Chairman, Forum of State Presidents of Ohanaeze in the seven Igbo –speaking states, Dr. Chris Eluomunoh told newsmen at a news briefing in Awka, capital of Anambra state that no right thinking person would support what he called the madness of the group.
The chairman insisted that Ohanaeze has nothing whatsoever to do with the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and his cohorts in their struggle for Biafra agitation.
“You will notice that Ohanaeze has been very silent on the issue of Biafra insurgency, though the youth wing of Ohanaeze has been speaking on it. Ohanaeze, as the Igbo cultural group, cannot support Biafra and we dissociate ourselves from it totally.
“Igbo people have contributed much to the development of Nigeria and we cannot allow some people to jeopardize the lives and efforts of millions of Igbo residing in all parts of Nigeria.
“We believe that anybody who has any issue to settle with the Federal Government should use dialogue and that is why we participated in the last National Conference. No sane Igbo person would want to witness a repeat of the kind of thing that happened during the Civil War.
“(Chief Odumegwu) Ojukwu, who led the Biafra war, returned to Nigeria from exile and contested elections in Nigeria, which showed that he was fully integrated into Nigeria and was a full-fledged Nigerian before he died.”
Eluemunor denied the speculation that politicians of Igbo extraction were supporting the Biafran agitation, adding that their support came mainly from outside the country.
He, however, said that part of the reasons for the agitation was the dearth of infrastructure in Igbo land and pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to address the infrastructural decay in the area.
He called on Buhari to declare a state of emergency on the infrastructure problem in the South East by rehabilitating the federal roads that have become death traps due to neglect.
He said that doing so would help to correct the imbalances and marginalisation being suffered by the people of the area.
“We know the marginalisation was not caused by him, but we plead that he should look into the problems being complained about by the people of South East and South–South. He has won the election and we in Ohanaeze support him and will work with him for the unity of the country.” [myad]
