An elder statesman and frontline businessman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, has flayed the Federal Government over plans to establish the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Skills acquisition camp at Nzu Community Ehime Mbano LGA, Amafor Community Ohaji Egbema LGA, and Agbala Community in Owerri North of Imo State.
Obidigbo, who spoke at his country home, Umunya, in Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, also called on the Southeast Governors and stakeholders to resist the plans.
A pro-Biafra group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, had, in a statement on Monday, described the project as part of an elaborate ominous plan by the Nigerian Government to dispossess the communities of their ancestral land and heritage.
IPOB is also accusing the Federal Government of planning to import displaced persons from the Northern part of the country, a distance of thousands of kilometers away from their locality and homeland, into Imo State.
Reacting to the development, Obidigbo expressed worry over the decision to establish the facility in the Southeast, where there are no displaced persons, whereas states with serious security challenges do not have such facilities.
Obidigbo accused the Nigerian Government of being only interested in the desolation of Igboland, wondering why the facility was being sited in the region when they never made such demands.
However, the former Anambra Governorship aspirant expressed worry that Igbo stakeholders are not interested in the burning issues concerning the region’s welfare.
He also bemoaned the silence of elders in the region regarding the marginalization of their people, which he observed resulted from intimidation, suppression, and a lack of avenues to air their grievances.
In his opinion, the people of the Southeast must liberate themselves from oppression, as no one can be more interested in their welfare than themselves.
He advocated for Ndigbo to have a common front for pursuing their collective agenda, harping on the need for them to de-emphasize the individualistic approach, which had not improved their situation.
“The Igbos must commit to the Igbo agenda. We must develop a unified approach towards fighting for the rights of the region.
“It is evident that the government at the centre is interested in the desolation of Igboland, considering its numerous policies and actions.
“Igbo elders must begin to lend their voice to issues affecting the Southeast region and not cower in the face of such confrontations because of intimidation or oppression,” he posited.
Obidigbo called for intensified media action towards the pursuit of the Igbo agenda.
He regretted that media professionals in Igboland had not applied their trade correctly in defending and promoting the Igbo agenda.
Noting that many youths of Igbo extraction had left Nigeria in droves for the outside world in a desperate bid for a greener pasture, the businessman called for proper orientation of the young ones to be usefully engaged in things that would make them better citizens tomorrow and not just bequeathing wealth to them without proper foundation on how to make the wealth themselves genuinely.
“Media is a veritable instrument that can be used to fight all manner of battles.
“Pen produces leaders. Biafra lost the war because of ineffective media. If it were this social media era, the story would have been different.
“What we call the Nigeria-Biafra war should be properly called the British-Biafra war because it was the British that fought the Igbo.
“Igbo have suffered. The efforts and commitment of Igbo media professionals can salvage the situation.
“Other ethnic groups especially those in the South West of Nigeria use the media to propagate the interest of the zone. But Ndigbo are not doing the same.
“Igbo should use the media for their emancipation,“ he said.
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