The founder of John 3:16 Ministry, Aba, Abia State and an ardent believer in the Biafra project, Bro. Samuel Ajayi has urged Ndigbo in the North not to hesitate to return to the East, saying their lives were worth more than the huge investments in the region.
He is not a lone ranger. A coalition of 14 pro-Biafra civil rights groups has toed the clergy’s line, appealing to Ndigbo in the North to return home and not repeat the mistake of 1966.
Ajayi was speaking in Aba, the Abia State commercial nerve, against the backdrop of the October 1 ultimatum given by Arewa for Ndigbo to leave the North.
Ajayi was incensed by the argument in some quarters that it would be difficult for the Igbo to abandon their investments in the North put at about N44 trillion and return home. He said life matters much more than wealth.
Admonishing the Igbo in the North, the clergyman said, “No amount of money can buy your life. If you are alive, you can still make money and build houses, industries and what have you in the East, but once your life is cut off, you become history.”
The founder of John 3:16 Ministry said that the atmosphere in the country now is more charged than it was in 1966 when thousands of Igbo were massacred in the North. He warned that the threat by the Arewa youths should not be taken lightly.
He said it was only those possessed by the demon of mammon that can love money or other material things of the world more that their lives and called on Ndigbo to leave the North without further hesitation since, according to him, those they are living with no longer want them.
The clergyman, who said it was revealed to him that Biafra would soon be actualised, urged Southeast governors and other political leaders from the zone to put things in place that would ensure the smooth return of the Igbo in the North to their fatherland.
Meanwhile, the Igbo Civil society Coalition comprising 14 civil society organizations and activists from the Igbo nation in calling on Igbo in the North to return home said they have henceforth come together to advance the fundamental human rights of Ndigbo.
In a release obtained from Orji Okechukwu, one of the conveners of the meeting, the coalition condemned the ultimatum issued Ndigbo by the Coalition of Arewa Youths and endorsed by Northern Elders Forum to leave the Northern Nigeria on or before October 1, 2017 and the threat of violence accompanying the ultimatum.
It however welcomed the decision of the Arewa youths which it said was one of the greatest things that ever happened to the Igbo nation.
“We wholeheartedly accept the call by the Arewa youths for everyone to go their separate ways. We are therefore calling on all Igbo in various positions of power and responsibility to make immediate and effective arrangements for the protection of all Igbo persons in the context of the fullest implementation of that ultimatum.”
It urged all Igbo in the North to carefully document their properties in the North as none of them would be lost as a result of their returning to the East.
A group, Biafra Liberation Council (BLC) has also joined the come-back-home chant. So has the chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) Aba unit, Dr. Charles Chinekezi who urged the Igbo living in the North to wind up their businesses and return to the East or any other part of the country.
In a chat, the BLC’s administrative Secretary, Austin-Mary Ndukwu, described the recent call by the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) as a welcome development, stressing that it was a long awaited action from the northerners.
BLC warned that they would not hesitate to carry out a reprisal attack against the North if they molest or harm any Easterner, who by their call, decided to relocate to the east.
“Let nobody pull our legs because no single nationality has the monopoly of violence. We can’t be caught napping this time around. To our people in the North it’s time they reconsider their stay in those hostile territories. The North hates us with passion and it is only natural we keep them at arm’s length and watch every of their moves,” Ndukwu stated
Chinekezi while calling on the acting President Yemi Osibanjo to rise up to his responsibilities and urgently address the situation before it goes out of proportion, however accused some northern leaders for stoking the amber of hatred and discord.
He said, “The people who have governed this country after the first civilian rule have been completely irresponsible, self-centered and completely directionless.
“That is most unfortunate because all these leaders are involved in this gigantic failure. My advice is that, Nigerian must right away try to get themselves back on track if they want to save this republic from the racial and tribal acrimony coming from the north through that hate speech issued by Arewa Youth Consultative Forum. They must eschew their usual criminal silence and act. The acting President must speak to Nigerians and all security chiefs must rise because if they fail to do this, they must be ready to burn beyond repair.
“This time around this country may not survive it. The top leaders in the country I’m sure are seeing what is going on now. They are seeing it and let everybody be watchful. My advice to Igbos in the north is to immediately come back home. What those youth said, was said at the Secretariat of the Arewa Consultative Forum and not a place that is hidden from the surface of this earth.
“The statement was made in the presence of the media and the main centre of northern leadership in Kaduna. The north has made their suggestions known that what they want is disintegration of this country, so to avoid bloodshed, let the Easterners return home fast.”
Meanwhile a visit to Ariaria International Market, Aba showed that many Northern based Igbo traders and their northern counterparts have been coming to buy goods that they would take to their shops from their customers, not only at Ariaria, but other markets in Aba.
Many Igbo traders who spoke were optimistic that the situation would be properly managed and when it becomes too much for the federal government to handle, they would relocate to the east or any other part of the country where they would be accepted to settle to do their businesses without any fear of molestation or harassment by any group of persons or individuals.
One of them said, “There was nothing wrong if a landlord tells a tenant to pack out of his house, but the tenant must be allowed to pack his things and the landlord must know that he has children or relations leaving in other parts of the country who must definitely be asked by his or her landlord or landlady to pack out of his or her house as well.”
