Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, yesterday urged the Federal Government and citizens to treat the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, as an individual whose views do not represent those of the generality of Igbo.
No reasonable Igbo man, the governor said, “would support secession or division of the country.”
Okorocha who spoke at the new Yam festival organised by the
State Council of Traditional Rulers said that “everyone that loves Ndigbo has condemned the activities of IPOB.”
The Ooni of Ife, His Majesty Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who attended the function said he would not condemn the IPOB elements but would rather ask that they be made to channel their energy positively.
Okorocha said: “I can see that the unity of Nigeria is today dramatised in the land of Imo State. I say so because growing up as a child, I never knew where I came from because I found myself somewhere in Plateau State as a little boy and the only language I could speak was the Hausa language and I had no choice because that was where I was brought up.
“So, I grew up being born an Igbo man, but was reared in the North and was made financially buoyant in the South-West. So I have declared myself that in no way should I be found as a tribalised Nigerian. I will remain detribalised as long as Igbo gave me parentage and childhood, as long as North reared and nurtured me and for as long as Southwest empowered me. My community and my identity is Nigeria.
“The Igbo business men have more real estates and more properties and assets outside Igbo land than in Igbo land. So, I want to dissociate Igbo from this very thing that Igbo want to go for secession. A man that wants to go for secession cannot build mansions in Lagos, Kano, Plateau and the rest of the states.
“I think we should single out this act of this young man from the rest of Nigerians. My worry again stands strongly on the fact that today, the issue of IPOB is being politicised. Today, most of them that never worked with the Buhari-led government are using this as an opportunity to fight the federal government. Call those people to order. It’s not far-fetched who these people are. Some of them are busy visiting Kanu’s house and encouraging him. Those people should make a rethink, because they are not doing this nation any good.”
