Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu, and the leadership of Igbo apex body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, at a recent interactive session, condemned the continuous enforcement of stay-at-home order by non-state actors in the South East, PHILIP NYAM reports
Last Friday, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, played host to the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide in his office at the National Assembly. The Igbo apex body, led by its President-General, Chief Emmanuel Iwanyanwu, came on a courtesy call to its son, who is the highest political office holder from the South East in the present dispensation.
The state of affairs in the South- East was at the centre of the discourse and of course, the troubling issue of state-at-home, which has adversely affected the industrious people of the region came to the fore. Both Kalu and the group rejected in no uncertain terms the development and urged the people to collectively “say no to stay-at-home.” The stay-at-home order was first proclaimed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to protest the continuous incarceration of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
On July 30, 2021, IPOB announced it would be enforcing a lockdown every Monday in all the five south eastern states until Kanu is released from detention. The exercise effectively took off on August 9, 2012. But IPOB backtracked on January 12, 2022, when it said that enforcers of the Monday stay-at-home order are criminals. In a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, the group said: “We have severally explained that IPOB has not authorised anybody to enforce Monday stay-at-home, which has been suspended since August 19, 2021.
Any- body unleashing terror on innocent citizens under the guise of enforcing stay-at-home order is a criminal and does not deserve pity.” However, after two years of the stay-at-home order and its negative impact on the people of the zone, Ohanaeze Ndigbo in August this year called on those enforcing the order to sheathe their swords. Chief Iwuanyanwu, who spoke for the group, lamented the damage the order had visited on the people. He said the people of the South-East region have suffered untold hardship, with an estimated 250 deaths as a result of the order.
“The stay-at-home order has been instilling fear and trepidation on the good people of the South-East, making it difficult for people to come out to transact their lawful businesses on the stay-at-home days,” he said. He added: “The South-East is noted for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises, indigenous manufacturing, fabrication and agro-allied industries.
To this end, several authorities have put the losses encountered by the people of the South-East at trillions of naira on each stay-at-home day. “It is very disturbing that at a time the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide is engaging the Igbo entrepreneurs all over the world, on a think-home philosophy, a foreign-based Igbo is bent on destabilising the home front. It is evident that the series of stay- at-home orders is affecting the social and economic life of the Igbo.
Surely, it is not to the advantage of the Igbo.” However, in spite of the plea from the federal and state governments, well-meaning Nigerians, particularly those from the South-East, the stay-at-home has continued. It was in view of this that the deputy speaker charged the Igbo nation to reject the stay-at- home order in order to rebuild the region. Insisting that the order is for lazy people, Kalu said Ndigbo are known for hard work and perseverance and cannot afford to embrace stay-at-home.
He added that observance of stay-at-home, the issue of unknown gunmen and other social vices are alien and abhorrent to Ig- boland socially, economically and culturally. He revealed that his office has unveiled a mechanism that will ultimately end insecurity in the South- East. Unveiling the mechanism as Peace In The South East (PISE) project, he said that soon his office in agreement with all the lawmakers from the zone irrespective of party lines will reach out to the state governors and other critical stakeholders for the launch and implementation of the project.
The project, according to him, will feature a regional security integration and political leadership that will streamline an agenda for the promotion of Igbo cause and growth in terms of infrastructure. Kalu, who vehemently objected to the stay-at- home order stated that Ndigbo must extend their handshakes across the federation to restore confidence.
The deputy speaker also commended President Bola Tinubu for his benevolence to Ndigbo by ensuring that the people of the South-East were accorded a place in the political hierarchy of the country. He added that his cordial relationship with the Speaker of the House, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, saying he will be delighted in accommodating the requests of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in stamping out insecurity in the South-East.
He said: “Let me also state that, in our pursuit for these noble objectives, it is imperative that we draw a clear distinction between a legitimate call for justice, equity and fairness against criminal activities. There is a difference between the two of them. “Criminal activities cannot be taken to mean legitimate calls. Secession is not a legitimate call. We want to remain as one Nigeria! It is a distinction that our people must be able to make.
And together we must ensure that the line is firmly drawn. Igbo community has always been in the forefront of nation building and positive change. Go to any part of Nigeria, if you don’t see an Igbo man there, it means that place is not progressing, it means that place is not prosperous. We are everywhere, nobody is as patriotic as the Igbo man. “I’m here today, not just as the representative of the people of Bende, but as a representative of all Nigerians. The House of Representatives is actually named the House of the People for a reason.
The 10th House of Representatives led by my principal, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, who is currently in India and who has sent his greetings and who would love to host you when he is back, as we arrange your next visit, the Speaker himself will be here. And I want to say that I have a good working relationship with the speaker of the House of Representatives. “I want to report to you as the father of Igbo land that I have a good relationship between me and the Speaker.
He does not discriminate, he does not undermine me, he sees the potential and we are working together like twins to help Nigeria in the House of Representatives. With him, we will ensure that there is justice; with him, we will ensure that there is fairness; with him, we will ensure that there is equity to all, including the Igbos. We are not known for self-destruction that is evident in the idea of stay-at-home or unknown gun men.
“It is not our thing. It is alien to us. We don’t kill one another. We love our trade, we love our farms. We don’t stay at home. Staying at home is for lazy people. Igbo people are not lazy people. Those in support of stay-at-home are not Igbos. There is no true son of Igbo land, who would support laziness and call it a strategy for secession. If you stay at home, you are a lazy man. Igbos are not known to be lazy. We are industrious, we are entrepreneurs, and we work hard to succeed.
“The tradition of collective action and communalism has been a hallmark of the Igbo people throughout history, from building schools and hospitals to markets and farms. We are not known for self-destruction that is evident in the idea of stay-at-home or unknown gunmen. These tendencies are alien and abhorrent to how the Igbos are constituted; socially, culturally, and economically. “In addressing our present challenges, we have the opportunity to draw on the things that pull us together.
We may have different political platforms, but we must realise that the commonwealth and common good are ultimately the same.” Earlier in his presentation, Chief Iwuanyanwu called for the release of IPOB leader, Kanu, saying it will help restore peace in the South-East. According to him, an unconditional release of Kanu will certainly play a key role in restoring peace in the zone. He added that it was desirable that the government at the centre listens to the cries of the people. “Ohaneze has decided that we want Nnamdi Kanu released. We think that every effort should be made to release him. If he is released, it is going to make it easy for us,” he said.