OIC Meeting: Why we are opposed to calls for Buhari’s resignation – Ohanaeze Youths

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OIC Meeting: Why we are opposed to calls for Buhari’s resignation – Ohanaeze Youths

 

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, OYC, has dissociated itself from the calls for President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation.

Ohanaeze had through its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mazi Chuks Ibegbu said Buhari owed Nigerians explanation about his trip to Saudi Arabia, for attending the Organization of Islamic Committee’s meeting barely 24 hours after he was sworn-in for a second term in office.

Why immediate attendance of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, OIC, meeting in Saudi Arabia a day after his swearing in? Mr President Buhari owes Nigerians that explanation.

“This is a secular country and a leader that wants to be a mullah or fanatic is free to resign rather than plunge us into a religious crisis,” Ibegbu had said.

Reacting on Monday, the OYC through its President-General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro said the group was amazed by such resignation call, describing it as “a rhetoric capable of plunging the nation into a religious war that will consume Igbos living in the North.”

“We disassociate ourselves from any call for the resignation of President Buhari few days after his swearing in, and urge those behind the call to have a rethink, and stop using Igbo platform for personal vendetta against the Presidency.

“We should be forming alliances and building bridges across the Niger, than creating enmity with predominantly Northern Muslims, by calling on President Buhari to resign on religious grounds. This amounts to fueling religious crisis capable of putting the lives and properties of Igbos living in the North under threat and unnecessary tension.

“We call on Vice President Yemi Osibanjo to as a Pastor, douse all fears by inviting the Christian Association of Nigeria and the PFN, and assure the Christian community that in a Secular Nation like Nigeria, everyone is protected,” Isiguzoro said in the statement.

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2023: Ohanaeze speaks on Tinubu’s move to succeed Buhari

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2023: Ohanaeze speaks on Tinubu’s move to succeed Buhari

 

The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has reacted to reports claiming that National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu will run for the office of the president in 2023.

Ohanaeze’s Deputy Spokesperson, Chuks Ibegbu, in an exclusive interview with newsmen, said Tinubu should not run for presidency on the basis of morality.

Just last week, former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode had commended the APC National Leader for “aspiring” to be president in 2023.

Fani-Kayode had tweeted: “I am not in Bola Tinubu’s party but I commend him for having the courage to aspire to be President in 2023.

“How many southern politicians from either APC or PDP have had the guts to do that? If nothing else he has challenged the myth that the north owns Nigeria.”

However, Ibegbu alleged that most people in the South East are not comfortable with the former Lagos State Governor; hence he should not run for president.

According to Ibegbu: “Every Nigerian has the right to contest for any position but we are talking about morality now, Tinubu has the right, I Chuks Ibegbu has the right to be president of this country but we are talking about morality, justice, fairness and equity.

“Tinubu has the right to come out to be president but by right, equity and fairness he should not come out, he has no reason to come out morally.

“In the South West, many are not comfortable with him so he should not come out.”

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Terrorists have taken over Nigeria – Ohanaeze backs Pastor Bakare

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Terrorists have taken over Nigeria – Ohanaeze backs Pastor Bakare

Igbo apex socio-cultural and political organization, Ohanaeze, has backed Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly on his claim that Nigeria was under siege.

Bakare, while addressing his congregants during church service on Sunday, noted that terrorists, kidnappers and killer herdsmen were now in charge of Nigeria.

Media and Information Adviser to the President General of Ohanaeze, Emeka Attamah, told Vanguard that Bakare was “right because terrorists are really in charge of whatever is happening now in Nigeria.

“If terrorists are not in charge, why should officials of this government negotiate with leaders of Miyetti Allah who are demanding N100 billion to enable its members stop killing Nigerians?”

“I am not even sure that they have not paid the money. I would not like to be quoted as saying that all the officials of this government are terrorists but I never knew that Nigeria would descend to this level of open brigandage. It has never happened before.

“There is nowhere in the world where the government is in tacit understanding with terrorist organisations.

“Governments usually fight to eliminate terrorists and not to encourage them.

“The Nigerian government should face terrorists and treat them as such and not to eat or dine with them,” he said.

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Miyetti Allah: Presidency replies Ohanaeze on alleged payment of N100b to bandits, kidnappers

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Miyetti Allah: Presidency replies Ohanaeze on alleged payment of N100b to bandits, kidnappers

 

The Presidency has described as an ‘absolute falsehood’ the allegation that the Federal Government gave N100billion to Miyetti Allah, an association of Fulani herders, for ‘dubious reasons’.

Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Friday.

The presidential aide was reacting to comments credited to Ohaneze Ndigbo and Afenifere, who expressed concern about the meeting between the government and Miyetti Allah.

He said: “We are pleased that Afenifere and Ohaneze Ndigbo found our insights worthy of attention even when they disagreed with our view that they, as socio-cultural associations, represent same interests as Miyetti Allah, an association of Fulani herders.

“Miyetti Allah, like any other trade, community, ethnic organization or interest group is a legal stake holder in our nation and should be respected.

“We maintain that the government needs to engage all stakeholders and seek partnership in building our country.

”The activities of Miyetti Allah do not benefit selected ethnicities or Muslims only, but everyone.

“Long before petroleum became the core of Nigerian economy, agriculture was the main source of Nigerian wealth. Cattle, hides and skin were a major part of Nigerian export.

“It is right to state that there are criminals among every group in Nigeria and in every country. There are criminals among the northern population as there are in the southern part of the country.

“It is not good to generalise blames. The government will engage each stakeholder and create dialogue between, and among, different groups.”

Shehu, therefore, maintained that both socio-cultural groups should not have insisted that government should not to talk to Miyetti Allah.

He added that the meeting was necessitated by ”the need to address and engage Nigeria’s ethnic, religious, cultural and economic plurality that was evident when General Yakubu Gowon introduced National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

“The need to engage all groups of Nigeria is as much relevant today as it was then.

“The Presidency’s position is that President Buhari’s government is equipped to address these issues.”

According to him, the security challenges faced by Nigeria today make the task of addressing the issues very urgent.

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Ohanaeze condemns presidency’s comparison to Miyeti Allah seeks apology

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Ohanaeze condemns presidency’s comparison to Miyeti Allah seeks apology

 

Deputy Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chuks Ibegbu, has condemned comment by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, that Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, is like the group and Afenifere.

“The Miyetti Allah group is like Ohanaeze and Afenifere. It is a socio-cultural group. There are criminals within the Yoruba race and you cannot say because of that, Afenifere is a group of criminals”, Shehu had stated.

Reacting, Ibegbu noted that Afenifere and Ohanaeze could only be compared to Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, the apex Northern socio-political group.

A statement he signed read in part: “Garba Shehu committed a grave sin by such comparison between peace and pieces. Ohanaeze and Afenifere represent peace and Miyetti Allah represents pieces.

“It is like comparing the Vatican to Afghanistan,” he added, urging Garba to stop deceiving the public with wrong information.

“How can a group that encourages, supports, claps for and prods killers and terrorists be compared with Ohanaeze Ndigbo or Afenifere?” he quipped.

Ibegbu asked Garba Shehu to apologize to Ohanaeze and Afenifere for what he described as “verbal mismanagement”.

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Ohanaeze warns Buhari govt against appeasing Miyetti Allah with ‘N100bn’ to stop killing

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Ohanaeze warns Buhari govt against appeasing Miyetti Allah with ‘N100bn’ to stop killing

The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has reacted to reports alleging that the Federal Government was plotting to “appease” the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, MACBAN, with a huge sum of money.

Deputy spokesperson of Ohanaeze, Chuks Ibegbu has warned against such move.

Following the meeting between MACBAN and a delegation of the Federal Government last week, reports had it that government plans to release the sum of N100bn to the group to set up cattle ranges.

The move was reported to be aimed at putting an end to the persistent crisis between farmers and herdsmen.

However, Ibegbu stated that those who directly or indirectly caused insecurity across the country should not be compensated using public funds.

A statement personally signed by Ibegbu reads: “We want to warn against any financial deal with the Miyetti Allah Association in the wake of the rumour that the federal Government want to allot some huge amount of money to them to partner with Security agents to fight insecurity in the country.

“In as much as Miyetti Allah can turn a new leaf and help to ameliorate the insecurity its member contribute to, we are against using public funds to achieve this.

“Those who directly or indirectly cause insecurity in the country should not be compensated for doing so. Else the federal government should as well involve and pay armed robbers to help check armed robbery in Nigeria.”

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Insecurity: Ohanaeze highlights reasons, blames presidency

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Insecurity: Ohanaeze highlights reasons, blames presidency 

The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Friday highlighted reasons for the high-level insecurity in Nigeria.

Ohanaeze claimed that the presidency’s alleged weak handling of killer herdsmen was responsible for the level of insecurity in the country.

Deputy National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Chuks Ibegbu also blamed insecurity in the country on the elites and government officials, who loot public funds.

In a statement he signed, Ibegbu said: “We blame the issue of insecurity on elite insensitivity, looting of our commonwealth by government officials which leave the people and youths pauperized, inadequate training for security agents and nepotism in their recruitment.

“Kids glove treatment of armed killer herdsmen by government officials and the Presidency, parasitism by the ruling elites who corner the commonwealth of the people to their bottomless pockets, culture of impunity in high and low places, injustice and inequality between the haves and have nots, and the excessive breeding of the population which leads to population explosion especially of the youth strata.”

Ibegbu also stated that the “population of idle youths in Nigeria is much caused by uncontrolled breeding especially in the North.

“There are more than 20million idle almajiris in the North, 7million area boys in the west and 10 million militants and idle hands drawn into IPOB and MASSOB in the East and South-South respectively.

“When you have this angry youth population in the country you can imagine the consequences. The elites in the North now travel from Kaduna to Abuja by rail to avoid being kidnapped along the road. The elites in the East and South-South have no functional rail to travel through so they must face the kidnappers along East-West road.

“The elites in the Southwest are luckier, they can go by air or sea and some along the risky Lagos-Ibadan expressway. So nowhere is safe any more in Nigeria, not even barracks, except perhaps Aso Rock and state Government Houses,” he added.

On the way forward, Ibegbu called on the “Nigeria elites and ruling class to repent and address the needs of the youths and common masses else they will have no peace since they sowed the wind, they will continue to reap the whirlwind.”

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Operation Python Dance: Ohanaeze Demand Justice For The Massacred Igbo Youths

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Operation Python Dance: Ohanaeze Demand Justice For The Massacred Igbo Youths

The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has called on the military to find the soldiers who allegedly killed Igbos during the Operation Python Dance.

President-General of Ohanaeze, John Nnia- Nwodo, stated this Tuesday at the night of tributes for the former secretary general of the group and Biafran war veteran, the late Col. Joseph Achuzia, at the Enugu Sports Club.

“I had the opportunity to confront the leadership of the Army, who gave me an assurance that there is going to be a court martial of all soldiers involved in that behaviour that was contrary to their rules of engagement.

“I have been following this matter with correspondence and I will continue to follow it until we know those who massacred our children without cause,” he assured.

On Achuzia, Nwodo said: “From the Igbo-speaking part of Delta State, Asaba, Achuzia threw himself into the Biafran war with unsurpassed bravery, exemplary military discipline and the tact of historical generals of great wars.

“His single-minded approach to the Baifran War made him the dread of any soldier who exhibited any sign of cowardice or equivocation as far as the war was concerned.

“The severity of his enforcement of military discipline earned him the nickname ‘AirRaid’ while his bravery was likened to that of ‘Hannibal the Great’, hence, his other nickname, ‘Hannibal’.

“His bravery was such that he was always posted to any front which defied solution or where the battle was toughest, such that he was believed, then, to be invincible and a cat with nine lives.

“I am happy to be one of the people sent to Asagba of Asaba at the end of the war to say to our kit and kin in Delta that we are extremely sorry we have not shown enough sympathy for the carnage in that part of Igbo land

“And for the fact that we, the brothers, haven’t come to pay our respect for the dead since the war ended. All of us knelt down at the house of the Asagba of Asaba; I saw Ojukwu on his knees.

“I led the national executive of Ohanaeze to Asaba last year when they remembered 700 of our people who were murdered by federal troops. Contrary to the rules of engagement, the same kind of thing that happened to us not too long ago when we had the operation python dance”.

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