The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has stressed that the Igbo need the north to maintain their financial strength to be maintained.
Augustine Amaechi, the chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the 19 northern states said this while reacting to agitations for secession of Igbo from Nigeria to form a separate nation of Biafra as being canvassed by the Indigenous People of Bifra, IPOB led by Nnamdi Kanu.
IPOB had also asked Igbo people living, working and doing business in the Northern part of the country to return to South-east ahead of the formation of Biafra.
But Amaechi said the clamours for secession by some Igbo in the South East because of lack of jobs and employment in the region, according to report in Daily Trust
He added that since Igbo traders need the North and other parts of the country where they can sell their products so that they can maintain their financial status.
“Our elders are saying that even if the youth are agitating and angry, we need a restructure of Nigeria and not a division of Nigeria because you can’t sell what you produce in your village to make big sales like in Alaba Market in Lagos.”
He added that the northern part of Nigeria is actually one of the safest places for the Igbo ethnic group to live and do their business.
He added that some of the skirmishes the Igbo in the North had experienced with their host communities, is unavoidable and “is expected in a developing economy.”
Also speaking, the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, George Obiozor said that Igbo nation is not at war with anybody.
“All we want is to be treated equally with other people. It is time for us to speak truth to power. We need peace and unity and they can’t be gotten through propaganda and transparency must be followed.”