Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, has advised the Federal Government that the only way to end agitations in Nigeria is to create additional states in the South-East and granting full autonomy to the geo-political regions.
The group made its position known in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, yesterday.
Ohanaeze said it noted that the best political solution to the Biafran agitation in the South-East is to provide platforms for genuine dialogue and initiate a process to interface with ‘neutral Igbo leaders’ by strictly prohibiting (some) Igbo politicians from the dialogue “because they are part of the problems in the South-East”.
The group said in a statement, “We are aware of the International pressures on the Federal Government presently, and why the Federal Government should not miss the opportunity to seek for genuine dialogue with neutral Igbo patriots and elder statesmen who will genuinely communicate the plights of IGBO without the usual manipulative infusions of South-East politicians.
The statement added in part, “The international pressures on the Federal Government in respect to the extraordinary rendition of Nnamdi Kanu after the Kenyan Government confirmed that there were no official extradition proceedings of Kanu before he was sent to Nigeria, (show that) these International pressures have opened up extraordinary circumstances that must be explored by both the Federal Government and non-political Igbo leaders.”
The group added: “The first step expected from the Federal Government is to set in motion a mechanism for peaceful dialogue with Igbo religious leaders, Igbo traditional rulers and selected few elder statesmen like Pa Mbazulike Amaechi, Elder K.U.K. Kalu, and others, as it is obvious that the Federal Government can’t shy away from peace talks with IGBO before the next court appearance of Nnamdi Kanu 19th January 2022, with the exclusion of Igbo governors, Igbo National Assembly members, Igbo Federal Executive Council members, Igbo APC and PDP members in attendance.
“The Federal Government should expedite actions that will lead to additional state creation for the South-East, and granting full autonomy to the federating units of all the regions in the country.
“These are the two best options as political solutions for addressing the activities of Biafra groups and their arrowheads,” Ohanaeze stressed.
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According to the group, “The release of Nnamdi Kanu and (Sunday) Igboho from incarceration, without addressing the causes of the agitations, will worsen the situation at hand. It will escalate their activities of the agitations.
“The only options for the Federal Government now are to create an additional state for the South-East and (granting) regional autonomy to the south-eastern region through the National Assembly.”
