By Fred Chukwuelobe
Every Nigerian has the right to belong to any political association and pursue the platform on which they hope to realise their political choices. Whether in the City Boy Movement or the opposition Village Boy Movement, citizens are free to organise, campaign, and vote for the candidates of their choice.
Yet I watched with incredulity a statement attributed to Pascal Okechukwu, aka Cubana Chief Priest, in which he told Igbo people to forget aspiring to the highest office in the land because “they were defeated in the 1967–1970 civil war.” Let me remind him: though he was born after that fratricidal conflict, the Igbo are still healing from its aftermath and must never be told they cannot aspire to lead their country.
Mr. Okechukwu should also be reminded that wealth alone does not make one a leader whose voice represents the Igbo. To those who flock around him, perhaps he seems influential, but to the Igbo intelligentsia, he holds little sway. Even those he claims to serve may see him merely as a “useful idiot.” That he says that “money na water” is even worse. He’s likely to be viewed as a rabble rouser and a noise maker.
In a democracy, ambition is not a crime. Aspiring to leadership, competing for public office, and contributing to governance are legitimate rights of every citizen. Yet in Nigeria, when the Igbo express political ambition, it is too often met with suspicion, hostility, and ethnic prejudice.
This tendency to ethnicise aspiration reflects the insecurity of the accusers, not the intentions of those they seek to demonise. The Igbo, like every Nigerian, are active stakeholders in the national project. They pay taxes, create jobs, build businesses, and contribute to the country’s economic and social fabric. To suggest they should thrive in commerce but shy away from politics is unjust and profoundly undemocratic.
Nigeria was not designed to be the preserve of any single ethnic group. It is a republic founded on equal citizenship. If democracy means anything, it means that every Nigerian: Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Ijaw, Tiv, or Efik, has the right to aspire to the highest office without being vilified for daring to dream.
History demonstrates the Igbo’s resilience and industriousness. From the ashes of civil war, they rebuilt their lives and communities with remarkable determination, spreading across the country to trade, invest, and integrate. Their presence in every city is not a conspiracy; it is a testament to their faith in Nigeria’s unity and their industrious spirit.
Ironically, those who castigate Igbo ambition rarely question similar aspirations from other ethnic groups. Presidential ambitions from elsewhere are framed as natural expressions of democratic competition. Yet when the Igbo dare to aspire, it is suddenly a “threat” or a “scheme.” This double standard betrays deep ethnic anxieties still embedded in Nigeria’s political discourse.
The truth is simple: ambition should not be ethnicised. Political participation is the lifeblood of democracy. No group should be told, implicitly or explicitly, to remain on the margins of national leadership.
Nigeria must move beyond suspicion and embrace inclusion. A nation that discourages the legitimate aspirations of any citizen weakens its own democratic foundations. The Igbo ask not for charity; they ask only for fairness: the same opportunity to compete, persuade, and serve that every Nigerian claims as a birthright.
The strength of a nation lies not in suppressing ambition, but in harnessing it for the common good. When ambition is allowed to flourish across ethnic and regional lines, the entire country benefits.
It is time to state clearly, without apology: the political aspirations of the Igbo are not a threat to Nigeria. They are part of the democratic promise of the nation. In a true republic, that promise belongs to everyone.
Ambition Should Not Be Ethnicised.
(c) Fred Chukwuelobe
