The Coalition of Igbo Political and Socio-Cultural Groups, along with market leaders in Lagos State, have officially distanced themselves from the planned 10-day national hunger protest, declaring that the Ndigbo community will not participate.
The Coalition, comprising 16 major groups, including the Council of Ndieze in Lagos, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos, South-East Forum in Lagos, Igbo Mandate, seven Igbo Town Unions, Igbo Speaking Community, Igbo Vision APC Lagos, Igbo Market Men and Women Associations, and Ndigbo in APC, issued a statement advising Igbo traders to stay home and keep their businesses closed during the protest scheduled from August 1 to 10, to prevent potential attacks.
The Igbo leaders acknowledged the hardships currently facing the country but emphasized that the economic challenges are not unique to Nigeria and should not be attributed solely to the current government led by President Bola Tinubu.
They noted that the current situation is a result of cumulative poor governance from previous administrations, and it would be unreasonable to blame the new administration, which has been in power for less than a year.
Speaking during a press conference held at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, the Coordinator of the Coalition, High Chief Anselm Njoku, said a national protest at a time when the Federal Government is trying to revamp the economy is going to be counterproductive, hence ill advised.
He said, “We are distancing ourselves and the entire Ndigbo in Lagos from the planned protest by some unscrupulous faceless elements, who are partly using Igbo nomenclatures to fan the embers of unsounded agitation. Nigerians should develop a culture of dialogue with the government and deploy constructive criticism without resorting to unnecessary provocative protests and violence.
“It is in this regard that we enjoin all Igbo of all extraditions, stakeholders, residents, traders, and captains of industries not to join in the protest. Lagos is Yoruba land, and Ndigbo, who are residents here, have contributed immensely to its development, so they cannot be used, coerced in whatever form, to destroy assets.
“We are not destruction-prone and cannot be part of those seeking to destroy what we partly built. Ndigbo are not wired for destruction but develop wherever we are residing.
“Let it be known that from all intelligence gatherings, the faceless organisers of this planned protest are not known to us, not Igbos, and are merely hiding under Ndigbo names, dropping Igbo names to create confusion and gather credibility.”
Njoku, who noted that President Tinubu inherited a bad economy and should be given time to settle down, thanked the President for approving the South East Development Commission and appealed to him to expedite action on the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu through a political process rather than judiciary means.
“We are also using this opportunity to thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for approving the South-East Development Commission, for deeming it right, and due to appoint an Igbo illustrious son as the Chief of Naval Staff, therefore allowing the Igbo ethnic group a say in the National Security structure. We will greatly appreciate it if the President makes the Commission rewarding and beneficial to Ndigbo in general, touching the lives of people in that zone.
“In line with the robust relationship between our President and the South-East people, we appealed to the President, as a gentleman Democrat, to expedite action on the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu through a political process rather than judicial means, just as many prominent Ndigbo leaders had recently appealed and advocated,” he advised.
Also speaking, the President, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State, Chief Sunday Ossai, said the Igbo in Lagos have always been wrongly accused of organising protests in the state, which has always put their lives in danger.
“Ndigbo have always been wrongly accused, so we have come out to deny accusations against us. We don’t know anything about organising the protest. Ndigbo are not part of it. We are innocent. I appeal to Ndigbo to be cautious of their movements and urge them to stay home and not go for their businesses on the day of the protest,” he said.
Similarly, Igbos residing in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja have said that they will not join the protest against bad governance that begins August 1, 2024.
President General of Igbo Delegates Assembly (IDA), the umbrella body of all Igbos in the 19 Northern States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Chief Kenneth Okeugo, made this known in an interview with journalists in Gombe.
Okeugo, who was elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association on September 16 and 17, 2023, held at the Royal Park Hotel Aitken Road Sabon Gari Kano, Kano State, regretted Igbo had always been victims of such protests in north parts of the country.
He lamented that property worth millions of naira and precious lives of Igbo residing in the north had been destroyed in protests and riots in the past, particularly the post-election violence of 2011
The president explained that all Igbo in the region instead of joining the protest would remain at home or places of their business to protect themselves from being victims as usual.
“We are not interested in the protest,” the President said. Igbo in the north should mind their business because at the end of the day, we are the ones that will be affected”
“They will come and loot our property but now we intend to watch our properties. We are letting the world know that we are not going to participate in protest” he said.
He urged the federal, and state governments and leaders at various levels to focus on policies that will impact ordinary Nigerians
“Nobody should destroy our properties. We develop anywhere we find ourselves and we don’t destroy. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should work harder to change the lives of poor Nigerians for good” he said
