and some in Ibadan. According to a letter written by the late General Adeyinka Adebayo, the industries in Oyo are owned by Lebanese and Indians, but 70 per cent of the industries located in Lagos State are owned by Igbo. So the industries that are manufacturing goods in the South-West and some in the Eastern Region have the whole of Nigeria as their market, a market of about 200 million people. If there is no Nigeria,
Salihu Tanko Yakasai, a former Special Political Adviser to former President Shehu Shagari, has chided Igbos agitating for their own country, Biafra.
He said it amounted to playing to the gallery if the same people clamouring to be on their own, still live and do business in other states of Nigeria, which they are seeking to exit.
Yakasai, who recently commented on IPOB and MASSOB leaders, noted that even if Biafra is achieved, “everybody is aware that the major ethnic groups in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. The day there is no Nigeria, the Igbo will have no alternative than to relocate to their states.”
“The reality is that the three major ethnic groups, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, need Nigeria. Every one of them needs Nigeria”, he told Daily Trust.
“In Yoruba land, Most of the industries are located in the South-West, mainly in Lagos, some in Ogun and some in Ibadan. According to a letter written by the late General Adeyinka Adebayo, the industries in Oyo are owned by Lebanese and Indians, but 70 per cent of the industries located in Lagos State are owned by Igbo.
“So the industries that are manufacturing goods in the South-West and some in the Eastern Region have the whole of Nigeria as their market, a market of about 200 million people. If there is no Nigeria, there would not be that market and what would be the consequences of lack of market?
“First, the goods cannot be sold, there will be no production and there will be unemployment, and the people that are employed in industries located in the South-West are largely Yoruba. The day there is no Nigeria, there will be massive unemployment in the South-West.
“This is apart from the food and livestock they are getting from the North. If there is no Nigeria, they will not get them, and if they are going to import, it will take time and will be costly. By nature, they cannot grow livestock and some food items in their area. The geographical situation in South-West is different from that of the North; the animals they are growing do not enough meat and milk, unlike the ones in the North.
“For the Igbo, at present there is no village where there is a flourishing market where you cannot have the Igbo conducting their own businesses. And they are living in peace; nobody is harassing them. They live within thousands of other ethnic groups and nobody is attacking them.
“It is a well known fact that the business of building materials is surrendered to Igbo people, as well as electrical appliances, fittings and spare parts. Commuter transportation; those luxury buses that are plying our roads from one state to another are owned by the Igbo.
“Two, we need the current oil revenue. In Nigeria, only
