From Emma Njoku and George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, on Monday, said Igbo play the worst politics among the ethnic and geopolitical zones in the country, and advised them to review their political strategy in order to reclaim their relevance in the nation’s power equation.
Okorocha, who said this in Owerri, during an interactive session with top media practitioners, also condemned activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and reiterated his stance for a united Nigeria. He stressed that Igbo would lose more should the country break up.
“Igbo have to change their strategy, in order to reclaim their relevance in Nigeria’s power equation. Quote me anywhere, Igbo play the worst politics in Nigeria.
“Today, Hausa have realised they can win an election without Igbo.
“Hitherto, Hausa used to think they could not win elections without Igbo.Now, they believe with the combined massive populations of Lagos and Kano, they no longer need Igbo to win, hence, the latest alliance between Hausa and Yoruba.
“So, where is Igbo today in Nigerian politics?” he asked rhetorically.
On IPOB, Okorocha said the group would have made better impact if it had restricted its agitation for equity in the sharing of the nation’s political and economic resources rather than the struggle for secession.
“I’ve always said Igbo have this feeling of abandonment. IPOB would have made better impact if they had operated under any other name other than Biafra, to push their demand for equity in sharing of the nation’s political and economic resources. The call for secession was childish.
“IPOB should have fought their struggle like the Niger Delta youths, Arewa youths and Yoruba group.
“Who is Nnamdi Kanu to ask Rochas to follow him to war?
“Check it out, no Hausa man living in the South East owns a duplex neither can you see a Yoruba man who lives in a room and parlour apartment of his own or an investment worth N20 million.
“But, should Nigeria break up today, Igbo will lose trillions in properties and other investments in Lagos, the North and other parts of the country. This is why we all must condemn IPOB’s call for break up.”
Okorocha said by its struggle for secession, IPOB has created a feeling of distrust in Igbo among other tribes, thus jeopardising the chance of Igbo in the country’s power equation.
“The South South has produced a president, the South West has produced a president and vice president while the North has produced many presidents.
“By political calculation, it was expected that very soon, Igbo would have a chance to produce the president, but, the same Igbo want to break away from Nigeria. Where is our wisdom?
“Regrettably, IPOB activities has created fears in the minds of Hausa and other ethnic nationalities in the country, that, once Igbo becomes president, they would secede.
“So, where are we? This is why I said IPOB were childish in their struggle. We should all condemn the call for secession because if Nigeria breaks up, Igbo will lose.
“Igbo need to change their strategy and political calculation, to remain relevant in Nigerian politics,” Okorocha rounded off.
… Nigeria must remain united
Elsewhere, Okorocha reiterated that Nigeria is better off a united country, and added that the current socio- economic and political challenges in the country are part of nation-building; to make Nigeria stronger.
Okorocha said this at an interactive session with the governors of Borno, Katsina, Plateau, Sokoto and Kebbi states, who visited Imo on a peace mission.
The governor stressed thatNigeria must remain one united and indivisible entity, to enable her continue to play a leading role in Africa.
He ephasises that the current socio-economic and political trials was a passing phase, and added that it is important that Nigeria remains inseparable.
“In spite of the current socio-economic and political trials, which is just a passing phase, we should see one another as people who are of the same blood, created by one God and who are, therefore, inseparable.
“What should be of paramount concern to us is a united, indivisible entity called Nigeria because, many African nations hold us in high esteem because of what and who we are.
“Peace is expensive but, we must pursue it at all costs and we should strive to be remembered as nation builders and not as nation destroyers”, stated Okorocha.
Borno state governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and leader of the delegation, Kashima Shettima, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues from Plateau, Sokoto, Kebbi and Katsina states, regretted that some of the country’s elite, either wittingly or unwittingly, fan the embers of discord, hatred and segregation among the citizenry.
The governor decried the slow pace of infrastructural facilities in the South East, including poor road networks and attributed the sad development to greed and avarice by those whose duty it was to remedy the situation.
Shettima commended Okorocha for tenaciously standing on the path of national unity and integration. “We should begin to see ourselves as trailblazers and agents of change, for a better, stronger and prosperous Nigeria.”
Governor Simon Lalong dismissed the Arewa youths who issued quit notice to Igbo in the north as “rabble rousers,” who acted on their own, and added that, “ours is to maintain peace and to retain the indivisible entity called Nigeria in spite of our religious and tribal differences.
“Nigeria is a creation of God and God who brought us together as one nation never made a mistake.”