Igbo
Delegates Assembly (IDA), an umbrella body of Igbo in the 19 northern
states and Abuja, has urged the Federal Government to dialogue with
leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, and leaders
of other agitating groups.
At the end of its three days delegates meeting in Abuja, the assembly, in a communique, also urged the government to shelve the idea of revoking Kanu’s bail.
The communique, signed by Chi Nwogu, and Austine
Ifedinezi, president general and secretary of the assembly, urged the
federal government to take urgent steps to put Nigeria “on a path of
peaceful co-existence, through equitable distribution of patronage and
infrastructural development.”
IDA insisted that the recent outburst in favour of the
establishment of the state of Biafra was simply a response to the
socio-economic imbalances in Nigeria which, they added, would give way
once the imbalances are genuinely addressed.
Insisting that the Nigeria project is workable, the assembly recommended that
Nigerians should come “together as a people and persuade the federal
government to put in place a framework for equitable existence in the
Nigerian project.
“This should be done through the
convocation of a sovereign conference, of the component ethnic
nationalities, or an adoption of the reports of the 2014 National
Conference.”
On the withdrawal of the October 1, 2017 quit notice on Igbo in the North by Arewa youths, the assembly saluted prominent northerners who worked for peace as well as the courage of the Coalition in backing down.
“It is on this note that we appeal to
security agencies to be on guard throughout the period to prevent any
breakdown of law and order in any part of Nigeria, especially in the
north.”
The assembly also frowned at recent
attempts to denigrate the reputation of Igbo traders in Northern Nigeria
by majorly associating them with the sales of counterfeit, stolen or
sub-standard drugs in the region.