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Anyaoku angry with FG over Anambra crisis
• Afenifere salutes Ohaneze for holding Igbo summit
By Chukwudi Achife
Bureau
Chief, Enugu
Former
Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku is unhappy with the way the
federal authorities handled the recent conflict in Anambra State, but has
declared support for the proposed national dialogue, saying he is pleased that
President Olusegun Obasanjo has now accepted the need for such a dialogue.
He
spoke his mind in an address to the 2004 World Igbo Summit in Enugu, in which
he lamented that the fanning of disagreement among Ndigbo from outside
Igboland, and noted that there are two deeply worrying aspects of the Anambra
troubles.
The
first, he said, is that the widely reported destruction of public properties
and threats to lives did not immediately attract a robust reaction from Abuja
and its law enforcement agents, the second is the existence within Anambra
State of people who are prepared to carry their "political differences to
the extent of such clear breach of law and order”.
A
lasting solution to the imbroglio would not be found, according to Anyaoku,
until the federal authorities live up to "their commitment to the rule of
law, and the politicians concerned must eschew political thuggery and accept
that the purpose of politics is to serve the interest of the electorate rather
than self enrichment”.
In
his view, questions must be asked as to why Ndigbo seem
to have so many instances where internal dissensions are perceived to be
fuelled and even teleguided from outside Igboland, stating that this may be
linked to the psychological consequences of the civil war.
He
said Ndigbo have been building bridges with other
ethnic groups through their migration to other parts of the country, thereby
giving content to the concept of one Nigeria.
Said
he: "By thus staking their faith in the then emerging Nigeria, they helped
in a decisive way to lay the foundations in which the new country was built. In
a very real sense, therefore, Ndigbo were at the foundation
of the country.
“Every
interaction between one Nigerian and another across the divides of region,
ethnicity, class or religion, is aimed at building bridges, it is a
contribution towards the strengthening of the fabric of the nation’s
unity.
"Because
such interactions are a daily occurrence, we are apt to take them for granted
and to miss their significance. The day to day interactions have their place in
breaking down barriers between people but they are essentially casual and
spontaneous in nature”.
Presenting
the summit theme, former Minister of Health Alphonsus Nwosu also welcomed the
national dialogue “which would afford Ndigbo the
opportunity to seek redress on various ills that had led to the marginalisation
of the Igbo race”.
He
advised Ndigbo to resist the blackmail being mounted
against them by other ethnic groups that they love money more than any other
Nigerian and that they are “defeated rebels”.
He
urged them not to be intimidated by these insinuations and to prepare for the
national dialogue much better than they did in the 1994 Constitutional
Conference.
In
his remarks, Ohanaeze President Joe Irukwu outlined the
objective of the summit as something to bring together the best of Ndigbo from
the villages, grassroots and indeed representatives of all levels of the
society at home and abroad to conduct a serious soul-searching exercise and in
the process to evolve an action plan for the future development of the Igbo
nation.
The
summit, he added, would give Ndigbo the opportunity to
review their past, assess their present situation and in the process determine
where they wish to be and how to get there.
Yoruba
socio-cultural group, Afenifere, sent a goodwill
message to the Ohaneze on the summit.
A
statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary Yinka Odumakin said it
comes at a time when the country is at a crossroads and in dire need of
direction, a situation that has generated intense debate among different
segments of the country on what is to be done to get Nigeria out of the
quagmire.
Afenifere expressed the hope that the summit would be an invaluable
way to generate ideas not only for the Igbo agenda “but also for a way
out for a nation in distress”.
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