Igbo elites have maintained sealed lips over the ordeal of the agitator for a sovereign state of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, because they were never at any point consulted over his mission, an activist has said.
“I think it’s very wrong to involve the Igbo elites in Kanu’s woes since they were not involved from the beginning,” said Mazi David Nonso Ifeanyi Ezedinma, National Coordinator of Igbos Diaspora Initiative for Buhari (IDIB), a pro- President Muhammadu Buhari group of Igbo.
“The continued silence by Igbo elite is quite articulate; it speaks volume, saying the elites of the tribe won’t want to be dragged into what they have no idea about,” he said.
Ezedinma who spoke with Daily Trust on phone today said that he is worried about the continuous impression of cowardice by Igbo elites, or of abandoning their own, as being created by some analysts, and explained that the elites will not abandon their own.
He said the problem lies with Kanu’s handling of the issue of Igbo’s political status in Nigeria, explaining that an agitation for session cannot be an individual’s but the people of the tribe, which he emphasizes do not lack the intellectual capability to execute.
“The Igbo as a people are a force to reckon with in Africa and the world at large. We have the intellectual capability to execute any agitation, as we have the numerical strength. The agitation for session cannot be an individual’s opinion as though the nation of Igbo people lacks nationalists,” he said, adding: “There is nothing wrong with any individual raising nationalistic conscience, but executing an agitation to support such nationalistic ideals for the Igbo has to start with consulting the elites for their opinion and support.”
“We never knew there was anything like the agitation to create a sovereign state for a people scattered across the length and breadth of Nigeria. We only wok up a certain morning to read that a certain agitator for a sovereign state for us the Igbo, was on air the night before, making pronouncements for and on behalf of the Igbo. That is overzealousness.”
“Kanu did not consult the Igbo leaders before embarking on this unsolicited liberation crusade .One thing I want you to understand from the continuous silence by Igbo elites is that Kanu and his co-travellers did not consult the Igbo leadership before embarking on this sensitive agenda .However, if the young man is remorseful for dragging the entire Igbo race into opprobrium, that’s the only reason Igbo elites should consider and intercede. If Biafran agitators are demanding for increased federal government presence in the South East certainly, Ohaneze ndi-Igbo and other notable Igbo groups would have made strong demand for Kanu’s release. But what did we have; a Kanu looking for heroism using the Igbo,” he said. (Source: Daily Trust)
