emotional politics, and added that, by wanting to play politics at the centre, he is following the steps of his father.
Speaking to newsmen in Awka, Ojukwu Jnr. described the governor’s overtures as too infantile and smacks of ignorance about the workings of politics in Nigeria.
He said like his father, he ensures that his actions are informed by the best interest of Ndigbo, recalling how, shortly after his return from exile in 1982, his father joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) rather than the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) seen then as Igbo party.
“I can afford to stay back (in APGA) and wallow in sentimental politics that ‘Nkea bu Nkeanyi’ (this is our own), but in the long run, what becomes of our tomorrow and place in the great Nigeria project, for which our forefathers laboured, invested their time, talent and even their blood?
“Which is preferable; to be a big fish in a small pond or a big fish in the ocean? Real champions are never afraid of the big league. That could be why late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo asserted that if you cannot reason beyond petty sentiments, you are a liability to mankind. Igbo are not better off with emotional politics.”
Ojukwu Jnr. reacted to a statement credited to Governor Obiano, that he considers Ikemba’s son as of no consequence, but has extended an olive branch to stakeholders and co-contestants in the recent Anambra governorship poll. He said the governor was still playing kindergarten politics.
He wondered why Obiano and other party chieftains should condemn him for identifying with APC while they struggle to impress President Buhari that they support him for a second term in office.
“So, while they seek to crucify me for joining APC, they express support and solidarity for the APC leader. Which is worse, to walk the talk or pander to politics of deceit and duplicity? What is the essence of being in a party that would rather support the presidential candidate of another party than choose its own?”
According to him, having supported President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan in office, Ndigbo have decided to support President Buhari in the spirit of fairness and political goodwill, so that when a president of Igbo extraction emerges, other ethnic groups would reciprocate.
|Sun