A Lagos lawmaker, Mr Jude Idimogu, on Saturday, said it was too late for the Igbo nation to pull out of Nigeria.
Idimogu, representing Oshodi/Isolo Constituency II in the Lagos State House of Assembly, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that secession would be injurious to the Igbos.
He said: “As a full blooded Igbo man and a Nigerian, I believe, Igbo staying in Nigeria as an entity will prosper the Igbo nation better than pulling out.
“After the 1967 Civil war, the Igbo man started all over again to build up; now Igbo nation has made progress in terms of economy and politics.
“Though the Igbo nation has not reached where it is expected to be politically, we should dialogue rather than be creating war scenarios.
‘’It is too late to pull out (of Nigeria), Igbo nation has united Nigeria because they have businesses everywhere in this country,” the lawmaker said.
The lawmaker urged Mr Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to rescind from any action that could create enmity against Igbos around the country.
He urged the Igbo nation to unite with other ethnic groups in the country to articulate their grievances and actualised their dreams.
“My children were born in Lagos and some of them don’t even know their state of origin, they speak Yoruba and so many Igbo children are like that across the North and West.
“We have our future in Nigeria. The only thing Igbo nation should fight for is political power not by creating war scenario but by merging with other nations/tribes in Nigeria – the Northerners and Westerners.
“Most Igbos, over 50 per cent, don’t even believe in Biafra because they have counted the cost from 1970 after the war till 2017. No one wants to go back to square one; it is not possible.
“As a person, I am against it; what the Igbo man should struggle for in this entity are equality, fairness and justice, not pulling out.
“It is very late to pull out, it will be difficult because majority of us are not ready to fight any war; I don’t want to lose my life nor my sons and daughter in war; I believe we can make Nigeria our home,’’ he said.
According to him, even if the Igbo nation wants to pull out of Nigeria, it is not going to be overnight or by aggression, rather it should be via a friendly and democratic process.
“Kanu should calm down, unite with Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a tree cannot make a forest,” the lawmaker said.
NAN reports that there had been several agitations by IPOB for a Sovereign State of Biafra, the development that lead to the proscription of the group. (NAN)
AYO/YMU/WOJ