Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has urged the Federal Government and South East governments to dialogue with proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, and Yoruba self-determination leader, Sunday Igboho, saying self-determination agitations should be construed as secessionist war.
Its Secretary General, Willy Ezugwu, in a statement, yesterday, said it was “constrained to break silence on the matter as it has become very clear that governments, at all levels, have failed to differentiate self-determination struggles from secessionist war.”
Ezugwu said it appeared the Federal Government and the five South Eeast governors were unaware of the dangers associated with lack of understanding of the two scenarios, warning that “peace will eventually elude the South East in particular and the country in general if the current approach is sustained.”
The CNPP called for negotiation with aggrieved youths in the country citing the example set by the late president Umaru Yar’Adua with Niger Delta militants.
“The Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, begin to genuinely respond to the age-long infrastructure decay in southern Nigeria rather than opening war fronts in all parts of the country.
“The challenges of poverty, unemployment in the country, and a feeling of lack of a sense of belonging in South East, just like in other parts of the country, should be addressed by the Federal Government and the states with uttermost sincerity.
“We advise the Federal Government and South East governors to channel their energy towards preventing conflicts as their current all-stick-approach has not only escalated conflicts over the years as seen in northern Nigeria, but has also given the country peace of the graveyard. The approach in dealing with issues bordering on criminalities should be different from strategies against matters relating to self-determination agitations as the latter is a right in contemporary public international law.”