BEVERLY HILLS, July 13, (THEWILL) – Over a dozen groups from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones have advocated an early referendum on the 2014 National Conference Resolutions, which they said was the only way forward to save Nigeria from disintegrating.
While decrying the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to consign the confab report to the archives, they demanded that the document be retrieved from the archives and an early referendum conducted to determine the fate and future of Nigeria.
The groups, under the auspices of Old Eastern Region Movement, made this call after a meeting in Umuahia, the Abia state capital, agreeing to meet bi-monthly until a larger and broad-based coalition was built amongst like minds in the South-West and Middle-Belt for a stronger demand for a referendum on the 2014 confab resolutions.
The meeting, moderated by Interim Chairman, Bishop Michael Ibeneme, had representatives of traders’ organisations, student groups, traditional rulers, town unions, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, age grades and socio-cultural organisations from the South-East and South-South zones.
Also represented at the meeting were Igbo in the academia, South-East professionals, Niger Delta Youth Forum, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, World Igbo Congress, South-East Traders Associations, Igbo Survival Movement, South-East Congress and Igbo Women Assembly.
The movement condemned what it called “the hounding, arrests and intimidation of Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) members, innocent youths, whose only sin is their loss of faith in the lopsided, unfair and unjust unitary Nigeria where some regions are continuously treated as conquered people.”
It also kicked against an alleged apparent decision of the Federal Government to crush dissenting voices, insisting that dialogue and negotiations were the only solution to save Nigeria.
In his speech at the meeting, Bishop Ibeneme lamented the continuous heaping of false allegation on IPOB members in order to criminalise them, saying such wicked plots would only deepen division in Nigeria.
Also, leader of Igbo Women Assembly, Chief Maria Okwor, who is also the deputy chairman of the meeting, insisted that only a referendum would solve the problem of the country now.
“Nigerians should vote on the acceptability or otherwise of the 2014 confab report at a referendum. Nigeria should be restructured without delay. We insist on an early referendum to decide the future of Nigeria. We want peace built on justice and equity…
“This government is not carrying everybody along.”
In his contribution, the founder of Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, and Deputy Secretary of Igbo Leaders of Thought, Evang. Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko called for the expansion of the meeting to bring in more credible people.
His words, “This meeting should invite more people and enlarge the coalition in order to harness opinions from more experienced minds. Yes, there is bitterness, discontent and anger in Eastern Nigeria today, but we must try and carry everybody along. Those who are yet to see that restructuring is the only way forward must be converted. We would open their eyes to see that Nigeria can never move forward unless we revert to true federalism.”
Uko concluded by calling on Nigerians to affirm the 2014 Confab resolutions at a referendum.
