JACOB OGODO, Abakaliki
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has demanded a reparation amounting to ten trillion naira from the Federal government for what it described as long-standing inequities perpetrated against the Igbo nation
It said that the demand is a necessary acknowledgment of the value of human lives lost and the cultural and infrastructural devastation endured by her people, which remains evident even 55 years post-conflict.
The Deputy National President General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro made this known in a press statement while reacting to some of the issues raised by the former head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in his recent book launch titled “A Journey in Service,”
Isiguzoro lamented that Igbo people have continued to suffer from systemic injustices and marginalization, especially in the area of state creation where the Igbos have the least number of states within the federation among all the ethnic groups.
He said that it is a political conspiracy to deny Igbos from ascending to Nigeria’s Presidency coupled with the fact that they face deliberate omissions of Federal Government presence in the Southeast.
“The tragic closure of the Eastern Economic Corridor, characterized by the permanent shutdown of the Calabar seaport and other critical infrastructures, underscores the extent of our exclusion.
“Additionally, the implementation of the federal government’s discriminatory policies, exemplified by the quota system and the absence of functional international airports in the Southeast, serves to reinforce the barriers to our equitable participation in the socio-political fabric of Nigeria.
“We demand a public and unreserved apology from the President on behalf of past military regimes, particularly that of General Yakubu Gowon, who orchestrated unprovoked bombardments and shellings over Igbo territory during the Nigeria-Biafra War that resulted in immense human suffering and loss.
Furthermore, we maintain our resolute stance that the Nigerian federal government must dispel the long-standing inequities perpetrated against the Igbo nation by paying reparations amounting to 10 trillion naira.
“This demand is not merely a demand for financial restitution or restitution; it is a necessary acknowledgment of the value of human lives lost and the cultural and infrastructural devastation endured by our people, which remains evident even 55 years post-conflict.
The Deputy President called on President Tinubu to embrace the moment for genuine reconciliation and restorative justice, thereby laying the foundation for a united and harmonious Nigeria, where the scars of the past give way to a brighter future for all citizens.
He commended General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida for his bold and historic assertion that the January 1966 Coup d’état was unequivocally not an Igbo coup.
Isiguzoro stated that such courageous acknowledgment stands as a crucial milestone in altering the narrative that has unjustly painted the Igbo people as antagonists within the broader scope of Nigeria’s tumultuous political landscape.
“The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, wholeheartedly commends General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) for his bold and historic assertion that the January 1966 Coup d’état was unequivocally not an Igbo coup.
“This courageous acknowledgment stands as a crucial milestone in altering the narrative that has unjustly painted the Igbo people as antagonists within the broader scope of Nigeria’s tumultuous political landscape.
“It signals a potential cessation of the entrenched vindictiveness, cruelty, and deep-seated animosities directed toward the Igbo Nation over the past five decades.
“This mischaracterization incited the July 1966 Counter Coup against the then Military Head of State of Igbo descent and precipitated violent uprisings targeting Igbo citizens residing in northern Nigeria, sowing seeds of discord that ultimately contributed to the tragic Biafra War, in which three million Igbos, predominantly women and children, lost their lives”, he stated.
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