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The ingenuity of the Igboman can be deployed to make Sambisa a less-feared forest.
This is according to Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
The Igbos are renowned for seizing business opportunities where others would never imagine.
For Ikpeazu, the Sambisa forest could present one of such opportunities for the Igbo businessman.
The governor, however, noted that his comments were “on a lighter note” when he spoke with reporters after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
Saying the Igbo deserved a shot at the presidency and should be given a chance, he expressed confidence that a president of the Southeast extraction will similarly apply the exploratory zeal for business in running the country.
Ikpeazu said: “I think that the Southeasterners have a right to take a shot at the Presidency of Nigeria.
“I dare say that our qualification starts from the fact that we understand and know Nigeria better than the other states of Nigeria.
“I dare say, this is my opinion. We go everywhere, we are everywhere, we invest everywhere, we are pan-Nigerian people.
“Today, a lot of people, on a lighter note, are afraid of Sambisa.
“But for an Igbo man, Sambisa is a business opportunity.
“So, it will be preposterous of me not to add my voice to that one.
“However, the question of Nigerian President of Southeast extraction is a national question that requires negotiation, discussion and conversation with all parts of this country and I am least qualified to determine what happens in 2023.”
The Sambisa Forest is a forest in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria.
It is in the southwestern part of Chad Basin National Park, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.
The Sambisa forest, especially the mountainous region of Gwoza near the Cameroon border, is used as shelter by Boko Haram insurgents.
Ikpeazu’s comments, as impracticable as they may seem, are not without sound basis.
Renowned for their high incidence of productive entrepreneurship, finding a business opportunity in Sambisa is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility for the Igbo.
