…Say, the Igbo must deliberate on how to proceed

From: Petrus Obi, Enugu

An Igbo elder statesman and founding member of the All Progressive Grand Aliance (APGA), Chief Onwuka Ukwa, has warned that the Igbo should not thinker with the idea of war or taking up arms in the face of the current provocation by the Arewa youths through the quit notice order.

Speaking in an exclusive chat with our reporter in his Enugu residence, Chief Ukwa suggested a meeting of leaders and major stakeholders of Igbo extraction to deliberate on the matter at hand and agree on the best way to proceed.

“Are we well positioned to carry arms; what will be the implications? We must be able to answer that question. It’s a very dicey issue, there are so many things that will go with it. Have all those elements been considered? How are you going to fight, who is going to carry it?

While disrobing the quit notice as totally irresponsible, reckless and unpatriotic the Abia state born Igbo leader said “It’s going to be exceptionally difficult for anyone to willingly support any kind of war that is not clearly defined to everyone. Nobody wants to enter a war that he will lose, and expose people to all sorts of vulnerable situations. It’s something we just all sit together and decide.

“It’s very easy to start a fight but difficult to stop. And what are we going to gain? We must also consider our brothers and sisters who are vulnerable outside the five Igbo states; what will be their fate and that of their families? We are talking about life; I am not even concerned about property because that is entirely a different issue.

“What is the strategy; what is the essence of the war; what are the possibilities of success; what are the possibilities of achieving whatever aim is behind it? These are very crucial questions we must answer because no one can just carry people and plunge them into a war.

“We are all concerned about the marginalization and denial of ones human rights, everyone is concerned about it but it is something we must sit down and discuss on how to proceed in rectifying those things. No one can just sit somewhere and talk of war without clear explanations of how we are going to achieve whatever.

“No one has the right to claim that he is more Igbo, or that he is more exposed to the injustice meted out to us. I have been in this battle for years, therefore I have the right to make my own individual decisions based on what I know and based what is on ground; based on my thinking on how it is going to affect my brothers and sisters. Not just within our own political space, but outside.

“If we fail to consider those critical elements in our decision making process, then it’s very faulty. I can also say that no one can claim the right of being more militant or being more just in terms of fighting for Igbo right, than the other. It’s something that all of us must sit down, plan, before we plunge ourselves into crisis.”