President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Nnia, has vowed not to allow the Indigenous People of Biafra use Igbo youths to cause trouble.
Nwodo said he will sabotage any attempt to cause war in Igboland in the name of agitation for Biafra.
He made the vow while addressing Ndigbo in Lagos at the practice pitch of the National Stadium during the discussion on restructuring.
He recalled how more than two million Igbo lost their lives and how many dreams were aborted during the civil war.
Chief Nwodo said Southern leaders, southern governors and senators, and the Middle belt have agreed on the need to restructure Nigeria. He said the rejoinder of Northern senators to the Southern senators’ call on President Muhammadu Buhari to restructure the country was watery.
Nwodo said he is not against the agitation for Biafra’s self determination because the Igbo are truly marginalised and oppressed in Nigeria.
However, he said is opposed to the methodology of the agitators because it cannot work in Nigeria as currently constituted.
The only way out, he argued, is restructuring and enthronement of fiscal federalism which will allow the states to control their resources, handle issues like police, education, health, mineral resources, etc while the Federal Government handle functions like immigration, customs, central banking, aviation and external affairs.
Nwodo declared his opposition to another war in Igboland when pro-Biafran youths wielding placards stormed the venue while he was addressing the crowd.
Pleading with the security not to deal with the protesters, Nwodo said: “Nobody should touch these youths. They are my children. When I was their age, I was in the trench fighting for Biafra. My best friend died at the battle front.
“More than one million people were killed in the battle, one and half million people starved to death…you can’t be a youth then without going to the battle front.
“I can’t allow that to happen to my people again. That is why I will be a saboteur in any attempt to levy another war on Igboland. That is why Ohanaeze wants restructuring of Nigeria.”
“Northern senators issued a rejoinder to our position on restructuring, that we are heating the polity but they did not address the points we raised.”
Notable Igbo leaders at the gathering include: Chief Guy Ikokwu, Agunze Chibueze Ikokwu, Chief Sylvan Ebigwei, Eze Hycinth Ohazulike, Chief Eric Ebe, Prince Emeka Ogbu and Chief Fabian Duru.
