This assertion is just, equitable and in tandem with the principles of zoning and rotation which attempts to ensure no part of the Country is left behind in the sharing of leadership positions. Indeed the quest of an Igbo to be Nigeria’s Executive President is one that has been on the table since the Country’s independence in 1960.

The closest they came to realising that dream was the Shagari/Ekwueme pairing under the NPN in 1979, but the military coup of 1983 messed that arrangement. Again in 1999, Alex Ekwueme as the founding Father of the PDP and the leading figure in the agitation for return to democracy was well on his way to emerging President when the political godfathers reached the conclusion that it was the turn of the SW.

Equity, fair-play, justice and unity of the Nigerian nation were the argument advanced to yield the Presidency by consensus to the SW. Recall that the fabric of Nigeria’s unity came under severe pressure after the aborted June 12 Presidential election in which MKO Abiola was coasting home as winner.

In the subsequent struggle to claim that victory, MKO’s wife, Kudirat was brutally assassinated and while in the custody of the military despots fighting for the same cause MKO himself died. Thus it was to compensate the Yoruba nation that the political class literally yielded the presidency to them and Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae emerged as the presidential candidates of the two major political parties respectively PDP and then AD/APP.

The quest of the Igbos to produce the Presidency is thus justified from whatever point of view any would want to advance. At a point, the needling assault on this quest was that there is no Igbo politician with sufficient national clout to occupy the position. But finally he is here in the person of His Excellency, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, former Senate President, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF.

From all the contenders for the Presidency, Sen Anyim stands not just shoulders taller, but like a collosus, with requisite national name recognition and connectionsAs Nigeria today totters on the precipice, inclining towards disintegration, similar to it’s state in 1999, but much worse. Today, separatist agitations springs from all sections of the Country. Cries of marginalisation which used to echo from the SE is now the catchphrase from everywhere, including even the North that has held on to power more than any other part of Nigeria. With such being the state of the Country today, the Anyim Presidency holds monumental prospects as a healing balm for Nigeria.

From the crowd of aspirants so far, Anyim stands kilometers ahead as a moral voice and symbol of excellent democratic leadership. He is experienced and tested: Having trod the corridors of power, having mingled with the movers and shakers at the highest level, he will not be led by the hand to start Nigeria’s healing and restoration, nor would he be indecisive about taking tough decisions.

As a stabilising factor in the Senate, he earned the respects of his colleagues by taking firm, pragmatic decisions. What else stands in Anyim’s favour? Age. At a little above 60, he is still bubbling with vitality and strength needed for any who aspires to lead Nigeria – giant of the Black World. At that age, Anyim would be at home with the expectations of the teeming youths and the hopes of the senior citizensAs former number 3 citizen, as former SGF, Anyim would hit the ground running.

Anyim says of his aspiration: “… I am running for the president in 2023,….to restore Nigeria to its past glories and bring peace, brotherly love to the people are my driving force”…