Board of Trustees member of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA Chief Rommy Ezeonwuka has said Igbo people must desist from joining any protest against president Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Ezeonwuka, while speaking to journalists, argued that the signing of the South East Development Commission Bill into law by President Tinubu is a testament that he is an exceptional president who has demonstrated that Ndi Igbo matters to Nigeria and has made them an integral part of Nigeria through the bill.
He also said Igbos can now boast of truly being Nigerians and advised the Presidency to deploy the ingenuity of Igbos in developing the country.
His words “As a BOT member of APGA, and spiritual leader of the Igbo Nation, I am advising Ndi Igbo to avoid the coming protest against the Federal Government. They should instead join hands to thank President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for signing the document of reintergration of Igbos back into Nigeria, 54 years after the war.
“54 years ago when the war ended, Gowon told us that 3 Rs must take effect – Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reintergration but since then, the Federal Government has not adopted South East back as part of Nigeria. Now, the law has been signed. The South East Development Commission Bill signed into law is taking Igbo back into Nigeria. It was signed by Tinubu.
“I am pleading that the Igbos avoid that protest, taking into cognisance that only Igbos suffered for three years during the war. It was Igboland that was also destroyed, and Nigeria did not rebuild what was destroyed during the war in Igboland.
“Now that those promises are going to be fulfilled, let them not participate. They should know that if they participate, they will bring anger to the Presidency and the story will be that Igbos have come again.
“After such a long time, the Federal government is saying don’t suffer again. Are we now going to fight Federal Government as a way of saying thank you?
“So I am calling all Igbos not to join in anything that may make the government maintain the hate that used to be there against Igbos.
“On the other hand, I am asking Jagaban to allow the ingenuity of Igbos to prevail. Let him bring Igbos into the Nigerian system. Let us teach Nigeria how to survive during difficult times. All these illegal refiners they are destroying are the ones that will save Nigeria. The Igbos in partnership with the South South, through these numerous illegal refineries, can flood Nigeria with petroleum and avoid all the foreign conspirators that encourage the destruction of these so called illegal refineries.
“By the time you assemble 500 of them, or 1000 of them and make use of them, there will be petroleum products everywhere, because they will take crude oil from our land. Government will list them, and use them to provide the products, tax them, partner with them and the problem of Refinery will be over.
“Now, he has put Igbo into the system of Nigeria. There is something Igbos know how to do best, that is creativity and innovation. Give Igbos three four, five months, let them join South South that we call illegal bunkerers and illegal refiners, and tomorrow, you will see that it’s them that will save Nigeria.
“I believe in test and see. So am calling on Jagaban to invest in the innovation and creativity of the Igbos, let Igbos be invited by the Federal Government to help and fix Nigeria. They know how to do it”, he stated.
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