Produce Nnamdi Kanu Dead Or Alive, Kayode Tells FG
By Austin Echefu
Igbo and Yoruba leaders met at The Base Events Center, Enugu State, on Thursday for the Handshake Across The Niger summit.
The Handshake Across the Niger which was was well attendended by leaders from Southeast, Southwest, Niger Delta and the Middle Belt was put together by Nzuko Ununna.
The delegation from the Middle Belt was led by the former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, while the Niger Delta delegation was led by former Military Governor Ewang.
Speaking at the summit, But Chief Femi-Fani Kayode said the leaders should stop being politically correct, saying the Preident Buhari should produce Nnamdi Kanu dead or alive, even as he condemned the Operation Python Dance in the Southeast.
He said: “What they did to the IPOB is utterly reprehensible. They came, killed and slaughtered. And I call on President Buhari to produce Nnamdi Kanu whether he is dead or alive.
He also called for the banning of Miyetti Allah, saying: “We hereby ask the Federal Government to proscribe Miyetti Allah and declare the group and members terrorists. Anything outside restructuring is insincerity”
According to him, the North sees the rest of Nigeria as slaves and vessels, stressing that Nigeria should apologise to Ndigbo for the millions killed before and during the war.
Speaking on restructuring, the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, noted that while the Handshake Across the Niger was going on, about 73 persons were being buried in Benue State, including some Igbo sons who were sent to fetch the corpses of their brothers who had died in the state.
He added that the call for restructuring Nigeria was irrevocable, saying: “Our irrevocable stand that Nigeria must be restructured is nonnegotiable. To abandon restructuring is to self-destruct Nigeria. Every credible analysis shows that unless we devolve powers to the states and allow them control of their natural resources and basic utilities of powers, environment, education and infrastructural development, Nigeria will collapse. Anyone opposed to restructuring is a proponent of the liquidation of Nigeria. Already the signs are becoming obvious as over 70% of the states can hardly meet their expenditures”.
Also speaking, Chief Ayo Adebanjo who led the Yoruba leaders to the summit said that only by restructuring Nigeria would an Igbo man become President, saying that the Igbo cannot become President as of favour done to them by any group.
“We did not come here to gang up against anybody. We came here to fight a common oppressor. You don’t have to be President by any favours done to you by anybody or group. It is your right, and only through restructuring can that be possible.
“2019 is coming and they are preparing for elections. We say we cannot go into any election without restructuring. We must know the basis on which we must go into the election”, he said.
He also said that “President Buhari is the problem Nigeria is facing by opposing the restructuring of Nigeria”, adding that the President cannot be more northerner than the Saduana of Sokoto whom he said was part of the 1960 constitution.
He added that the North is opposing restructuring because they are the beneficiaries of the lopsidedness in the country.
Also speaking, former Governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, said the handshake should be extended across the Benue, adding that what Nigeria needs now is the people’s constitution.
The Handshake Across the Niger summit was attended by prominent leaders from the Southeast, Southwest, Niger Delta and the Middle Belt, including: Joseph Odumuku, Coordinator, Nzuko Umunna; Dr Olusegun Mimiko, former governor of Ondo State; Chief John Nnia Nwodo, President Ohanaeze Ndigbo; Mr Alban Ofili -Okonkwo, Guest Speaker; Chief Ifeanyi Uba, LOC Chairman and Chief Ikedi Ohakim, former governor of Imo State, Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State; President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo; Yoruba leaders such as Chiefs Olu Falae, Ayo Adebanjo and Prof Banji Akintoye; former governors of Plateau and Ondo states, Jonah Jang and Dr Olusegun Mimiko respectively as well as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who was represented by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.
Others dignitaries in attendance were former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode; former Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife; Admiral Ndubisi Kanu (retd), Chief Sonibare, Sen Kofo Bucknor-Akerele, Fola Doherty, Chief Kentebe, Amb Eddie Onuoha, Chief D. Douglas, representative of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adedapo, Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, who represented Gov. Rochas Okorocha; Vice Chancellor of the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Rev Fr. Prof Anieke; Ohanaeze Chairman in Enugu State, Chief Alex Ogbonna; Sen Mao Ohuabunwa, former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State, Prof Chigozie Ogbu; Sen Chris Anyanwu, Jimi Akintoye and Chief Ifeanyi Ubah.
Highpoint of the occasion was the symbolic handshake between the leaders of the various nationalities at the summit.
Meanwhile, there was uproar at the summit as aggrieved members of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) from Abia State disrupted the proceedings, shouting no! no! no! when Chief Nnia Nwodo mentioned restructuring Nigeria.
They lamented that the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo looked the other way while their children were killed by the Operation Python Dance in Umuhia and the herdsmen in Plateau and Benue states.
The protesters who gave the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee of the summit, Chief Ifeanyyi Ubah, and others, tough time to control said that Chief Nnia Nwodo was not providing good leadership and speaking for the people.
