The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has declared its intention to address security challenges in the Southeast region through a non-kinetic approach.
The President-General of the sociocultural organization, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, made this announcement during a World Conference held to unveil the program for the September 29 Igbo Day celebration in Enugu State.
Iwuanyanwu expressed his weariness of the violence and bloodshed in the Southeast, emphasizing his role as a father and his responsibility to lead the people towards peace.
He highlighted that many of those involved in violent activities in the region were driven by factors such as hunger and unemployment.
He said:
“I am not saying that hunger and unemployment will make one a criminal but not everyone has the capacity to endure hunger.”
The President-General reiterated that ensuring security in every part of Nigeria is a collective responsibility, emphasizing that the Federal Government alone cannot address it.
He also mentioned that during the Igbo Day celebration, he intends to unveil the non-kinetic approach aimed at ending insecurity in the Southeastern region.
“As a father, I will call and appeal to everybody to embrace peace and the non-kinetic approach requires everybody’s support both state and the federal government for us to have peace in the southeast.
“Whatever sacrifice to bring the non-kinetic approach to bring an end to bloodshed and killing in Igboland, I will do it.
“I am going to reach these people by any means to beg them or even give my life if they want it. I will surrender it to ensure peace reigns in the region”.
He said he would send a delegation to Finland and other places to beg those causing bloodshed in the southeast.
He added:
“We are not going to arrest or kill them. I don’t want to kill any of our children; we are going to appeal to them to tell us what they want us to do.
“Those who are hungry, we will find them something to do to keep them happier but letting of bloodshed and killing should stop.
“It is not easy to stop a hungry person who has found means of getting livelihood through guns but as a father, I will go and cry to them and I am praying to God that this approach works out well”.
Iwuanyanwu expressed his intention to mediate and resolve political conflicts among leaders in the region to promote progress.
He called upon the federal government to provide support for initiatives such as reconstructing railways, establishing seaports, and building additional international airports to facilitate economic activities in the Southeastern zone.
“The issue of sharing rice as palliative does not have any meaning to any Igbo man but what you can do for him is to give him the opportunity to make a living for himself,” he said.
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