One Nigeria: MASSOB, Ijaw youths fault Buhari
-
No man can crush Biafra because God, history and humanity are on our side – MASSOB
-
‘Some of the decisions of Buhari’s administration justifying the struggle for Biafra Republic’
-
Future of Nigeria should be thoroughly negotiated to avoid consequences of forced marriage – IYC
-
‘Nigerians want a renegotiated country that allow people to grow at their own pace’
Two self-determination groups, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) on Thursday faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s position that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable.
Buhari had on Wednesday pleaded with Niger Delta militants to “give Nigeria a chance”, vowing to keep the country intact despite widespread ethnic and religious divisions that threaten unity.
The President, who spoke when members of the Federal Executive Council, Service Chiefs, the acting Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris, traditional rulers, religious leaders and other residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) paid him Sallah visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, had repeated former Head of state, General Gowon’s ‘to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done’ comment and added that `one Nigeria’ is not negotiable and the militants had better accept it.
But MASSOB and IYC, in separate statements on Thursday had insisted that the country’s unity is negotiable, with the former arguing that the President’s view showed that he has not realized that a new trend of resolving such issues had taken over, while the latter said Nigeria as presently constituted would soon ‘suffocate’.
Reacting on the President’s statement, MASSOB leader, Chief Uchenna Madu said the Movement totally disagreed with the President, describing his statement as an expression of somebody who still believed in old ways of doing things.
He said: “The President, in inner sense of reasoning, believes that he will easily crush Biafra, maybe with his intimidating tendencies over Igbo governors, National Assembly members, religious/ opinion/ political leaders.
“MASSOB views the President’s constant negative comments on Biafra consciousness as a sign he is jittery.
“As every revolutionary struggle has its own methodology, the current Biafran struggle for actualization and restoration will continue to unfold confusing methods to the President.
“The involvement of Niger Delta Avengers and other Niger Delta freedom fighters in the Biafra struggle will continue to hunt those opposed to the actualization of Biafra”.
Madu said some of the decisions of the present administration in Nigeria were even assisting and justifying the struggle for the Biafra Republic, adding that the consciousness of Christians in the Southern part and Middle Belt of the country had been reawakened.
He boasted that no man can crush Biafra because, according to him, God, history and humanity were on the side of the agitators.
On their part, the the youths argued that as presently constituted, the country would soon ’suffocate’, noting that the future of Nigeria should be thoroughly negotiated to avoid the consequences of a forced political marriage.
In a statement by the IYC’s spokesman, Eric Omare, on Thursday, the youths maintained that such a comment coming from the President was “old-fashioned”.
The group opined that the approach being adopted by the President had never yielded the desired result for the country to excel.
According to the youths, the unity of Nigeria is being suffocated under the present administration, which they argued had refused to embrace modern trends worldwide.
“The circumstances of the present day Nigeria demand a renegotiation of the future unity and existence of Nigeria”, the group noted.
The IYC explained that it believed that it was the general opinion of all ethnic nationalities in the country that Nigeria’s unity was discussed.
“This demand is not peculiar to the Niger Delta region but cuts across all parts of the country. For Nigeria to make progress President Buhari should dump his old fashioned approach to the unity of Nigeria and face the reality of the present day situation.
“Nigerians want a renegotiated Nigeria that reflects a true federal state and allow people to grow at their own pace.
“Nigeria as presently constituted is suffocating and the federating ethnic nationalities can no longer bear the suffocating effect of the defective structure which hampers the development of the country. It is in the interest of all Nigerians to renegotiate the future unity of Nigeria”, the IYC held.
It added, “The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide states that the statement by President Buhari to Niger Delta militants on Wednesday, June 6, 2016 that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable is an old-fashioned approach to the resolution of national problems.
“This is more so as President Buhari in making the said statement quoted former Head of State, General Gowon’s comment in 1967 on the unity of Nigeria.
“Nigerians want a country that is united on mutually agreed terms and not the present defective structure. The IYC calls on President Buhari to wake up and face the reality of the situation and stop relying on outdated notion of Nigeria’s unity. Nigerians demand renegotiation”, the group noted.
But just as the Ijaw youths were berating Buhari over Wednesday’s comment’s, the Urhobo Monitoring and Development Group (UMDG), was expressing concerns over recent appointments by the President.
National President of UMDG, an Urhobo pressure group, Prince Kingsley Oberuruaria, told journalists that Mr President’s appointments were tilted to favour northerners and Muslims.
He maintained that such actions were capable of unnecessarily creating ethnic and regional tensions in the country.
