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Why Igbos Must Leave North Now… Reasons For The Treats – By Vincent Egunyanga

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Many  Nigerians were not surprised at the threats of some Northern

Youths  to the  Igbos of the South East  to leave the North within

three months. We were not surprised because  we saw it coming.

America  Central Intelligence Agency  [ CIA]  predicted over twenty

years ago that the outcome of the 2015 election in Nigeria was going

to break up the country except a pragmatic and Charismatic leader

emerged as the President.

Many people did not take the warning or the prediction seriously, but

I did, some of us did.  We knew that Nigeria would break up some day

but what  I expected  was a peaceful    breakup.  A  peaceful breakup

without bloodshed or killing one another  so that we could still be

friends or good  neighbours  after the breakup.

The  former USSR  has broken up into fifteen Republics  without wars

or bloodshed  and some of them are still parts of the  Commonwealth of

States except maybe some that were sponsored by some European

Countries who are still fighting their own cold wars.

Let me first of all say am a Nigerian, a proud Nigerian and want to

remain a Nigerian, MY wish is that the North withdraw the threat in

the interest of peace  but this threat should not be taken lightly.

2015 elections had come and gone but the wounds are  yet to heal.  We

have once again been reminded of the  civil war that ended  almost 50

years ago. The  government in power has not even done anything to heal

the wounds created by the election and bring all Nigerians together,

but instead President Muhammadu  Buhari came with his theory of paying

attention to 75 percent of those  who gave him the vote over the five

percent that did not vote for him.  He did not just say it  but has

walked the talk with his appointments so far and the citing of

projects despite constitution provisions to the contrary.

Various  Youths groups in the North rose from a meeting in Kaduna with

a warning to Igbos in the North to leave the Region.

One  Mallam Abdulazeez Suleiman who read the declaration tagged

‘KADUNA DECLARATION’  said the North is tired of the 1914 Amalgamation

of Nigeria.  It reads ‘ we are hereby placing Nigerian Authorities and

the entire Nation on notice that as from 1st  October 2017 we shall

commence the implementation of visible action to prove to the whole

world that we are no longer part of any Federal Union that should  do

with the Igbo.’

Very  strong statement indeed.  What the statement  means is that they

will begin  an attack on Igbos in the North if they refused to  leave.

The  question is should we take the warning lightly,  my answer is NO.

The reason is that Northern Youths had  issued  such threats in the

past and were carried out fully.

First they warned in 2011 that if Goodluck Jonathan won the 2011

election the country would be ungovernable  for him. They carried it

out.  By the time the election results were announced over 800 people

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were killed  in the post election  violence,  then came BOKO HARAM

that actually made the country ungovernable through out  the tenure of

Jonathan in office.   Infact  Boko Haram issue was one of the reasons

why  Jonathan lost his reelection bid.

Besides  as we were approaching the 2015 election the same Northern

Youths came out with a warning that the country would break up if

Jonathan won the election.  Even  Buhari himself threatened that if

the election was rigged Monkey and Baboon would soak in their own

blood.  To carry out the threats  Fulani herdsmen started to

stockpile weapons of different types especially  AK47 riffles.  Well

Buhari was  declared winner of the election but the herdsmen are now

using  the AK47 they acquired  to terrorize Nigerians,  to kidnap,

kill and rape yet no one is on trial for now.

Now what is the offence of the Igbos to deserve this quit notice from

the Northern Youths.  The  reasons they gave was because of the

success of the sit at home declared by IPOB  on 30th May 2017 to mark

50 years of the declaration of Biafra Republic. The  question is what

is wrong in Remembering and honouring   those who died  during the

Biafrans civil war just as Nigeria itself celebrate  Armed Forces

Remembrance day  every year and even some states in the country  like

Lagos state, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Kano etc who also celebrated 50

years of their creation.

Besides if the sit at home order by Biafran  agitators was the real

reason  asking  Igbos to leave the North,  why Igbos living in the

North  who in the first place have said many times that they are not

Biafrans  and  also ignored the sit at home order.  This is exactly

what happened in 1966 when over two hundred thousand Igbos were killed

in the North because according to the Northerners their leaders were

killed in the 1966 coups. As  a result over two hundred Igbos living

in the North including women and children even unborn children in the

womb of their  pregnant mothers were slaughtered, most of whom knew

nothing about the coup and had nothing to do with the coup plotters.

I want to suggest reasons  for this  quit notice given to the Igbos to

leave the North, first the government want to divert attention to its

misrule as the two years of Buhari’s  administration has been a

failure.  Secondly, I believe  a lot of things will happen in the

country between now and October.  President Muhammadu Buhari may not

be able to  continue in office due to ill health or death.  This may

lead to Constitutional and Succession  crisis  between the Yorubas

and the North as the North may not want Osinbajo to take over.   It’s

a way of warning Igbos not to take sides during the crisis  or they

will be forced out of the Region and they will lose their investments.

This is more likely to happen just as the Oba of Lagos, Oba Akiolu

warned  Igbos  ahead of 2015 governorship election  in Lagos   that

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they would end up in the Lagoon if they voted for Jimmy Agbaje.

The  third reason is that the allegations of the coup plot is yet to

die down.  The  North may actually begin to attack and kill Igbos  who

are the most visible  non indigenous  ethnic groups in the North. The

killing will continue and the government  will pretend not to be able

to do anything about it. It may make the coup plotters to strike  ‘to

stop further killings of innocent citizens’  as the government would

have been accused of  failure to protect lives and properties. This

third option will receive International support for the coup plotters

especially the United Nations, African Union etc.  This was the reason

why the Military coup in Egypt was welcome by the International

community  after the  overthrow of  former President  Morsi of

Islamic brotherhood of Egypt.

WHAT THEN SHOULD IGBOS DO. I  want to caution Igbos not to take the

warning lightly. Igbos should begin the process of  returning back

home and leave the North immediately. Igbo leaders should also draw

the attention of the International Community, the UN, AU ECOWAS,

AMERICA, FRANCE, ISRAEL etc to the pogrom that is about to take place

in the country. They should seek for international help to help them

evacuate their  citizens from the North and resettle them  in the

East.  Many of them were born in the North and do not have any other

home except the North and some may not even know where to go to and

call home in the South East, an IDP camp may not be a bad idea. OUR

LEADERS HAVE GONE MAD AGAIN.

IN THE LONG RUN if this period goes  without crisis, Igbos should

begin to take seriously to the idea of developing their Region. Igbos

should begin to return their investments  and Assets back to the East.

You can now see the foolishness of trying to claim that you are not a

Biafran and that the Biafran struggle is only a South East affair.

Igbos should begin to take seriously to the idea of setting up the

SOUTH EAST  DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.  Every Igbo should contribute to

this Commission  which will develop the Zone, provide Infrastructure

and create jobs for the Youths.

The  agitation for Biafra may not actually be against Nigeria but

against Igbo leaders who have abandoned their people. The continued

agitation will put the Assets and Investments of Igbo leaders  in the

North and Lagos at risk. This  is an agitation  Nnamdi Kalu is trying

to explore.

I have no doubt that if Igbos  both home and Abroad  contribute to

this fund over N500b  will be realized before the end of the year.

Igbos in the North and Lagos should invest massively in it as a way of

protecting their investments outside. This  is because any insecurity

problem in the South East will also affect them through a reprisals.

Vincent Egunyanga , Public Affairs Analyst Write This From  Asaba.

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