Rochas Okorocha Reacts To Quit Notice By Arewa Youths, Says Igbo Are Worst Enemy Of Themselve
The governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha
has said that the Igbo, people in the southeast Nigeria, are the worst
enemy of themselves, blaming it as reason for the failure of the tribe
to assume the Nigerian presidency seat in a long while.
Okorocha who appealed to the Igbo youth to have a rethink
of their agitation for self-determination, said the south easterners should blame themselves for the political fate that befell it under the current Buhari administration since they failed to support the elections that brought the government to power.
of their agitation for self-determination, said the south easterners should blame themselves for the political fate that befell it under the current Buhari administration since they failed to support the elections that brought the government to power.
In a four-page statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Sam
Onwuemeodo, made available to News Investigators, the Imo governor said
that what the Igbo need now is the Movement for the Economic Survival of
Igbo People (MOESIP) and not any movement for the sovereign State of
Biafra stating that leaders from other geo-Political Zones supporting
the secession movement do not love the Igbo.
“Why are you misunderstood as Igbos? The reason is that they deal
even better with non Igbos than with their brothers. I wish the
Northerners will understand. An Igboman is the worst enemy of a fellow
Igboman than people from the north. That, people don’t know about us,”
Okorocha said.
Adding: “I want to appeal to all Igbos at this moment that my heart
is bleeding, that we make a rethink and not join others in singing the
song of division in this country”.
“We need Nigeria more than Nigeria needs us now. This is not time for
Igbos to sing an alternative song of war. I want to appeal to the
youths of our nation. We understand their frustration and that what we
should bequeath to you as leaders is a nation devoid of hate and lack.
But if you must fight, if you must blame, please blame not yourselves,
blame us your leaders”.
“I call on my Igbo brothers, the agitators because there was nothing
wrong in doing what others are doing, but your style is what is wrong
creating a sovereign nation within existing nation. That is absolutely
wrong. Your style is what is wrong”.
“As I stand now as a sitting governor, what IPOB would have wanted is
for Rochas Okorocha to speak and say let’s go to war and if I do that, I
do not care but I will tell you the truth I care for you. We must
change our style. And for the Igbo nation, I don’t want to sound like a
Pontus Pilate. I don’t want to be found passing a judgement. Please we
must rethink on how we can move our economy forward”.
Governor Okorocha’s speech:
“I have watched and read with keen interest the developments
happening in our Country with respect to the comments by IPOB and
subsequent reaction by the AREWA YOUTH GROUPS”.
“I wish I do not speak on these matters or make any categorical
comment as not to be misconstrued, misrepresented or misinterpreted. But
despite the political implications, I make bold to speak to my Igbo
brothers and Sisters and to our friends the Arewa and their leaders on
these critical matters if only to save the lives of our generation yet
unborn”.
“You may recall that the issue of IPOB and MASSOB in the recent times
has been making headlines in various media houses and the social media
especially with many people giving different interpretations to the
groups. Some see them as some uninformed youths calling for the
sovereignty of the Biafra nation. Some see them as some groups seeking
for personal recognition and aggrandizement for the purpose of political
patronage. And for some other people, it is an invitation of what has
happened in other geo-political zones in agitation just to get power and
form the government at the centre as assumed to be the practice in the
past”.
“You may also recall that some people believe that the South-West
became President of Nigeria because of the agitation by the Oduduwa
group with respect to June 12 and that brought General Obasanjo as the
President. Some argued that President Goodluck Jonathan came because of
the agitation of the Niger Delta region for resource control and
marginalization. Of recent it was also believed that President Buhari
came in as President because of the agitation from Boko Haram in the
recent past”.
“Let me also mention that whatever is the reason for the agitation
from different groups whether right or wrong, I feel it is an ill wind
that has done this nation no good”.
“If you may recall, only few months ago I have pleaded and made
request for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, making excuses for him and his
group as youthful exuberance and I stated that keeping him in prison
would command for him unwarranted popularity and followership. Shortly
after that and followed by the comments from the South-East Governors,
Nnamdi Kanu was released, and only again to hear about the sit at home
order by IPOB”.
“Let me correct the impression that the South-East people and leaders
supported the sit at home order. It is not true, two factors
contributed. The sit at home order came shortly after the democracy day
holiday and our people in their natural character would want to enjoy
the holiday to the fullest, hence, considering that the day was 30th, so
many people continued the holiday. And the second and most important
reason was that most traders had the fear of hoodlums taking advantage
of the situation to disturb them and so stayed at home. It is not true
that the sit at home order was purposely obeyed as support for IPOB”.
“Let me present an Igbo man in a practical manner. An Igbo man is a
peace-loving man found at all nooks and crannies of the world. There is
no place you go without finding an Igbo man either building the bridge
of friendship or creating brotherhood, and at the same time developing
and contributing immensely to the socio-economic development of that
area. Igbo man is a more practical Nigerian because they are the only
people to be found in all nooks and crannies of Nigeria”.
“In recent times, the impression given is that an Igbo man enjoys
violence. Let me put it clear. Igbo man is not a troublesome man and not
a man associated with violence. All he does is to enjoy his commerce
and do his trading for the betterment of his family and society at
large”.
“Let me inform all Nigerians that Igbos will remain peace-loving
people and good Nigerians wherever they are found. If there is any group
of people who had laid their lives and shed more blood for the unity of
this country that person is an Igbo man”.
“Therefore, at this material time, let me remind all Nigerians that
the Igbos are the people that developed Lagos and major Cities in this
Country. Igbos have made major investments in this country than any
other group making an investment in Igbo land”.
“Therefore, I think, the statements by IPOB and subsequent ones by
AREWA youths are nonsensical, ill-informed and not for the best interest
of Ndi Igbo neither is it for the best interest of Nigeria. I condemn
in its entirety the statements of IPOB and the reaction of the AREWA
YOUTH GROUP. These people who have made these statements both from the
North and South-East are people who may not have seen the effects of the
civil war when Nigeria went into civil war”.
“I call on all Igbo persons to disassociate themselves and every
northerner and well-meaning Nigerians to distance themselves from these
comments from AREWA GROUP and IPOB. Again let me call for caution for
those who are calling for support for IPOB especially the non-Igbos to
stop henceforth because we don’t need such support because I do know
that when the chips are down, they won’t be anywhere to be found. It is
deceitful and inciting and is no longer a welcome development in this
part of the world”.
“I also want to caution all those our brothers and Sisters who live
abroad, who are social media gurus and who never visit home and who
enjoy all the sentiments created in the social media to desist from
doing that henceforth. I do know that they may not understand the
consequences of their writings and what they are doing. Let them also
pause and think, if finally these drums of war beats, would not keep the
Igbos in the Island of isolation or ignorance and poverty that we do
not need.
“Igbos are major stakeholders in the entity called the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. We fought for the unity of this country and having
acquired the unity, the Igbos cannot be counted out in the affairs of
this nation”.
“Let me again say, while I blame the AREWA youths who may have acted
under provocation and taking the matter beyond scope, the statements
were also very inciting and can create disaffection between the North
and South-East. For the purpose of those who have forgotten, in history
the South-East and North have enjoyed good political relationship
especially in the days of Shagari. We have been seen as allies and
partners politically. Except for this past dispensation for some myopic
reasons many Igbos did not see the victory of Buhari coming and we
missed the link. We need immediate refixing of this bridge of
relationship between the South-East and the North”.
“I want to call on all leaders of Nigeria to speak out and condemn
this act, because keeping silence anymore cannot help us in this matter,
and thinking that we can benefit from these crisis is rather a
disappointment. And I pray that leaders ought to take responsibilities
now and teach our youths the right things to do. The people in this
matter are our children, our youths and they have a duty to listen to us
as their parents. It is apparent that we have failed as leaders in this
nation, giving room for this hate in families, communities, states and
at national levels. We need to take responsibilities as leaders to stop
this campaign of hate as that will not do us any good”.
“I call on my Igbo brothers, the agitators, because there was nothing
wrong doing what others are doing, your style is what is wrong. You
can’t be calling for a sovereign nation inside a nation, it is
absolutely wrong. If you must agitate, I propose you agitate for the
Movement for Economic Survival of Igbo People (MOESIP). That will help
for the economic survival of our land, making agriculture the mainstay
of our economy. That is only when we will command the respect of the
rest of the world”.
“All things being equal and without the intervention of the military,
I’m sure the Igbo’s would have gotten their heart desire in the
political life of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But at this time, I
want to call on all leaders of Nigeria to speak out and condemn this
act, because keeping silent anymore cannot help this matter”.
“And if some of us think that we can benefit from this crisis, it is
rather a disappointment and I pray that leaders ought to take
responsibilities now and tell the youths the right thing to do. The
people involved in this matter are our children, we gave birth to them
and they have a responsibility to listen to us as their parents”.
“It is apparent that we have failed as leaders in this nation and
which has given room for this hate in our families, hate in communities,
hate in states, hate at national level and hate in companies. We need
to take responsibility as leaders. This campaign of hate and hatred on
each other will not do us any good”.
“I was abroad sometimes, and I saw China & Koreans of yesterday
underrated by Nigerians developing the resources of their lands. But
here in Nigeria, we’re still talking about tribe and religion. It is a
shame and my heart bleeds. I was in Dubai and I saw developments taking
place, I saw young men moving up and down developing the resources of
their land, earning foreign exchange. But we’re still talking about
comments by IPOB and Arewa Youths. It’s a proper shame, my heart bleeds.
I was just in Tanzania recently and South Africa, tourism flourishing
in those lands, while in our own country, we’re still talking about Boko
Haram and Kidnapping, what a shame, my heart bleeds”.
“I’ve been round the whole world, I see progress everywhere and
developments everywhere and African nations are still waiting for
Nigeria to rise and take its rightful place as leader of Africa. All we
can give to African nations is which section will produce the presidency
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and which zone shall produce the
governor of a state, my heart bleeds. What a shame. It’s indeed shameful
for this generation and may we never be found as a failed generation.
We must never transfer failure to the subsequent generation. We must
live up to our responsibilities”.
“At this crucial moment, we must have a rethink as leaders. We must
change our ways because it’s obvious that the inherent hatred and
division which we have got from the colonial masters and transferred to
subsequent generations have not helped us. We must sing a new song of
unity in this nation. We must see ourselves as brothers and sisters of
one nation”.
“I call on my Igbo brothers, the agitators because there was nothing
wrong in doing what others are doing, but your style is what is wrong
creating a sovereign nation within existing nation. That is absolutely
wrong. Your style is what is wrong”.
“As I stand now as a sitting governor, what IPOB would have wanted is
for Rochas Okorocha to speak and say let’s go to war and if I do that, I
do not care but I will tell you the truth I care for you. We must
change our style. And for the Igbo nation, I don’t want to sound like a
Pontus Pilate. I don’t want to be found passing a judgement. Please we
must rethink on how we can move our economy forward”.
“Why are you misunderstood as Igbos? The reason is that they deal
even better with non Igbos than with their brothers. I wish the
Northerners will understand. An Igboman is the worst enemy of a fellow
Igboman than people from the north. That, people don’t know about us”.
“I want to appeal to all Igbos at this moment that my heart is
bleeding, that we make a rethink and not join others in singing the song
of division in this country”.
“We need Nigeria more than Nigeria needs us now. This is not time for
Igbos to sing an alternative song of war. I want to appeal to the
youths of our nation. We understand their frustration and that what we
should bequeath to you as leaders is a nation devoid of hate and lack.
But if you must fight, if you must blame, please blame not yourselves,
blame us your leaders”.
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