Arewa youths comprising of sixteen northern groups under the platform of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) on Tuesday soft pedaled on its threat to send Igbos away from the North by October 1st.
The groups, few weeks ago, had issued the threat following the agitations for the State of Biafra by the Indegenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
But the coalition on Tuesday had jettisoned its hard stance and consulting towards resolving the matter.
The President of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF) and Chairman of the coalition, Yerima Shettima gave the hint in Abuja during a joint briefing with former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu.
According to him, a lot of events since the threat was issued have changed a lot of things.
He said that many prominent traditional and religious rulers, governors and well-meaning Nigerians have spoken to the groups.
Stressing that they believed in one united Nigeria, he said that more consultations are ongoing after which they will carry out review and give the final position on the threat.
According to him, the youths are not in a good hurry to withdraw the threat.
He said “The public might think probably this is the first time we are meeting. Certainly no. We’ve been talking on phone ever since this issue of ultimatum came. He has been engaging us in talking until today that we agreed to honour his invitation and to also speak to the public.
“His worries and concern was basically on the issue of how do we maintain the unity of this country in line with the present situation of things in the country. It is only those who are blind or ignorant that will say the unity of this country is not being threatened.
“It has been threatened, but you have prominent Nigerians, people like him who have shown a lot of concern and worried over the situation.
“To us, we strongly believe that Nigeria is for us and Nigeria belongs to everybody and in one spirit we believe strongly that we are all equal in this project. We will not in any way accept anybody who want to undermine the unity of this country, and on that basis is what even prompted our first frustration when we gave the issue of quit notice and also the ultimatum.
“But events and time have changed a lot of things and this is one of the reasons why today you see us also having a meeting. We’ve had several meetings with prominent leaders from our region. The likes of the Sultan of Sokoto, northern Governors under the leadership of Kassim Shettima, the present Governor of Borno State among others who have engaged us on how to resolve the issue amicably.
“This is also one of the engagements to ensure that we discuss amicably and find a lasting solution to Nigerian problems.
“We are proudly Nigerians, we want the unity of this country and we want to also associate ourselves with those who believe strongly in Nigeria. And Dr Orji Uzor Kalu is one of those we have a lot of respect for, not only because he has been bred in the north, or because he schooled in the north, but also his actions and inactions have clearly demonstrated that he is a man who believes strongly in Nigeria.
“On that basis we don’t attend to people who we are not too sure of their commitment to the unity of this country. But to him, of course, a lot of us can attest to that. We have seen him when he was a governor, we have seen him when we were younger as a student, and we have seen what he has been demonstrating, he has never changed in believing in one Nigeria and on that basis is why we are here today,” he said.
Continuing, he said “We have discussed and we discussed extensively since morning and in fact, our discussion was very fruitful.
“Very fruitful in the sense that we have discussed to a length and also we have assured him of our commitment to one Nigeria. We have also assured him that we will work within the framework to ensure that at no point will we allow anybody to hold the country to ransom, we’ll ensure that we build a Nigeria of our dreams, a Nigeria that all of us will be proud of. In line with that was also why we are here discussing.
“But to Nigerians, you can be rest assured that so far, so good a lot of you have been following our stories in recent times on our issues and our position to also begin to go into discuss with allies at the level of the coalition to review our position on the issue.
“But we need to do a lot of work and we are on consultations now. We are likely going to go on consultations in the northern regions, and then we will discuss the issue before we will now finally review our position.
“But you can be rest assured, to those who believe in Nigeria should remain where they are and be assured of their safety. But to those who do not believe in Nigeria we cannot guarantee them of their safety. So, is better if you want to go to your Biafra you go to Biafran country and stay and do your Biafran over there. But if you believe in Nigeria we intend to work side by side with you to build the nation of our dreams,” he said.
On efforts to meet and douse tension following the quit notice, he said “We had a meeting and you could see that just two days interval we are here talking. I am sure this sitting today will also go further to douse the tension. We are doing that.
“But I do not also remember that we specifically said we are going to finally withdraw the quit notice in a week’s time, no. Certainly no. But we said within a week we are going to make a statement.
“But you can be rest assured there is no course for alarm. We are more concerned about Nigeria’s unity, we are more concerned about the interest of Nigeria.” he stated
Noting that there are moves towards a common ground on the matter, Orji Kalu said that the coalition is making consultation to ensure peace and order in one united Nigeria.
He also assured the Igbos residing in the North that everything is being done to resolve the matter.
He said “Our discussions were very fruitful. The diversity of this country is the strength of the country. The diversity is very critical, both the diversity and demography are very essential to what we are doing. People who think that any part of the country have nothing to contribute for its development are making mistake.
“Agriculture remains important if this country want to be serious. Agriculture can make more money than anything on earth and the second thing to make money is tourism.
“This is the only country that can proud itself of the Sahara desert and the Atlantic Ocean. I want to thank Yerima Shettima for first accepting to attend this meeting even though, we have been talking.
“All through last week, I was in China and we were talking and we are getting to a common ground. There is no need letting the cat out of the bag but they are making wide consultations.
“When people are in the north, you don’t really know those who are Igbo or Orobo and from Bayelsa. I want to assure the Southerners who are in the northern part of Nigeria that we will continue to put our heads together to resolve the matter, nothing will happen, they will be safe, Nigeria will be safe and our country will prosper.
“We should be proud of who we are. This country should be thinking of bringing other smaller countries around us to form a united state of Nigeria,” he said.
He also pointed out that the call for restructuring does not mean breaking up the country.
He said “Yerima, I will like to tell you while you are going on the tour that restructuring does not mean breaking the country. We need to look at addressing issues of our economy and how the poor masses will benefit from the efforts of government.
“The poor cannot continue to live on hope; it’s no longer fashionable to spend a lot of money in recurrent expenditure rather than capital projects that will impact directly on the people. When I was governor, I was able to allocate 25 percent of budgetary for recurrent while the rest of 75 percent was for capital expenditure.
“So, I want to see all states in Nigeria go back and take a second look at their recurrent including the Federal Government so that Nigerians can benefit from government.”
He added “In a house, you must quarrel, both the quite notice and the un-quit notice, it’s a good thing. It will only bring the best out of us. This is what I feel. I believe part of the country needs to be restructured, economically, financially. Otherwise, the way we are going, states will not be able to pay salaries.
“That’s why we need to discuss and know what we really need. Let me be honest with you. If the Federal and State governments invest well in agriculture, the northern Nigeria is supposed to be making over N100 billion every year. Our problem should not be quarrel.
“Most Igbo leaders do not support that Nigeria should break. But most of them are afraid of what the north will do to them. I usually tell them speak out, because you have nothing to hide in speaking the truth.
“Like late Ahmadu Bello said that every other thing will fade but truth will stand the taste of time. What Nigerians are asking for is very little. They are asking for equal rights and justice, respect for the judiciary and respect for the rule of law,” he said.
