Igbos should forget Biafra - Ohanaeze

The Southeast should forget the agitation for Biafra, Ohanaeze Ndigbo said yesterday.


The Igbo should work towards the restructuring of Nigeria, their apex socio-cultural organisation said.
“We should forget Biafra and insist on restructuring. There is no Igbo person that is happy with the situation of things in Nigeria. We must seek peaceful ways of resolving the issues,” Ohanaeze President John Nwodo said.
He spoke in Umuahis during the inauguration of the state and local government executives of the Abia State chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
Nwodo said elders warned Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu against the manner he was going about his agitation for Biafra, but he did not listen.
To the Ohanaeze leader, restoration of Biafra was a tall order, given the constitutional roadblocks which, he said, will not be in the overall interest of Ndigbo in their socio-economic and political relationships with other Nigerians.
He said while youths were justified in expressing their anger at Ndigbo’s marginalisation in national affairs, Nwodo said they should moderate their actions and words. Hate speeches would not resolve any problem, Nwodo said.
The Ohaneze leader spoke of how elders told Kanu and his other IPOB members to tone down their words and desist from denigrating people and groups.
He also said Kanu was told that his insistence on Biafra and boycott of the November 18 election in Anambra State were not acceptable to Ndigbo, hence he should abandon his rigid position and join in the quest for restructuring.
Nwodo justified the proscription of IPOB by the Governors Forum, explaining that what the state chief executives did was to stop IPOB from engaging in its public activities that could spark fatal clashes with security agencies.
He said without the action taken by the governors of the Southeast, that the zone would still have been engulfed in bloodshed, adding that he would not sit by and allow the youth to be cut down prematurely.
Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said Nigeria and the world were passing through perilous times, hence the need to seek peace.
Ikpeazu said: “We believe in justice, equity and fairness. I believe in ‘live and let live’, as nobody delights in being oppressed.”
He advised Igbo youths to respect leaders and listen to advice of elders instead of embarking on agitation to express their frustration.
Ikpeazu said henceforth, youths and any Igbo person or group with grievances should complain to Ohaneze which is in a position to take the matter up with the appropriate authorities.
Abia State President of Ohaneze, Mr. Chimaobim Ajuzieogu said the organisation would “no longer sit on the fence; neither shall we continue to observe as spectators in the affairs that affect us”.
Ajuzieogu said the new leadership of Ohaneze in the state would strive hard to restore the value system of Ndigbo through massive media campaigns, adding that Nwodo should be praised for the “revivalist strategy” he had adopted.
Elder statesman Emmanuel Adaelu, who chaired the occasion, called for unity among Ndigbo, saying that the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo should be recognised as the voice of the Igbo and no group should try to usurp that authority.
Nwodo also expressed dismay over the spate of hate speech on social media platforms by Igbo youths under the guise of agitating for Biafra.
He said making inciting speeches was capable of causing crisis which could lead to mass violence in the nation, adding that it was pertinent to respect constituted authorities.
Nwodo said the first hand experience that he had during the civil war had given him an understanding of the throes of war, adding that no nation had fought two wars and survived.
“There are 11.6 million Igbo people living in the North and it will be wise for Igbo people living in the South-East and elsewhere to put them into consideration while speaking or engaging in certain activities.
“I urge Igbo youths to desist from activities and comments that could spark violence in the nation. At the moment what Igbo people need to fight for is restructuring of the nation.
“Ohanaeze is in an era of transparency. I assure you that we have not relented in speaking for the Igbo people,especially in the area of restructuring for the benefit of Igbo people.”

Operation Python Dance is field training exercise – Nigerian Army

The Nigerian Army on Saturday said the ongoing Operation Python Dance was a field training exercise.

Deputy Director, Public Relations 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Col. Sagir Musa, disclosed this in a statement which was made available to journalists in Enugu.
Sagir said the operation was not targeted at anybody.
The statement read, “The 82 Division, Nigerian Army, is currently on a field training exercise code-named exercise EGWU EKE II (Python Dance).
“The exercise which started on 15th September and will last till 14th October 2017 is meant to sharpen the skills of 82 Division troops in the conduct of internal security operations.
“The exercise is also aimed at combating the security challenges in the South-East and is well equipped to deal with the rising cases of insecurity such as kidnappings, armed forces farmers-herdsmen clashes, cultism, violent secessionist agitations, insurgency among others.
“Please note, Exercise EGWU EKE II is not targeted at any individual or group, as law abiding citizens are advised to go about their normal businesses without fear.”x

LONG BEFORE KANU CROSSED THE RED LINE BY TIM NYIOR

KANU.

Thoroughly and absolutely convinced of the instability of Kanu's mind, the illogicality of his thoughts and the impracticality of his intentions, and believing him of over-indulgence, of perhaps, a special specie of genetically modified weed, I had consciously refrained from according him more than a passing thought. I make no pretenses about my feelings towards Kanu, as a person, neither am I subscribable to political or social correctness in my description of him. Kanu is an idiot.
Believing my assertion to be true, crystal clear and evident, he merits no further emphasis, as I look beyond him.

BUHARI.

Antecedents and anecdotal references form the core considerations for recruitment or leader selection, which is what calls for the interrogation and scrutiny of one's curriculum vitae before employment, selection or elections.
At Buhari's third attempt at the presidency, the marketability of his candidature was essentially, and almost exclusively, anchored on his 1984 perception of integrity and incorruptibility.
However, in periscoping Buhari's antecedents as president, one was faced with his famed incorruptibility on one hand, and on the other, his undoubted tyranny, doubtless sadism, proven despotism and avid regionalism.
If Buhari was asking the world not to judge him on the basis of his 1984 tyranny and dictatorship, then on what basis was he asking Nigerians to elect him, since it was in exercise of those powers that his reputation was built, and upon which, lay his electoral credibility? Why did we have to embrace the positives in isolation of the negatives? I had wondered.
Today, at Kanu's prompting, the tyranny is back upon us through the willing instrumentality of government security institutions like the DSS, EFCC etc, and most majorly, through the conspiratorial cooperation of the Nigerian military.
Appareled in Agbada, in place of Khaki, Buhari's outward appearances travel parallel lines with his soldiery mindset, tyrannical inclination and militaristic grooming.

THE PYTHONIC DANCE.

As a Tiv man, who has had the tragic "privilege" of suffering Nigerian Army brutality, who has witnessed the horrifying barbarism and untold savagery of a general in civilian clothing, who has been at the receiving end of military cruelty and who has had to endure the agony of losing hundreds of brothers, relations and friends, it will be a great disservice to the souls of the departed, for me to wish that havoc upon any other community in this country.
A military that is defiant to international conventions of war, resistant to rules of engagement and incapable of distinguishing civilian from foe, is not one to wish upon anyone.
Mindboggled by the criteria for the deployment of its troops, I dare to state, that by whatever considerations, there is a biased selectivity in our military deployments.
Kanu's idiocy regardless, he is not known to have shed blood, unlike the rampaging Fulani terrorist herdsmen, through whom we have lost thousands, and by whose hands blood has flown on the River Benue.
Without the honour of a single pythonic dance in the Benue valley, the Nigerian military infrastructure watched from a distance, as the lives of the innocent, of children, women and the elderly were brazenly snatched.
That eastern macabre dance will not have me as a spectator.
While it remains impossible for Kanu to have my support, it is practically unthinkable that I support the invasion of Igboland.

NIGERIA.

Stopping Kanu, jailing Kanu or even killing him is easy, and can only serve as a short-term measure.
The unenviable and onerous task, and the long-term measure is to kill the idea he represents.
The favourable circumstances that will permit a dim-witted Londoner like Kanu to instantly command such followership of millions, the environment that allows the learned and the great minds of the east to subordinate their senses to this rascal, and the political situations that fester the germination of such hatred and suspicion are the issues to be addressed.
Many more Kanus will materialize across the country, after this one, if we fail to address the real issues and elect to chase shadows.
Kanu is not the issue, has never been the issue and will never be the issue. The political imbalances, the non-adherence to true federalism, resulting to extreme power at the center, the domination of one region over the other, the allocation and sharing of resources, despotism, sectionalism, etc etc remain issues, when addressed, will permanently forestall the potential proliferation of future Kanus.

The red line beckoned to Kanu, as is beckoning to many more. Long before he crossed it, the ground had been prepared, had been watered, and the east was ready and waiting.

Nigerian Military Declares Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB terrorists, Gives Reasons

Nigerian military on Friday declared the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organisation.
This is contained in a statement by Major General, John Enenche, Director Defence Information.
He said, “after due professional analysis and recent developments, it has become expedient, to notify the general public that; the claim by IPOB actors that the organization is non violent is not true.
“Hence, the need to bring to public awareness the true and current state of IPOB.“In this regard, some of their actions, clandestinely and actively, that has been terrorising the general public among others include;
“The formation of a Biafra Secret Service; Claimed formation of Biafra National Guard; Unauthorised blocking of public access roads; Extortion of money from innocent civilians at illegal road blocks.
“Militant possession and use of weapons (stones, molotov cocktails, machetes and broken bottles among others) on a military patrol on 10 September 2017.
“Physical confrontation of troops by Nnamdi Kanu and other IPOB actors at a check point on 11 September 2017 and also attempts to snatch their rifles.
“Attack by IPOB members, on a military check point on 12 September 2017, at Isialangwa, where one IPOB actor attempted to snatch a female soldier’s rifle.
“From the foregoing, the Armed Forces of Nigeria wishes to confirm to the general public that IPOB from all intent, plan and purpose as analysed, is a militant terrorist organisation.
“Therefore, parents and particularly unsuspecting residents of the South East and other Nigerians should advice their wards to desist from joining the group.

“The Defence Headquarters restates its commitment to handling all the security challenges in the Country and further assures all Nigerians of the protection of lives and property.”x