Odimmaigbo Youths Association worldwide has commended all the youths of Igbo extraction for listening to voice of reason and being obedient in their non participation in the on-going nationwide hunger protest in line with the resolution taken by Ndigbo not to join in the exercise.
The association with Mr Ibeh Chimezie as President, Mazi Tony Anyanwuakpoke, Vice President and Chief Innocent Okoye, patron, in a statement said the singular act of staying away from the protest proved that the Igbo, especially the youths could still act with one voice to prove a point.
The youths said that since the Igbo had always been the target of every protest in Nigeria, that the wise thing was the Igbo youths to stay away from being part of the exercise to disappoint those who had made their evil plans waiting for Igbo to join, to get them slaughtered. The youths said Igbo usually bore the brunt and had learnt their lessons.
“The military always go wild with Igbo youths in any protest, so we decided to stay away from the protest. We shelved it to avoid being the scapegoats.
“We equally asked Igbo youths residing in other geo-political zones of the country to shelve the protest and make sure their properties were protected.
“It is obvious that the Igbo’s properties may not be protected, if they go out for a hunger protest, they will loot your shops and even go after your life.
“Ndigbo are tired of seeking freedom, relevance and equal treatment in Nigeria. They have not been accorded their proper place in the comity of Nigerian nation. So, their joining the protest won’t make any difference and the region has also been frustrated with their failed quest to produce Nigeria’s President.
“So, now we have wept enough. We have been shortchanged enough. What else do you want us to do, join the protest? No way. We don’t have to do so. So, we instead remained quiet and started praying to our God. We have handed everything to the hands of God and we know he will answer our prayers, “the association said.
The youths said there was no need for the Igbo to start making a noise or begin protesting against the government or creating violence. The youths pleaded with the rest of the Igbo to maintain that stand. The youths explained that they shunned the protest because of the way they were badly treated in the past. They noted that people of the South East were industrious people, adding that they were mainly business people.
“The Igbo shunned the protest because they usually end up being victims of such exercise. Though Ndigbo are facing the same economic hardship that President Bola Tinubu’s government has imposed on Nigerians, to avoid being targeted as always, Ndigbo decided to shun the protest.
“The protest was organized by other ethnic nationalities to lure the Igbo into destruction, “the youths argued.
Some leaders in the South East had, earlier before the protest, warned Ndigbo to shelve the protest.
One of the leaders and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, representing Bende Federal Constituency in Abia state, Ben Kalu, asked the Igbo to shun the protest or risk being targeted.
“Ndigbo stay away from the protest. They will target you and they will waste you,” Mr Kalu said in a clip.
Kalu told the Igbo that they had died enough and should step aside in the protest.
“Sit at home. If there’s any sit-at-home that should be effective, not the one you do on Mondays, let it be the one that will happen in this protest,” he said.
The youths used the opportunity to appeal to the Governors of the South East to make conscious efforts to create jobs for Igbo youths many of whom they said wallowed in penury for want of job.
They argued that when the youths were gainfully employed, the issue of insecurity would be reduced to the minimum level.
