..Calls for govt intervention through amnesty to Igbo youth
Industrialist and Chief Executive Officer of Rimax Group, Livinus Okwara, has lamented the maladies and pain experienced by the Igbos in Nigeria calling on the Federal Government to grant amnesty to Southeast youths to re-integrate them and quell agitations from the region.
Okwara, who decried the sad experience of the Igbo in Nigeria, spoke in Lagos, noting that the Southeast continued to be a war zone because of youths’ resentment and feeling of marginalisation.
Okwara said the Federal Government should listen to the Igbo youths and the Igbos for peace sake.
In his narrative, the APC chieftain noted: “There lives in this part of the world Nigeria, a tribe known as Igbo.
The Igbo have survived a civil war which lasted three years. It ended with agreement and promises between the federal government of Nigeria and the Biafra. Till this very moment and in the Nigerian political lexicon they occupy 5 states. Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.
“The experience of this region has not been pleasant.
It was engulfed in wars , protests and agitations.
At the end of the day, what was agreed was not fulfilled, which created and unhappy mood.
“The Igbo did not war or protest against Nigeria, but demonstrated due to its experience of being neglected..At a time they were called terrorists and banned.
“The unfulfilled agreement resulted in resuscitation of grievances and the situation worsened thereafter.
There was and still so much unemployment, lack of development, high unemployment rate, poor federal government investment, research, poverty and poor infrastructure. All these happened during the military and civilian regimes, the people of the Eastern region were not fortunate with very lucrative ministries most of the time.
“This and other reasons created an environment where the decedent group, flourished and resulted to the establishment of another Biafra group.
“This group started as a harmless pressure group whose objective was to draw attention to the problems of the regions. Instead of listening to these innocent youths, they were being arrested . “
The business man called on government to listen to these youth, noting that government actions should not look like they are being deprived of their rights.
“Government should not blame these youth because they were ignored during their agitations.
I feel that the federal government should go all out to this youth as a mark of amnesty. For this youth to go back to school and work .”
He noted that during the last independent speech, the president and commander in chief, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a special planned programmed for the benefit of the youth and Nigerians in general, which is encouraging.
The South East youth have been left out for a long time. They have been fighting a war that never existed and what we see is police action.”