The Indigenous People of Biafra
separatist crisis being spearheaded by Nnamdi Kanu is bigger than the
activities of the deadly terrorist group, Boko Haram, the Borno State Governor,
Kashim Shettima, has said.
No fewer than 20,000 people are believed to have been killed by Boko Haram
since the Islamist sect started its attacks in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States
and some other parts of the country about eight years ago.
Thousands of others have been maimed by the sect that was also responsible for the infamous abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls in April, 2014. More than 100 of the girls are still in the sect’s custody. Thousands of others abducted by the sect remain unaccounted for.
Speaking in Owerri on Monday night
during a meeting with the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, when he led a
truce team of the North’s Governors to the state, Shettima said the threats
posed by the Kanu-led secessionist IPOB to the nation’s survival are far bigger
than those posed by Boko Haram.
He said it was for this reason
that he had to leave the killings going on in his state behind to join Governor
Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) Simon Lalong (Platueau) Aminu Bello Masari (Katsina)
and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) on visits to Abia, Rivers and Imo State,
seeking peace.
“Only this morning, 25 people
were killed in my state via explosions carried out by three suicide bombers,
but I have to be on this mission because of what it means to the nation,”
Shettima, the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum said.
He noted that the huge population
of Nigeria makes it imperative to avoid anything that could lead to war among
its tribal groups, wondering which country would have the capacity to
accommodate Nigerian refugees in the event of another civil war.
He said: “What we wanted to
forestall actually was a mass movement of Nigerians from one part of the
country to another. It was a very dangerous signal.
“We equally invite our brothers
from the South East to visit some of the northern flash points like Kaduna,
Kano and Jos, and together we can talk to our Igbo brothers and sisters there
to assure them of the safety of their lives and properties.
“Make or break, this country
belongs to all of us. The population of Syria is a paltry 22 million. Only two
million Syrian refugees are knocking on the doors of Europe and it is causing
reverberation. How then do you perceive a situation where 35 million
English-speaking Nigerians are knocking on the doors of Europe?
“That is why we have a moral
obligation as stakeholders to make things work in this country. We are all part
of the leadership challenges we are facing in this country, and none of us can
exonerate him or herself from blame.
“Like I said earlier in Aba, the
hope of the black man rests not with the hard-thinking South Africans or the
obsequious Kenyans who are struggling to be more white than the white men, but
with the people of this country.
“If you see an African walking on
the streets of London and would not leave the way obsequiously for the white
man to pass, you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that that black man is a
Nigerian.
“If we allow this country to
implode, up is the Sahara Desert, Niger is already a failed state. The
population of Niger is only 11 million while Kano has a population of about 30
million. We can eat up the entire food reserve of Niger Republic within a week.
“Down is the Atlantic Ocean and
the tiny countries of Benin Republic, Togo and Senegal. Maybe some of us will
migrate to Gambia. The entire food reserves of those tiny West African
countries can be exhausted within two weeks.”
Shettima thanked Okorocha for the
warm reception he accorded the delegation, saying that they were in the state
principally as a delegation of Northern Governors’ Forum to identify with the
uncommon leadership exhibited by the governors of the South East sub-region in
these trying moments of the nation’s contemporary political history.
He said: “In politics, perception
counts and symbolism matters. So we are here largely to identify with our
governor colleagues; to visit the northern communities in their states and to
reassure them that our governor colleagues are equal to the task.
“In fact, I had to pay a visit to
the governor of Rivers State where we were earlier on, and Chief Okezie Ikpeazu
of Abia State and, of course, the merchant of peace in Imo State (Okorocha) for
rapidly responding to the emergency situations in their respective states by
declaring dusk to dawn curfews.
They equally stopped the nation
from reaching the boiling point.
“While we were in Rivers, we were not opportune to address the northern community. But in Aba and Umuahia, we were able to do so and thank the governor, because the reports we got directly from the northerners residents in Umuahia, Governor Ikpeazu had solved 70 per cent of their problems; that they had never had it so good of a governor that responded rapidly to the challenges they were facing in their communities.”
“While we were in Rivers, we were not opportune to address the northern community. But in Aba and Umuahia, we were able to do so and thank the governor, because the reports we got directly from the northerners residents in Umuahia, Governor Ikpeazu had solved 70 per cent of their problems; that they had never had it so good of a governor that responded rapidly to the challenges they were facing in their communities.”
Okorocha thanked the delegation
on behalf of the people of Imo State for leaving their busy schedules to travel
more than 1,000 km just to speak the language of peace.
“Even between husband and wife, without communication, a break-up is inevitable. And we should not only communicate between ourselves as governors, we should also communicate with the ordinary citizens on the streets,” he said.
“Even between husband and wife, without communication, a break-up is inevitable. And we should not only communicate between ourselves as governors, we should also communicate with the ordinary citizens on the streets,” he said.
He said there was a feeling of
abandonment among the people of the South East, especially with the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari because they feared from day one
that since they did not vote him, his government would forget them.
“As untrue as that may be, it remains the general feeling of the people in this part of the world. So, you coming to bridge the gap is a right step in the right direction,” he said.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday“As untrue as that may be, it remains the general feeling of the people in this part of the world. So, you coming to bridge the gap is a right step in the right direction,” he said.
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Ofcuze because when you get married and have many children and one your children start misbehaving, all the family will join hand together to put him or she in order, but when wife start asking for divorce the whole family will start receiving 7.1 earthquake. ...so boko harm and biafra are not the same.
ReplyDeleteDuring GEJ era when PDP was desperately exploring every unimaginable and absurd strategy that they could use in discrediting the Presidential Ambition of PMB, they decided to explore the propaganda of labelling PMB as the one who vowed that Nigeria will become ungovernable if he should loss the 2011 Election.
ReplyDeleteNow the unfathomable thing as happened, PMB has been overwhelmingly voted to victory by majority of voters across Nigeria.
PMB is fighting corruption (When the Righteous Minded Bears Rule, the People will always have hope and the Nation will earn it's well deserved respect among other Nations), the Nations Economy that was destroyed is gradually being repaired and restored, several PDP Era Atrocities and Other PDP Era Acts of Treasury Looting and Plundering as being exposed on virtually daily basis.
Now, it appears the only Strategy available to PDP and their Cohorts that they can use in fighting PMB is by Systematically making the Nigeria Ungovernable for APC and PMB.
Through PDP's Strategy of making Nigeria Ungovernable, they have floated IPOB (people should carefully go through the history and background activities of Nnamdi Kanu), sponsoring all manner and forms of Civil Unrest, raising Militants and all sorts of Criminality in a Democratic Dispensation.
Henceforth in Nigeria, PDP and their Cohorts should be held responsible for all forms of Societal Unrest that threatens the Peace of Governance in Nigeria.
We give glory to God that despite all their manners of evil and devious strategies, God has helped Nigeria so far. We can see the light down the tunnel, God has helped us out of Economic Recession that PDP and their Cohorts irresponsibly and brazenly steered the ship of dear Nation Nigeria into.
This Change shall indeed work for Nigeria by that special grace of almighty God and to the shame of every hidden or visible enemy of progress in Nigeria.
May God complete the deliverance of Nigeria from utter backwardness in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
May the Lord continue to frustrate and reduce to oblivion all the known and secret enemies of Nigeria in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen.
May the Lord erase all the known and secret enemies of Nigeria like human fart in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Amen and Amen.
Are these so-called Northern Governors serious at all? What's the basis for this senseless comparison - group of people who want to impose their religious beliefs on others AND another group of people who are peacefully agitating for self-determination? I don't believe this is a statement from the Governors.
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