Tobias Sylvester
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has described Northern Nigeria as the safest places for the Igbo ethnic group to live and do their business.
Speaking to newsmen in Abuja on Friday, the chairman of the group in the 19 northern states, Augustine Amaechi, stated that the northern region had accommodated Igbo people beyond measures.
Amaechi acknowledged that there have been some skirmishes with their host communities, noting that it is unavoidable as “it is expected in a developing economy.”
On the call for secession in the South East, he said the agitation was due to lack of jobs and employment in the region, stressing that since Igbos are traders, they need the North to maintain their financial strength.
“Our elders are saying that even if the youth are agitating and angry, we need a restructure of Nigeria and not a division of Nigeria because you can’t sell what you produce in your village to make big sales like in Alaba Market in Lagos.”
On his part, the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, George Obiozor, stated that the Igbo nation is not at war with anybody.
“All we want is to be treated equally with other people. It is time for us to speak truth to power. We need peace and unity and they can’t be gotten through propaganda and transparency must be followed,” DailyTrust quoted him to have said.
KanyiDaily recalls that the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) had accused Igbo people of being responsible for perpetrating the most violence against Northerners in the Southern part of the country.
