Kwankwaso, You Are Highly Ignorant, Time Has Changed - IPOB, ECA, Ohaneze

Tuesday, June 27, 2017. 23:58GMT

Kwankwaso, You Are Highly Ignorant, Time Has Changed - IPOB, ECA, Ohaneze 

Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, Enugu Collectives and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB have condemned the call by the former Governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso on Igbo leaders to apologise and disown the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, over their agitation for self-determination, describing the call as "bunkum."

Kwankwaso had advised South-East leaders to condemn the agitation by IPOB and MASSOB publicly, adding that "maybe because they are afraid of the young men or because of possible attacks, they kept quiet.

"So, what should they have done or what should they do? To keep quiet will not help anybody and that's not the way to go. The way to go is for the elders to come out and say the right thing at the right time. The young men in the North, I don't know them, but I think the ultimatum they gave, I don't know and I'm not sure whether it is right from their hearts," Kwankwaso reportedly said.

But Ohanaeze Ndigbo in a statement through its National Deputy Publicity Secretary, Chuks Ibegbu, said the former Governor of Kano State and now Senator Kwankwaso's claim is unfortunate and regrettable.

According to Ohanaeze, "Igbo leaders and Ohanaeze Ndigbo have stated several times that they want Nigeria restructured for justice and equity. We have not denied Nnamdi Kanu as our son and Igbo leaders have been engaging and interfacing with him to find a common ground for the interest of all. It is a continuous interface and God willing, a common ground will be found.

"But we must not fail to state that what Kwankwaso was saying was akin to also the belief, whether true or not that Arewa leaders have not and did not do anything or take measures to stymie the violent Boko Haram sect that has killed many innocent Nigerians including several Igbos in the North. It is the belief too that many Arewa leaders kept quiet and mum when Boko Haram started its war against Nigeria until they started also becoming victims of the dreaded group.

"Kwankwaso should not rewrite history and must stop claiming what he has no fact or cannot prove.

“There is no way he can claim that all Igbo are in the same train in any issue just as it will be wrong to claim that all Arewa people support the treasonable quit threat by Arewa youths against the Igbo.

"What Nigeria needs now are true leaders that will direct our youths well whether in the North or South. We need elders who would guide and mentor our youths and not purveyors of hatred and sectionalism. Nigeria should not waste its time on factors that divide us but on ones that unite us. There is nothing that cannot be solved in a round table as long as there is equity and social justice. Kwankwaso, therefore, owes us an unreserved apology for his claim."

What Kwankwaso does not know - ECA

The Deputy Leader of ECA, Chief (Mrs) Maria Okwor, who reacted to Kwankwaso's statement, also wondered why "northern leaders did not condemn the terrorist activities of Boko Haram insurgents in their midst when it plunged Nigeria into severe crises by killing and maiming innocent people for years, especially in the Northeast, but would dictate to the Igbos on the issue of their youths agitating for self-determination."

Okwor reminded Kwankwaso that his Kwankwaso village was founded by an Igbo man- one Okonkwo Kano, who settled in Kano in the early fifties with the business name of Okonkwosons Enterprises, adding that the same Okonkwosons was later corrupted to become Kwankwaso.

"It is the northern leaders that should condemn their sons and daughters who are trying to take inventory of properties of Ndigbo in a so-called united country like Nigeria.

"If a former governor of an important state like Kano and a serving Senator could offer this jaundiced advice to Ndigbo, I wonder what an ordinary northerner would do. The issue of Igbo quit notice by some rascals in the north should be taken seriously by the security agencies but unfortunately, this is not the situation.

"Leaving the north would hurt the Igbo living there temporarily but it will not be the end of life. Our people are resilient and they will always rise again. People like Kwankwaso are the people who have stoked the embers of hatred in this country so that they will continue to milk the country dry. The only thing that will save Nigeria now is restructuring. We must restructure Nigeria if we want peace and progress in the country.”

Advise utter rubbish -Enugu Collectives

Also, the National Chairman of Enugu Collectives, Chief Alphonsus Onyeze, described Kwankwaso's statement as "regrettable," saying that the northern leaders who want to maintain the status quo would find out that there would be no country to lord it over anybody if Nigeria was not restructured immediately.

"Northern leaders like Kwankwaso should learn from the advice of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi by restraining their youths who are poised to carry out another pogrom against Ndigbo for the second time in 51 years. His advice to Ndigbo is utter rubbish. He should keep such idea to himself because it is demeaning of him," Onyeze added.

Kwankwaso bereft of knowledge of Biafra- IPOB

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Mr. Emma Powerful said the senator is bereft of knowledge of how IPOB works, its beliefs, its activities and how it is being sponsored, and therefore made comments as if the so called Igbo leaders he has in mind can influence the activities and leadership of IPOB and other Biafra agitators.

“Senator Kwankwaso has just told Nigerians and the world by his statement that he is one of the sponsors of the northern youths who gave quit notice to the Igbo to leave the North.

“Senator Kwankwaso has just revealed to us by his statement that he is one of the numerous northern elders sponsoring their poorly educated youths against Biafrans residing in the north and we will not tell them what will happen until any Igbo man or any other Biafran for that matter is killed as a result of their ill-conceived quit notice.

"IPOB sees Senator Kwankwaso’s statement as one made to curry favour from the northerners who he intends to seek votes from as he prepares for his unbridled presidential bid. If not, we wonder when he became one of the vocal northern voices to speak for the generality of the northern people in demanding from Igbo leaders to disown Biafra agitators.

"We know he made his statements out of ignorance and poor understanding of the workings of IPOB, what IPOB stands for, Biafra agitators and we urge him to lead by example by first disowning northern youths for their quit notice to Igbos in the north, if he knows he is not one of their sponsors.”

According to the statement, "IPOB and its leadership worldwide led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not working with the so-called Igbo leaders, we believe that IPOB’s quest for restoration of Biafra is not for anyone who does not believe in freedom and we are ready to work with anybody who is sincere and not those who sabotage the struggle for their selfish gains.

"We want to let Senator Kwankwaso know that even if he and his cohorts hand pick their so called Igbo leaders from Aso rock to disown IPOB and other Biafra agitating groups, it will not stop the activities and determination of IPOB to achieve Biafra restoration.

"IPOB is a mass movement and it is more than all the so-called political leaders in Nigeria put together. They are not capable of stopping us from doing what we are doing because it is a God ordained project, just as it is more than Kwankwaso and the people he and his cohorts are sponsoring from Igbo extraction against Biafrans.

"We pity the senator and his co-travelers because they do not know that Biafrans of today are not the same breed as those they massacred in 1967 and 1970 and even in the early 1980s and 90s at will without retaliation. If they try the same nonsense today, they will get a dose of their own medicine and stupidity back even in their northern states."

IPOB called on Britain to "take note of the war mongering by the Arewa from Northern Nigeria and caution them to be more civilised in their utterances because threats and intimidation do not work with IPOB and Biafrans of today. They should not push us to the wall."

"Is Kwankwaso claiming to be bereft of the facts and knowledge of what his so called Igbo leaders he wants to disown Biafra agitators, was he not in Nigeria when some Governors from South East supervised the slaughter of over 800 unarmed innocent IPOB members that attended remembrance event at Nkpor in 2016.

"The Kano State born Senator should be made to understand that those Igbo leaders he is hoping and expecting to call upon to destabilise IPOB, no longer matter in the society and Igboland, as they are the ones causing the delay in the restoration of Biafra because of their sabotage activities.

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