Attack me, not Igbo, Sultan to northern youths vanguardngr.com
Sokoto
– Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar has said that if anyone plans to attack the
Igbo who are resident in the northern part of the country, such attack
should be directed at him, first.
The Sultan said this
when the world Igbo union leader, Dr. Mishack Nnanta, accompanied by
resident Igbo chiefs, paid sallah homage to him at his palace.
“If
anybody or group of persons plans negative attack on Igbo, he or they
should attack me first because I am against the so-called ultimatum
issued by the Arewa youths that Igbo should leave the north,” he said.
Abubakar
observed that “restructuring” to his understanding does not mean
galvanizing or dividing Nigeria, but making “adjustments here and there
for equal accommodation of all and sundry in Nigeria for equity and fair
play religiously, socially and economically.”
He further
observed that the agitation by some people for disintegration “cannot
solve any of the problems facing the country” and that “dividing it into
many parts is not the solution for the married of problems bedevilling
the nation because this will lead to towns and villages clamouring to
become independent.”
He suggested that the way forward was a round-table dialogue and not carrying arms which would never lead to peace. Agreeing
that there were genuine complaints that border on marginalisation, the
Sultan however said that the way out was peaceful resolution.
He blamed the nation’s politicians for most of the problems faced by Nigerians saying.
“They
come to you during campaigns, promise you heaven in your house, air
conditions on all roads and milk entering your mouth hourly without any
effort from you. As soon as they win and go to Abuja, they start
planning comfort for themselves while those from the rural areas move to
state capitals, abandoning those who voted them,” he lamented. Nnanta earlier said that Igbo were peace-loving Nigerians whose stalk-in-trading was engaging in their businesses.
“Igbo
cannot leave peacefully in isolation from Nigeria. They should work
towards ensuring proper integration, reconstruction as promised by Gen.
Yakubu Gowon. They may agitate for creation of more states in the
South-East to meet up with other geopolitical zones of the country,
|
No comments:
Post a Comment