S’East Stakeholders To Meet Tinubu Over Insecurity

Stakeholders of the South-East geopolitical zone of the country have resolved to meet with President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to discuss ways of curtailing increasing cases of insecurity in the zone.

This was among the outcomes of a meeting convened by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide in Abuja, with governors of the region as well as National Assembly lawmakers and other Igbo leaders in attendance. Our correspondent gathered that the meeting held at the Imo House, Abuja, on Monday.

Speaking at the occasion, the chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyawu, asked the Igbo leaders to use their various elective offices to serve their constituents and the Igbo race at large.

Chief Iwuanyanwu, at the meeting, told the gathering about the on-the-spot assessment visit of Ohanaeze among other Igbo leaders to ascertain the level of losses incurred by Ndigbo at the demolition carried out by the Lagos State government at the Alaba International Market.

The details of the meeting were contained in a release by Ohanaeze’s national publicity secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, on Tuesday.

Among other issues raised at the meeting, according to the statement, included, “the call by Chief Iwuanyawu that the time has come for Ohanaeze Ndigbo and indeed Ndigbo to harness our God-given endowments for an entirely new strategy in seeking lasting solutions to the Igbo challenges.”

The issues led to the leaders to espouse a five-point agenda to be ‘pursued with all the intellect, zeal and commitment at our disposal’.

Quoting Ogbonnia, “They highlighted solutions to the insecurity in the South East; the need for an education trust Fund; need for a cultural re-orientation; resuscitation of ailing industries and home-ward industrial renaissance; and youth empowerment.”

The forum agreed that security is in the Exclusive Legislative List in the Nigerian Constitution, and that the powers to deploy the Nigerian soldiers and the Nigeria Police to strategic places in the country reside in the Presidency.

According to Dr Ogbonnia, “It was therefore resolved that a high-powered Igbo delegation will meet the Presidency to discuss the immediate and remote causes as well as the viable solutions to the insecurity in the South East.”