Don’t let Igbo resort to self-help –Ohanaeze faction leader

A factional leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly, Basil Onyeacholam, has warned that the Igbo may resort to self-help in handling insecurity in their territory, occasioned by the activities of herdsmen.

As a consequence, he has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to address the issue to dissuade the people of the area from looking for an alternative means of securing themselves.

Onyeacholam’s warning came barely 24 hours after he was inaugurated as the President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation by the traditional ruler of Igbariam in the Anambra East Local Government Area of Anambra State, Igwe Nkelly Nzekwe, who claimed to be the Board of Trustees chairman of the group.

Onyeacholam’s address obtained by our correspondent in Awka, the Anambra State capital, on Monday, maintained that he had come to restructure the socio-cultural organisation (Ohanaeze Ndigbo).

He said his mission included to ensure that in 2023, an Igbo man would be elected the president of Nigeria.

He enjoined the Federal Government to address the agitations of Ndigbo to give them a sense of belonging.

The address read in part, “We want the Federal Government of Nigeria to equitably address the genuine agitations of our people. The President must sit up to the current security challenges in Igboland, to dissuade our people from inevitable self-help.

“I make bold to say that come 2023, an Igbo man will be elected as the President of Nigeria. The unity of Ndigbo is paramount and sacrosanct in actualising Igbo presidency in 2023.

“We need peace and security in Igboland and Nigeria at large; we need development, empowerment of Ndigbo in strategic government positions; we need equitable distribution of national resources and national development projects in Igboland.”