Ohanaeze Ndigbo, a pan-Igbo socio-cultural group in Nigeria, has been urging the people of the North to shun the call for protest. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address grievances being expressed by those planning the protest. ACF National Chairman Mamman Mike Osuman said that the indices that track human progress, including poverty, illiteracy, health, and security of life and property, tend to place the North at the back.
The NLC dissociated the group from the proposed protest, saying that it is ill-timed and counter-productive. The ACF remains committed to articulating and defending the interests of the peoples of the North through various activities, such as the recently constituted Technical Committee that reviewed the 1999 Constitution. The report of the Technical Committee formed the basis of ACF’s submission to the joint committees of the National Assembly on Constitution review.
Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani urged Northerners to shun what he described as toxic politics and join hands to pull the region back from the brink. The governor advised them to reflect on insecurity, which has retarded regional development, instead of embarking on protest. Ohanaeze Ndigbo maintained that the people of Southeast will not participate in the protest.
On February 20, 2024, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, directed the Igbo not to join in the protest against President Bola Tinubu. The Igbo leader explained that “tough times never last, but tough people do.” The current hardship in Nigeria is the comeuppance of Igbophobia, an unavoidable outcome of an orchestrated injustice, marginalization, callous conspiracies, corporate shenanigans, and ethnic bigotry against the Igbo.
The group reacted to a remark by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, that “the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi and that Obi “should be held responsible for whatever crisis that emanates from the protest.” Ohanaeze also objected to Onanuga’s remark that “Obidients are “plotting to unseat President Bola Tinubu under the guise of protests,” thereby convening the impression that “the Igbo are the propellers of the forthcoming nationwide protest”.
Sani dismissed the insinuation that President Tinubu is against the North, saying that it is false and absurd. He explained that President Tinubu is doing his best to salvage the economic situation and has been giving uncommon support to state governments in the North to address many challenges. He attributed the rumour that Tinubu is against the North to the antics of some political manipulators, who are only interested in feathering their nests.
Sani lamented that despite the indices, what is prevalent in the North is the promotion of toxic politics, opposition for opposition’s sake, and “pull him down syndrome.” He observed that some Northerners indulge in endless blame games, devoid of attempts at soul searching or introspection. He said that they must take a hard look at themselves, tell themselves some home truths, and move together to fashion a common strategy to address their developmental challenges and confront the criminals making life unbearable for their people.
ACF has a major role to play in building the required consensus for the best approach to tackle the multifaceted challenges facing Northern Nigeria. He said ACF should make efforts to refocus the attention of Northerners from toxic politics to development.
