Why Igbos preferred Jonathan to Buhari
NaijaRock
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Posted by Felix Okoli on Thursday May 14, 2015 at 8:38:53:
During the 2015 General elections, the Igbos who hail mostly from the South East region voted mostly for Jonathan's PDP than for Buhari's APC. The results for the presidential election showed that PDP won in all 5 South Eastern Igbo states and in other states outside Igbo land where Igbos mostly reside. This goes to show that Igbo people preferred voting for Buhari than for Buhari or the APC. It is said that the voting pattern of the Igbos were more united than the case in the past.In the aftermath of the elections which gave the victory to Buhari's APC, PDP still did relatively well as Buhari only got to win Jonathan by a mere 2 million votes unlike was the case when Jonathan first won Buhari in 2011 by over 10 million votes. Some notable persons have blamed the Igbos for voting for the PDP which eventually lost instead of voting for the winning party but it seems they don't really understand how Ndigbo normally vote. Igbos don't necessarily vote for people who have a greater potential of winning or according to their stomach as some people have claimed but according to what they believe in. An Igbo man is more likely to do business with someone they believe in than someone they don't believe in.Igbos voted for Jonathan because they believed more in Jonathan than in Buhari. The voted for the former because he has shown more zeal to support development in Igbo land than the latter. They voted for Jonathan because he wasn't part of the Biafran war or continuous ethnic riots that have claimed a lot of Igbo lives unlike Buhari. They voted for Jonathan because they believed that he had more respect and value for Igbo life than Buhari who was an army General. Buhari was part of the army that participated in the counter coup of 1966 during which Nigeria's first head of state and Igbo man was forcefully removed from office. The counter coup led to killings of many Igbo in the north and subsequent killing of millions during the Biafran war. So, Ndigbo's dislike for Buhari was more of a personal historic nature than just a vote between north and South. Igbos may have had a harder choice choosing between Jonathan from the South and a new face from the north than if it were Buhari vs Jonathan.The Igbo vote in 2015 appears not to be regretted and it has basically shown that the PDP's final stronghold likes mostly in the South east and South South where they got the most votes. Besides, Igbos were more likely to vote for Ijaws, Urhobos, Edos, Efiks or Itsekiris than voting for a Fulani or Hausa just for neighbourly love. It was justified to the Igbos to give Jonathan a second chance since he was the first president from Nigeria's oil producing region that contributes most to Nigeria's wealth since 1960. Olusegun Obasanjo who was the first president after Nigeria's 1999 return to democracy had his fair share of a 2 term which lasted for 8 years and so Jonathan should have been equally given a chance to at least rule for his own 2 terms. Igbos don't like injustice and so normally vote according to their conscience than for their stomach as some people have claimed.Will Igbo people vote for Jonathan again even if they were sure that he would not win? I think yes because Igbos believe in Democracy and value the importance of opposition politics. Having a one party state is no true democracy and they are happy that the 2015 elections have united them more with one voice unlike what used to be the case in the past. One question that remains to be answered is if the Ijaws and others would vote for Igbos when their own time comes
During the 2015 General elections, the Igbos who hail mostly from the South East region voted mostly for Jonathan's PDP than for Buhari's APC. The results for the presidential election showed that PDP won in all 5 South Eastern Igbo states and in other states outside Igbo land where Igbos mostly reside. This goes to show that Igbo people preferred voting for Buhari than for Buhari or the APC. It is said that the voting pattern of the Igbos were more united than the case in the past.In the aftermath of the elections which gave the victory to Buhari's APC, PDP still did relatively well as Buhari only got to win Jonathan by a mere 2 million votes unlike was the case when Jonathan first won Buhari in 2011 by over 10 million votes. Some notable persons have blamed the Igbos for voting for the PDP which eventually lost instead of voting for the winning party but it seems they don't really understand how Ndigbo normally vote. Igbos don't necessarily vote for people who have a greater potential of winning or according to their stomach as some people have claimed but according to what they believe in. An Igbo man is more likely to do business with someone they believe in than someone they don't believe in.Igbos voted for Jonathan because they believed more in Jonathan than in Buhari. The voted for the former because he has shown more zeal to support development in Igbo land than the latter. They voted for Jonathan because he wasn't part of the Biafran war or continuous ethnic riots that have claimed a lot of Igbo lives unlike Buhari. They voted for Jonathan because they believed that he had more respect and value for Igbo life than Buhari who was an army General. Buhari was part of the army that participated in the counter coup of 1966 during which Nigeria's first head of state and Igbo man was forcefully removed from office. The counter coup led to killings of many Igbo in the north and subsequent killing of millions during the Biafran war. So, Ndigbo's dislike for Buhari was more of a personal historic nature than just a vote between north and South. Igbos may have had a harder choice choosing between Jonathan from the South and a new face from the north than if it were Buhari vs Jonathan.The Igbo vote in 2015 appears not to be regretted and it has basically shown that the PDP's final stronghold likes mostly in the South east and South South where they got the most votes. Besides, Igbos were more likely to vote for Ijaws, Urhobos, Edos, Efiks or Itsekiris than voting for a Fulani or Hausa just for neighbourly love. It was justified to the Igbos to give Jonathan a second chance since he was the first president from Nigeria's oil producing region that contributes most to Nigeria's wealth since 1960. Olusegun Obasanjo who was the first president after Nigeria's 1999 return to democracy had his fair share of a 2 term which lasted for 8 years and so Jonathan should have been equally given a chance to at least rule for his own 2 terms. Igbos don't like injustice and so normally vote according to their conscience than for their stomach as some people have claimed.Will Igbo people vote for Jonathan again even if they were sure that he would not win? I think yes because Igbos believe in Democracy and value the importance of opposition politics. Having a one party state is no true democracy and they are happy that the 2015 elections have united them more with one voice unlike what used to be the case in the past. One question that remains to be answered is if the Ijaws and others would vote for Igbos when their own time comes