In its reaction to the letter written to the Vice President of Nigeria by a coalition of northern groups, including the Arewa, asking a facilitation of the Igbos the peaceful vacation from Nigeria, the apex umbrella for the Igbo, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, said the North could not drive Ndigbo out of Nigeria.
The Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr. Chuks Ibegbu, who spoke to one of our correspondents in Enugu, said Ohanaeze insisted on the restructuring of the country, and not secession.
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Stressing that the northern youths lacked the mandate to speak for the Igbo, Ibegbu noted that the Arewa groups were trying to provoke another war in the country.
Ibegbu stated, “In the first place, I want to thank the Acting President for the role he is playing in this situation. He is a peacemaker and he has shown himself to be conversant with the dynamics of leadership.
“The Acting President has told all the parties to allow peace to reign. Igbo are peaceful people; so, we will abide by what he said.
“We are conscious of what the Acting President told the Igbo leaders and the traditional rulers when they visited the Presidential Villa. Therefore, we will not be drawn into taking issue with these northern youths; they are people who have shown themselves to be lawbreakers and warmongers.
“The activities of these Arewa youths have shown that there is more than meets the eye to the ultimatum they gave the Igbo in the North. They simply want to drag the country into another war.”
Ibegbu stressed that agitation for separation was not peculiar to the Igbo, as claimed by the Arewa youths.
The Ohanaeze spokesman observed that the agitation in the South-East was largely a protest against marginalisation, rather than a wish for secession.
Ibegbu added, “That some individuals are pushing for self-determination in the South-East does not mean that the Igbo want to secede. The real situation is a protest against marginalisation.
“We should not forget that even now, as we speak, the Boko Haram sect is still canvassing Islamic rule in the North, using violent means – that is a form of agitation for secession.
“So why should the northern youths ignore the log in their eyes to bother about the speck in another person’s eyes; why the venom against the Igbo?”
Afenifere berates northern youths, reinstates call for their arrest
Reacting to the letter, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, slammed the youth for their position.
The spokesperson for the group, Yinka Odumakin, in an interview with one of our correspondents, asked Osinbajo to tell the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to arrest leaders of the northern groups.
Odumakin argued that the letter signified danger to the southerners in the North.
He stated, “This is a confirmation of what we have said so far. For almost 12 days after their inciting comments, none of them has been arrested by the police.
“That they are giving it back to the Acting President shows that they have an assignment they are carrying out for their sponsors. It also shows that the elders have failed to caution their youths.”
Northern elders split on youths call for referendum
Meanwhile, the Northern Elders Forum and the Northern Elders Council have disagreed on the call by the coalition of northern youths to the acting President to organise a “referendum that will ease out the Igbo out of the country.”
The Chairman of the NEC, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, said the referendum would be unconstitutional.
He added that “any secession could only be actualised by war.”
But the Secretary of the NEF, Prof Ango Abdullahi, believed that the northern youths had made a workable recommendation since both warring parties had not shifted their grounds.
Yakasai stated, “You know that in the Nigerian constitution, there is no place where there is a national referendum for secession. If they (the youths) don’t know what they are doing, you should know what you are doing.
“Only the Independent National Electoral Commission can organise a referendum. That is all. Nobody has the power to organise a referendum. The acting President has no power to organise a national referendum. We are governed by our constitution.
“The only way for any group to secede is through war. There is no provision for any part to secede legally.”
Abbdullahi, on the other hand, said, “The fact that there has been a contact with the elders by the acting President has not yet brought out any resolution to the position taken by both sides.
“So, it looks like there is still a lot more work to do. I believe that what the youths have done is to raise a suggestion. They are emphasing that whatever happens in Nigeria should happen peacefully, and this includes the possibility of separation.
“So, I do not know what the worry is all about. What the boys are doing is to more or less make a suggestion.”
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