A former governor of Abia State has warned that Nigeria may witness Arab Spring if the twin evil of bad leadership and corruption in the country is not quickly resolved.

Chief Orji Uzor Kalu (shown in photo) who was governor of Abia State from 1999 to 2007, also said that Igbo Presidency in 2015 is possible.

After x-raying the current situation in Nigeria characterised by so much sufferings by the masses allegedly occasioned by bad governance and corruption, Kalu warned that unless Nigeria’s leaders take urgent steps to bring about good governance and eradicate corruption, the populace may revolt in response to the excruciating poverty and infrastructural decay across the country, particularly in the South East.

Addressing the leadership of the South East Zone of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) which paid him a courtesy call at his Camp Neya Igbere country home, Kalu, said: “People are saying Arab Spring will not happen here. It is not true. Arab Spring is on its way into Nigeria if we don’t take time.”

The former governor also blamed Nigerians for the poor state of affairs in the country, alleging that they mortgage their future by collecting money to rig elections.

Using the poor condition of federal roads in the South East geo-political zone as a reference point, the former governor, popularly known as OUK, lamented that Nigerians are being subjected to untold hardship as a result of inept leadership.

“I went through some roads in the South East and I am very disappointed by their poor conditions. When we were governors we did our best to maintain these roads with the meagre resources we had and today, both the federal and state governments are getting four times more than the resources we had. It is inhuman for the governments to continue to leave the roads and other infrastructure in this poor condition. It is unacceptable,” he said.

He urged the governments to fix the roads and rehabilitate other decaying infrastructure to escape the wrath of Nigerians.

Kalu equally urged Nigerians to rise in defence of democracy by desisting from collecting money, either to vote or rig elections for candidates and parties. “When you collect money to vote, you will lose your moral right to demand for good governance and accountability from the leaders,” he noted.

He said Ndigbo have a bright chance of clinching the Presidency in 2015, stressing that it is an insult for anyone to say that Ndigbo cannot be president of Nigeria. The founder of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) said Ndigbo remain the architect of all their obstacles to claiming the presidency of Nigeria.

He commended the NUJ South East leadership for showing concern on the plight of Ndigbo in Nigeria and promised to partner with the union in finding solutions to the perceived problems.

Earlier, NUJ National Vice President, Comrade Chris Isiguzo, who led the team, had told Kalu that the mandate of his leadership which emerged last May after the NUJ National Delegates Conference in Abuja is “to act as veritable catalyst, along with other stakeholders in bringing about positive changes in the society, especially within our immediate environment, the South East zone of Nigeria.”

He said the union in the zone is willing to partner with people in the mould of Kalu who are willing to work for Igbo renaissance.

The NUJ chief urged stakeholders in the South East to equip the union to enable play its proper role in mobilising the people, listing lack of zonal office and operational vehicle as part of the union’s constraints.

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