Addressing the issue for Zoning Presidency to the South Eastern region of Nigeria in the next 2023 presidential election, the deputy director of PDP UK chapter, Prof Gold WC Emmanuel, has stated in this open letter to the Ohaneze ndigbo and Igbos in General that For long the Igbos keep getting things wrong due to culture-blindness. The role of the Presidency of Nigeria is beyond culture blindness.
*Why Ndi-Igbos will continue to get things wrong*
I have been on many fora and I have seen many write-ups about an Igbo Presidency.
Like many people wanting the best for their tribes, Igbos strive to ensure that they get a fair share of the *national cake* through representation in the form of Nigerian Presidency.
The average Igbo man prides himself with the richness of his culture, from drawing the boundary between men and women, to taking charge as the head of the family in a no nonsense approach, preaching culture to any women who dares to challenge him on even the simplest matter.
In the Igbo culture, women must not lead a man, it is infact, an abomination. Women must not talk when men speak, the implication of which will result in a fine or an equivalent in a form of the provision of a cow, goat, or hen/cock etc depending on the magnitude of the abomination "committed".
A woman who has only Female children is not respected, as a male child is seen to be superior to the female child. This is a clear picture of the Igbo culture with women as clear subordinates to men.
The Igbos are so rooted in culture that they reflect their strengths through representation of a lion\"s head imprinted on their apparel. This apparel they refer to as *isi-agu.* An Igbo man that wears an isi-agu feels he has the strength of a "lion", feeling proud and fulfilled, modifying his regular strides to that of superior gait.
*Isi-agu blunder over the decades: A case of culture-blindness*
It is indeed a blunder that the average Igbo man refers to a lion as agu. Agu is not a lion, agu is infact, a tiger and lion, odum!
Sadly, this blunder has lingered on for decades with isi-agu now sold mostly all over the world- with an imprint and a name of a tiger! Phew!
For decades the Igbos keep getting things wrong due to culture-blindness. The role of the Presidency of Nigeria is beyond culture blindness and cultural misrepresentation. It embraces inclusion and getting things right. Therefore, until such a time, when the Igbos actually get the simple difference between a lion and a tiger right, and adjust some of their barbaric thinking, can they begin to think of leading Nigeria. Presidency at this moment should not be their priority.
Ndi-Igbos will not get it right until they know the difference between *agu* and *odum.*
Prof. Gold C W Emmanuel.
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