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By Aloy Ejimakor
Twenty years are gone since Professor Jelili At this moment of frenetic maneuverings for the 2027 general elections, it’s self-evident that Nigeria stands at a precipice. While the “one Nigeria” mantra is echoed in Abuja and amongst those that have exclusively appropriated its gains, the reality on the ground in the Southeast (which is what this piece is all about) suggests a different story.
Decades of systemic “redlining” have pushed a vast majority of Ndigbo towards a burgeoning interest in the alternative of Biafra, not as a personal strike against Nigeria but as the next best option for a dynamic people that have been deliberately held down for far too long. If Nigeria is to bridge this widening chasm, 2027 must be our 1999 moment when Nigeria faced a similar existential crisis that pertained to one part of its founding tripod.
So, it came to pass that to heal the wounds of the annulled June 12 election and the death of MKO Abiola, the political class reached a country-wide consensus. Both major candidates (Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae) were from the Southwest. This wasn’t “democracy as usual”; it was a deliberate, patriotic sacrifice to prove to the Yoruba people that they had a stake in the Nigerian project. Recall that Alex Ekwueme (as the putative successor to Shagari), was the frontrunner and the candidate to beat until this westward arrangement sunset his ambitions and that of Ndigbo.
Today, the Southeast requires that same national olive branch, having been shut out from the presidency since the inception of the Fourth Republic, and even before it, except for some tumultuous six months General Aguiyi held sway.
Nigeria’s informal but vital power-sharing arrangement dictates a rotation between the North and South, typically in eight-year blocks (two terms). On this account, the Southwest held the presidency for 8 years under Obasanjo and currently holds it again at the moment, which is even an aberration because, having rotated back to the South, it should have been the turn of Southeast, especially as the South South (Goodluck Jonathan) had held it for 5 years.
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Logic and justice dictate, therefore, that since the presidency has rotated back to the South in 2023, the Southeast should be the natural beneficiary in 2027. If the Southwest serves another term while the Southeast remains shut out, it confirms the “hidden agenda” many Igbos fear: a perpetual exclusion from the nation’s highest office.
Waiting until 2031 is a luxury Nigeria does not have, especially as the North is expected to stake a compelling claim that it is its turn. And when this happens, it can be expected to make the resurgence of self determination much more muscular.
To be sure, self determination or separatist sentiment is not a “national security issue”, as the government often claims. It is instead is a veiled cry for inclusion and basic political justice.
Thus, a country-wide or opposition-wide consensus to support a Southeast candidate in 2027 would dismantle the marginalization narrative; it will prove that Nigeria belongs to all, not just a select few; and it will defuse the self-righteous urge for self determination. More importantly, it will still honor the North-South rotation while ensuring internal Southern equity within the three geopolitical zones in the South.
A nation is not just a map; it is a covenant of fairness. If Nigeria fails to offer the Southeast a seat at the head of the table in 2027, it risks losing the heart of the region forever, especially as those that dared to challenge this anomaly are being persecuted to the point of life imprisonment.
For a Nigeria that was founded on a tripod, the presidency should not be a trophy to be rotated in two parts only. So, let 2027 be the year Nigeria chooses a President from the Southeast as proof-positive that Nigeria is finally on a course to abandoning the grave and deliberate injustices that triggered the quest for Biafra.
