Igbo leader calls Arewa ultimatum “childish”
Posted by Admin | 10 years ago | 4,370 times
George Obiozor, a former Nigerian Ambassador to United States of America has described as “empty and childish” a recent call by a Northern youth group for Southerners in their territory to relocate to their various states or face dire consequences.
The group under the aegis of Arewa Youth Development Foundation (AYDF), last week gave a two-week ultimatum to southerners currently living in the North to relocate to their respective states to enable Northerners who would be returning home to have a space.
In a release at the palace of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi 11, and signed by its National President, Aliyu Usman and Secretary, Afred Solomon, the group gave as its reasons the recent arrests of imams at mosques in Abia State; arrest of Northern traders; events at the National Conference and several other issues. “In the event that all the resolution (at the Conference) failed’ they said, ‘we call on all northerners to rise and support agitations for a peaceful dissolution of this union called Nigeria, for every region to go its own way.”
But Obiozor said they were speaking out of ignorance of the amount of integration that had taken place in the country, which would make it impossible for any group to ask others to vacate their places of abode.
“Every part of Nigeria, every section or nationality in Nigeria have other people in their midst. The person who is saying that should come to Owerri where I know of many Hausas who are married to our people who have not been to the North for the last 30 to 40 years. Those Northerners were born here. In spite of their names or religion, they are part of us Northerners are part of us and we treat them accordingly, like our brothers and sisters. So you cannot find people saying that you are warning, of course as a matter of fact it must be a small section of the Arewa people that will say such a thing” he said.
He explained that it was foolhardy for any section to begin to threaten other sections of the country as was the case in the past. He said:”Let me be frank with you, I heard of it this afternoon and I want to tell you, those who said it, and if it was ever said should be told that the era of empty threat is over”.
Concluding, he declared: “Completely empty and childish and nobody should react on that other than to caution such people to be mindful of their language as gentlemen and women”.
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