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Tag: Northern youths

  • Minister appeals to northern youths to shun planned protest in national interest

    Minister appeals to northern youths to shun planned protest in national interest

    The Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, Bello Muhammad Goronyo, has appealed to the northern youths to shun the proposed protest against hunger, emphasizing the importance of unity and collective effort in overcoming current challenges.

    Goronyo said Nigeria at this trying moment needs the contributions and cooperation of every citizen, especially the vibrant youths who he said are crucial to sustainable development and national stability.

    He assured that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated unwavering commitment to addressing the socio-economic issues affecting our nation, noting that under his leadership, significant strides have been made to improve the quality of life for all Nigerians.

    According to the minister, “Key achievements of the President Tinubu include the approval of an increase in the minimum wage, ensuring that workers receive fair compensation for their efforts. This move aims to improve the standard of living for millions of Nigerians and alleviate economic hardships.”

    Goronyo also maintained that the signing into law of the North West Development Commission Bill is a testament to the President’s dedication to regional development.

    He intimated that the Commission will spearhead initiatives aimed at addressing the unique challenges faced by the North West, promoting economic growth and social development.  

    Speaking on infrastructural development, he stated that the flag-off of the Sokoto-Illela-Lagos Badagry Expressway and the continuation of the rail projects from Kano to Maradi are monumental steps towards enhancing connectivity and boosting trade.

    The projects, according to the Minister will significantly improve transportation networks, facilitating economic activities and fostering national integration.

    He also mentioned that the introduction of the student loan scheme is a landmark achievement in making education accessible to all. 

    “This initiative will provide financial support to students, enabling them to pursue higher education without the burden of financial constraints.

    Read Also: Dangote Refinery: Northern youths ask Tinubu to probe, punish NNPCL officials with blending plant abroad

    The minister also revealed that the administration’s commitment to local government autonomy is a crucial step towards empowering local administrations, adding that, it will ensure more effective governance, closer to the grassroots, and foster inclusive development across all regions.

    Goronyo asserted that President Tinubu’s administration has also made significant efforts in the water and sanitation sector. Initiatives to improve access to clean water and proper sanitation facilities are underway, addressing critical health issues and improving the quality of life for millions of Nigerians.

    “We recognize the frustrations and hardships faced by many due to economic challenges, but the Federal Government assures all Nigerians that comprehensive measures are being taken to address these issues. The proposed strike, while a reflection of genuine grievances, could hinder the progress and stability we are collectively striving for,” he said.

    He however called on the Northern youths to embrace dialogue and collaborate with the government to find sustainable solutions and work together to build a stronger, more prosperous Nigeria. 

  • Senate President: Northern youths back south south

    A group of northern youths under the auspices of the Pan African United Youth Development Network wants the leadership of the All Progressives Congress and the Presidency to allow the south south geopolitical zone produce the Senate President in the 9th Senate in the interest of equity and national interest.

    The group said the position of the Senate Presidency be zoned to the South-south geo-political zone considering their contribution to the development of the country.

    President of the group, Habib Mohammed said in a statement made available to The Nation that it will be politically lucrative to compensate the south south with the office of the Senate President and balance the political equation in the country.

    The group ask “the Presidency and the leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to consider zoning the office of the Senate Presidency to south south, considering the contribution of the region to the national economy of the country.

    “It will be politically lucrative to compensate the region with the Senate Presidency and also to balance the political equation of each region so that no region feel marginalized. Doing this will further enhance the intertribal and ethnic relationship.

    “We also ask all elected Senators to put aside sentiments and selfish interest and work for the national interest first by giving the south south the opportunity to produce the next Senate President in the interest of equity, fairness and justice.

    “We believe that the South South zone deserve to be given the opportunity considering the fact that they remain the only zone in the country that has not produced any principal officer of this government since 2015 when the Buhari government came into office.

    “Currently, the North West and South West have the President and Vice President, a situation that will remain so for another four years; the North Central is currently occupying the position of Senate President, South East, occupies the position of Deputy Senate President, while the North East has both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate Leader, with the South south the only zone left out.

    “Zoning the position of Senate President to another zone outside the south south will amount to robbing them of a well-deserved position especially when you consider the fact that they currently have ranking Senators from the zone.

    “It is our belief that the North East should be given the position of Deputy Senate President in the 9th Senate. In view of this, we urge President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to put the interest of the nation at heart, consider the principles on which they stand and on which the party was built and allow the south south produce the next Senate President.

    “We recall that when the zone occupied the position during the second republic, the legislature had a near perfect and cordial working relationship with the executive led then by late former President Aliyu Shehu Shagari. We have not had such a relationship since then.“

  • Northern youths seek Saraki’s removal as Senate President

    •Protesters: Akpabio should replace him

    HUNDREDS of Northern youths under Arewa Solidarity Front (ASF) yesterday defied a downpour to protest against Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    They sought Saraki’s removal as Senate President and to be replaced by former Minority Leader Senator Godswill Akpabio.

    The protesters, who matched to the Kaduna State secretariat of All Progressives Congress (APC), wrote the party’s national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to ensure that Saraki is removed from office and be replaced with Akpabio.

    The group added that it has concluded plans “to secure a minimum of two million authentic signatures in favour of the vote-of-no confidence on Saraki by Nigerian voters”.

    “At the end of this exercise, we intend to meet with all the senators from our immediate constituencies in Northern Nigeria to further drum up support for the replacement of Senator Saraki with Senator Akpabio,” the group said.

    ASF Chairman Haruna Abdullahi Maikano, who presented the letter to Oshiomhole through the Kaduna State APC Secretary, Mohammed Bello Shuiabu, said: “As a group of northerners concerned with the protection and promotion of democratic institutions, we cannot fold our arms and watch a selfish few, trying to truncate democracy and harming our national interest.”

    To this end, Maikano urged the APC Secretary to ensure that the letter entitled, “Enough of Saraki’s anti-democratic conduct”, get to the APC national chairman.

    Leader of the protesters, who read the letter, said: “We resolved to formally write to you and intimate you on the position of the mass majority of northerners regarding the conduct and performance of the Senate President.

    “We have been following with keen interest, happenings in the National Assembly in the last three years and wish to register our disappointment with the poor leadership of the Senate under Saraki.

    “We call on the APC national leadership to pursue the immediate removal of the incompetent Senator Saraki, who emerged Senate President through alleged fraudulent exercise.

    “We urge the National Chairman to prevail on our distinguished senators to save the image and restore the glory of the Senate by replacing Saraki, who has so far built the image of a leader with too many pending court cases.”

    Receiving the letter for onward transmission to the party’s national chairman, the state APC Secretary thanked the Arewa group for the letter. He promised to deliver it accordingly.

    He said the APC is a party of justice and respect for the rule of law and, therefore, it would follow all the rules in ensuring that it gets back what rightfully belongs to it.

     

     

  • AGF and coalition of northern youths

    Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), clearly had an unpleasant job last Tuesday to defend the federal government’s refusal to arrest leaders of the coalition of northern youths who gave the Igbo in the North a quit notice on June 6. The notice was thought to be unprecedented, hateful and a dangerous incitement to anarchy. In his response when he addressed a number of issues concerning his ministry’s operations, Mr. Malami averred that it was not expedient to arrest the youths despite their objectionable reaction to the agitations in the Southeast. According to him, “Government considered the security implications on the issue. Let me state that government is alive to its responsibility and whoever is found wanting will be prosecuted. This administration is determined to provide good governance and promote justice, peace and fairness.” By not arresting the youth leaders who issued the June Kaduna Declaration, Mr. Malami was suggesting that doing so had negative security implications, or that as a matter of fact the youths had not yet been found wanting. However, it was clear last Tuesday when the AGF addressed the press in Abuja that he was neither able to convince even himself nor his audience.

    A few days before then, on August 25, the AGF issued a press statement indicating that his office had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking for the revocation of the April 25 bail granted the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader, Nnamdi Kanu. The statement clearly suggested that Mr. Kanu had violated the terms of his bail in the following ways: “That the offence for which he is standing trial does not entitle him to bail; that among other conditions for the bail of the 1st defendant is that he should not be seen in a crowd exceeding 10 people; that he should not grant any interviews, hold or attend any rallies; that he should file in court medical updates of his health status every month; that rather than observing all of the conditions listed above, the 1st defendant in flagrant disobedience to the court order flouted all conditions of the bail.” It is indisputable that Mr. Kanu violated his bail terms.

    But a day before the AGF applied to the courts for the revocation of Mr. Kanu’s bail, the same northern youths whom Mr. Malami egregiously defended against arrest imperiously issued seven pre-conditions for the rescindment of the June 6 quit notice. Among the seven conditions, all of which appeared to counter or dilute President Muhammadu Buhari’s affirmation of the right of every Nigerian to live in any part of Nigeria unmolested, was the one that predicated their magnanimous rescindment on the arrest and detention of Mr. Kanu for violating his bail terms and for his continuing incendiary remarks. Few people would fail to notice that the northern youths and Mr. Malami seemed in fact to be on the same page. Their actions followed the earlier statement by the Internal Affairs minister, Abdulrahman Dambazzau, that the courts might revoke Mr. Kanu’s bail to curb his excesses.

    Worse, President Buhari’s terse and threatening broadcast of August 21, which probably partly inspired the rescindment of the northern youths’ quit notice, also appeared to be in sync with the general feelings in the North that Mr. Kanu should be locked up after the revocation of his bail. The unanimity of opinion across many parts of the North, however, complicates the IPOB-northern quit notice brouhaha. Mr. Kanu doubtless violated his bail terms, having organised or attended rallies, continued to make inflammatory statements, and neglected to file his medical updates before the court that granted him bail. But whether re-arresting him will help resolve the dangerous and inflammable matter at hand is a different thing altogether, especially in view of Mr. Malami’s argument that security implications were considered in the federal government’s reluctance to arrest leaders of the northern youths.

    Unfortunately for the government, the argument has shifted away from the appropriateness or otherwise of Mr. Kanu’s defiance of his bail terms to the reluctance, if not criminal connivance, of the government to arrest or censure the northern youths. In the process, a lot of issues have become so complicated that the government is unable to draw a line between moral and political rectitude on the one hand and deliberate and provocative malfeasance on the other hand. The northern youths claimed their actions, hate speech and the unacknowledged hate song that went viral a few weeks ago were a product of the provocation and actions of Mr. Kanu’s IPOB. But neither the pro-Biafra provocation, which has met with vicious government response, including the president’s fierce anger, nor the northern youths’ reaction, which has so far met with deliberate and orchestrated pussyfooting, was lawful. Both should have attracted equal law enforcement and governmental sternness on the grounds that while the provocation was unlawful and malfeasant, the reaction also amounted to unlawful self-help. Instead, the federal government and the security agencies gave the impression that lawlessness had colour and mitigations.

    It is puzzling that Mr. Malami dared to suggest that the federal government’s refusal to arrest the northern youths followed a sensible and cautious consideration of the security implications. What is even worse is that the AGF did not feel any obligation to explain in detail what those security concerns were, nor to defend them as factors militating against the government’s stern action. But by going ahead to assert cynically that the government was alive to its responsibility, when that responsibility seemed to be targeted in one direction, Mr. Malami did not convince anyone, let alone himself, that the government had any such ‘life’, nor even dispassion, nor yet impartiality. With the exception of the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, who at first ordered the arrest of the northern youths but soon inexplicably kept his peace, and the police who also at first gave the impression that they sought out the youths to arrest them, little was heard from anyone else. Indeed, all that was heard were condemnations targeted at both IPOB and the northern youths. Even the Department of State Service (DSS), according to reports, invited the youths once, spoke with them and let them go.

    Why it is difficult for the federal government to recognise Mr. Kanu’s obstreperous and trenchant advocacy of the Biafra cause and the equally tendentious and acrimonious northern youths’ reaction as evidence of the dire condition of the country’s unity, is hard to say. These actions and reactions, much of it almost neatly divided along North-South lines, are a testament to the decay afflicting the polity and an indication that little or nothing is being done to salvage the problem. The country is fraying at the edges, and this fraying is compounded by incompetent and prejudiced public officials who lack the knowledge and dispassion to weld a country together out of its many seething and fractious parts.

    From the presidency to the relevant ministries, and on to the various law enforcement and security agencies, nothing expert or rational by way of public policies is being done to repair the country’s broken hedges. Contrary to what the presidency says about the country’s unity being settled or non-negotiable, the IPOB crisis and the northern youths’ quit notice, and various other forms of hate speech and hate songs on social media and traditional media, suggest quite clearly that fresh thinking is required to manage the dangerous decline to anarchy. Strong-arm tactics, as appealing as they may look, especially in the short run, do nothing but obfuscate the contentious issues tearing the country apart. The country is not only clearly not united, and nothing extraordinary and informed is being done about it, until the right mix of policies are designed and public officials from the North and South can eschew ethnic and religious prejudices, the situation may worsen considerably until it explodes.

    Mr. Malami had no rational and acceptable explanation for the inexcusable reason given by the government not to arrest the northern youths who issued the Igbo a quit notice in June. He compounds that oversight by applying to the courts for the revocation of Mr. Kanu’s bail. Had he and the government he serves been fair-minded enough to deal firmly and expeditiously with the purveyors of quit notice, the move against the IPOB leader would have been explicable and defensible. More, it would have shown everyone that the government understands the need to keep an open mind in dealing with cantankerous groups threatening the peace and unity of the country. And if by chance the government were to also correctly situate those threats where they belonged, and go further to appreciate the factors that undergird and propel those threats, Nigerians would have assumed that sooner or later a political formula and existential fulcrum would be found upon which the unity and stability of Nigeria could rest without being imperilled.

  • Northern youths call Igbo seccessionists’ bluff

    Northern youths call Igbo seccessionists’ bluff

    A coalition of Northern Nigerian youths  delivered a political masterstroke on Tuesday, June 6, 2017         when at a news conference in Kaduna it gave Igbos living in the northern region of the country a three-month quit notice, expiring on October 1, 2017, to return to their homeland for a referendum on the actualisation of their much touted fantasy – the  Biafra Eldorado. That declaration  triggered high-powered dialogues initiated by the Presidency  with leaders of the North and Southeast and a sudden awakening of the comatose Igbo political elite to the reality of  the imminent doom of the utopian Biafra dream.  Biafra, to all intents and purposes, has become an ‘abiku’, the spirit child that torments its parents by repeated   premature deaths, just as Igbo irredentists have been tormenting Nigeria with repeated threats of secession.  All thanks to the political sagacity of the young Turks from the north, that ultimatum brought matters to a head and forced a denouement  on the ill-conceived Biafra agenda.  The ultimatum reflects the cultural disposition of Yoruba parent who, almost literally driven to  death by the threatening conduct of a recalcitrant child, in exasperation tells the child to go please himself and hang !

    Now, rising from a marathon meeting in Enugu on  Sunday,  July 2, 2017 the entire Igbo leadership – political, cultural, traditional and religious  – found their voices and unequivocally denounced Biafra  and pledged their allegiance to a united, indivisible Nigeria. What a triumph for the Coalition of Northern Youths ! !  The ultimatum to Igbo to quit the North  for their Biafra was an exercise in strategic political communication. And to imagine this coming  from young men in the North,  a region some would want to dismiss as intellectually barren.

    The arrow head of the Northern youths who issued the ultimatum,  Alhaji  Shettima Yerima, of the Arewa  Youth Consultative Forum, was reported in the media on Monday, July 3, 2017 to have indicated willingness to review the Igbo quit notice following the renouncing of Biafra by  the Igbo leadership.  Just under one month – June 6 to July 2, 2017 – youths of the North jolted the Igbo leadership to action to avoid a potential apocalypse and are poised to put paid to the festering militancy of irredentist Igbos  which police action and court arraignment have only provided oxygen that gave the agitators populist boost among the brethrens. Didn’t  the secessionists shut down the entire Southeast with their sit-at-home order on May 30, 2017 to assert their ascendancy in a region with sitting Governors?  It was therefore not surprising that in the intoxicating euphoria  of his messianic emergence, Nnamdi  Kanu, leader of  the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)  and the latest megalomaniac on Nigeria’s  political terrain, on June 21, 2017 issued a proclamation for boycott of Anambra state governorship election slated for  November 2017 : ‘’ There will be no governorship election  in Anambra state … In 2019, the whole of Biafra Land will not vote … if they (Federal Government) fail to call for a referendum’’.  He thundered a clincher: ‘’ Nobody on this earth can stop Biafra”. The self-anointed ‘Oracle’ of the East has spoken ! The Igbo leaders, apparently alarmed at the worsening turn of events and the way they have been insolently marginalized by Kanu, were compelled to pledge loyalty to Nigeria more to save their privileged positions from  the IPOB tornado to come. It was a measure of  self interest, a survival strategy to escape  ‘ Emperor ‘ Kanu’s  demagogic rule in a putative Biafra,  not altruistic love for one Nigeria.

    At the beginning of this saga, many  criticised the Northern youths for the ultimatum handed the Igbos in the north  but it is obvious many of such critics are mere talking heads  who only want to display political correctness, except for Prof. Ango  Abdullahi, former Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University,  who stuck out his head for the boys.   The imperial, superiority posture of the secessionists  has drawn much angst in other parts of the country which the Northern youths only gave expression to. But the tempestuous Kaduna State governor,  Nasir el Rufai, saw the youths’ action as an opportunity to play to the gallery, his usual antics.  Faking fury at what he  projected as the temerity of the young Turks, he ordered their arrest by the police.  What seemed to be lost on the  petite stormy petrel  of Kaduna Government House is the perception that he was just playing the political con artist by implying non prior knowledge of the youths’ press conference that took place at Arewa House, Kaduna,  the state capital and symbol of northern political hegemony.  For once, the police and other security agencies exercised  commendable discretion by  stalling arrests of the young men which could have ignited reactions of unpredictable outcomes.

    As it is, the Igbo secessionists have only succeeded in humiliating the Igbo leadership by forcing them to eat the humble pie in their public surrender to Nigeria’s sovereignty. The Igbo leadership conclave in  Enugu, with all the five governors of the southeastern states, their national assembly members, traditional rulers, archbishops,  chairmen of political parties and top academics in attendance,  had unanimously resolved to pitch their tent in a  united Nigeria, but with  the proviso of the imperativeness of  political restructuring. Earlier, a rather livid Chief John Nwodo , President of Ohaneze,  the apex Igbo cultural organisation, had come down hard on Nnamdi  Kanu and his IPOB on the election boycott directive  while addressing the Anambra State House of Assembly at Awka:  ‘’Statements of the kind credited to Nnamdi Kanu are provocative, misleading and unproductive … our language must be civil, respectful and lead to consensus building’.  The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)  in a letter to  Kanu, had described  the IPOB leader’s call for people to shun the Anambra governorship election  as irresponsible and devoid of intellectual focus and advised him to drop his ‘’emperor’’ perception of himself  urging him to ‘’humble yourself to the true leadership of Ndigbo’’. Persuading Kanu to humble himself before formal Igbo leadership is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Ndigbo. The young man needs to be convinced that it is in his own interest to beat a tactical retreat and play the humble son by conceding to the decision of  the Igbo elders and leaders reached in Enugu. Inflammatory statements by the secessionists as shown by  Uche Madu, the leader of a faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB)  in alliance with IPOB, seeking to demonise and tag the Igbo leaders as traitors and sell-outs portend grave danger for law and order within the Southeast.

    The lesson of the second Biafra misadventure is that leaders must lead well (apology to Prof. Jerry Gana) The Igbo leadership has been complicit in the wealth- induced  loudness, brash arrogance, insulting  and condescending  conduct of Igbos  in relation with their host communities. This is a pervasive perception of Igbo conduct across the land and a potential source of xenophobia.  To succeed in another man’s land is no licence to denigrate your hosts. The Igbo enterprise and can-do spirit are generally acknowledged.  The Igbos have done  VERY well in Nigeria, business-wise, dominating the multi-trillion naira retail trade but need to moderate success-induced arrogance with a  dose of humility – at no cost ! Every section of this country suffers one marginalisation or the other, even including the North. So, for the Igbo to project as the only marginalised group is a fraudulent  proposition. If  only  the Igbo can benefit from introspection, they will realise that  apart from business success, they have also attained high political office, including that of Vice President in 1979, just nine years after the collapse of Biafra and between 1999 and 2015 when they held key ministerial positions. They need to count their blessings.

    The other lesson with regard to ethnic agitations is the danger of formal leadership relinquishing authority, by default, to renegade militant groups ostensibly fighting the ethnic battle. Over time, these groups, often lower class, attain a level of economic and ‘muscle’ power that become intoxicating, making them near uncontrollable.  In the end, they constitute security nightmares to the populace having been nurtured in violence. The Niger-Delta is an example of  where formal leadership failure has created  dreaded militia warlords almost beyond state control. The Yoruba  Southwest faces a similar threat if the so-called  ethnic militant defenders are not reined in but allowed to assume same pedestal  with the formal leadership.

     

    • Dr. Olawunmi is Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Mass Communication, Bowen University, Iwo and former Washington Correspondent of News Agency of Nigeria. PHONE 0803 364 7571 Email: olawunmibisi@yahoo.com
  • Northern youths write Osinbajo

    Northern youths write Osinbajo

    …say, Igbos unrepentant about Biafra

     

    The Coalition of Northern Youths who recently issued quit notice to the Igbos living in Northern has again written an open letter to the Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, saying that the Igbos are not repentant about Biafra.

    The Northern Youths in the open letter jointly signed by ShettimaYerima, Joshua Viashman, Aminu Adam, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman and Nastura Ashir Sharif said, Igbos have declared full allegiance to a “Republic of Biafra” and continue to preach hatred and war virtually every day.

    They said, “KANU and IPOB have declared full allegiance to a “Republic of Biafra” and continue to preach hatred and war virtually every day, and not for once did any Igbo leader call them to order. Instead, many of the leaders including Mr. Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president, the most senior elected Igbo, pay Kanu courtesy calls to prove that he is speaking for the entire Igbo. It is glaring to all that Kanu has serially breached all the terms of his stringent jail conditions in total disregard to the sanctity of our justice system”.

    The letter read in full “APPRECIATION On behalf of this coalition and all the peace-loving people of Northern Nigeria, we begin this letter by commending your efforts towards finding a lasting solution to the lingering Igbo-induced crisis that is undoubtedly overheating the polity.

    “We sincerely believe Your Excellency’s good intentions as shown by your prompt and genuine actions towards ensuring peace and stability in holding talks with leaders of the North and the South-East.   Though we do not doubt Your Excellency’s bona fide concerns for the peaceful resolution of the crises, we nevertheless have reservations as to the efficacy of this approach in ensuring lasting solutions.

    “Our doubts are informed by the following historical antecedents that have characterized the behavior and conduct of the Igbo in Nigeria and previous efforts at containing them.

    “PAST EXPERIENCES: The Igbo of Eastern Nigeria manifested their hatred for Nigeria’s unity barely five years after we gained our independence from the British when on January 15, 1966, their army officers carried out the first-ever  mutiny that marked the beginning of a series of crisis which has profoundly altered the course of Nigeria’s history.

    “By that ill motivated, cowardly and deliberate action, the Igbo killed many northern officers from the rank of lieutenant colonel upwards and also decapitated the Prime Minister and the political leadership of the Northern and Western regions but left the zenith of Igbo leadership at the Federal level and the Eastern region intact.

    “In line with the Igbo plan, General Aguiyi-Ironsi took advantage of the vacuum and, instead of returning power to the remnants of the First Republic government; he appropriated the coup and attempted to consolidate it for his people.

    “Army officers of the Northern Region were eventually compelled to execute a counter coup on July 29, 1966 following a coordinated series of brazen provocations from the Igbo who taunted northerners on northern streets by mocking the way leaders of the region were slain by the Igbo. This unfortunately resulted in mob action which resulted in the death of many Igbos.

    “And when Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon, from the North took over as Head of State following the counter coup, the Igbo through Lt. Col. Ojukwu, characteristically refused to recognize Gowon.

    “Ojukwu declared the secession of the Igbo people from Nigeria and the formation of the republic of Biafra on May 30, 1967 resulting in a civil war that led to the tragic deaths of more than 2 million Nigerians.

    “It is important to note here that the Igbo eventually capitulated and conceded defeat in an unconditional surrender, not an armistice,  on January 15, 1970 which renders any talk about Biafra at any other time,  a repudiation of the terms of that surrender signed by Phillip Effiong and other Biafran leaders.

    “BIAFRA REINCARNATED: In a shot out of the blues, the Igbo have over the last 2 years regrouped and fiercely and openly started discussing Biafra again under Ralph Uwazuruike of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State Of Biafra MASSOB.

    “This was given greater impetus by a more furious Igbo rogue group called the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB under Nnamdi Kanu who even operates an illegal radio station spreading hate and war messages across the nation, calling other ethnic groups all sorts of names and threatening them with violent extermination.

    “The activities of the Igbo under Kanu’s IPOB has grown exponentially ranging from ordering people of other regions out of the South East – particularly the Yorubas and Hausa /Fulani from the South West and the North respectively, to open declaration of the amassing of arms and forceful total shutdown of the entire South-East.

    “KANU and IPOB have declared full allegiance to a “Republic of Biafra” and continue to preach hatred and war virtually every day, and not for once did any Igbo leader call them to order. Instead, many of the leaders including Mr Ike Ekweremadu, the deputy senate president, the most senior elected Igbo, pay Kanu courtesy calls to prove that he is speaking for the entire Igbo. It is glaring to all that Kanu has serially breached all the terms of his stringent jail conditions in total disregard to the sanctity of our justice system.

    “Even the latest statement by the South-East Governors Forum signed by Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State in a response to the Northern reaction, did not condemn Kanu and Uwazuruike but characterised their action as “peaceful”.

    “While all this is going on,  neither the Igbo political and cultural leaders nor other regional leaders of the North or West nor the international community or any religious body ever found it necessary to call these renegade groups to order or in the very least admonish their leaders to do so.

    “Furthermore, none of the Igbo leaders holding various positions in this government ever disowned IPOB or condemned its operations until lately with Governor Rochas Okorocha’s mild condemnation after the Kaduna Declaration by our Coalition .

    “GROUNDS FOR SUSPICION: Given the unrepentant antecedents exhibited by the Igbo as highlighted above,  we strongly believe that the gruesome picture that the Biafran agitation represents is beyond a few people showcasing to Your Excellency that the Igbo will eventually heed the call for peace and desist from their dangerous campaign against Nigeria.

    “The seed of hate planted in the name of Biafra is evidently so deep that the ongoing interaction between you and the leaders from the South East cannot in our well informed opinion douse or address the underlying deep seated underlying problems.

    “We base our concerns on the following grounds. Despite the fact that the Igbo have been the most accommodated and tolerated of all the ethnic groups of Nigeria, the renewed incessant, spiteful and vile threats and insults on Northern leaders and their people, culture and religions that are the targets of this venomous agitation for Biafra,  can hardly be addressed through a series of two hours dialogues.

    “As if to prove this, barely hours after Your Excellency’s meeting with the South-East leaders, the Biafran Igbo openly disowned the leaders and dissociated themselves from the meeting.

    “More disturbingly, Kanu has openly claimed that the Biafran agitators have amassed arms in readiness for a war of secession which is quite conceivable given the fact that since 2009, catches of dangerous weapons routinely smuggled into the country and occasionally intercepted  by the Nigerian authorities , were all traced to Igbo sources.

    “The situation continues to be baffling and alarming and therefore unacceptable – especially with the Igbo political and opinion leaders openly legitimizing the violent comments, insults, threats, hate speeches and call to anarchy that the Biafrans led by Nnamdi Kanu are making against the North and the Nigerian state in general.

    “South-East leaders have instead, enthusiatically given Kanu the platform, patronage and symbolic legitimacy through an ignominious display of homage, reception and open embrace.

    “OUR CONCERNS: Concerned by the fact that the Biafrans have confessed to arming themselves for a violent breakup,  we feel that it is risky for the rest of the country particularly the North to go on pretending that it is safe for us to co-habit with the Igbos given how deeply they are entrenched in our societies .

    “And since evidently the Igbo have not been sufficiently humbled by their self-imposed bloody civil violence of 1966, we are strongly concerned that nothing short of granting their Biafran dream will suffice.

    “And since the Igbo have virtually infiltrated every nook and cranny of Northern Nigeria where they have been received with open arms   as fellow compatriots, we strongly believe that the region is no longer safe and secure in the light of the unfolding threats and the fact that for a long time,  the Igbo have gone to extra ordinary lengths to ensure that in their domain in the South East, Northerners and Westerners are as much as possible disenfranchised from owning any businesses whereas in Kano alone, they own not less than 100, 000 shops across all the business districts.

    “That since the younger generation of Nigerians makes up for more than 60 percent of the nation’s population, it is our hope that they inherit this country in better shape so that they can build a much better future for themselves and their off springs in an atmosphere that is devoid of anarchy, hate, suspicion and negativity that characterize the polarized, and clearly irreconcilable differences forced on us by the Biafran Igbos.

    “To make a bad situation even worse, their leaders have continued to show support for  this treacherous cause and thus giving credence to our concern that what they say against us is what they truly mean and intend – “Kill everyone in the Zoo” (North). Your Excellency, we cannot afford to discard this as mere mischief as the utterances that caused the terrible Rwandan genocide still resonates in our minds.

    “Lastly Sir, it is quite impossible to expect that other nationalities would simply stand by and watch while a certain ethnic group perpetrates all the above heinous misconducts that involve threats, call to violence and extermination, insults and songs of war without responding.

    “OUR STAND: While we unequivocally restate that we are not waging war or calling anyone to violence, we nevertheless are also not willing to continue tolerating the malicious campaign and threats of war that the Igbos have continued to wage against us.

    “Neither can we afford to continue giving the keys to our cities to a people whose utterances, plans and arrangements are clearly geared towards war and anarchy.

    “We therefore demand that the only enduring solution to this scourge that is being visited on the nation is complete separation of the states presently agitating for Biafra from the Federal Republic of Nigeria through a peaceful political process by: 1. Taking steps to facilitate the actualization of the Biafran nation in line with the principle of self-determination as an integral part of contemporary customary international law.

    “The principle of self-determination has, since world war II become a part of the United Nations Charter which states in Article 1(2), that one of the purposes of the UN is “to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples.

    “We submit that this protocol envisages that people of any nation have the right to self-determination, and although the Charter did not categorically impose direct legal obligations on member States; it implies that member States allow agitating or minority groups to self-govern as much as possible.

    “This principle of self-determination has since been espoused in two additional treaties: The United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 1 of both international documents promote and protect the right of a people to self-determination. State parties to these international documents are obliged to uphold the primacy and realization of this right as it cements the international legal philosophy that gives a people the right to self-determination.

    “As the Igbo agitations persist and assume threatening dimensions, we submit that there is need to ensure that they are given the opportunity to exercise the right to self-determination as entrenched under the aforementioned international statutes to which Nigeria is a signatory.

    “PRAYERS: Aware that the right of self-determination in international law is the legal right for a “people” that allows them to attain a certain degree of autonomy from a sovereign state through a legitimate political process, we strongly demand for a referendum to take place in a politically sane atmosphere where all parties will have a democratic voice over their future and the future of the nation.

    “The Igbo from all over the country and in the Diaspora should be advised to converge in their region in the South-East for a plesbisite to be organized and conducted by the United Nations and other regional bodies for them to categorically to decide between remaining part of Nigeria or having their separate country.

    “That government should at the end of the plesbite implement whatever is agreed and resolved in order to finally put this matter to rest. Lastly, we pray His Excellency to study the references forwarded with this letter dispassionately and decide who is more in the wrong between those who openly pledge allegiance to a country other than Nigeria backing it up with persistent threats of war and those of us whose allegiance remains with the Nigerian state but simply urge that the secessionists be allowed to actualize their dream peacefully throw universally entrenched democratic options.

    “CONCLUSION Your Excellency, we want to reiterate our high respect for your office and acknowledge the efforts you are making to lower tensions. We assure you, as well-brought up northerners, we listen to the advice and cautions of our elders, and in particular, their concerns that we do not create the impression that any Igbo or any Nigerian will be harmed in the North.

    “We assure you that we will defend the rights of every Nigerian to live in peace and have their rights protected. While we do not see this clamour for Biafra as an issue over which a single drop of blood should be shed,  we at the same time,  insist that the Igbo be allowed to have their Biafra and for them to vacate our land peacefully so that our dear country Nigeria could finally enjoy lasting peace and stability.

    “Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the letter read.

     

  • Revealed: Security advises against arrest of Northern youths

    Revealed: Security advises against arrest of Northern youths

    Following security advice, there were indications yesterday that the Presidency is weighing options on how to tackle the Coalition of Northern Youths and the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for the actualization of the Republic of Biafra, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

    Security agencies, sources said yesterday, have advised the Federal Government to embrace dialogue and give the two groups final warning instead of arrest, outright crackdown and revocation of Kanu’s bail.

    It was learnt that some of the options were presented at the sessions which the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo had with Northern and Igbo leaders a few days ago.

    Osinbajo, it was learnt, had reviewed intelligence reports on the Northern youths, IPOB and the renewed separatist agitations in the country with service chiefs, security chiefs and the police hierarchy on Sunday.

    At the meeting, the Presidency was briefed that “some war mongers and divisive elements” were behind the Northern youths and IPOB, and that the objective of “these elements” is to destabilise the country.

    The security reports indicated that some influential Northern leaders and groups have provided back up support for the coalition of Northern youths.

    They also cited intelligence reports on how key Igbo leaders, including Senators, had been paying homage to the IPOB leader before the group organised a successful sit-at-home protest.

    Although those behind the quit notice to Igbo have been identified, the security chiefs “strongly advised the government to exercise caution but to read the Riot Act to all the groups and their sponsors with a final warning.”

    “The government has discovered that some forces were behind the coalition of Northern youths and IPOB. Those behind the ill-fated quit notice to Igbo have been identified, but the government is employing tact in managing the situation, ” a source privy to the goings-on in the Presidency in the last couple of weeks said.

    Security report available to the government pointed to the fact that these Northern youths were most likely running errands for some war mongers, he further said.

    He said there is a firm belief in government that the arrest of the Northern youths could trigger spontaneous violence in the North.

    He said the sponsors of the Northern youths were found to be reacting to the successful sit-at-home protest by the IPOB.

    “Some Northern leaders were said to be angry that after the IPOB protest, the leader of the organisation neither had his bail revoked nor was he re-arrested for treason,” he said.

    He said the security services strongly advised the government to exercise caution in arresting the Northern youths.

    They further advised against the revocation of bail for the IPOB leader despite the fact that the protest by the organisation which they perceived as “act of treason.”

    They said arresting Kanu might lead to more security challenges in the South-East, which could heat up the polity.

    The security chiefs, however, recommended dialogue with Northern and Igbo leaders where a Riot Act will be read and final warning given to all “divisive groups.”

    The advice prompted the Acting President to meet with leaders from the North and the South-East, particularly leaders of umbrella socio-cultural organisations like the Arewa Consultative Forum ( ACF) and Ohanaeze Ndigbo.

    Next week, the Acting President is expected to hold a joint meeting with Southeast leaders and their colleagues from the North.

    After the meeting and once “the dialogue template has been followed satisfactorily,” the government may clamp down on any hate-inclined group in the country.

    Security agencies are expected to be proactive in busting plots by any group, be it the Northern youths or IPOB.

    “The government will no longer spare the rod in arresting leaders of groups undermining the peace and unity of the country. Also, all their sponsors will face the wrath of the law.

    “There will be constant surveillance on all pressure and sensitive socio-cultural organisations nationwide,” the highly placed source disclosed.

    Sixteen Northern youth groups, under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Youths on June 6 gave the Igbo up to October 1 to vacate the three geo-political zones in the North.

    Some of the youth organisations in attendance at the Kaduna meeting included Arewa Citizens Action for Change, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Arewa Youth Development Foundation, Arewa Students Forum and Northern Emancipation Network on the Igbo Persistence for Secession.

    The Northern youth organisations had enjoyed the backing of the spokesman of Northern Elders Forum and former vice chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, who also lashed out at Northern governors for disowning the youths.

    Abdullahi, who addressed reporters in Zaria, said he saw nothing bad with the quit notice issued by the Northern youths to Igbo people residing in the North because the Igbo were busy calling for the Sovereign State of Biafra and from all indications, their leaders, including governors, were behind them.

    In a retaliatory move against the Northern youths, a coalition of Niger Delta militants demanded from the federal government the return of all oil blocs controlled by Northerners to the people of the oil producing region.

    IPOB also issued a statement, calling on all Igbo sons and daughters residing in the North to return to their home states.

  • Who is after the northern youths?

    SIR: Recently, the coalition of youth associations in northern Nigeria issued an ultimatum to the Igbos living in northern Nigeria to leave the region by October 1. This ultimatum by the youths shook Nigerians both within and in the Diaspora. The 19 northern governors rose to the occasion by disowning the youths and ordered the arrest of their leaders. Emir of Katsina also assured the Igbos in his domain of their security.

    The National Assembly too was not left out to condemn the statement credited to the northern youth leaders. The most interesting was the condemnation by the Ohanaze Ndigbo, who advised the Igbos to stay – put in the north.

    Every political leader condemned the youths of the north without treating the action that led to the youths to issue the ultimatum.

    I remember vividly that toward the end of May, the proponent of Biafra called on all Igbos in Nigeria to sit at home on May 30. This was alleged to have been implemented to the letter by the Igbos in the north.

    These agitation and calls had been going on for many years now. The political class in Nigeria has not got the moral and coverage to call off the bluff of these agitators who were bent on disuniting Nigeria. They continue fanning the amber of marginalization of the Igbos. This has become the sing song of an average Igbo man.

    They have unconsciously imbibed the culture of marginalization into their children, and so every Igbo child sees himself as a marginalized Nigerian.

    The truth is that Ojukwu’s Biafra landmark is not the same landmark of the agitators of Biafra of today.

    When the proponents of state of Biafra called on all the Igbos to sit at home on May 30, the Ohanaze Ndigbo did not issue a statement denouncing it. But now that the northern youths reacted to it, the Ohanaze Ndigbo came alive condemning their reaction.

    Let’s face it: the Igbo nation is an integral part of Nigeria and any group of people agitating for another country out of the present Nigeria is not realistic.

    The proponents of Biafra should open their spiritual eyes to see what is happening in Congo, Southern Sudan and Somalia just to mention a few countries.

    I am begging my brother Igbos to disabuse their mind of marginalization. This has become a culture. And any culture is always very hard to abandon. Other Nigerians love the Igbos and the truth is that we cannot do without them and for sure, they too cannot do without the rest of Nigerians.

    But if the Igbos are bent on leaving Nigeria, let their people at the National Assembly ask for a referendum to that effect. They cannot continue goading the rest of us with their agitation. For sure, every action begets reaction.

     

    • Dr. Sunday O. Ajai,

    <omoajai_sunday05@yahoo.com>

  • Ango Abdullahi is on his own – Northern Elders Forum

    Ango Abdullahi is on his own – Northern Elders Forum

    …Says youths ignorant of civil war

     

    The Deputy Leader of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Elder Paul Unongo has said that Professor Ango Abdullahi is on his own in backing ignorant youths.

    Unongo said Northern Elders Forum could not have adopted position of ignorant youths, who were not there when Nigeria lost three million of its citizens to the civil war they fought for keep the country as one united nation.

    According to Unongo, “I am the Deputy Leader of the Northern Elders Forum and Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Sule is the leader. So, only the two of us can speak for the forum on sensitive matter like this. Therefore, if Professor Ango Abdullahi is backing those ignorant youths, then he is speaking for himself.

    “We cannot support the nonsense those boys said. We fought civil war with our blood to keep Nigeria one. So, any Nigerian can live in any part of the country he feels like. Igbos are welcome in the North, they are welcome in Yoruba land and my own village in Tiv land and they have right to pursue their daily bread and own property.

    “We couldn’t have killed three million people to keep Nigeria one and come back and allow these kids (the Northern Youth Groups) to insult our intelligence. We knew why we fought the war, we knew why we killed the people we loved. We knew why we made the sacrifice of three million men dead. So, Northern Elders Forum cannot take same position as those young men, if at all they took a position.

    “So, if the young men cannot build a nation, they should not destroy the one we put our lives on the line to build for them. We cannot allow young men who did not fight the civil war with us to destroy our country, because Nigeria cannot afford another civil war,” he said.

     

  • Quit Notice: You’ve nothing to fear, Masari assures Igbos, others

    Quit Notice: You’ve nothing to fear, Masari assures Igbos, others

    The Katsina State Governor, Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari Friday in Katsina assured the Igbos and other non-natives not to nurse any fear as his government is always ready to protect them from any unforeseen attack.

    Masari, who gave the assurance in a press release signed by his Senior Special Assistant, Abdul Labaran Malumfashi and made available to The Nation, said that “you have nothing to fear, as his government is always ready, willing, capable and prepared to protect the lives and properties of every citizen in the state without prejudice to their ethnic, religious or regional background”.

    He also warned that his government would not tolerate anyone taking the law into their hands by harassing or intimidating anybody on account of their ethnic, religious or regional background.

    Masari who spoke against the backdrop of the two-week quit notice given to Igbos resident in the North by some groups of Northern youths stated that Katsina was a home of peace where everybody has the right to go about their legitimate activities freely without fear of intimidation or harassment from any quarters.

    “I am calling on all non-indigenes resident in the state, especially the Ibos, to have nothing to fear. This government is ever so ready, willing, capable and prepared to protect the lives and property of every citizen living in the state regardless of their ethnic, religious or regional background.

    “People should have nothing to fear as long as they conduct themselves within the bounds of the laws of the country.

    “The only sentiment this government recognizes and, indeed, encourages is patriotism, for which we will do anything to advance amongst the citizens so as to give everyone equal sense of belonging in our dear state.

    “Katsina is not only a home of peace, but is home to all law abiding citizens. This is why at no time in its history has any part of the state ever been demarcated for the exclusive use of any group to the exclusion of others. It is our belief that segregation does not foster unity.

    “Accordingly, law enforcement agencies have been instructed to remain alert, with a view to ensuring that there is no breakdown of law and order in the state, and to decisively stop anybody or group of people whose actions and or utterances are capable of breaching the peace.”