The Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, on Thursday at its 7th session in Enugu urged relevant stakeholders to go beyond condemnations in handling the quit notice served on Igbos resident in the Northern part of Nigeria.
In a communiqué issued after the session, which was signed by Chief (Mrs) Maria Okwor, Deputy Leader and Rev Fr. John Odey, the Publicity Secretary, the Igbo group noted that efforts must be made to address the major issues leading to the quit notice.
The meeting was attended by all the affiliate groups of the ECA, including religious bodies, Youth groups, students associations, traditional rulers, traders’ organizations, women groups, town unions, N.G.O.s and professional bodies.
“The ECA commends the South East governors, Ohaneze Ndigbo leadership, our friends and lovers of truth from the middle belt, the South West, the Niger Delta and beyond, for standing by our people as we are asked to quit the North.
“ECA assures the Northern Leaders who reprimanded and disowned the QUIT NOTICE GIVERS, that calling for calm and unity without addressing the truth, is unhelpful and deceitful.
“What is the real truth? Ninety five percent of the oppressed do not want to continue the 1970 experiment of master/servant relationship. Restructure Nigeria now or let us go.
“The 47 year old humiliating experience in Nigeria is unacceptable, we cannot take it anymore.
“Death in the process of fighting for our honour and dignity is better than eternal slavery. We are tired of Nigeria as presently constituted. We simply do not wish to transfer our second class status to our progeny”, they stated.
In the resolutions, they observed what they called “the quite expected difficulty by certain sections of the country to recover from the shock of the successful may 30th sit at home, ordered by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, and the paranoia exhibited by these oppressors and their agents, through a thoughtless quit order on Ndigbo in the North and pressure mounted by the national security community on our neighbours to issue press releases (usually for a fee) distancing themselves from our people, in a failed attempt to isolate us, is not lost on anybody.
“These childish actions are confirmation, that the total compliance of our people during the May 30th Sit at home, has sent jitters down the spine of the oppressor, who have just learnt that, Nigeria’s artificial, unjust, unworkable and lopsided unitary structure, created solely by unelected soldiers of fortune, cannot survive much longer.
“These childish reactions by the oppressor and their agents (which include issuing press releases in the name of nonexistent South East groups, reprimanding Kanu, cannot in any way resolve the issue of total loss of faith in Nigeria as presently constituted by more than half of the population.
“If anything, these desperate reactions, only confirm to all, that the oppressor has run out of ideas.”
The ECA insisted that “reconstructing Nigeria consensually to true federalism is inevitable, and the window for that opportunity is closing. Those who have ears let them hear.
“A new constitution anchored on regional autonomy, is the only route open, to save Nigeria. It does not matter, that the oppressor, who have consistently shown the world, that, they are only good at mishandling self determination agitations by always applying the wrong strategy, is at their usually folly again, what truly matters, is that the oppressed have resolved to get justice and nothing else.
“47 years of servitude, for losing a war, is enough punishment, nothing will make this generation accept second class citizenship anymore. The oppressor can continue to beat around the bush, for as much as they like. They must come back to the truth, Nigeria must restructure or perish.”
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