Ohaneze Ndigbo leaders to present Buhari with a list of demands to end Biafran calls

LEADERS of the pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation Ohaneze Ndigbo have resolved to visit President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa in Abuja with a charter of demands in a bid to ease the ongoing tension across southeast Nigeria.

 

Since October last year when Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu was arrested by security men in Lagos, calls for Igboland to break away from Nigeria have intensified. Mr Kanu's supporters have organised rallies across the region demanding the recreation of the defunct republic of Biafra that briefly existed between July 1967 and January 1970.

 

Large demonstrations have been held that have led to clashes with the security forces and Igbo elders have appealed for calm. In a bid to resolve the crisis once and for all, Ohaneze Ndigbo leaders plan to visit President Buhari with a list of demands which they hope will be accepted and implemented.

 

Among the issues the Ohaneze Ndigbo leaders resolved to present to Buhari after a recent meeting in Enugu was for urgent attention to be paid to the reconstruction of the Enugu- Umuahia- Port Harcourt Road. They also want to see the federal government commence work on the Enugu-Onitsha Express Road.

 

Furthermore, they will discuss concerns about the appointment of more special and senior special assistants as Ndigbo feel they are not adequately represented in President Buhari's government. They also plan to get guarantees about the completion of the Second Niger Bridge linking Asaba and Onitsha.

 

In addition, the Igbo leaders have also resolved to ask the president to set up the Eastern Nigeria Development Commission (ENDC)  to handle the issue of youth unemployment, which they said was responsible for the continued agitation for the Biafran Republic. Imo State governor Rochas Okorocha, is likely to lead the delegation to meet President Buhari.

 

However, the Independent People of Biafra (Ipob), the organisation which Kanu founded, has condemned the Ohaneze Ndigbo leaders. Ipob claims that some Igbo politicians who are using it and Nnamdi Kanu to get cheap popularity will fail and advised them to stop doing so with immediate effect.

 

Ipob listed Igbo leaders like Chief Theodore Orji, Rochas Okorocha, Emeka Offor, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya, Ike Ekweremadu, Chukwuma Soludo, Ralph Uwazuruike, Okezie Ikpazu and Onwuka Ukwa as among individuals and groups working against its interest. According to Ipob, Ohanaeze Ndigbo was looking for access to President Buhari for the selfish interest of its members adding that they were using the blood of dead Biafrans to enrich themselves.