Politics
Nigerian govt treating Igbos like second class citizens —Nwodo
A former President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, has accused the Nigerian government of treating the Igbos as second class citizens in the scheme of things in the country.
Nwodo who made the allegation on Monday in Owerri while delivering a paper titled “Nigeria’s Political and Economic Future – the Dangers We Can Avert,” cited the exclusion of officers of Igbo extraction in the security architecture of the country as well as other sensitive and strategic public positions, as one of the reasons for the agitations witnessed in the region.
“We are grossly marginalised and treated by the federal government as second class citizens. No Igbo man, for instance, heads any security arm of the Nigeria Armed Forces.
”Our area is the most heavily policed as if there was a deliberate policy to intimidate us and hold us down.
”The brazen impunity in dealing with matters which concern the South East is provocative.
Read also: Nnia Nwodo denies reports he blamed IPOB for Imo, Anambra killings
”We invest and contribute to the economic and social life of the communites where ever we live. We are proudly Christians but very accommodating of our brothers of other persuasions,” Nwodo, a former Minister of Information said.
He also noted that the militarisation of the South-East zone and the high-handedness of the federal government in dealing with the region were the reasons for the growing disenchantment among youths in the zone.
“This current approach makes it impossible for leaders in the South-East to effectively contain the anger of their youths,” he added.
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