BEVERLY HILLS, June 20, (THEWILL) – The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, says the agitation for self-determination spearheaded by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, does not mean the Igbo want to secede from Nigeria, but was inspired by a feeling of marginalisation.
Deputy Publicity Secretary of the group, Chuks Ibegbu, stated this in reaction to the open letter written to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo by the Arewa youths, containing a renewed call for Igbos to be allowed to go and have their Biafra Republic.
Pointing out that Igbo leaders will not be drawn into joining issue with the coalition of northern youths out to drag the country into another war, he said that Igbo leaders have chosen to “abide” by the counsel of the Acting President to give room for the reign of peace.
“In the first place, I want to thank the Acting President for the role he is playing in this situation. He is a peacemaker and he has shown himself to be conversant with the dynamics of leadership.
“The Acting President has told all the parties to allow peace to reign. Igbo are peaceful people; so, we will abide by what he said.
“We are conscious of what the Acting President told the Igbo leaders and the traditional rulers when they visited the Presidential Villa. Therefore, we will not be drawn into taking issue with these northern youths; they are people who have shown themselves to be lawbreakers and warmongers.
“The activities of these Arewa youths have shown that there is more than meets the eye to the ultimatum they gave the Igbo in the North. They simply want to drag the country into another war.
“That some individuals are pushing for self-determination in the South-East does not mean that the Igbo want to secede. The real situation is a protest against marginalisation,” Ibegbu told ThePunch.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, has warned that any attempt by South-East politicians to cash in on the agitation for secession by Igbo youths to gain political appointments at the expense of the core issues would backfire.
The ECA National Secretary, Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko, in a statement issued in Enugu on Monday, stated that anything less than restructuring the country along the six geographical zones to ensure true fiscal federalism would not work.
He was reacting to the statement credited to the Political Adviser to the President, Babafemi Ojudu, that what Ohanaeze and other lgbo leaders discussed at their last week meeting with Osinbajo in Aso Villa, Abuja, was merely centred on marginalisation of the South-East in appointments.
“The shocking assertion by the political adviser to the acting president, Senator Ojodu, that what Ohanaeze and other lgbo leaders talked about at the meeting with the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, at the Aso Villa last week, were merely centred on marginalisation of the South East in appointments and police check points on the roads, has sent shock waves all over the firmament,” said Ugochukwu-Uko.
