Iwuanyanwu, has said contrary to insinuations in some quarters, Igbo
did not start the civil war, which engulfed the country from 1967 to
1970.
He said rather, northern elements who felt that the Igbo in the
military carried out the 1966 coup started thewar, and then went on a
mindless, wicked and coldblooded killing of Igbo.
Iwuanyanwu, who spoke in Aba, Abia State at an integrated economic
summit organised by an Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Aka Ikenga,
stated that for the fact that Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Dr. Michael
Okpara were not killed during the coup could not translate to an Igbo
coup.
Bemoaning the effect of the civil war on Igbo unity, Iwuanyanwu, who
said he was a young Biafran major during the war, stated that while
northerners believe in themselves, the Yorubas in Kwara and Kogi
states were proud to say they were Yorubas, stressing that the Igbo
outside the core Igbo states find it difficult to identify as Igbo.
He said there was no ethnic group in Nigeria that believes in the
oneness of the country more than the Igbo, saying: "Igbo believe in
one united Nigeria more than any other tribe. While the Igbo have
investments in all parts of the country, there is no single investment
owned by a non-Igbo in Igboland."
Earlier, President General of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, said
Aba was chosen for the summit because of its strategic position as the
melting pot of commercial activities of the Igbo nation.
—IgbereTV
No comments:
Post a Comment