Frontline politician hails southern leaders’ summit

Thu, Jan 18, 2018 | By publisher


Politics

 

CHUKWUMA Okoye, a former commissioner for Education in the old Anambra State, has endorsed the meeting of the Southern Nigerian leaders held recently in Enugu.

“This is a right step toward tackling challenges of marginalisation against the south east region since independence,’’ Okoye said this during a news conference held in Awka.

Okoye commended the speakers at the forum drawn from the South East, South West, Niger Delta and the Middle Belt parts of the country.

Some of the speakers had urged Nigerians to forget their past ethnic differences and rather champion the cause of integrating themselves as equal citizens with their northern counterparts.

The APGA stalwart urged the forum to insist on restructuring of the country for equity to prevail.

He traced the genesis of the Igbo/Yoruba acrimony and ethnic politics in Nigeria to misunderstanding against the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe by some of the then Western Nigeria leaders.

Okoye, who commended the vision of the present generation of leaders from the region in asking for equity, decried activities of herdsmen across the country.

Condemning Benue killings by herdsmen in its entirety, the former commissioner called for total disarming of herdsmen, who hitherto were not carrying sophisticated weapons.

According to Okoye, if the herdsmen are allowed to carry arms, farmers who face wild animals in the forest in the cause of their duties should also be allowed to carry arms to defend themselves.

He called on the authorities to think aloud about the liberty allowed the Fulani herdsmen to carry arms and a lack of liberty to farmers to also carry arms.

 

–  Jan.  18, 2018 @ 17:51 GMT /

 

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