Ovation publisher, Dele Momodu, has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerian military to exercise restraint in handling Nnamdi Kanu and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
He spoke against the backdrop of the declaration of IPOB members as terrorists.
The military had explained that the declaration was made for the following reasons: “The formation of a Biafra Secret Service; Claimed formation of Biafra National Guard; Unauthorised blocking of public access roads.
“Extortion of money from innocent civilians at illegal road blocks; militant possession and use of weapons (stones, molotov cocktails, machetes and broken bottles among others) on a military patrol on 10 September 2017.
“Physical confrontation of troops by Nnamdi Kanu and other IPOB actors at a check point on 11 September 2017 and also attempts to snatch their rifles.”
In his reaction, Dele Momodu said: “I’m not a supporter of Biafra. I don’t have to be. I love and prefer a bigger, stronger and more prosperous Nigeria. But there are reasons for many Nigerians to detest Nigeria, today. They feel they have been horribly marginalised and treated like second class citizens in their own country.
“Their perception is that they believe all or most of the following things. Their children no longer attend the good schools for which the Igbos have become well known. The goods, some of which they even make themselves in Aba, have become only available for the rich. Infrastructure is sorely lacking for the most part. Where they exist, they are decaying and nobody is really attending to them.
“There are no new jobs and the few old jobs are being lost in droves. The state of healthcare is almost hopeless. Federal character has become a total charade. We can go on, ad infinitum, reeling out the litany of woes that our brothers and sisters in the South East believe is responsible for the unusually strident agitation that we are now witnessing.
“Our government should address these issues instead of attacking those who disagree with them. One of the surest ways to do this is by education, information and public enlightenment to demonstrate that the position is not as bad as they feel.
“The social media is awash with facts and figures for and against the depth and seriousness of the so-called marginalisation of the South East. The next step would be to identify those issues which are of critical concern, proffer solutions to resolve them and then act on these solutions. The third and equally important duty of the government is to ensure an equitable distribution of resources and positions.
“Indeed, this is the major reason for the clamour for restructuring. Whilst we still operate in a system where government provides practically everything, it is only just that people must have a sense of belonging and participation.
“However, the best form of restructuring that Nigeria needs now is not merely to decentralise power but to cede power completely to the private sector whilst government contributes its quota by providing the enabling environment for the much needed industrialisation and technological advancement that will take us out of our present doldrums..
“In the name of God, the omnipotent and merciful, everyone should beg our Federal Government to end this self-immolating war of attrition. We have nothing to gain. In fact, we have more to lose.”
