Shun Armed Struggle Against Nigerian Govt, Akpabio Pleads With Igbo Youth

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has appealed to the people of the South-East, particularly the Ndigbo, to sustain peace and guide their youth away from armed confrontation with the Nigerian government.

Akpabio made the call during the funeral of Sir Albert Ikechukwu Nnamani, former Administrative Secretary of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC), who was laid to rest on Saturday in Ikem, Enugu State.

Akpabio said development is feasible only in an atmosphere of peace and urged the Ndigbo to watch over their youth with a view to guiding them appropriately.

Akpabio said:
“For Ndigbo, I want to plead with you to continue to maintain peace and watch over the youth of today. They do not understand politics. They do not understand development. You can only have development in an atmosphere of peace.

“A situation whereby you try to wrest power and assert independence through armed struggle against the Federal Government will fail. State power will always overwhelm you.

“We are prepared, as a parliament, to make the right laws, to tinker with the Act, to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in order for Ndigbo to have, at least, an additional state, so that they will also be equal to the other zones of the country. This is the promise that we make, and we stand by it.

“The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very eager to right the wrongs of the past. That is why, even in terms of appointments, he has done his best to ensure that Ndigbo are not marginalised. But everything you want should be negotiated.

“I’m saying this to underscore the fact that through peaceful means and negotiation, we shall get our rightful place in Nigeria. I want this to happen in your lifetime. May we not lose our youth because of wrong politics and wrong advice. May we not lose our youth because of disaffection and people misleading them.

“We need a solid base in Ndigbo land. I am not happy that the economy of Onitsha and Nigeria is affected by the so-called sit-at-home. It has affected your economy so badly.

“Ndigbo are known for nothing but enterprise. When we came out from the war, all your accounts were frozen. If you had two million pounds, they gave you three pounds. What would you do with three pounds?

“So when I was given an award in 2010 by Silverbird, I saw all the gladiators seated together. Then I asked them: how come the so-called three Rs — Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction — were implemented in other areas of the country where the war was not fought?

“But in the South-South and South-East, where the Biafra war was fought, there was no reconstruction. They only tried reconciliation and rehabilitation. That R (Reconstruction) was missing.”

Akpabio said the Nigerian past leaders at the event were not comfortable with his speech. He, however, ended his speech by saying it was time for Nigeria to do justice and prayed that “justice shall be done to Ndigbo in our lifetime, in Jesus’ name.”

Akpabio paid glowing tribute to the former OMPADEC administrator, stressing that “as Administrative Secretary of the former OMPADEC, he discharged his duties with dignity and candour, and he set the tone for the development of the Niger Delta region.

“Before his ascension to that position, many used to say that so much was being promised to the people of the Niger Delta and that all the promises were in the pipeline. After a while, our people started breaking the pipelines in order to bring out the Federal Government’s promises. But those things are now in the past.”