Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, has said his ambition to contest in the 2023 presidential election is not motivated by the clamour for a president of Igbo extraction. Since 1960 when Nigeria got its independence from the British colonial masters, the eastern part of Nigeria has suffered all manners of marginalization, which even led to the declaration of Biafra and eventual war between the east and the rest of Nigeria.
Ohuabunwa said his ambition is not motivated by those clamours or those sad stories of the past but by his competence, adding that he’s ready to compete with the best in the country. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member disclosed this during an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday. When asked why he declared his ambition, Ohuabunwa said, “I haven’t come(sic) because I feel I am Igbo. I have come(sic) because I’m a competent Nigerian who has lived in this nation and who has had the privilege of enjoying a good nation. But I see that the country that we are leaving behind for our children is not the country our parents left behind for us. So, we need to change the narrative.
“Of course, in Nigeria, everybody speaks about equity, justice, and fair play, and in the party that I am, the PDP, rotation of power is what they have agreed to do. In Nigeria, we think about power-sharing, power rotation and federal character. These things speak about ownership in a country where you have diverse people, cultures, ethnicity, and religion. It makes sense to often plan on how you can make sure that every section of the country has an opportunity. And today, there is a large poll of opinion that the South-East ought to be given the opportunity to produce the president but I’m not here because of that. If it happens, that’s nice. But if it doesn’t, I’m here to compete with the best in the country.”
Ohuabunwa, who said he’s coming with an opportunity for young people, lamented that there is no opportunity for them to get jobs and even exercise their creativity today as it was in the past.
He said, “Three months after I joined Pfizer, they gave me a car. As a young pharmacist, I had three cars in my garage. Today, there is no opportunity for a young man to get a job in five years, not to talk of getting a car or building a house because we don’t have mortgage, we don’t have opportunity to get lease and opportunity for young people to be fully employed, not just working for people but to be able to exercise their creativity and create jobs.”
