A retired army officer, Colonel Tony Nyiam (retd), said that restructuring the country is the thing that will stop the agitation by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
The Cross River-born retired officer, who came to the limelight when he and some other officers attempted to overthrow the former military president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida in 1990, noted that Igbos have suffered a lot in Nigeria.
He faulted the military’s Operation Python Dance carried out in the Southeast but blamed Nnamdi Kanu for being distracted, stubborn and arrogant in his agitation.
He told Sun, “Restructuring is the answer. Restructuring will address all these agitations here and there.
“Ndigbo have suffered injustices over the years, and this is what Nnamdi Kanu has been trying to fight.
“Again, like I said earlier, the Southeast geo-political zone has five states compared to geopolitical zones that have more states are having undue advantage over others because more states means more access to federal revenue. All these injustices eventually give rise to agitations.
“It is even wrong for the military to have been drafted to the Southeast under the guise of any operation, be it Operation Python or whatever name.
“No one should allow the military to be used for sectional interests, President Muhammadu Buhari swore the oath to protect all Nigerians and I do hope that the military will be used in more honorable ways.
“The military should not be used to serve a self-interest. The military must always remain neutral no matter the temptation because history will judge them.
“Restructuring is the answer to IPOB and Nnamdi Kanu’s agitations. One credit that must be given to Kanu is that sit at home order which Kanu gave that time which worked as millions of people in the Southeast obeyed him.
“The success of that sit at home order brought a new reawakening to the clamour for restructuring.
“But I must also say again that at one point it became distracted from the original agenda he was pursuing. He suddenly became stubborn, he wasn’t listening to anybody again.
“He should have listened more especially to Igbo elders. But I think that in spite of his shortcomings one can’t discriminate the roles he has been playing resisting injustice against Igbo.”
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