THE Igbo Intelligentsia Forum has written a letter to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo over the recent quit notice Areas Youths gave to Igbo’s in the North.
The letter also debunked insinuations in the letter written by Arewa Youth in North also wrote Osinbajo justifying the arrangement.
The full details of the letter entitled “LETTER BY A COALITION OF NORTHERN YOUTH GROUPS TO ALLOW IGBOS ACTUALIZE THEIR DREAM OF A SOVEREIGN NATION OF BIAFRA”
We the Igbo Intelligentsia Forum, a forum with worldwide membership
of Igbo professionals, write in response to an open letter, dated 19th
June, 2017, addressed to you by a coalition of northern youth groups
requesting you to set the machinery in motion to allow Igbos actualize
their dream of the sovereign nation of Biafra.
Before we make our comments we wish to commend your competent
demonstration of effective leadership in dousing the needless tension
created by the quit order and ultimatum given to Ndigbo by the said
group to quit northern Nigeria by the 1st of October, 2017. We salute
your peace building efforts and pray that the Almighty will continue to
avail you the wisdom to steer our turbulent ship of state to safety.
Our Response To The Arewa Youths Letter
While we do not wish to respond to a number of inaccuracies in their
one-sided narration of the historical antecedents that have
characterized the behavior and conduct of Igbos in Nigeria, which seem
to blame Igbos for all of Nigeria’s woes, we nonetheless wish to remind
this group of Arewa Youths that the history of aggression against Ndigbo
predates the political events of 1966.
For example, in June 1945 hundreds of Igbos were murdered in Jos by
northerners and their properties valued in millions of pound sterling
were looted or destroyed. Curiously, no single northerner was
apprehended or charged to court by the British colonial regime, nor was a
public enquiry set up to determine the causes of this gruesome act.
After the massacre of Igbos in 1945, another one took place in Kano
in 1953, where hundreds of Igbos were gruesomely killed, and their
properties looted.
Besides the genocide committed against the Igbos in 1966 across
Northern Nigeria and the subsequent civil war in which over one million
Igbos died, our people have been killed virtually every year in northern
Nigeria for one flimsy reason or the other. The most ridiculous was the
killing and looting of Igbo property by northern Muslims protesting the
publication of a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad (peace be unto him) by a
Danish newspaper. What did Ndigbo have to do with an event that took
place in far away Denmark? In the same manner, it was grotesque that
Igbos were again gruesomely murdered in November 2002 following the
controversy surrounding the hosting of the Miss World beauty contest in
Nigeria, which had nothing to do with the Igbos.
In spite of the thousands of innocent Igbo lives routinely wasted in
northern Nigeria, no Igbo group has sought to blame all northerners for
such vicious acts of aggression. We have always understood and believed
that the routine killings of Igbos are initiated and instigated by some
northern politicians and religious leaders, and not the generality of
northerners.
Also, there has never been a case, where Igbos initiated the killing
of any Nigerian, let alone a northerner. It is on record that some
Yorubas, Tivs, Idomas, Ijaws, etc, as well as Igbos, participated in the
bungled January 1966 coup, yet it is usually blamed on the Igbos alone,
and wrongly labelled an Igbo coup.
The Nnamdi Kanu/IPOB/MASSOB Connection
We consider it unfair that the coalition of Arewa Youths chose to
engage in selective perception and double standards in castigating the
hate speech by Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB and MASSOB. While we disagree with, and
condemn Nnamdi Kanu’s vicious rhetoric, let us not forget that before
him, there were a number of precedents. We crave your indulgence to
briefly discuss them, by the regions in which/where they occurred.
The South South Region
There was Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo of Niger Delta People’s Volunteer
Force, who was more vehement in the use of intemperate language against
northerners in agitating for resource control and self determination for
his Niger Delta people. In like manner, the Niger Delta Avengers caused
the Nigerian state monumental losses in revenue by the consistent
blowing up of oil pipelines, but at no point were Niger Deltans given a
quit notice from northern Nigeria. Probably because it was understood
that Alhaji Asari-Dokubo and the Niger Delta Avengers did not have the
mandate of the Niger Delta people to speak or act on their behalf. Had
such quit notice been given we would have stood shoulder to shoulder
with them to object to it.
The South West Region
There was also Chief Ganiyu Adams of the Oodua People’s Congress
(OPC), the pan Yoruba socio-cultural group, who agitated and still
supports the creation of a sovereign state for the Yoruba people. He was
even arrested for violent clashes perpetrated by his organization
against law enforcement agents, which at different times led to the loss
of lives. Infact, the OPC got involved in the July 1999 violent clashes
between the Yoruba and Hausa community in Shagamu, leading to loss of
many lives on both sides.
Unconnected with the OPC, there was another violent clash in March
2016 between the Hausa and Yoruba community at Mile 12, Lagos, which led
to the loss of at least 10 lives. Also in March 2017, Police Force
Headquarter in Abuja announced that 46 people were killed and 96 wounded
in a lethal clash between the Hausa and Yoruba communities in Ile Ife,
the cradle of Yoruba civilization.
These violent clashes notwithstanding, the Yorubas were never given
quit notice to leave northern Nigeria, neither were the acts of omission
or commission of Ganiyu Adams blamed on all Yorubas. At the height of
the agitation, we cannot remember any Yoruba leader condemning Ganiyu
Adams, neither were Yoruba leaders held responsible for Gani’s agitation
for the creation of Oodua Republic. Had any such quit notice been
given, we the Igbos would have objected to it.
North East Region
Abubakar Shekau the leader of Boko Haram, levied war against the
Nigerian state in the last 6-8 years. Shekau and his group had actually
installed an Islamic caliphate in parts of the north east and also
declared loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Shekau
and his group have caused the country monumental damages in terms of
human lives of both Christians and Muslims and the devastation of an
entire region (the North East). Their campaign of violence and death has
achieved widespread footprints across the north and Abuja. As we speak
people still die every day, including our gallant soldiers, as a result
of the activities of Boko Haram, yet no section of Nigeria has given
northerners quit notice to leave their region as a result of the sins of
Abubakar Shekau and Boko Haram, as all Nigerians realize that this
would be a treasonable offence. It is also not on record that northern
leaders publicly castigated the activities of Boko Haram, until recently
when the Nigerian military degraded them.
Fulani Herdsmen
Virtually every region of this country has been victim of the
violence committed by Fulani herdsmen, including the South East. Yet no
region is calling for the expulsion of Fulani herdsmen from their
various domains in spite of the wanton destruction of lives and
properties they unleash on their host communities.
Neither have Igbos ever killed members of their host communities in
any part of the country, but rather live peacefully side by side,
investing and creating jobs and business opportunities for people of all
ethnicities.
Our Stand
We condemn all acts of violence and hate speech irrespective of its
origin, as we firmly believe that Nigeria cannot make progress through
selective tolerance of violence and killings or in the application of
double standards in law enforcement.
Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB do not have the mandate of Ndigbo to seek for
secession from Nigeria, neither can Ndigbo be held responsible for
his/their words or actions, just like the Niger Delta Region, the Yoruba
people and the Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri peoples are not being held
responsible for the actions of Asari-Dokubo, Ganiyu Adams and Abubakar
Shekau, respectively.
The vast majority of Ndigbo have not confirmed their intention to
secede, neither do we believe they will, as they are a major stakeholder
group in project Nigeria and have continuously shown it through our
investment and migration to and in all parts of the nation. It will
therefore be counter-productive to opt out of a country we have
contributed tremendously in building, and showcasing on the world stage.
This vast majority of Ndigbo look forward to a restructured Nigeria
that will grant greater autonomy to the federating units in conducting
their affairs. This vast majority are open and willing to cooperate and
collaborate with all groups who are interested in a restructured
Nigeria.
Igbos are tired of being used as Nigeria’s scapegoats and canon
fodder. One of the reasons fueling the discontent of Igbo Youths as
epitomized by the actions of IPOB/MASSOB is the routine killing of
Igbos, even for things they have absolutely no connection with. It is
inconceivable that any group of people will be happy that the only
solution to conflict resolution is the killing of their people. The
action of the routine killing of our people is against equity and
natural justice.
Another significant reason for agitation of youth groups in the South
East is the obvious marginalization of the region by the Federal
government. The region is suffering severe infrastructure deficit and
the absence of significant federal presence. For example, the only
Federal government commercial venture in the South East is the moribund
Nigerian Coal Corporation, while other regions have petro-chemical,
steel, aluminium, defence, fertilizer, iron ore, liquefied natural gas,
power plant ventures etc. The initial national gas pipeline network was
designed to bye-pass the South East under the pretext that the demand
for gas in the region is low. Out of over 140 non-ministerial agencies,
which excludes educational, health and research institutions, only two
have Headquarters sited in the South East, namely the War Museum in
Umuahia and Anambra/Imo River Basin Development Authority in Owerri. The
issue with the location of headquarters of major agencies of government
is that the capital and recurrent expenditures of such agencies have
significant multiplier effect on the local economy. Something the South
East is not benefiting from.
We do not hold the vast majority of good northerners responsible for
the actions of the unscrupulous politicians in their midst, and we wish
to extend our hands of brotherhood and fellowship to all northerners who
believe in equity, justice and fair play. The Igbos are not seeking for
people to dominate or exploit. Neither are we a violent people as we
are not known to kill or maim non indigenes living in our communities.
All we seek is a level playing field to coexist peacefully with other
Nigerians.
Our Prayers
While we commend the steps taken so far by the federal government
under your able leadership, we request that you intensify and sustain
all peace building efforts initiated by your office in the last couple
of weeks.
We urge that any party involved in incitements and hate speech be
properly cautioned, and advised of the implications within our
constitution the statutory laws of our land.
We recommend that this government reconsiders its position on
restructuring of Nigeria in a manner that grants greater autonomy to the
federating units. We believe that this singular action will douse
tensions in the country and usher a new era of peace and prosperity for
the entire country.
The greatest challenge to this government is how to make all
aggrieved people to respect the sanctity of human life. Nigeria has
become a killing field from north, south, east and west. No one gives
life but God, therefore no one has the right to take any life. The Igbos
abhor the reckless loss of human lives across the country.
Consequently, there should be no double standards in dealing with those
who choose to callously take the lives of fellow citizens.
Please count on us in your efforts to achieve peace, harmony and prosperity for all Nigerians.
Lastly, we wish to thank you immensely for the thoughtful leadership
you are offering in these challenging times and we also wish to seize
this opportunity to thank all those who stood up to be counted in
condemning the northern youths quit order, especially northern political
leaders who were courageous enough to speak against their own. This is
an action worthy of emulation by all Nigerians. We offer our respects
and hands of fellowship to all, including our fellow compatriots that
constitute the Arewa Youth Coalition.
Please accept the assurances of our highest regards and esteem.
Yours Truly,
Chief Joseph Chukwuma Ikunna
National Coordinator
National Coordinator
Dr Katch Onunuju,
National Publicity Secretary
National Publicity Secretary
Chief Clement Aguiyi
Coordinator – Northern Zone
Coordinator – Northern Zone
Nze Barr Sympathy Chiboko Nwosu
Coordinator – UK
Coordinator – UK
Obiora Onyilofor
Trustee
Dr E O Eke
Trustee
Trustee
Mazi Chibuzo Oguoma
Trustee
Trustee
Barr Ikechukwu Ikeji
Trustee
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