We don’t need another war to keep Igbo in Nigeria – Northern Elders

The Northern Elders Form (NEF) on Monday declared that Nigeria does not need another civil war to keep the Igbo nation agitating for Biafra within the country. The NEF in a statement by Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, Director, Publicity and Advocacy, Northern Elders Forum, after a meeting in Abuja on Monday, acknowledged the failure of leadership and the federal government of the country, pointing out that another civil war in Nigeria would be disastrous and the north cannot afford to be involved in such a war.

Baba-Ahmed in the statement indicated that the Northern Elders Forum has reviewed events and tendencies which suggest that the country is headed for more crises. The NEF admitted that Nigerians live in fear of violence across the country, and in fear of an uncertain future.

Northern leaders decried that the capacity of the Nigerian State to secure citizens, protect the country’s territorial integrity and resist violent assaults on the country’s unity is weakening to the levels of making threats that have no impact.

“Armed criminals of all types have increased their audacious stranglehold over our lives in all parts of the country. Irredentists are increasingly asserting their influence over the Southeast and some parts of the country, and in the manner that millions of Nigerians now live.

“Rhetoric from political leaders and ethnic champions who speak in threats and demands routinely suggest that the sentiments in support of irredentism are becoming more widespread.”

However, the northern elders were deliberately silent on the uprising and killings of citizens by bandits in the north, the irredentist Boko Haram in the northeast, killer Fulani herdsmen, among others springing from the north.
The northern elders, however, acknowledged that all Nigerians are paying the price of failure of two sets of leaders. According to the NEF, failure “at the national level, the administration appears to have lost the capacity to halt the gradual descent of the country into anarchy.

“Political leaders in the South East appear to have submitted to violence and terror of IPOB and ESN. Muted voices of millions of Igbos cannot be heard so that fellow Nigerians could understand the degree to which secession by the Igbo represents the popular choice.”
Again, the northern elders appeared to have taken the negotiations with bandits by northern governors as legal practice in that part of the country.

The NEF though observed that the nation has had to fight a terrible war to preserve the country. The elders noted that the North had paid its dues in that war, as indeed, it did in many ways throughout the history of the country. “Under our current circumstances, no Nigerian should welcome another war to keep the country together. “The North, in particular, has more than enough challenges, and we recognize that violent secession by any part of Nigeria will compound the problems all Nigerians live with,” the NEF stated.
The Forum, therefore, arrived at a conclusion that if support for secession among the Igbo is as widespread as it is being made to look, and Igbo leadership appears to be in support of it, then, the country should be advised not stand in their way. The northern elders, however, emphasised: “It will not be the best choice for the Igbo or Nigerians to leave a country we have all toiled to build and a country we all have responsibility to fix, but it will not help a country already burdened with failures on its knees to fight another war to keep the Igbo in Nigeria.”
The Forum insisted that attacks and killings of Northerners and Federal Government employees and destruction of National assets must stop. It demanded that those who have been involved in it must be arrested and prosecuted.

“Until the Igbo decide whether it wants to secede or remain part of Nigeria, the law applies to it, and Federal and State Governors who have responsibility to enforce the law and protect citizens must enforce it.

“We support calls for Northerners who are exposed to harassment and violence to consider relocating to the North.
“Unlike the postures and complacency of the leaders of the South East, we advise that all Igbo and other ethnic groups from the South residing in the North should be accorded the usual hospitality and security,” the northern elders declared.
The Forum also expressed that it is vital to address amendments to the constitution and achieve major changes in the structure and operations of the federal system now.

“Members of the National Assembly elected by Nigerians have lost touch with the people they are supposed to represent. This explains the major distances which exist between the people and the vital national institution which should play a major role mitigating national crises.

“The National Assembly should explore additional avenues for tapping into opinions that can help redress serious limitations to the Federal system before the 2023 elections.

“The North is willing to discuss all matters related to constitutional amendments/restructuring with the leadership of the country and other groups who see their presence in the future of Nigeria,” NEF declared.