For the second time since the pro-Biafra protests began, influential people from the region have met to dampen separatist passions without provoking the agitators. OKODILI NDIDI writes
They all agreed that there was a security threat. So they cast aside all political or religious leanings and converged on Enugu to stamp out the threat and see how the region can address other challenges too. One area of concern is the poor federal road network. Another is the perceived neglect by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Among the attendees were politicians, traditional rulers, clergymen and other stakeholders.
Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have staged protests through much of the Southeast including some states in the Southsouth. Apart from demanding the release from detention of their leader Nnamdi Kanu, they have also been asking for a separate nation. Authorities in the states where they protested laboured to keep them quiet while the army has warned of dire consequences should the agitations continue.
Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, who led the stakeholders, said it has become imperative to come together to address nagging issues in the zone, especially the renewed agitations by members of IPOB, a faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and other pro-Biafra groups.
Going by the publicity and widespread attention that attended the Enugu meeting, it was obvious that the zone had missed focused and quality leadership, which has been blamed for the alleged marginalisation of the zone.
Throughout the five states of the Southeast, there was apprehension as the meeting lasted. Many had expected open and harsh condemnation of the activities of the separatist groups, while others expected the leaders to back the call for seccession, especially with the growing feelings of marginalisation of the zone by the Buhari-led Federal Government.
The elders meeting ended without infuriating the protesters or undermining the sovereignty of the nation. They were also silent on the demand for the release of the detained Radio Biafra Director, Kanu.
However, the issue of the deteriorating state of Federal Government roads in the zone was identified and given priority as some of the urgent issues that will be discussed with the Federal Government. The meeting also deliberated and agreed on the proposal to build an economic hub in the zone to be jointly funded by governments of the five states.
Reading the five-paragraph communiqué, the Imo State Governor and the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors’ Forum, said that the poor state of infrastructure in the Southeast and marginalisation in federal appointments and other socio-economic deficits have negatively impacted the economy of the region.
Two committees were set up to mediate between the Federal Government and the pro-Biafra groups, while another was also set up to dialogue and mediate for the factional Ohanaeze Ndigbo group.
According to Okorocha, a strong delegation of Southeast leaders have been mandated to meet and negotiate with the Federal Government over all the issues raised at the summit particularly as it affects the socio-economic wellbeing of the Southeast.
The leaders commended the initiative of the Southeast Governors Forum to set up an economic council with a view to creating a viable economic and industrial hub in the region.
But pro-Biafra groups earlier in a statement signed by the factional MASSOB Director of Information, Uchenna Madu, the group will sustain the renewed struggle until all the perceived injustices suffered by the Igbo are addressed, as well as the unconditional release of the detained Kanu.
In a statement signed by Uchenna Madu, the factional MASSOB Director of Information, the separatist groups lamented that “Ndigbo in Nigeria have been on the receiving side of marginalization, unprovoked ethno-religious violence, subjugation, intimidation and outright neglect in sharing basic developmental amenities”.
According to the statement, “the Federal Government has committed so much to rehabilitating victims of the Boko Haram insurgency but has conspicuously ignored Igbo returnees who form the bulk of the displaced persons from the North East Nigeria.
“Another annoying issue is the threat by Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos State to the effect that Ndigbo would be drowned in the Lagos lagoon if they voted a candidate of their choice went, without a reprimand to the monarch because Ndigbo were involved. They believe we are expendable.”
Dismissing the stand of some Igbo political leaders, Madu said, “We have lost confidence in all these self-styled leaders. Look at our infrastructures, nothing shows we are part of Nigeria. All the federal roads in the Southeast are death traps.”
The groups regretted that “while the Boko Haram sect ravaging the Northeast is being offered amnesty and dialogue, MASSOB members who have remained non-violent since inception are being shot and murdered in cold blood.
“As at today, more than 170 corpses of members of MASSOB shot by government agents are littered in mortuaries across the entire Southeast states. Many have been detained with the security agencies unable to account for their lives today due to the systemic extra-judicial killing of our members.”
The Sunday meeting was the second in the series of meeting organized by the Igbo leaders to address the challenges confronting the zone since the outbreak of the pro-Biafra protests.
Those in attendance at the last meeting were Imo state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Deputy Governors of Anambra and Abia States.
Others were Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Anthony Anwuka, immediate past governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, traditional rulers, among others.
