The Northern Elders’ Forum has on Friday reacted to the call made by a Coalition of Northern Youth Groups calling for Igbo to exit the northern region of the country.
The Elders’ Forum on Friday expressed its support for the call and three months ultimatum handed down by the northern youth groups adding that the conduct of the Northern Governors in calling for the arrest of the youth groups’ leaders is nothing short of a “disappointment”.
Making its support known, the ex-Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ango Abdullahi who is the spokesperson for the NEF told newsmen in Zaria that it was hypocritical for the Igbo to continue living in other parts of the country while agitating for Nigeria’s break up.
He continue: “I am disappointed in the decision taken by Northern Governors’ Forum disowning and condemning the agitation by this young, agile and progressive youth groups.
“Let me ask these Northern governors, who are they representing, are they representing spirits, ghosts or people of the North?
“Recently, people from eastern part of this country, specifically Igbo, were busy calling for the Sovereign State of Biafra and from all indications, their leaders — including governors — are behind them.”
He further maintained while clarifying that the move made by the nothern youth groups is not a sin, “whoever feels Nigeria is not conducive for him, let him quit.”
Ango further accused the Northern governors of not reacting to the continuous agitations of the Igbo for Biafra adding that the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu was released on bail with over 100 vehicles waiting to escort him to his residence.
“This is somebody who has been agitating for the break-up of Nigeria; but his people were behind him. Therefore, I am behind the (Northern) youths.
“This is because the Northern youths are pushed to the wall. We have been calming them down in any event similar to this.”
Addressing the Igbo population, Ango added that people from the South are in the habit of acting cheated.
He noted: “These people always pretend that the North is cheating them, not minding the fact that Southern Nigeria was developed by resources from the North.
“Please, look for a book written by Adamu Fika, the Waziri of Fika, on Nigeria’s budget before and after Independence.
“Each year, up to the time Nigeria gained its Independence, none of the two regions was able to provide for itself.
“I mean, none of the Western and Eastern regions had the money to effectively run the affairs of its region until they got financial support from the Northern region.”
He further recalled the colonial period saying: “First oil exploration was conducted using money from groundnut pyramid, cotton, hide and skin, among other cash crops from Northern Nigeria.
“However, these people tend to forget all these goodies provided by the North toward ensuring the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.
“They always look down on us, feeling that Northerners are parasites in this country.”