Igbo Delegates Assembly (IDA), an umbrella body of Igbo in the 19 northern states and Abuja, has urged the Federal Government to dialogue with leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and leaders of other agitating groups.
At the end of its three days delegates meeting in Abuja, the assembly, in a communique, also urged the government to shelve the idea of revoking Kanu’s bail.
The communique, signed by Chi Nwogu, and Austine Ifedinezi, president general and secretary of the assembly, urged the federal government to take urgent steps to put Nigeria “on a path of peaceful co-existence, through equitable distribution of patronage and infrastructural development.”
IDA insisted that the recent outburst in favour of the establishment of the state of Biafra was simply a response to the socio-economic imbalances in Nigeria which, they added, would give way once the imbalances are genuinely addressed.
Insisting that the Nigeria project is workable, the assembly recommended that Nigerians should come “together as a people and persuade the federal government to put in place a framework for equitable existence in the Nigerian project.
“This should be done through the convocation of a sovereign conference, of the component ethnic nationalities, or an adoption of the reports of the 2014 National Conference.”
On the withdrawal of the October 1, 2017 quit notice on Igbo in the North by Arewa youths, the assembly saluted prominent northerners who worked for peace as well as the courage of the Coalition in backing down.
“It is on this note that we appeal to security agencies to be on guard throughout the period to prevent any breakdown of law and order in any part of Nigeria, especially in the north.”
The assembly also frowned at recent attempts to denigrate the reputation of Igbo traders in Northern Nigeria by majorly associating them with the sales of counterfeit, stolen or sub-standard drugs in the region.
