Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has condemned what he described as the “pull-him-down-syndrome” among the Igbo, saying it is the only likely problem he will have if he chooses to run for the presidency.
The governor expressed regrets that the Igbo do not honour their own, including their leaders, “unlike what obtains in other parts of the country.”
He added that Igbo alone cannot make or produce a president of Igbo extraction, adding that Igbo need other Nigerians to be able to have a president of Igbo origin who would also see himself as a Nigerian, first and foremost.
Okorocha spoke while fielding questions from newsmen on Sunday after a press briefing at the Government House, Owerri.
He stated that it would be a foolish thought for any Igbo man eyeing the presidency at any time to think that the Igbo only would make him president.
He, however, contended that any Igbo man wanting or aspiring to achieve the feat of being the president one day cannot rely on the Igbo alone.
He said, “The Igbo do not know how to honour their own. They rather like to run down any of their rising leaders. The pull-him-down syndrome is high in Igbo land. And it is very unfortunate. Anytime I come out to run for the presidency of this country, I will not suffer pull-him-down from the North or from the South West or South South, it is only in Igbo land that I will suffer it.
“And they engage in this pull-him-down practice without knowing the overall implications on the Igbo. So, it will be out of place for an Igbo presidential aspirant at any given period to think that the Igbo will make him president, because Igbo do not value their own.
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“They don’t value what they have, while they value outsiders. It is in their character. It is in their nature.”
“Read the newspapers and go to the social media, all the insults and attacks you get are all from the Igbo.
“They go to any length to run you down without caring about your good intentions and all the efforts being made to see that things work out fine for the people of the area.
“It is a problem. It didn’t start today. Go down memory lane and you’ll discover that the pull-him-down syndrome in Igboland didn’t start today.”
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