Government Of Imo State
Press Release
The governor of Imo State and the chairman of APC Governors Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has read the media reports credited to the founder and sole proprietor of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike describing the Imo Governor as Igbo saboteur.
In the reports in question, Chief Uwazuruike was quoted to have said that apart from governor Okorocha being Igbo saboteur, he has also been aiding and abetting the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Federal Government in the continued marginalization of the Igbo, and then asked the Igbos to ignore the Governor.
Although Chief Uwazuruike had made his claim and his allegation, the indisputable fact remains that the real Igbo saboteur is Chief Uwazuruike himself and not Governor Okorocha, because all over the world, the real enemies of their people are those who fail or refuse to tell them the truth.
Obviously, what must have prompted Chief Uwazuruike’s media attack on Governor Okorocha this time was the Governor’s condemnation of the violent protest in the name of Biafra some weeks ago, and his remark that Igbo people would not use MASSOB as a platform to ask for what is due for them in an entity called Nigeria, but, the truth must be told.
Chief Uwazuruike had used his MASSOB to adopt and support the PDP and former President Goodluck Jonathan when they held sway and, he should mention one project the PDP-led federal government or former President Jonathan did in any part of Igboland.
The MASSOB leader was part of the hate campaign against the APC and president Mohammadu Buhari, while Governor Okorocha was telling his Igbo kinsmen to read accurately the body language of the rest of Nigerians and today, it is left for Ndi-Igbo to tell themselves the truth about who was the real saboteur, Uwazuruike or Okorocha?
It is also left for Chief Uwazuruike to tell his audience why MASSOB went to bed throughout the period Jonathan was president only for MASSOB to woke up from their deep slumber now that president Buhari is the president.
The fact is that the Igbos cannot be asking for sovereignty in a country they are one of the major stakeholders. And if MASSOB had failed to get or achieve sovereignty under Goodluck Jonathan they had supported, is it under president Buhari they never supported who would allow them to achieve that?
Truly speaking, the issue of MASSOB is a distraction. And Igbo leaders and the Governors in the South East geo-political zone won’t be part of that unnecessary distraction. The leaders and governors in the zone have resolved to work with Buhari to attract development to the area. And the projects have begun to come with the elevation of the Imo Airport to Cargo International Airport with work already in progress in the place.
Governor Okorocha is an Igbo man to the highest order and would continue to support and promote genuine course of the Igbos within a corporate Nigeria and in the overall interest of Ndi-Igbo both at home and in diaspora.
Sam Onwuemeodo
Chief Press Secretary To the Governor
