The former governor of the old
Anambra State, Chief Chuckwuemeka Ezeife, has blamed the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led administration for the huge support pro-Biafra activists, otherwise
known as Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) are getting in the South-East, reports ITRealms.
A chat statement credited to Chief
Chuckwuemeka Ezeife on WhatsApp, showed that the agitation for Biafra which
comes way back 45 years after civil war was seen as the problem.
He insisted that it is a world-wide
fact that MASSOB is a movement for the actualization of Biafran state, but most
of people see them as a pressure group.
Part of the chat showed that “It is
in recent time that the group started gaining acceptability among serious
politicians from the South-East. Otherwise the agitators are merely perceived
as a pressure group. There is also the major problem of politicians from the
South-East that aspire to become the President of Nigeria one day.
“That is why they have not
identified with MASSOB. But what is happening presently is because of the way
the country is going, especially the way the South-East is treated like
unwanted part of the country. This triggers more recruits for MASSOB.
“From this stand, the fire of Biafra
is stoked by the President Buhari-led administration. It is not a matter of
autonomous growth or development. All his actions in the South-East in
appointments and denial caused the increase in people buying into the MASSOB agenda.
Because our people say: ‘A person rejected, does not reject himself.’”
And on whether that level of marginalization
should prompt some groups to the extent of floating a pirate radio to achieve
their cause, Ezeife noted “If you feel persecuted, of course you fight with
whatever means you know is justified for you.”
On the recent arrest of Nnamdi Kanu,
the Director of Radio Biafra by the DSS, which has triggered protests in major
parts of South-East, the former governor said, “President Buhari is fueling the
fire of Biafra with his actions, because everything done against the South-East
is taken advantage of by MASSOB.”
Sincerely, he said that the way out
of the wood is through prayers, but warned that it does not show that the
grievances of the Igbo have not been adequately addressed, maintaining that it
is clear that out of the six geo-political zones, all other parts have gotten
appointments except the South-East.
“We have not seen any positive move
towards the South-East, in the sense that we are denied one of the six major
appointments in the country among the six geo-political zones.
Stressing that all these built-up to
the current trend of support, recalling that Lai Muhammed, APC spokesperson while
reacting on ministerial nominees, when he said that the South-East can secede
if they like, that they have done it before.
“Either you like it or not, there is
need for the North to improve their attitude towards the South-East. Because if
you hear statements like Nigeria is better off without Igbo, you will never be
happy,” Ezeife cautioned.
He urged President Buhari to turn a
new leaf and be guided by the Constitution of Nigeria and live by the oath he
swore to.
“I have always praised the President
anti-corruption policy,” he declared.
Isaac Oyimah/GEE
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