The youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, has declared the non-participation of the entire South East in the nationwide EndBadGovernance protest as a historic decision.
The protest, which spanned from August 1 to 10 across the country, saw a conspicuous absence of participants from the South-East region.
Speaking to journalists over the weekend, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, emphasised that the boycott was deliberate and reflected the region’s support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Mazi Okwu explained that the decision was not made lightly but after consultations and meetings with various regional affiliate youth organisations.
“We took this stand to make Mr President understand clearly that we are solidly behind his government,” Okwu stated.
According to him, the Igbo youth group engaged in extensive discussions with its affiliate bodies and concluded that participation in the protest was unnecessary.
“From there, we agreed to scale it down to the communities where we were also able to make the people see reasons with us,” he added.
Okwu extended gratitude to the various affiliate bodies, religious, traditional, and community groups, market unions, and civil society organisations (CSOs) for heeding the group’s call to abstain from the protest.
However, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide did not stop at merely expressing support.
They also strongly appealed to the Tinubu administration to reciprocate the love the Ndigbo showed.
Okwu urged the government to address critical issues such as creating an additional state for the Southeast, correcting imbalances in federal appointments, releasing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and adequately funding the Southeast Development Commission to boost infrastructural development in the region.
“This should be done extraordinarily,” Okwu emphasised, underscoring the importance of these actions to the continued support of the Igbo youth for the Tinubu administration.
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