Former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, yesterday, asked Ndigbo and their governors to take their destiny in
their hands by developing the South-East geographical zone instead of waiting
for the government.
Obasanjo said there was no
need for the governors to wait for the Federal Government to develop South-East
when they already had the instruments already.
Obasanjo noted that
economy and security were two sides of the same coin, adding that none could be
achieved without the other.
He also asked Igbo elders
to intervene in the on-going agitation for Biafra Republic to bring the
situation under control.
Obasanjo described the
Igbo stock as unique people, saying their entrepreneurial and communal efforts
were driven with the spirit of adventure.
He spoke as the Deputy
Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu asked President Muhammadu Buhari to obey an
earlier court order compelling the Federal Government to release the detained
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.
Ekweremadu further
lamented that the South-East zone was not represented at the apex level of
either the military or the police.
On the rule of law and
fundamental human rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended,
Ekweremadu insisted that Kanu must have his day in court and if court orders
his release, he must be released.
Both Obasanjo and
Ekweremadu spoke, yesterday at the South East Economic and Security Summit in
Enugu. Among those who attended the summit included former Secretary of the
Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme;
Chief Pascal Dozie; Mbazulike Amaechi; Ben Akabueze; Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika
(retd), among other dignitaries.
President Muhammadu Buhari
was expected as a guest during the summit but he neither attended nor sent any
representative. Develop your zone, don’t wait for FG, Obasanjo tells S-East
govs, Ndigbo According to Obasanjo, the aim of the summit was on how the
industrious people of the zone could do things for themselves other than
relying on government’s intervention. Obasanjo said:
“Insecurity in any part of
the country affects the other. The instruments of doing the jobs are already
with you. “The South-East had been known from time for entrepreneurship,
community effort services and their spirit of adventure.
The papa Okafor has been
there in my village right from when I was growing up and nobody has taken those
traits away from the Igboman, but how do we use it to achieve economic
prosperity and security?
“You can’t have security
when the economy of your people is not well taken care of and you can’t have
security without economic prosperity. What we need to do here is to harness
what we have.
“The people of the
South-East are extremely unique and need to be harnessed. We should work
together and that is the purpose of this summit.”
The former president told
the gathering to look in the ways of their fertile agricultural land, the Aba
industrial cluster, and other minerals both on the surface and beneath the
earth to grow their economy.
“Whatever we can do for
ourselves, let us do it for ourselves. If I could go to Maiduguri when Boko
Haram was raging and I had to try to reach out to them in the interest of the
country, I don’t think I have to be eulogized for being part of the initiative
of South-East summit.
“Security is all
inclusive. If there is no security in any part of the country, there is no
security in the entire country.
All the governors have
spoken. I am delighted. They said ‘we have things we can do if given the
instrument’. You have the instruments already.
Obasanjo lists traits of
Ndigbo “We knew South-East for enterprise, entrepreneurial ability, communal
interest and spirit of adventure. Nobody can take it away from them.
What can we do with it in
area of economy and security? The symbiotic relationship between economy and
security has been mentioned by the governors and the chairman.
You cannot have good
economy when the security of your people is not taken care of. If security is
not taken care of, the economy will diminish. What we have, how can we use it?
“The people of South-East
are extremely unique. That uniqueness of the South-East must be used to your
advantage,” Obasanjo said.
On agitation for a
sovereign state of Biafra On the agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra,
Obasanjo attributed the situation to youth restiveness, caused by challenges
facing the young people of the zone and asked:
“But should we leave them
with the agitation, should we leave them as elders? “There should be agitation
by the youths but should we leave them with the agitation? There is this saying
that where youths are cutting trees in the forest, the elders should caution
them because they are the people who know where the tree will fall,” he addeed.
Citing the Aba-made shoes
and Ebonyi rice as examples, Obasanjo described the potentials of the
South-East region as legendary, saying that the South-East could be the food
basket of the nation.
He, however, described the
challenge of youth restiveness in the region as understandable as the agitators
had education and skills and yet they do not have jobs.
I’m not at war with Buhari
In his speech, Ekweremadu stressed that he was not at war with President
Muhammadu Buhari, citing recent meetings he had had with the President.
Ekweremadu further called
for the restructuring of the country, noting that if Nigeria’s democracy should
thrive, the citizens should be ready to subject themselves to the basic rules
of law.
He said: “So long as we
have unified economic structure, it cannot work. It is also important that all
parts of the country are represented in the affairs of government.
As we talk now, nobody
from the South-East is among the security chiefs in Nigeria.
“On human rights, the
issue of liberty is an inalienable right. If court says release somebody,
please do that. No matter the offence allegedly committed by Nnamdi Kanu, he
should be released from detention.”
The Chairman of the
planning committee of the summit and former Minister of Power, Prof. Bath
Nnaji, said the essence of the summit was to brainstorm on how the private
sector could work with the public sector to achieve infrastructure influx into
the South East.
Nnaji said the areas they
are looking at to work on include gas pipelines, railway, sustainable
agriculture, among other areas.
Anyaoku calls for
restructuring of Nigeria Earlier, Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of
Commonwealth and Chairman of the occasion, reiterated his call for the
restructuring of Nigeria to have fewer and effective federating units for this
country to have stability and faster pace of development.
“There is no need for
Federal Government to periodically bail out any of the 36 non-viable units from
dire financial conditions,” he said.
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