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Governor
Rochas Okorocha
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•‘Pro-Jonathan forces behind fresh Biafra agitation’
Imo State Governor Rochas
Okorocha has said the Igbo will not use the platform of any separatist group,
including the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB), to pursue the Igbo agenda. Okorocha, who distanced Southeast governors and
leaders from the pro-Biafra groups, said the zone did not need an armed
struggle associated with militia groups to attract economic and infrastructural
development.
The
governor, who spoke at a breakfast meeting with reporters, noted that the
zone’s setbacks could not be addressed by antagonizing the North and West, but
by mutual cooperation and support for the All Progressives Congress-led (APC)
Federal Government.
The Nation report continues:
His
words: “The Igbo will not use the agitation for Biafra as a platform to
negotiate the place of Ndigbo, but will support the President Muhammadu
Buhari’s administration to attract the dividends of democracy that eluded us in
the past.
“We
should try to jettison religious sentiments and support President Buhari. The
Igbo will not use Biafra as a front; we condemn those agitating for Biafra
because that is not Ndigbo’s need”.
But
the senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, has said agitation for
Biafra is a plan ‘B’ action promoted by pro-Jonathan forces to undermine
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Sani,
who spoke during an interaction with reporters in Kaduna yesterday, said: “The
new agitation for Biafra is a misguided, ill-conceived and ill-fated course.
“The
Biafra agitation is a new attempt to destroy the President Muhammadu Buhari’s
administration, to ignite a national conflict and cause chaos, pandemonium and
confusion. It is not reflective of the interest and generality of the Igbo
people.”
The
senator said the Igbo had made progress since the civil war, adding that their
future was better guaranteed and sustained within a united Nigeria.
Sani
said: “Those attempting to wake up the Biafran course are of three categories.
The first are young men with no knowledge of the tragedy, suffering and
hardship Nigerians endured during the Civil War. The second category are
desperate forces hiding behind the Biafran agitation to undermine our national
unity and destroy the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“And
the third group are simply warmongers, who want crisis in an era of peace and
progress. So, I will say this in clear terms: Nigeria is an indivisible entity
and we have since gone beyond the Civil War.”
The
people of the Southeast, Sani said, had the right within the ambit of the
constitution to demand to be recognized and respected as equal partners in the
Nigerian project.
He
cautioned that their agitation must, however, be within the ambit of respect
for the indivisibility of Nigeria and the constitution.
”As
long as we realize the change agenda, entrench good governance and run an
all-inclusive government, the Biafran agitation will naturally fizzle out.
“Nigerians
must be patient with the President Buhari’s administration. It is wrong for
people to accuse him of not performing, taking cognisance of the rot in the
last 16 years.
“We have no reason to give
excuses and lament the problems of Nigeria when Nigerians are desirous of
change and progress,” Sani said.
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