Ohanaeze chieftain blames social unrest on inequality
By OKEY NDIRIBE
ABUJA—Wide-SPREAD socio-economic inequality in the country has been identified as the source of the current upsurge in violent agitations in different parts of the country.
This view was expressed Thursday in Abuja by the Chairman of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr Nwabueze Obi, while briefing journalists on activities lined up by the Igbo socio-cultural group to mark the annual Igbo day within the FCT.
He said: “Whether it is Movement for the Actualisation for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Niger Delta militant groups, Boko Haram or Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), these groups have a common denominator; they are fall-outs of the social injustice that has persisted in this country for too long.”
He urged the various tiers of government to create jobs so that more youths would become employed across the country adding that a social welfare programme should also be introduced to cater for unemployed Nigerians.
However, he maintained that Ohanaeze Ndigbo abhors violence because it doesn’t pay and can’t lead to progress in any society.
He also lamented against what he called the continued marginalization of the Igbos in Nigeria since the end of the civil war 41 years ago.
Said he: “For instance, it is unjust for the South-East zone to have only five states while all other zones in the country have a minimum of six states”.
He also observed that it is time Ndigbo were allowed to produce the President of Nigeria in order to assure the members of the ethnic nationality that the civil war had indeed ended.
Nwabueze further stressed that since the Igbos were not accommodated in the federal civil service like other ethnic groups, they were compelled to resort to trading not by choice but for the purpose of survival as a people saying they should not be harassed or attacked for believing strongly in one Nigeria.
He further stated that the Igbo Day celebration was for both Igbos and friends of Ndigbo both at home and in diaspora.
The Ohanaeze chieftain also said that activities to mark the day which began last Sunday with an inter-denominational church service at the Christian Ecumenical Centre, Abuja would continue today with a carnival-like procession that would visit the liaison offices of the seven states with Igbo population in the FCT.
The celebration would continue tomorrow with a colloquium where prominent Igbos would deliver lectures on the state of the nation. The grand finale of the ceremony would take place on Thursday at the old parade ground, in the federal capital territory.
