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Why MASSOB’s order succeeded
ALPHONSUS NWEZE, Onitsha
THE
stay-at-home directive by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign
State of Biafra (MASSOB) recorded success in the South-East because of the
sustained oppression of Ndigbo by the Federal Government.
Chairman of the All Progressives Grand
Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State, Dr. Oke Umeano disclosed this while assessing
the reasons for the success of August 26 action, on a religious programme
Philosophy and Life of Minaj Systems Television (MST), Obosi, in the state.
Further appraisal of the MASSOB action
would be done today when chieftains of the organisation in the family home of
MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike gather in Okwe, near Okigwe, Imo State.
The APGA chairman said the federal
government’s perceived anti-Igbo policies and indifference to the plight of the
ethnic group gave fillip to the resounding success of the stay-at-home order.
He said although the Civil War (1967-70)
officially ended 34 years ago, current events are even worse than those events
that necessitated the secession of Biafra in 1967.
The APGA chieftain said the policy of the
construction, reconciliation and rehabilitation enunciated by the Gen. Yakubu
Gowon’s regime, after the war was a mere gimmick and therefore not implemented.
Dr. Umeano alleged that most of President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s policies such as banning of importation of fairly-used
vehicles, fridges and refrigerators and certain categories of items, negate the
economic and political interests of Ndigbo.
He said when Obasanjo muted the idea to
ban the importation of certain items, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, his former
political adviser, pleaded with him to give traders enough time to clear the
goods already ordered.
However, he alleged, the government still
went ahead to ban the items and Dr. Ezeife promptly resigned.
Subsequently, Umeano noted the interest of
Ndigbo was allegedly jettisoned with the appointment of Prof. Jerry Gana
as Political Adviser, instead of another Igbo.
He said government does not only initiate
policies against Ndigbo, but also spite them, stating that days after
MASSOB’s stay-at-home action no statement had come from Federal Government.
Dr. Umeano also lambasted the North for
laying fresh claim to the presidency after holding it for 34 years in Nigeria’s
44 years of independence.
He said such claim showed how other zones
in the country, especially the North who Igbos had helped to gain control at
federal level in the past regard Ndigbo.
The implication of the North’s vociferous
agitation for the 2007 presidency now showed that they do not reckon with the
Igbo and such justifies MASSOB’s action, he noted.
A MASSOB commissioner who preferred to
remain anonymous, told Daily Champion that the meeting in Okwe will also
discuss future strategies to achieve their ultimate goal of a sovereign state of
Biafra.
He thanked the entire Onitsha traders for the rare show of
solidarity with MASSOB, stating that the closure of multi-billion naira main
market was an indication that the people are convinced of the need for
self-determination.
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