Tony Okafor, Awka
Prominent Igbo leaders are expected to converge on Enugu on Saturday to deliberate on the agitation for Biafra, among many other issues.
Acting under the aegis of the World Igbo Congress, the Igbo leaders, according to a statement by its chairman, Joe Eto, on Wednesday, said one of the issues that would be discussed included the ‘marginalisation of the Igbo by the Buhari-led administration’.
The statement said previous meetings of the congress had been held in the United States of America, adding that prominent scholars from the South-West zone would participate in the meeting.
Eto said a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof Chukwuma Soludo; Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof Pat Utomi; Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; a former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi; oil magnate, Arthur Eze; Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, were among the personalities expected at the meeting.
The statement said, “The chaotic Buhari government and its visible policy of the non-inclusion of the Igbo in administration is causing unbearable discomfort among the Igbo, particularly the youths who cannot get jobs.
“The time is very ripe for a summit in Nigeria to discuss with the Igbo leadership and the despondent masses in order to chart a way out of the quagmire.”
Eto said, “Biafra is not going to die. Like every other denied agitation for self-determination, Biafra will, at least, remain on the minds of those who seek self-determination.
“Inflicting suppressive and repressive policies on the Igbo in Nigeria will continue to trigger the demand for self-rule. It is really the Nigerian government’s prerogative to have one Nigeria where all components of the nation are treated as equal partners.”
– Punch
