Igbo attorneys from the South-East gather to sue the Nigerian government, demanding more states and billions of naira lost to imbalance
South-East would sue the Nigerian government for marginalising the zone in the construction of the state, according to Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, the leading Igbo sociocultural group.
Iwuanyanwu made this announcement on Wednesday during Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s one-day retreat, dubbed “Ako bu ije,” which was held in Enugu. He reaffirmed his demand for the southeast to be granted more state.
Iwuanyanwu bemoaned the loss of trillions of Naira in the region as a result of this imbalance, arguing that it was unjust for the northwest to have seven states while other regions only had six, leaving the southeast with just five.
“A team of Igbo lawyers are being assembled to drag the federal government to court to ask for extra state and also demand the trillions of Naira Igbos have lost because they’ve lesser number of states,” he stated.
The Ohanaeze leader stated that Igbos are in favour of each region developing at its own speed in its various local government areas and that power and allocations should be split between the federal and state governments exclusively. This is in response to the proposal for a modification to the 1999 constitution.
He says they agree with the “Awka Declaration,” which Ohanaeze Ndigbo issued in January 2018.
“So no constitutional amendment can be made without bringing Igbos to par with other regions in state creation,” he stated.
Speaking about other matters impacting Ndịgbo, he mentioned that attempts were being taken to halt the peddling of honours bearing the names of deceased notable Igbo sons.
Along with a strong caution to those who have exploited the Ohanaeze Ndigbo name for financial gain, he promised to do everything in his power to preserve the integrity of the Igbo people and that he would not stand for miscreants destroying what the Igbo people stand for.
The event chairman and former military governor of the former Anambra and Imo states, Admiral Allison Madueke, stated in his speech that it was time for the Igbo people to go back and rebuild the movement because any movement that lacks tact will perish.
The former Nigerian Armed Forces Chief of Naval Staff continued, saying that in order to improve, the Igbo people must reflect on where they went wrong and start making apologies.
The Igbo leaders decided in a communiqué released following the retreat that Ndigbo have the enormous human and natural potential to start a “made-to-fit” regional development agenda that is in line with the current state of global affairs. However, they also noted that Ndigbo had not taken advantage of the opportunistic media space to identify the region’s power centres and mobilise them for collective action.
Part of the communiqué states, “Therefore, it was felt that the several Ohanaeze Committees should take immediate measures to guarantee that the new Igbo agenda is realised in accordance with the socio-economic realities of the twenty-first century.
“The Southeast’s governors, security agencies, and civil society organisations were asked to intensify their efforts in the security sector by the Igbo leaders, who also decided that instability poses a serious threat to the region’s development.
Everyone agrees that security will enable us to realise our enormous potential, particularly in the field of agriculture. The Retreat also decided to step up its efforts to get Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, who is currently jailed, to be released unconditionally.
“The Ohanaeze leadership and Igbo governors must work together in order to realise the Ala-Igbo Transformation Agenda, as stressed by the Igbo leaders.
The retreat also emphasised the Ndigbo people’s ability to produce enough food on their own, and it asked the Igbo governors to embrace this vision and maintain strict security in the area in order to win over potential investors.
“The Igbo leaders also endorsed the proposed N10 billion Naira Endowment Fund from the Igbo in the Diaspora to give Ohanaeze a reasonable degree of financial stability.”