Enugu-based Catholic priest, Father
Mbaka has once again advised Igbos to desist from calling for a secession from
Nigeria.
Mbaka gave his views today on
the current agitation for the secession of southeast Nigeria from the rest of
the country as the Republic of Biafra.
Addressing a gathering of Igbos in East
London, the controversial cleric said that Igbos should be the last people
seeking to leave Nigeria. He said:
“No Hausa person owns property
in Igboland. No Yoruba person owns property in Igboland. But 60% of businesses
in northern Nigeria are owned by Igbos. 40% of businesses in western Nigeria
are owned by Igbos.”
Mbaka
implied that Igbos had the most to lose by the breakup of the country. He
claimed to know about how much Igbos owned across Nigeria because he was
regularly being invited to say blessings at the opening of new businesses by
Igbos, especially in northern Nigeria.
He
said:
“Go
to Sabon Gari in Kano and see what Igbos own there”. He added that Igbos could complain
that they were not enough of them in government, but under former president
Goodluck Jonathan, an Igbo was finance minister, Central Bank governor, and so
on.
He went on to suggest that
those Igbos that have been seduced into agitating for Biafra by Nnamdi Kanu,
the leader of separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are “the
children of the poor”, who in his view, are not thinking properly about the
implications of secession. Mbaka said those people were being deceived by Kanu.
Mbaka then moved on to what
could happen in an independent Biafra if it ever came to fruition. He
said: “If you think we have trouble in Nigeria now, we will see trouble
in Nigeria. No Anambra man would let an Enugu man be president, no Imo man
would let an Abakaliki man be president”.
Tags
Politics NG