North realising their grave mistakes too late — ASETU

By ANAYO OKOLI, Enugu

The association of south east town unions, ASETU, said that Northern leaders have realized of late that there have been skewed appointments, regional imbalance as the major causes of secession quests from different parts of the country.

ASETU who was reacting to a report credited to the Northern Patriots said it is clear the north is realising the albatross it has created rather too late

ASETU said the clamour for peace would fail unless the anomalies are not corrected.

In a statement signed by the National President, Chief Emeka Diwe and the National Secretary, Hon. Gideon Adikwuru, the group said: “A recent statement credited to a group known as Northern Patriots explains how the wailing Nigeria, wolves of insecurity and centrifugal forces of separation were owed to the unfair treatment to some sections of the country, particularly the Igbo.

“The statement goes further to urge that the ills in Nigeria’s corporate existence must be corrected, insisting that any clamour for peace will remain an aching mirage if the Nigerian circumstances remain unchanged.

“By the above, it is clear the North is realizing its mistakes rather too late. Nigeria is now on the edge of a precipice because of the wilful subjugation of the Igbo and a policy of apartheid designed by the North to emasculate our people.

“A federation is an institution of justice, equity and fairness. Central to the idea of federalism is the logic of balanced distribution of power and abhorrence of the dominance of any federating unit. ”It is therefore paradoxical that Nigeria which pretends to be a federation has become to our people a symbol of injustice, inequity and arbitrariness. “Those who are perpetuating this unjust system are the creators of the albatross that is tormenting Nigeria.

“As the umbrella union of the Igbo grassroots, we have severally posited that the resurged neo-Biafran struggles are sponsored by the North and owed almost exclusively to the North’s poise to monopolise all national assets and values, dominate everyone politically and strip the Igbo of every right to participate in national affairs and contribute as equal stakeholders to national life.

“Nigeria today thrives economically on the creativity, endowments and entrepreneurial skills of the Igbo, yet in the distribution of resources the North comes up certain esoteric formulas to marginalise our people. “Per annum, the government of Nigeria predicates its revenues on rents from oil and gas which are found beneath our land, import duties which largely come from our businessmen, and VAT generated by our manufacturers. ”Yet in the FAAC allocations, all the states and local government areas in Igboland do not get up to eighteen percent of the total accruals.

”The North that has criminalised and proscribed the sale and consumption of alcohol through Sharia Law still takes over sixty-five percent share of the VAT on alcohol. “In all the sectors of Nigeria, scheming out the Igbo has been elevated to the status of state policy. ”In education, we are disqualified through an unfair quota system and other policies that promote mediocrity and ensure that our brilliant kids don’t get admitted. “Same reality applies to employment, distribution of basic amenities and infrastructure, as well in parceling out of national patronage. “Today, the three organs of government in Nigeria are headed by the North, along with all the security agencies.

“The brutal rape of our women; destruction of our crops and murder of our poor, innocent and vulnerable people on their farmlands by Fulani militiamen from the North who masquerade as herdsmen are things which the Nigerian security can never budge about investigating, let alone bringing the perpetrators to book.

“The Igbo situation in Nigeria has become intolerable, and it is the extent to which the Igbo feel these injustices that they see themselves as Biafrans”.  (Vanguard)