Grand Prairie, Texas, Councilman Junior Ezeonu has advised Southeasterners to focus more on demanding good leadership from their governors and legislators instead of blaming outsiders for the region’s plight.
The University of Texas graduate of political science made the comments during an exclusive interview with Rudolf Okonkwo on 90Minutes Africa.
Ezeonu, who became the youngest ever member of the Grand Prairie Council when he was first elected in 2021, said that although there is no doubt that Igbo people face major problems in Nigeria, their focus should be on demanding transformative leadership from their state governors.
“Far too often, Igbo people are blaming outsiders for their misfortunes, whereas it is your own leaders that are screwing you,” he explained. “So before you start asking for something from the outside, you have to start demanding more of your leaders and voting out those who have made your lives bad.”
He said that Alex Otti of Abia State is the only governor in the southeast who is actually showing signs of good leadership in the region. “In my opinion, Alex Otti is the only governor doing a great job for the Igbo people in Nigeria. He is the only governor in the southeast who is really showing that he is doing the work at scale. He is on the ground serving and helping to make his state a better place. All the major commercial cities in the state are transforming under his leadership,” he said.
When asked whether he plans to run for election in Nigeria in the future, the young councilman explained that although he loves the country very much, he won’t consider running for election as an option. He said that he is not suited for Nigerian politics because he has lived all his adult life in America. “I have not comprehended the Nigerian politics 100% yet, so I would probably focus on American politics,” Junior said. “But I will support good candidates that are running in Nigeria, like Peter Obi.”
Drawing a parallel with the ethnic profiling that many Igbo people faced in Lagos during and after the 2023 presidential election, Junior Ezeonu also narrated how he faced racial profiling from some white Americans during his election to the Grand Prairie City Council.
“I dealt with real racism for the first time in my life when I was running for City Council in America. I had extremist conservative voters telling me to go back to Africa. Some voters said that they can’t pronounce my name and won’t vote for someone with a last name like that.
“They told me that if someone like me got elected, Grand Prairie would be full of drugs and crime would go through the roof.”
