The Imo state governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has dismissed the current agitation for Biafra State, saying that even the Igbo god of thunder “Amadioha” cannot resurrect the project which is dead and long buried.
Rochas made the disclosure on Friday, January 15, while hosting a delegation from the Igbo Elders Forum at the state house in Owerri.
The governor told the forum that Biafra has long been dead and not even Amadioha can resurrect it. He added that they should be grateful that President Buhari apprehended a criminal and terrorist like Nnamdi Kanu who deserves to be punished for his crimes.
‘Biafra has long been dead and not even Amadioha can resurrect it,’ adding that ‘they should be grateful that President Buhari apprehended a criminal and terrorist like Nnamdi Kanu who deserves to be punished for his crimes.’
Governor Okorocha said: “On behalf of all the state governors in the eastern region, we have unanimously agreed with President Buhari not to release that terrorist and troublesome boy who does not know his roots. Nigeria will remain as one and the Igbos will be part of it.”
He warned that very soon many youths will lose their lives unnecessarily in the name of the struggle, reminding the elders that even the former leader of the Biafran republic Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu made it clear that another war of secession was not needed before he died in 2011.
Recall that over recent months, several Igbo groups have been campaigning to recreate Biafra, which existed between July 1967 and January 1970. Due to a combination of the perceived marginalisation of Ndigbo and the recent arrest of Radio Biafra director Nnamdi Kanu, several Igbo groups have organised demonstrations all over southeast Nigeria.
The agitators however, have been cautioned against the venture. The campaigners have been advised not to seek a dissolution of Nigeria. Several governors across the southeast have agreed to meet President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter and use the audience to raise some of the grievances in the region in the hope that addressing them will end the agitation.
In the same vein, General Olusegun Obasanjo has advised Nigerians to shun calls requesting them to align with Biafra. The ex-president said that the Biafra issue has been long dead and buried, a statement which earned him some negative criticism, as Biafra agitators have referred to his comments as balderdash.