FORMER Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (Nupeng) secretary-general Chief Frank Kokori has described those behind the ongoing agitation for an independent state of Biafra as miscreants and school dropouts.
Over the last fortnight, thousands of Igbo youths have demonstrated up and down Nigeria demanding the recreation of the breakaway republic of Biafra that existed between 1967 and 1970. Their demands have been sparked off by the recent arrest of the Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu who was apprehended by security officials during a visit from the UK.
However, notable Igbo leaders have condemned the protests as misguided and all the other ethnic groups who made up the defunct Biafra have made it clear they are no longer interested in the scheme. Yesterday, Chief Kokori added his voice to the condemnation, described those agitating for a Biafra Republic as miscreants and dropouts, lacking any iota of what they were demanding.
Chief Kokori said: “It is very unfortunate what the Biafran agitators are doing as they do not know the enormity of what they are demanding. Those goading and pushing them into the protests are doing so for selfish reasons.
"They are playing on the intelligence of the agitators, who are mostly miscreants and dropouts as there are no serious persons among them. At this stage, the real Igbo leaders should tell them that we have passed that stage in Nigeria.”
He added that it was important for the Igbo leaders to speak out in order to end the manipulation of the agitators by those he described as selfish individuals. Chief Kokori noted that the Boko Haram menace aggravated by the refusal of the northern leaders to speak out when it initially started.
“It is not that the pro-Biafra protests are anyhow similar to that of the bestial attacks of Boko Haram but the Igbo leaders must speak out in time to check the situation. I do not think any serious Igbo will support their demands as the agitators do not even believe what they are clamouring for.
The protests are even only within the southeast. Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and other states are not fully involved,” Chief Kokori added.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the southeast has faulted the ongoing agitation, warning that the development could scuttle the chances of Ndigbo to produce the country’s President in 2023. Osita Okechukwu, a spokesman for the APC's southeast caucus, urged the agitators to stop beating their war drums in the interest of the Igbo.
Mr Okechukwu expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari would, in the spirit of zoning, hand over power to the south at the end of his second term in 2023. He noted that an Igbo was best positioned to emerge as president when the office rotated to the south in 2023, saying the pro-Biafra agitation should not be allowed to scuttle the opportunity.
Comments
Post a Comment