Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, Thursday said it regretted how the group in 2006 prevailed on the people of Southeast to boycott the nationwide census exercise.
MASSOB leader, Mr Uchenna Madu, in a statement in Awka said though it was unfortunate that Ndigbo misunderstood its position, MASSOB used the action then to showcase its strength and popularity in Igbo land.
He noted that: “Though the low turnout of South-East during the last census exercise was used by our enemies and Nigerian government to undermine and shortchange Ndigbo in Nigeria, it was part of our sacrifice for Biafra.
“As every revolutionary struggle for independence has its methodology and can adopt any measure that would help yield positive results, MASSOB is considering allowing next year’s national census because of the intervention of some prominent Igbo leaders and with the conditions MASSOB will outline.
“This includes the inclusion of religion to ascertain the actual number of Muslims, traditionalists and Christians. It will enable us to know the number of oriental sects and religions in Nigeria.
“Another condition which MASSOB is giving is the inclusion of ethnicity, which will immensely assist in knowing the total number of indigenous people and their tribes in Nigeria, which will also help to put to rest the ethnic arguments of the largest Nigerian ethnic groups, or the major and minor tribes.
“MASSOB is also insisting that during the 2018 census exercise, every citizen residing outside his/her state of origin must be allowed to travel to his/her state for the counting to enable us know the exact population of each state as it is done internationally.”
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