The Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi has revealed that if elected as president of the country in 2023, he would engage in dialogue with those agitating for secession.
Speaking on Arise TV morning show on Wednesday, July 06, 2022, Obi said he had observed how issues of agitations were handled in other countries.
According to him, the agitation was birthed by poor leadership in the country which, according to him, had been the issue with Nigeria over the years.
Clearing the air on his reported support for the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, the former Anambra State governor said he had never been involved in any agitation.
He said, “I have never been in any agitation. I had said that the agitation is because of leadership failure over the years. I will engage them in dialogue if elected into power”.
Biafra agitation stemmed from leadership failure on the part of the government, amounting to years of social neglect, and economic and political isolation of the people in Nigeria and particularly people from the South East of the Nation in general.
The alleged insensitivity of the federal government against the plight of Ndigbo is being touted as fuelling the struggle for Biafra Independence by Igbo groups.
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Australia, Chief Cyprian Okoye, told reporters in Enugu that the current agitation over the republic of Biafra would continue as much as the federal government had insisted on treating Ndigbo as non-members of the country.
He stated that Ndigbo had not been treated fairly, stressing that the abuse faced by its people was exacerbated in the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
