Former Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc and two-time governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has asserted that handing the Igbo Nigeria’s presidency would not solve the problem of Nigeria, insisting that some fundamental structural problems must first be dealt with for an egalitarian society to be institutionalised.
The renowned economist also averred that insecurity would persist in the country until the issue of poverty among the citizens is addressed.
He said: “A situation where close to 90 million people, representing 43 per cent of our population, live below the poverty line of less than 1.90 dollar per day, makes the country a veritable candidate for insecurity of the highest order.”
He explained why Diamond Bank was acquired after he left the bank, accusing those who succeeded him of dismantling the bank’s strategies, thereby making the acquisition inevitable.
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What are your thoughts on Igbo presidency? How can this become a reality?
If you have followed my politics, you would realise that I do not believe in primordial sentiments. I believe that tribe and religion are basically smokescreens used by politicians to drive personal interests. Having said that, I also know that arrangements about power shift have remained the fulcrum of our politics in Nigeria. That is not to say that our salvation is going to come from that. Given that arrangement that has had power move from North to South and power having been in the North for two terms, it should naturally move to the South. Since South-West and South-South had been in power, it should naturally shift to the South East. That is the extent to which I believe in Igbo Presidency.
Would that solve the problem of Nigeria? I think not. There are some fundamental structural problems that must be dealt with for an egalitarian society to be institutionalised.
