Ndigbo set to avenge further killings in North E-mail
Written by TONY EDIKE
Monday, 16 March 2009

ENUGU—THE pan Igbo socio cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo reviewed the continued attacks on Ndigbo living in the Northern parts of the country at the weekend and declared that it can neither rule out nor restrain Ndigbo from carrying out reprisal attacks against the indigenes of any section of the country where Igbos are killed or have their properties destroyed during religious or ethnic riots.

The organisation also said it would not rest until an additional state was created in the Igbo speaking areas of the country, just as it described as a fiction the reported dispute over the position of its Secretary General.

Chairman of the Anioma, Delta state chapter of the organisation, Amba Leo Okogwu, made these positions of the organisation known while speaking with reporters.

He said the leadership of Ohanaeze has come to the conclusion that its pacifist postures in the past has not been able to deter people from other parts of the country from continually and whimsically attacking and killing Ndigbo, [/b]noting that the posture has appeared instead to have created the notion that Ndigbo were weak and incapable of taking similar measures against their attackers.

His words: “It has become very obvious to us in Ohanaeze that [b]these killings will continue unless our people begin to carry out reprisals each time they occur. This is a situation we have been trying to avoid all the while but from all indications our fellow countrymen are not about to give up the wanton killing of our people and so it has become very difficult for us to restrain our people from carrying out reprisals”.

“Each time we Igbos hear that something like that nonsense has happened again, we get very annoyed. For example, the last crisis in Jos claimed nine people from my area (Anioma) alone and we lost N61 million worth of property just because we are Igbos. How do you think our people should feel about the people who carried out this wicked act and to think that they do it repeatedly and at will is certainly too much to bear. It is time Igbo people told the others, if you don’t stop killing us, then we will pay you back in the same coin each time you attack us”, he said.

Okogwu, who expressed disgust at the inability and incapacitation of the many panels of inquiry set up to look into the several crises in the past, observed that the nature of their composition and the assignment given to them have always shown that they were doomed to fail and that those who set them up were never serious about getting to the root cause of the problems and finding a permanent solution to them.

While Ohanaeze has continued to urge Ndigbo to invest in Igboland, he stressed, it would not support the idea of Ndigbo leaving their businesses in other lands to return home, as according to him, this would negate the notion of one Nigerian nation and would further undermine national unity.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/31077/45/

Afaukwu u don come again.

The reasons adduced by Ohaneze are infallible. Nobody has a monopoly of violence.

Terrorists have invaded Nigeria CAN

•Ndigbo will avenge further killings in the North –Ohanaeze

JOHN SHIKLAM, Kaduna

Christian Association (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), weekend raised alarm over alleged presence of terrorists who have invaded the country, warning that unless the Federal Government takes adequate security measures to checkmate their activities, they will destabilise the country.

This is coming on the heels of the declaration by apex Igbo socio cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, that it will no longer restrain Ndigbo from carrying out reprisal attacks against the indigenes of any section of the country where Igbos are killed or have their properties destroyed during religious or ethnic riots.

General Secretary of CAN in the North, Elder Saidu Dogo, said in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna, that Nigerians should expect more crises, alleging that some of the terrorists were receiving training in the bush.

"We should be expecting more crises because there are trainings going on in the bush and the security people know about this.

"There are terrorists and fundamentalists that have invaded this country and if care is not taken, definitely this country may not remain one. We are living in a dynamic society. Many of our youths today are becoming educated and that is a potential time bomb because most of them are jobless.

"They may become an easy tool in the hands of those who are bent on destabilising this country. The government must take urgent steps to address this.

"I don’t have to tell you where this thing is going on, but definitely there are trainings going on in the bush. Go and investigate what I am telling you. You will see over 100 people in a trailer or a truck saying they are going on hunting, they are not going for any hunting, they are going for training in the bush to learn how to fight.

"In Kaduna, the governor had to order that those going for the so called hunting should stop. That is what is happening all over the North. Reports have been reaching security agencies.

"Some of them are from Niger Republic; some are from Chad. If care is not taken, these people will destabilise this country. The government must do something about this," Dogo said.

He said some of those operating as commercial motorcyclists in some cities, especially in the North are among those who have been imported into the country and are being trained in the bush.

"We discovered that some of those people doing Okada are not Nigerians; they don’t understand any Nigerian language. Who gave them these motorcycles? They are very easy to be detected. They cannot speak any of the Nigerian languages and they don’t know the name of any street or place within the town where they stay.

"These are the people who are imported into this country to cause confusion. This was very evident in the Jos crisis of November last year. So as long the security of this country is not taken seriously, we will continue to have crises. But the security agents must investigate and do some thing about these people training in the bush," the CAN scribe said further.

afaukwu keep sounding the alarm.

Why the North is in crises—Sen Akume
Written by Ibraheem Musa, Kaduna
Monday, 16 March 2009

ImageThe recent crises in Jos and Bauchi towns which culminated into loss of lives and property are clear indications that the people of the north have departed from the ideals and goals that united the north in the past, Senator George Akume, the immediate past governor of Benue state said yesterday.

The senator who spoke at an Arewa Media Forum lecture with the theme, The north yesterday, today and tomorrow, at Arewa House Kaduna, lamented that people have taken up arms against their fellow brothers whom they have been living peacefully with for centuries. “We recognise that both Islam and Christianity preach peace and love and so we must look beyond religion to find the cause of this wanton destruction of lives and property,“ he said, asking rhetorically, “could it be political manipulation by the elite?“

According to him, the north has lost the majestic spirit of tolerance, fairness and shared aspirations that were its rightful inheritance from its founders. He recalled that the biggest achievement of north was its leaders’ philosophy of one north, one people, one destiny. It was under this philosophy, Senator Akume said, that Sir Ahmadu Bello related in a brotherly manner with people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds in the north in his cabinet.

“It was the philosophy that drove the Sardauna to fight hard for our brothers who were trapped under the United Nations Trusteeship in Cameroun. But for him and his large heart, large portions of today’s Adama-wa and Taraba states would have been in Cameroun,“ he added, adding that he saved the north the trauma and humiliation of a “northern Bakassi“.

Senator Akume recalled that the philosophy of being your brother’s keeper, was not limited to the leadership of the party in power. “The opposition also upheld this principle of fairness and tolerance as demonstrated by Joseph Tarka through the election of Ibrahim Imam from Borno to the regional assembly“, he pointed out. Imam won the election from Jemgbagh constituency of Benue province overwhelmingly into the northern house of assembly, he recalled.

The former governor said that the northern legislators at the federal level saw things from “the perspective of collective northern interest while at the same time supporting causes that ensured national unity“ According to him, when the north attained self rule in 1958, the region was the most backward of the three regions, adding that Sarda-una was able to narrow the gap, especially in the area of manpower development,

He blamed the current decline in the north “on our failure as northerners to collectively internalise and realise the big dreams of our founding fathers.“ According to him, “a sharp vision, courage and selflessness compensated for their limited exposure to western education.The problem of our decline is our own creation.“

The senator praised Sir Ahmadu Bello’s commitment to education by establishing AhamaduBello University, Zaria in1963, He recalled that missionary schools enjoyed generous grants from the regional government, adding that Sarduana visited St Michael’s Secondary School Aliade in Benue province to present gifts to the school when Master John Onaiyekan, the current catholic archbishop of Abuja, came first throughout the country by scoring As in all his subjects.

Senator Akume recalled that the north came from behind and took the lead in information dissemination, by establishing Radio Television Kaduna which was equipped with the most modern equipment at that time. The radio station mobilised the people towards shared goals, aspirations and national development, he added. The New Nigerian Newspapers was the first to introduce the web-offset press in 1966 when it debuted, he further said.

“On the economic front, we remember with nostalgia the Bank of the North and the Norther Nigeria Development Company(NNDC) and the vision and foresight involved in their establishment. These institutions recorded successes in promoting viable economic activities in the north,“ he recalled.

As we enter into the 21st century, according to Akume, the north must work hard in order to take its rightful position in the country. To this end, it must share strategic positions equitably amongst its people, cultivate a leadership that is honest, committed, courageous and visionary. At the same time, the north should build bridges across other geo-political blocs in order to enhance national unity, he said.

In addition, northerners should maintain religious tolerance, give priority to education and wealthy northerners should pool resources and jointly finance projects, especially in banking and telecommunication sectors as well as establish agro-based industries, he added.

Breaking News! Breaking News! Breaking News!

No, not really.

;d