members of the Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB is bigger than the one
created by the internationally recognized terrorist group, Boko Haram.
According to the Nation, Governor Shettima said this when himself and
some Northern state governors paid the Imo state governor, Rochas
Okorocha a visit in Owerri, the state capital yesterday September
19th. The visit was to sue for peace following the recent clash
between the military and IPOB members that degenerated into the attack
of some Hausas and burning down of. ome mosques in the South East and
South South.
The governor in his speech, noted that the threats posed by the Nnamdi
Kanu-led secessionist IPOB to the nation's survival are far bigger
than those posed by Boko Haram.
According to him, the reality of the extent of the IPOB activities
forced him to leave the killings going on in his state behind to join
Governor Aminu Tambuwal(Sokoto) Simon Lalong(Platueau) Aminu Bello
Masari(Katsina) and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu(Kebbi), on visits to Abia,
Rivers and Imo,to seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis created by
the agitators.
"Only this morning, 25 people were killed in my state via explosions
carried out by three suicide bombers, but I have to be on this mission
because of what it means to the nation," he said.
He noted that the huge population of Nigeria makes it imperative to
avoid anything that could lead to war among its tribal groups,
wondering which country would have the capacity to accommodate
Nigerian refugees in the event of another civil war.
He said: "What we wanted to forestall actually was a mass movement of
Nigerians from one part of the country to another. It was a very
dangerous signal.
"We equally invite our brothers from the South East to visit some of
the northern flash points like Kaduna, Kano and Jos, and together we
can talk to our Igbo brothers and sisters there to assure them of the
safety of their lives and properties. Make or break, this country
belongs to all of us. The population of Syria is a paltry 22 million.
Only 2 million Syrian refugees are knocking on the doors of Europe and
it is causing reverberation. How then do you perceive a situation
where 35 million English-speaking Nigerians are knocking on the doors
of Europe?
That is why we have a moral obligation as stakeholders to make things
work in this country. We are all part of the leadership challenges we
are facing in this country, and none of us can exonerate him or
herself from blame. Like I said earlier in Aba, the hope of the black
man rests not with the hard-thinking South Africans or the obsequious
Kenyans who are struggling to be more white than the white men, but
with the people of this country. If you see an African walking on the
streets of London and would not leave the way obsequiously for the
white man to pass, you don't need a soothsayer to tell you that that
black man is a Nigerian. If we allow this country to implode, up is
the Sahara Desert, Niger is already a failed state.
The population of Niger is only 11 million while Kano has a population
of about 30 million. We can eat up the entire food reserve of Niger
Republic within a week. Down is the Atlantic Ocean and the tiny
countries of Benin Republic, Togo and Senegal. Maybe some of us will
migrate to Gambia. The entire food reserves of those tiny West African
countries can be exhausted within two weeks." he said
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