Chief John Nnia Nwodo (Jnr) was elected as the President-General of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, recently. A lawyer and economist by training, Nwodo is not new to public life. He had served as minister of civil aviation (1983) and minister of information and culture (1998-1999), amid other national and regional assignments. He aspired for the presidency on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003. In this explosive interview, Nwodo speaks on his new responsibility and the state of the nation, baring his mind on issues like the alleged marginalisation South-east by the incumbent administration, the separatist agitation in the zone, restructuring and the economic recession ravaging the country, among other issues.

The secessionist agitation by the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is one of the major problems confronting the country at the moment. The continued detention of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, has been giving impetus to the agitation. How does Ohanaeze intend to handle the issue?

Let me say, first of all, that both the press and the government have an unfair treatment of the Biafran struggle. Boko Haram is worse in terms of treason than IPOB. Boko Haram is an armed attack against Nigeria’s sovereignty. It is a movement determined to Islamise Nigeria and to impose their own concept of Islam on the entire country. It is a movement intended to wipe our entire educational system and subject our women to lack of education. And where they physically conquered in the past, they erected local authority, traditional authority and hoisted flags. What could be a greater challenge to our national sovereignty than Boko Haram? I don’t see any.

The Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) is a militant organisation in the South-west; they move in convoys not confronted by the Nigerian Police or the Armed Forces. There is now streaming on the social media an Oduduwa Republic, advertised with the full complements of a national characteristic – the estimated GDP, the parts of Yoruba land that constitute Oduduwa Republic, their mineral resources endowment and what have you. They are actively encouraged by the intellectual class in Yoruba land. It has not even got a mention anywhere in the media, print or electronic. No security agency has invited anybody for questioning and the names of people who promote it are advertised. Nobody has been once invited to be asked why he or she is proclaiming an Oduduwa Republic.

Now, the people of the Niger Delta have sought for some independence of their own, if nothing else, fiscal independence. In pursuing this, they have turned into an arms struggle. They have blown up oil wells and oil pipelines. They have disrupted businesses and law and order with reckless abandon. Government is negotiating with them every day!

But the boys in IPOB have only asserted their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association under the constitution. They are unarmed! The only instrument of mobilisation that they have is a radio station, which was not licenced. Meanwhile, all over the country, all kinds of people now have radio stations that are not licenced. None of them has been subjected to indefinite detention like Nnamdi Kanu. The discriminatory treatment of IPOB is a microcosm and a symptomatic of the macro subjugation of Igbos to second-class citizens in Nigeria.

Let us assume for the sake of an argument that they have done something wrong, which I don’t agree with. They are treated in a worse manner than other people in Nigeria who have done equally things that are very, very wrong. And as their father, I speak for them; I grieve for them and I champion for them. I have no apologies for this; they are my children and the justice of their case cries to high heavens. You see, the fact that a child explained loudly to his father what his grievances are is a symptom of love. If they were grieving internally and keeping this to themselves, they could be instruments of insurrection in the kind of a submarine. But they are crying aloud in the streets and saying, ‘we are not happy’. A good father would call them and say, ‘sit down my children, what is your problem’, like they are doing to the people of Niger Delta. They are negotiating with their fathers and negotiating with the militants. All the militants there have become billionaires overnight. They have an amnesty programme for them. But on the part of the IPOB people, the only answer is force, intimidation and total subjugation of the rule of law in their treatment. I say that this is wrong and I will continue to say so.

Are you inviting the government to negotiate with IPOB?

Yes, I am! I have only downed my pursuit of a negotiation with government on this matter because of the unfortunate health situation of our president. The President has been quite charitable to my executive by extending his hand of fellowship to us so soon after our election. And I salute him for this; it is magnanimous on his part. I also extended my hand of fellowship to him. The President is my personal friend. I was with him in the same political party; both of us ran for the presidency under the same party. So, I intend to explore that degree of relationship and his hand of fellowship with a view to seeing that this policy towards IPOB is reversed and we can sit round the table and discuss.

But what do you see as the root cause of this agitation because from every indication, those guys are not relenting?

You read my inaugural speech. We are completely shut out from the intelligence paraphernalia of this country. No Igbo man heads any of the intelligence agencies of the country; we do not head any arm of government. We do not sit in any sensitive ministry. The allocation to capital projects in Igbo land are made to achieve some kind of propaganda effect because in actual implementation, nothing is done. The Enugu-Onitsha expressway has been on very budget since the end of the war till today. Recently, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), assured us that in the next 17 months, those roads would be reconstructed. But we had been given such assurances in the past and they never came to anything. The Enugu-Port Harcourt road has remained like that since the end of the war. We had been given assurances in the past and nothing has happened. Contractors like Julius Berger don’t come to the East to work; contracts in Igbo land are awarded to second/third rate contractors, who do very little work. The Niger Bridge has remained in its comatose state for a very long time. Jonathan promised us that he would not leave office without the construction of the Second Niger Bridge but it never happened. Under this government, the project was suspended for a long time. I hear that work has resumed but I hope that it is so and that very soon we will see it completed.

The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has promised us that the River Niger will be dredged; I hope that it is concluded under his tenure. He seems to be a man who does what he says and I anxiously look forward to seeing the dredging of the River Niger executed so that we can have a seaport there. But this has been on the table for decades. The child I had when the project was first conceived is already studying for PhD today. So, these children don’t believe that the system is fair to them.

Now, the coal in Enugu has been lying there for God knows how long. As we speak, the Federal Government has not even done a feasibility study to determine the quantity of coal that is available so that it can attract foreign investors. Nkalagu Cement Factory has been moribund for a very long time and it is taking an Igbo, Ibeto, to revive and expand it. Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment looks away. And they have directors on that company? Nobody cares about the salt and lead in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State. Igbo people have no equal access to the exploitation of our mineral resources. Among Nigerians who are allocated oil wells in the country, we are in abysmal minority. Those licences are not given to us. This is preposterous, unacceptable and discriminatory; we condemn it in its entirety. It has to change; we are equal partners in this federation. Unless we are treated so, Nigeria is asking us to ask for secession once more.

A chieftain of the ACF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, recently said that the North was prepared for Nigeria’s breakup and you have said here that if the status quo doesn’t change, Igbos might still ask for secession. Are you saying that Igbos too are ready for the dismemberment of the country?

At no time in the history of Nigeria has our togetherness been threatened as it is today. The mutual suspicion between participating units in the federation is at its highest peak. That is why I am holding the consultations that I am doing. This is our last desperate attempt to save the Federal Republic of Nigeria. No doubt, there is strength in diversity. This is the greatest African country in terms of land mass, population and mineral resources; and also in terms of potentials for leadership and development. It is in the interest of all of us to work together. But we have got to do it the right way and if we don’t get it right we might as well say ‘to your tents Israel.’ That’s all I am saying.

Read more http://sunnewsonline.com/biafra-nigeria-pushing-igbo-to-secede-again/

HungerBAD:
Cry Baby.

Reckless UNITY BEGGAR!!!

HungerBAD:
[s]Cry Baby.

Just wasted my time reading this crappy interview of this man. I thought his praise singers, hail him as an intelligent person?this just shows to you that these groups in the East are nothing, but fronts for these Eastern Agitators, while claiming not to be in the know in public.

So, this man is saying the Government should negotiate with IPOB?because to him, they are negotiating with the Militants in the Niger Delta?while mentioning OPC.

This guy is a Joke. I thought the people from "Warri" hold sway in the comedy sector in Nigeria? did not know the East is trying to give the Wafferians a good run for their money, by sending this Joke to be the President of an important organization.

For starters, the Niger Delta Militants or the OPC had never, will never, and dont agitate for the break of Nigeria. And these is what the IPOB stands for. This Oliver Twist, is complaining there are no Igbo's in the Intelligence community in Nigeria. So until the Intelligence Agencies in Nigeria has a 90% Igbo membership, that is when you guys will become satisfied?moreover it will even be stupid to entrust anything to the East for now.[/s]

Afonja...

HungerBAD:
Cry Baby.

Just wasted my time reading this crappy interview of this man. I thought his praise singers, hail him as an intelligent person?this just shows to you that these groups in the East are nothing, but fronts for these Eastern Agitators, while claiming not to be in the know in public.

So, this man is saying the Government should negotiate with IPOB?because to him, they are negotiating with the Militants in the Niger Delta?while mentioning OPC.

This guy is a Joke. I thought the people from "Warri" hold sway in the comedy sector in Nigeria? did not know the East is trying to give the Wafferians a good run for their money, by sending this Joke to be the President of an important organization.

For starters, the Niger Delta Militants or the OPC had never, will never, and dont agitate for the break of Nigeria. And these is what the IPOB stands for. This Oliver Twist, is complaining there are no Igbo's in the Intelligence community in Nigeria. So until the Intelligence Agencies in Nigeria has a 90% Igbo membership, that is when you guys will become satisfied?moreover it will even be stupid to entrust anything to the East for now.

When Germany and Japan fell in the Second World War. The Allied Nations, knew that there were and will be elements of dissents in those countries, and what did they do? the US established Military bases in Germany and Japan with a view to keeping an eye on them for the next "100" Years, just in case they want to start something again, while depriving them of Nuclear Capabilities.

It is this same strategy that should be used by the Nigerian Government, with the East, so as to keep an eye on them. The Civil war is not even "100" Years, and they are back again, with the chant for the same Biafra.

Losers.

This long epistle is coming from my fellow Yoruba Muslim who keeps claiming he doesn't care about Biafra
If d pain is too much, let us just pull d trigger and end it once and for all

Stingman:


Reckless UNITY BEGGAR!!!

U mean the master in the master/slave relationship?

HungerBAD:
Cry Baby.

Just wasted my time reading this crappy interview of this man. I thought his praise singers, says he is intelligent?this just shows to you that these groups in the East are nothing, but fronts for these Eastern Agitators, while claiming not to be in the know in public.

So, this man is saying the Government should negotiate with IPOB?because to him, they are negotiating with the Militants in the Niger Delta?while mentioning OPC.

This guy is a Joke. I thought the people from "Warri" hold sway in the comedy sector in Nigeria? did not know the East is trying to give the Wafferians a good run for their money, by sending this Joke to be head an important organization.

For starters, the Niger Delta Militants or the OPC had never, will never, and dont agitate for the break of Nigeria. And these is what the IPOB stands for. This Oliver Twist, is complaining there are no Igbo's in the Intelligence community in Nigeria. So until the Intelligence Agencies in Nigeria has a 90% Igbo membership, that is when you guys will become satisfied?moreover it will even be stupid to entrust anything to the East for now.

.

How do you do this?

Spending time to compose trash??

You must be a genius!!

HungerBAD:
Cry Baby.

Just wasted my time reading this crappy interview of this man. I thought his praise singers, hail him as an intelligent person?this just shows to you that these groups in the East are nothing, but fronts for these Eastern Agitators, while claiming not to be in the know in public.

So, this man is saying the Government should negotiate with IPOB?because to him, they are negotiating with the Militants in the Niger Delta?while mentioning OPC.

This guy is a Joke. I thought the people from "Warri" hold sway in the comedy sector in Nigeria? did not know the East is trying to give the Wafferians a good run for their money, by sending this Joke to be the President of an important organization.

For starters, the Niger Delta Militants or the OPC had never, will never, and dont agitate for the break of Nigeria. And these is what the IPOB stands for. This Oliver Twist, is complaining there are no Igbo's in the Intelligence community in Nigeria. So until the Intelligence Agencies in Nigeria has a 90% Igbo membership, that is when you guys will become satisfied?moreover it will even be stupid to entrust anything to the East for now.

the joke will be on them at the end..
we only trust igbos that are ready to protect all nigerians no matter what religion,tribe or gender...

kabrud:


U mean the master in the master/slave relationship?

Master, with the highest literacy rate, highest poverty rate, highest infant mortality rate, highest cases of preventable diseases, highest number of street beggars...You are huge joke, even to yourself....

Not all igbos are interested in Biafra biko.

Biafra,religion and ponzi all for brain washed and gullible people.

The guy should have been more concerned with the incarceration of a certain Mazi in kuje prison.

Nonsense

CallmeGlad:
Not all igbos are interested in Biafra biko.

Biafra,religion and ponzi all for brain washed and gullible people.

The guy should have been more concerned with the incarceration of a certain Mazi in kuje prison.

Nonsense

I guess your yoruba vaginna wants to unite with Biafran dickiies forever and ever. Amen!

Was there a time u stopped singing your failed song on secessioning?

In fact, the agitation has now become somewhat like the hoots of car horns, in a Lagos traffic!

JohnsonOlanre:


I guess your yoruba vaginna wants to unite with Biafran dickiies forever and ever. Amen!

I dont usually do this but you are very dumb

Those who do not believe in theirself are afraid of division are nothing but a palacites. NO 2019 as one country, it has started counting.

Stingman:



As we trust Buhari, who is ready to protect all Nigerians, especially from the murderous Fulani herdsmen? Why do you Nigerians like to live in utter delusion and deceit...?

look...its better you are ready for it,or you will not be trusted with any positions in the goverment no more...

that is our condition for you to get anything...

you must be ready to die for each and every nigerian...

Stingman:


Master, with the highest literacy rate, highest poverty rate, highest infant mortality rate, highest cases of preventable diseases, highest number of street beggars...You are huge joke, even to yourself....

But they are still the master, and if u think otherwise, do anyhow and see any how.

Have you forgotten that the dilector is still chawing watery beans and he has just finished serving 1/27 yrs of his terms as directed by these 'illiterates'?

bantudra:


look...its better you are ready for it,or you will not be trusted with any positions in the goverment no more...

that is our condition for you to get anything...

you must be ready to die for each and every nigerian...

Yes, you are correct...just as Buhari is ready to die for each and every Nigerian..?Continue to deep your head deeper in the sand...

Stingman:


Yes, you are correct...just as Buhari is ready to die for each and every Nigerian..?Continue to deep your head deeper in the sand...

you think if buhari was not ready to die for nigerians he would have overthrow the goverment in the 90s??..

do you even understand how much risk that was??...

ojukwus own was a risk too...

Make an Igbo man the head of any security agency and watch him attempt to move its headquarters to Enugu.

During Jona's regime, a certain aviation minister alongside the then head of school of aviation, also Igbo, made desperate attempts to move the NCAA from Zaria to Enugu. It took the intervention of numerous northern elites to halt the move.

When Dora was made information minister, she also made attempts to move the National Film Institute from Jos to Enugu. The indigenes had to protest to have the decision rescinded.

People are suspicious of the Igbo man for justifiable reasons; he sees everyone else as undeserving of anything.

The are not politically sagacious.

There are many good Igbo people out there, but the shady ones make you stand firmly on your feet whenever you deal with any Igbo man. It's pathetic.

CallmeGlad:
Not all igbos are interested in Biafra biko.

Biafra,religion and ponzi all for brain washed and gullible people.

The guy should have been more concerned with the incarceration of a certain Mazi in kuje prison.

Nonsense

He-Afonja tell your FG to conduct a simple Referendum and see the greatest shock of your life..

kabrud:


But they are still the master, and if u think otherwise, do anyhow and see any how.

Have you forgotten that the dilector is still chawing watery beans and he has just finished serving 1/27 yrs of his terms as directed by these 'illiterates'?

yes he is eating watery beans but he looks more healthier and stronger than that VEGETABLE in London abi na grave

ZZ22:
He-Afonja tell your FG to conduct a simple Referendum and see the greatest shock of your life..

conduct a refend in the south east..nobody realy cares..

but asking that from the entire nigeria is a waste of time..

the results will still not favour you...

do your referen thing in the east and past the results to your leaders in the east..
thenn your leaders will take actions..

but the way you want it will not work...

ZZ22:
He-Afonja tell your FG to conduct a simple Referendum and see the greatest shock of your life..

Anyone who doesnt agree with you on Biafra is an Afonja?The way most of you reason is legendary.

Yet on a daily basis the igbos are trooping in enmass to an Afonja party.

Brain washed mofos.

When is Trump coming to release Mazi kanu?

Igbos should not secede now

ZZ22:
yes he is eating watery beans but he looks more healthier and stronger than that VEGETABLE in London abi na grave

keep taking solace with the prisoner of your mind

CallmeGlad:


Anyone who doesnt agree with you on Biafra is an Afonja?The way most of you reason is legendary.

Yet on a daily basis the igbos are trooping in enmass to an Afonja party.

Brain washed mofos.

When is Trump coming to release Mazi kanu?

Your just a He-Afonja stop scamming people here

ZZ22:
Your just a He-Afonja stop scamming people here

The people that i have scammed havent complain.

When will mazi stop been fed watery beans in kuje?

ZZ22:
yes he is eating watery beans but he looks more healthier and stronger than that VEGETABLE in London abi na grave

Of all the best of people not eating watery beans in Nigeria today, how many of them are living better than the people eating watery beans.it was in Lagos that a bus driver was beaten to death by a Hausa indomie seller because of N30