The Association of Igbo Town Unions (ASITU) has emphasised its determination to champion the battle against the destruction of Igbo properties worth trillions of naira by the Lagos State Government.
This was made known by the national president of ASITU, Chief Emeka Diwe, while addressing a World Press Conference in Umuahia, Abia State capital.
He condemned in its entirety the demolition exercise by agents of Lagos State government.
Chief Diwe, who was flanked by executives of ASITU, stressed that the agents of Lagos State government demolished properties belonging to Igbos without proper notice and feigned ignorance of evidential document to prove that the buildings were properly acquired from the same government which seek to destroy them.
The national president of ASITU, called on the Igbos all over the world, particularly in Lagos, to embrace the Aku Ruo Ulu Investments Initiative, a well researched blueprint, which seeks that the Igbos return percentage of their Investments back home.
Chief Diwe explained that the embrace of the Aku Ruo Ulu Investments Initiative will assist in securing Igbo investments, contrary to the ongoing destruction of properties of the Igbos going on in Lagos.
He said, ” Embrace with renewed vigour, the philosophy of Aku Ruo Ulo, let wealth return home. Invest in Igboland. Build in Igboland. Develop industries in Abia, Anambra,
Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. Make our homeland an economic powerhouse, so strong, so prosperous, so industrialized that it becomes a foundation of strength from which we engage Nigeria and the world on terms of confidence, not vulnerability.
“Aku Ruo Ulo is not about retreat or secession; it is about building from a position of strength. It is about ensuring that while we continue to invest across Nigeria, we have a home base that is economically vibrant, that cannot be threatened, that gives us dignity and security. It is about making Igboland so attractive for investment that people from all over Nigeria will want to come, invest, and build there; just as we have done in Lagos and everywhere else. That is true nation building: mutual investment, mutual respect, mutual prosperity”.
Chief Diwe revealed that no other ethnic group in Nigeria has so thoroughly embraced the idea of a unified Nigerian state through their actions, their investments, and their presence everywhere, yet the Igbos are consistently made to feel unwelcome.
Chief Diwe submitted that the world must understand that the Igbo man sees himself as Biafran to the extent that he feels unwelcome in Nigeria, not because he inherently desires separation.
The ASITU boss elaborated that the Igbos retreats into ethnic identity, when national identity is denied and speaks of Biafra, when Nigeria speaks to him in the language of demolitions, marginalization and exclusion.
ASITU, however, expressed astonishment that lands and structures, whose documents were legally acquired, were brought down by the Lagos State government, through false claim that the demolished buildings were illegally erected.
Chief Diwe noted that these act represents a deliberate intention by the Lagos State government and her agents to unleash untoward hardship on the Igbos by bringing down their life’s investment that serves as source of livelihood to thousands of dependants.
The national president of ASITU, called on the federal government, international communities, stakeholders, and all those who have respect for human rights and privileges to intervene in the destruction of Igbo property in Lagos.
