Prof George Obiozor: “We highly recommend that the Federal as well as State governments engage the restive Igbo youths in some form of dialogue towards the peaceful resolution of the present crises. We equally appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to exercise his prerogative of mercy for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other Igbo youths in detention in various places.”
By Emma Ogbuehi
Igbo leaders have once again urged President Muhammadu Buhari to set the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in detention since last year and is currently being tried on treasonable felony charges, free.
This plea was made on Saturday at a reception in honour of Prof George Obiozor, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, organised by Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma.
Lamenting the unacceptable level of insecurity in the country, Prof Obiozor said, “The state of the Nigerian nation is regrettably precarious, delicate and the sensibilities of citizens, as a people, numbed by the callousness and the carnage that is now a daily occurrence across the country.”
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Obiozor, Nigeria’s former ambassador to Israel and the U.S. said the country has taken a terrible battering from terrorists.
“Our meeting today comes against the backdrop of the terrible battering which our beloved country has taken at the hands of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists, which has become heightened by the brazenness of their relentless assault unleashed on the nation in the last three weeks,” he said.
Zeroing in on the Southeast, Obiozor whose country home was recently razed by unknown gunmen, bemoaned that a zone that was considered the most peaceful in the country barely a year ago had become violent.
Blaming the government for the violent turn of events, Obiozor said, “A year ago, our Southeast was considered the most peaceful in the country. Although it had its own peculiar challenges given the agitations of its restive youthful population, this was peaceful and non-violent. Their protestations were in the form of prayer sessions and gatherings, a right guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.”
To reverse the violent state of affairs in the region, the Ohanaeze helmsman appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to release Nnamdi Kanu and other Igbo youths in detention in various places and dialogue with them.
He said, “We highly recommend that the Federal as well as State governments engage the restive Igbo youths in some form of dialogue towards the peaceful resolution of the present crises.
“In this context, we equally appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to exercise his prerogative of mercy for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other Igbo youths in detention in various places.”
Obiozor also urged IPOB to embrace peace and lift the sit at home order which has become an albatross on Igbo people.
“We wish to appeal to the leaders of IPOB, our sons and daughters, not to unwittingly add to the burdens of our people.
“We equally urge them to lift completely the sit at home order to help restore normalcy in the Southeast. The brunt of sit at home order is borne by the millions of Ndigbo families, who depend on their daily income for survival.
“Sit at home is not a favour to Ndigbo but condemnation of these countless millions of daily income earners to untold hardship.”
Speaking in the same vein, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, First Republic Minister of Aviation, reiterated his demand that President Buhari should release Nnamdi Kanu to him.
Bemoaning the spate of killings in Igboland, the 92-year-old elder statesman also known as The Boy Is Good, one of the few Nigerians involved in the Zikist Movement that is still alive, said the violence and wanton waste of human lives in Igboland must stop.
Governor Uzodimma also pleaded for peace in Southeast, insisting that violence is in no one’s interest.
Apart from Uzodimma, Prof Obiozor and Chief Amaechi, other guests included Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, frontline PDP presidential aspirant; the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe; Prof ABC Nwosu, former Minister of Health; and Prof Maurice Iwu, former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Also in attendance were Lady Victoria Akanwa, former commissioner in the old Imo State during the Second Republic; General Ike Nwachukwu, former Minister of External Affairs; Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu Chukwu, former PDP National Vice Chairman, Southeast; Chief Ikedi Ohakim, former governor of Imo State; former Senate President, Chief Adolphus Wabara; Chief Nnia Nwodo, immediate past President General of Ohanaeze; and his predecessor, Chief Gary Enwo-Igariwey; former chairman of the Police Service Commission, Chief Simon N. Okeke; former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika; Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Uche Ogah; Senator Frank Ibezim, Hon. Chike Okafor, a member of the House of Representatives.
Also in attendance were former Chairman, Southeast Council of Traditional rulers, Eze Cletus Ilomuanya; Chairman Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze E. C. Okeke; Imo State Deputy Governor, Prof Placid Njoku; Secretary to Imo State Government (SSG), Chief Cosmas Iwu; Ohanaeze Secretary General, Anbassador Okey Emuchay, among several others.
