By Abbanobi -Eku Onyeka
Abuja
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has appealed to Ndigbo to maintain peace across the country and properly guide youths against armed struggle with the Federal Government, stressing that development thrives only in a peaceful atmosphere.
Akpabio made the plea on Saturday in Ikem, Enugu State, during the funeral of Sir Albert Ikechukwu Nnamani, former Administrative Secretary of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC). The late administrator was laid to rest in his hometown.
“For Ndigbo, I want to plead with you to continue to maintain the peace and watch the youth of today. They don’t understand politics. They don’t understand development. You can only have development in an area of peace,” Akpabio said. He warned that any attempt to wrest power or assert independence through armed struggle would fail because “state power will always overwhelm you.”
The Senate President assured the South East of the 10th National Assembly’s readiness to legislate for equity, including the creation of an additional state for the zone. “We are prepared as a parliament to make the right laws, to dot the i’s and cross the t’s in order for Ndigbo to have, at least, an additional state, so that they will also be equal to the other zones of the country,” he stated.
Akpabio said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration was “very eager to right the wrongs of the past” and had worked to ensure Ndigbo are not marginalized in appointments. He, however, insisted that every demand should be pursued through negotiation. “Through peaceful means and negotiation, we shall get our right of place in Nigeria,” he added, urging leaders not to lose youths to “wrong politics and wrong advice.”
Decrying the economic impact of the sit-at-home order, Akpabio said Ndigbo are known for enterprise but the action had “affected your economy so badly.” He recalled post-civil war hardships, noting that while the Federal Government declared the three Rs — Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction — reconstruction did not happen in the South-East and South-South where the war was fought.
Recounting a 2010 Silverbird award event, Akpabio said he questioned why reconstruction occurred in other parts of the country but not in the war-affected zones. “They only tried reconciliation and rehabilitation. That R, Reconstruction, was missing,” he said, adding that past leaders present at that event were uncomfortable with his remarks.
Akpabio concluded by declaring that it was time for Nigeria to do justice to Ndigbo, praying “that justice shall be done to Ndigbo in our lifetime in Jesus Name.” He also paid tribute to the late Nnamani, saying he discharged his OMPADEC duties “with dignity and candour” and helped set the tone for Niger Delta development, ending the era when promises to the region were said to be “in the pipeline.”
L-R: Senate Deputy Whip,Onyekachi Nwaebonyi; President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; former Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, (NUPRC), Gbenga Olu Komolafe; Senator Osita Izunaso; Retired DIG Frank Mba and Senator Osita Ngwu, at the funeral ceremony in honour of Late Sir Albert Ikechukwu Nnamani, at St.Thersa Catholic Church, Ikem Isi-uzo Local Government Area, Enugu State, yesterday. Photo: Senate President’s Offiice.
