Obimma Emmanuel, also known as, Ebube Muonso, the Spiritual Director of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, Anambra State, says the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is not Nigeria’s problem.
The Catholic priest said that the arrest and repatriation of the IPOB leader is a big distraction and deviation from the major issues facing the country and its people.
Obimma who is also the Rector of Blessed Iwene Tansi Pilgrimage Center, and Parish Priest of the Blessed Iwene Tansi Parish, Umudioka in Anambra State, insisted that Nigeria’s problems are hydra-headed, and therefore, must be tackled the way they are.
“The arrest and repatriation of the IPOB leader is a kind of leaving the substance and pursuing the shadow. Instead of exerting energy in pursuing IPOB members, who are merely seeking self-determination, the Federal Government could have employed experts that would tackle insecurity. They should also engage experts to manage the economy. Youths roaming the streets should be provided with jobs so that criminality will reduce.
“Hunger and lack of economic opportunities beget restiveness. Let the government do the needful, because, Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB are not the major problems. I am personally surprised that the Nigerian Government has this kind of security strategy to nab the IPOB leader from a foreign land, still, the government is not able to tame the tide of insecurity occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen.
“The Nigerian Government negotiates with leaders of Boko Haram and Fulani herders, who cause havoc in Nigeria; who also kill innocent citizens in their thousands. The same government is victimising IPOB, which are merely calling for a referendum. For me, IPOB is freedom fighters. They are fighting for the total emancipation of their people, the Igbo race. Let government stop pursuing shadows.”
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to call the IPOB leader and his members to a roundtable talk, a measure he said, would yield results that would reduce agitation.
“I’ve said earlier that dialogue is the only way to handle the issue of agitation, especially that of the pro-Biafra agitators. You don’t always achieve peace using violence and threat. The mere arrest of Nnamdi Kanu can hardly solve any problem. Remember, many more are ready to die in the course of pursuing the Sovereign State of Biafra. Many are still ready to die. So, I do not believe that the use of force can solve any problem. Let the government, for once; call the agitators to a round table discussion. Government should listen to them; if then their demands are untenable, then, Nigerians will know,” he advised.
The Catholic priest also encouraged communities to sponsor local security outfits to secure the rural communities and their farms against killer-herders
He said: “Communities should sponsor local security outfits to secure the rural communities and their farms. If they see any cow destroying people’s crops, let them shoot the cows. It is better the battle is fought now with courage, so that the people will have freedom and peace, than the peasant farmers living in perpetual fear and intimidation.
“Activities of the Fulani herdsmen are sheer wickedness. Old men and women in the villages survive through peasant farming. They do not have any other major business except farming. It will be sheer wickedness for the herders to destroy what the rural farmers’ labour produces. Why should they do their business and earn money, while farmers are crying?
“Honestly, I thought Mr President is a good man. But every day, through his actions and inactions, he had continued to tell the world that he loves a section of the country and probably hates others. In his appointments, you see injustice; you see marginalisation in concrete terms. There is no equity at all, and he doesn’t want to change.”
