NEWLY elected President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, John Nwodo (Junior), has said he is ready to die for Igbo cause , saying the rise of Movement for Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) no matter how divided they appear in public are basically motivated by same sense of outrage and bitterness.
Addressing a press conference in Enugu on Thursday after their inaugural meeting of the pan-Igbo group, Nwodo said he will adopt MASSOB and IPOB as a father of Igbo nation, stressing that although he does not believe in their methods or approaches for the realisation of a sovereign state of Biafra, he will not abandon them.
Nwodo noted, “Our young men and women can no longer tolerate a second class status in their own country. They can no longer forgive the President for arguing before he came into office that Niger Delta militants were meekly treated and tolerated by President Yar Adua while Boko Haram was harshly treated by President Jonathan when his law enforcement agents literally opened fire and maim and killed unarmed MASSOB and IPOB members.”
“They see how returnee Boko Haram members are absolved and rehabilitated while leaders of MASSOB and IPOB are incarcerated or mercilessly murdered. In their rage, they are becoming uncontrollable as they pass a vote of no confidence on us, their parents, describing us as cowards and compromised,” he added.
According to Nwodo, “Because the older Ndigbo have seen civil war and its devastating consequences, they naturally hesitate to support any military action against the Nigerian state that may waste their children because Ndigbo business class is heavily invested in Nigeria outside Igbo land, they fervently believe in a united Nigeria even if marginalised politically.
Asked how he was going to adopt the pro- Biafra movements, the former Minister for Information reiterated, “As President-General of Ohanaeze I intend to extend my warm hand of paternity to IPOB and MASSOB. They are my children.
I shall never desert them. Their struggle is my struggle even if we do not completely agree with methods. In warfare there are two types of approaches: Coercion and diplomacy. I completely favour diplomacy.
“My people, the time for lamentation is over. Our continued cry of marginalisation has become stale. No one is listening to us anymore. I take up the challenge of this onerous assignment of confident in the fact that I know the Ndigbo that I will be serving. I am aware that in the DNA of the average Igbo person are bold strands of ingenuity, resourcefulness, intelligence and ability to survive and thrive in the face of various odds and challenged,” he noted.
Nwodo who apparently was not comfortable with some critical questions posed to him said, “I know your headlines from tomorrow will be: “Nwodo adopts IPOB and MASSOB. Yes, I know you journalists having worked as Special Adviser to President Shehu Shagari and Minister for Information under General Abduslam Abubakar. I am a lawyer, if any of you misquotes me I will go to the last extent to fight for my right. I will work with the press, but not all the media houses will be carried along because we have to manage meagre resources available to us.”